| Pitch Selection
excerpt from Gold Glove Baseball - American Baseball Coaches Association available at www.HumanKinetics.com
• Think ahead, taking into account the entire lineup. Always choose pitches with the entire lineup in mind. The pitcher, catcher, and coach should always know where they are in the opposition's lineup and, most important, who's on deck. You usually find a significant difference between the type of hitter at the top or bottom of the order from the type of hitter in the middle of the order. Typically, the best on-base percentage guys are at the top of the order. They're usually the best runners and often are not the guys who can hit the ball out of the park. Many are the type of hitter inclined to take pitches, especially when ahead in the count. Bottom-of-the-order hitters are usually there for a reason–they don't hit as well as the guys who bat ahead of them. Pitchers often create their own problems by pitching to the guys in the top or bottom of the order in the same way they pitch to the guys in the middle of the order. This leads to increased walks, high pitch counts, and a pitcher forced to face the middle of the order with runners on base. Good hitters will get their hits. The key is to limit the number of opportunities these hitters have with runners on base and to keep them from hitting the ball out of the park. Force the top and bottom of the order to hit to get on base. Be aggressive with pitch selection and don't shy away from forcing contact. When possible, avoid giving in to the opponent's best hitters. Force them to get on base by hitting borderline strikes and, if necessary, pitch around them entirely. The best pitchers can almost get inside an opposing batter's head. The pitcher looks for any physical cues that might tip off what pitch the hitter is anticipating. The ability to guess what the hitter expects and then to counter that expectation with an unexpected pitch is critical to achieving a high level of success on the mound. Last, it's extremely important for a pitcher to know both his own strengths and weaknesses and those of the batters he faces. He should know his best pitch and to what location he throws it best. Generally, a pitcher's pitch selection should reflect his strengths rather than the hitter's weaknesses. While previous history versus hitters and scouting reports are valuable, pitchers must also be able to gain real-time information by assessing the hitter's stance and position in the batter's box, the hitter's swing type, and the game situation. The ability to process these factors in a timely fashion and make an appropriate pitch is a significant mental skill that pitchers should be taught. Hitter's Stance and Position • Upright versus crouch. Hitters who assume an upright stance in the box are revealing their desire to keep the ball as low in their hitting zone as possible. Hitters with an upright stance tend to be better low-ball hitters than high-ball hitters. Conversely, hitters in a crouched stance are indicating their preference for having the pitch high in their hitting zone. Crouched hitters tend to be high-ball hitters. If a pitcher is making a decision based on this information, he'll choose to challenge upright hitters with fastballs up in the zone, and he'll try to work down in the zone to those who are crouched. • Vertical bat versus flat bat. The manner in which a hitter holds his bat often indicates the types of pitches he can most easily handle. A hitter who starts with his bat in a more vertical position tends to prefer pitches down in the zone. He might struggle to handle good fastballs at the waist or higher. A hitter who starts with his bat at a flatter angle can often handle pitches up in the strike zone more effectively. A flat-bat hitter usually has more trouble covering pitches down in the zone. • Off the plate versus on the plate. A batter's stance in relation to home plate can also indicate his preferences. A hitter who stands off the plate is indicating his desire to have the pitch out or away from his body in the hitting zone. Hitters who stand off the plate usually have a slightly longer swing path and want pitches that allow them to get their arms extended. In contrast, hitters who crowd the plate are indicating their preference to keep pitches as close to them as possible. Pitchers who fail to recognize these stances often misread the preference of the hitter and pitch away to those who are off the plate and in to those who are on the plate, which is precisely what these hitters want. • Up in the box versus deep in the box. Where a hitter positions himself in the batter's box is another indicator of his preferences. For example, a hitter positioned deep in the batter's box usually wants more time to react to the fastball and prefers off-speed pitches. A hitter who moves up to the front of the box tends to want to hit fastballs. Pitchers who understand these signals won't hesitate to challenge the hitter deep in the box with fastballs and to use off-speed pitches against the hitter who's up in the box. Hitter's Swing Dead pull, or rotary, hitters prefer pitches on the inner half of the plate. They often cheat on fastballs in an attempt to start the bat early. Force dead pull hitters to hit fastballs and breaking pitches away. A good change-up is also an effective pitch against a dead pull hitter. Lift hitters prefer pitches down in the zone. They often either stand upright in the box or have a high back elbow. When facing a lift hitter, keep the fastball above the waist and try to avoid throwing the breaking ball for strikes. Instead, throw the breaking ball down and out of the strike zone. Slow-bat hitters are most effective hitting fastballs on the outer half of the plate and off-speed pitches in the strike zone. Keep the fastballs close to the hitter and throw the breaking ball and other off-speed pitches in the dirt. Like rotary hitters, hitters with slow bats will eventually try to cheat to catch up with the good fastball. By starting their swings early they'll have difficulty making adjustments, such as checking their swings, and will be very susceptible to chasing good off-speed pitches out of the strike zone. Poor breaking ball hitters are found in almost every lineup. They either struggle with seeing spin or have problems with their approach and find it extremely difficult to wait long enough to read the pitch. Good pitchers take advantage of this type of a hitter by throwing breaking balls for strikes and throwing fastballs in locations just outside the strike zone. Make-hit players are the hitters in the lineup who will rarely, if ever, hit the ball out of the park. They are typically guys who are not yet strong enough to drive a ball into the gap and are strictly at the plate to make contact. Pitchers should challenge these hitters with hard stuff, trying to force contact early in the count. The best hitters are usually able to make pitch-to-pitch adjustments, wait longer before committing to a swing, and use the whole field–and they rarely miss a pitcher's mistake. Pitching to hitters with these types of abilities makes pitching both challenging and fun. The keys to pitching effectively to an opponent's best hitters are to continually mix pitches and learning to pitch "backward." Fooling a good hitter on a particular pitch one time doesn't mean you should double up and repeat that pitch. Good hitters make adjustments, and doubling up on pitches increases the hitter's opportunity to adjust. Pitchers must mix both pitches and locations. It's difficult for even good hitters to cover the entire strike zone, so pitchers who can vary their location well have greater success against these hitters. In addition to mixing pitches, pitchers should become adept at recognizing when to pitch backward, which means throwing the opposite of what the count would ordinarily indicate. Instead of throwing fastballs when behind in the count (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1), the pitcher should resort to an off- speed pitch. Instead of throwing breaking balls when ahead in the count (0-1, 0-2, 1-2), the pitcher should throw a well-located fastball, usually in on the hitter. Game Situation Experienced pitchers understand that pitching to contact is usually good strategy, but in some situations it's best to pitch around a hitter. For example, one pitch-selection rule of thumb that a pitcher should follow throughout a game is not to throw a pitch on a 2-2 count that he wouldn't be willing to throw on a 3-2 count. In other words, if he wouldn't throw a breaking ball on a 3-2 count, he shouldn't throw it on a 2-2 count, either. Instead of pushing the count to 3-2 with a breaking ball, go at the hitter on the 2-2 count with a fastball. If the situation is such that you need a strikeout or have a base open with runners in scoring position, use your best strikeout pitch on the 2-2 count and, if necessary, repeat it on 3-2. Early in the game, the pitcher should have his best stuff. He will likely be more count-oriented in his pitch selection. As opposed to pitching backward, he should be willing to challenge the hitter in the strike zone. By doing so, he'll have a better chance to keep his pitch count down and pitch deeper into the game. He should work to establish command of his fastball to both sides of the plate and get as many outs "in" as he can. As much as possible, he should try not to show all his pitches the first time through the opposing team's order. A pitcher's effectiveness in accomplishing these goals early in the game will undoubtedly help him as the game progresses and he begins to tire. Later in the game, pitch selection is likely to be more situation-oriented, and pitching backward becomes more important. If the starter is still in the game, he might find it necessary to get more outs "away" because the quality of his stuff probably will have diminished. Physical ability is extremely important, but only by commanding the mental side of pitching can a pitcher become complete. |
Pitch Selection
