Pitching by committee?

How many of you coaches do this during the game? Show a batter a different look maybe the 3rd time through. Slow to fast, fast to slow, does it matter?

We tried this one year and IMO did not work out for us.

For this discussion assume we had 4 or 5 pitchers of equally ability, all of them good.

What happened to us is that if we switched pitchers just for the sake of switching pitchers 1 of them always seemed to have a bad game and put us in a ditch. It was impossible to predict which one of them would have a bad inning. The pitcher that pitched great the game before did poorly in the next game and vice versa.

If a pitcher is doing well just leave them in there. If you do bring in another pitcher and she isn’t doing good, go back to the pitcher that was doing well.

I am sure it could work, it just didn’t seem to work for us.

(In LL BB last year an opposing HC assigned a P to each inning with his best pitcher pitching last in case of extra innings. I think they lost 1 game so it worked for them. Maybe each pitcher knowing an assigned role or inning helped. Just became a pattern for them and the Team)

shaker1 said:

How many of you coaches do this during the game? Show a batter a different look maybe the 3rd time through. Slow to fast, fast to slow, does it matter?

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As a coach I always give my pitchers the "game." If it looks like the other team is getting to her then I'll switch pitchers. Committee to me means pitching staff with each of them having the others back. Changing just to change during a game never seemed to work. The only time I would do that is during friendlies or preseason games.

IME the only time a slower pitcher is effective coming in late in the game is when you are ahead and the team you are playing is anxious and trying too hard to hit the slower pitcher. Bringing in a slower pitcher when you are behind is not an effective strategy as the mindset of the hitters is different. I would do it if I needed to save my better pitcher for another game later in the day (for example, we are behind and move to the losers bracket in a double elimination tournament).

On the other hand, a faster pitcher can be effective later to shut a team down when you are behind and need to give your offense a chance to catch up.

One problem with "pitching by committee" is that it takes time for the new pitcher to learn the ump's strike zone. So, there are often problems with the new pitcher getting behind.

We use "pitch by committee" in showcases, but seldom do it in games we are playing to win. If the starting pitching is doing well we are not going to change pitchers just for the sake of change.

We kinda do both. We have our ace pitcher who is really fast beyond her age. we like to save her for bracket games and sometimes depending on the opponent We allow our 2 and 3 pitcher to take over. These two are pretty equal in there speed the reason we "pitch by committee" with these two is because one is really strong north and south the other is east and west. While they do have to adjust to the UMPs strike zone we find it is usually harder for the batters to adjust then our pitchers. We dont limit the pitches or innings we just allow one to go as far as she can til we fill its time to switch.

I have used it only in 18U and have had great success with it. The key is to have buy-in from everyone so expectations can be managed. Once they get used to it the pitchers like it since they go in to the circle and go all out on every pitch. No holding back or pacing themselves. I use both pitch counts and number of AB's (looks) to determine when to make the switch. Often the catcher is also switched although pitchers are not paired with specific catchers to afford maximum flexibility. It is not for everyone as it is definitely a leap of faith to change something that based on all outward appearances is not broken but when it is time to switch we switch. I think that in the highest levels in college it will soon be the norm, not the exception. It was a successful strategy during the State and National Tournaments for my DD at Chipola and will most likely be what she will experience next season at South Carolina.

sluggers said:

One problem with "pitching by committee" is that it takes time for the new pitcher to learn the ump's strike zone. So, there are often problems with the new pitcher getting behind.

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Great point and very true. It requires a culture of exceptional communication.

For next year my DDs Varsity coach has indicated that he may go to a pitch by committee system. This spring he will be saying good-bye to his ace pitcher who will be departing for a top DI school. When the game mattered, this girl was always in the circle. What is left is my DD and two other pitchers who all have had a successful spring and who would have been varsity pitchers for most other schools in the state. They are very good but, admittedly, a drop off from what they have now.

I agree that I think college fastpitch pitching will go more towards a committee system. In the quest for a WCWS championship the biggest mistake is leaving the ace pitcher in for too long.