Umpire said pitch was too aggresive

Talked with one of my students mom's last night. Said umpire called her over after the game and explained he couldn't call her screwball because it was "too aggressive".
He said it was a great pitch, just too aggressive.

Since I was not there and couldn't see it, the best I could explain to her was that it was being thrown too far inside.
She was getting swinging strikes between the ball calls, which is why she continued to throw the pitch.

I told her to continue to throw it the same way during her next game and if it continued to be a problem, to make more of adjustment outside but maintain spin focus.

I've never heard an umpire complain about this. My own DD threw a very aggressive screwball and I never ever heard one even mention it.

Too aggressive???

Doug Romrell said:

Too aggressive???

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You know I'm hoping maybe he meant it more like a good drop or rise..."Looks great, but because it breaks too low or high I can't call it a strike." But since it was being thrown inside, it worried him.

Yet another umpire making up their own rules. Step to the back of the box and crowd the plate on my DD and you will get drilled in the thigh by a nasty screwball for a dead ball strike. Aggressive, legal and very effective.

riseball said:

Yet another umpire making up their own rules. Step to the back of the box and crowd the plate on my DD and you will get drilled in the thigh by a nasty screwball for a dead ball strike. Aggressive, legal and very effective.

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When my DD was in college, college teams would stand away in the box, trying to get the screwball over the plate enough so they could get bat on it. Never fazed her, 2 curves on the outside corner and then right at them in the batters box. Never heard a umpire complain.

I’ve got to show my ignorance here. I know what a screwball is in baseball, but never thought about one in SB.

In general, a BB pitcher throws the screwball overhand, putting rotation on the ball that makes it move toward the pitching hand side. IOW, a RHP pitching to a RHB will see the ball move toward the batter. But doing the same thing underhand would make the ball move away from the batter because the rotation would be opposite.

So how does a SB pitcher throw a screwball, and which way does it move?

Thanx.

riseball said:

Yet another umpire making up their own rules. Step to the back of the box and crowd the plate on my DD and you will get drilled in the thigh by a nasty screwball for a dead ball strike. Aggressive, legal and very effective.

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Maybe where you live...it would be an interesting experiment to see how many of 100 experienced umpires would agree with you...

Jojo said:

You know I'm hoping maybe he meant it more like a good drop or rise..."Looks great, but because it breaks too low or high I can't call it a strike." But since it was being thrown inside, it worried him.

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Any idea if he was in the slot - or was he a LL umpire standing right behind the catcher? Seeing more and more of that these days.

riseball said:

Yet another umpire making up their own rules. Step to the back of the box and crowd the plate on my DD and you will get drilled in the thigh by a nasty screwball for a dead ball strike. Aggressive, legal and very effective.

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I wonder how this discussion occurs. Is the instruction to throw it inside or to hit the batter?

Good pitchers know how to adjust their pitches according to the umpires strike zone, the batter in the box, and the count on the batter. Throwing an 0-2 "aggressive" screwball is a good pitch as long as you do not hit the batter, while 3-0 you need to make sure you keep on the plate.