Strike/Ball Ratiol

What is a good strike/ball ratio for high school pitchers? Thanks.

This is one of the stats I am not good with.

P can throw a strike a will.

All things equal I like to see it between 65-75% with a first strike ratio on the upper end up to 80%.

My DD is 12U but we target 70%. Too far below 60% and you are likely behind in counts and walking batters. Frankly, when she's much above that she's usually throwing too many fat ones.

riseball said:

All things equal I like to see it between 65-75% with a first strike ratio on the upper end up to 80%.

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Good point, maybe more important the overall strike %

Axe said:

Good point, maybe more important the overall strike %

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I think so. My DD used to be around 80% first strike. This year at SC it has dropped and has become an issue.

strike/ball ratio is not very meaningful

strike outs/walks (or commonly K/BB) is what you want to track, I think?
a ratio of 2/1 is the minimum you are striving for there.

corlay said:

strike/ball ratio is not very meaningful

strike outs/walks (or commonly K/BB) is what you want to track, I think?
a ratio of 2/1 is the minimum you are striving for there.

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I tend to think that strike/ball ratio is important when looking at wear and tear on a pitcher. If you're playing in a tournament and need a pitcher to throw two games a day, efficiency is important. We have pitchers on our teams at 50%-55% and throwing 120 pitches in 5 innings. Then we have girls at 65% throwing 80 for 5 innings. It does matter.

Also, throwing too many strikes can be a problem. If you're in the 80%+ range, batters go up there knowing that you're going to give them something to hit. I like the 65% target.

junkball said:

I tend to think that strike/ball ratio is important when looking at wear and tear on a pitcher. If you're playing in a tournament and need a pitcher to throw two games a day, efficiency is important. We have pitchers on our teams at 50%-55% and throwing 120 pitches in 5 innings. Then we have girls at 65% throwing 80 for 5 innings. It does matter.

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Makes me think of what's better a 3 pitch inning or a 9 pitch inning?

Overall I think you need to look at pitching stats objectively. A high K to BB ratio is great for a strikeout pitcher. A pitcher who induces lots of ground balls can be just as effective. ERA is another on that can be overvalued on its own. We’ve all seen pitchers give up 3-4 run after an inning is extended by errors that don’t show up in their ERA’s. My favorite are “unearned” HR’s. That’s saved DD’s ERA a few times 

corlay said:

strike/ball ratio is not very meaningful

strike outs/walks (or commonly K/BB) is what you want to track, I think?
a ratio of 2/1 is the minimum you are striving for there.

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The way I see it, K/BB is a measure of effectiveness, whereas strike/ball is a strategy that can be controlled. They serve different purposes.

Or, I could say that you are correct, strike/ball ratio is not very meaningful as a measure of effectiveness.

But, I will theorize that there is an ideal strike/ball ratio for every situation. Good luck guessing what it is.

If Riseball's DD is facing my DD's high school team, it might be 85 percent because anything less and we might accidentally reach base on walk or HBP.

But if it is a MLB pitcher in 2001 facing Barry Bonds, then 50 percent or less might be closer to ideal.

It's not easy to decide what that ideal ratio will be any given situation. Depends on so much, starting with the quality of the pitcher vs. the quality of the opposition and other factors (including the score of the game) for a given moment in time.

I do think 2/1 is a reasonable place to start, btw.