Dear Alabama pitching coach.....

Rocketech1 said:

BH - good to see you posting again with your great sense of humor. Hope you are well.

The other thing that drives me crazy watching college softball is in a 0-0 game in the middle innings. Runners on 1b and 2b, no outs. Batter swings away on first pitch, gives it a half hearted bunt attempt on 2nd pitch. And now is down 0-2 in the count. Why not on the first pitch square early and sacrifice to move runners to 2nd and 3rd. There are something like 10 ways you can score from 3rd base with less than 2 outs. I don’t get it?

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Rocketech1 said:

BH - good to see you posting again with your great sense of humor. Hope you are well.

The other thing that drives me crazy watching college softball is in a 0-0 game in the middle innings. Runners on 1b and 2b, no outs. Batter swings away on first pitch, gives it a half hearted bunt attempt on 2nd pitch. And now is down 0-2 in the count. Why not on the first pitch square early and sacrifice to move runners to 2nd and 3rd. There are something like 10 ways you can score from 3rd base with less than 2 outs. I don’t get it?

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Silver 2200 said:

General question Bill.

Would you ever recommend throwing a waste pitch that is a riseball up in the count 1 and 2 or 0 and 2? Say eye ball level that would be extremely difficult to hit, just to keep the other team from sitting on pitches low in the zone. In the same scenario as described in the thread.

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Hillhouse said:

As a rule, I don't believe in wasting pitches. You see, this forum is great. I enjoy reading the posts, even the ones that I think are off the wall. But everyone focuses on the mechanics, and very very little is ever spoken of the mental side. And it's hard to overstate how much mental pitching is. It's a very hard thing to teach, mental toughness. It comes with experience. Although a sports psychologist will help anyone and everyone. But, it only takes one small thing to break a pitcher's focus, rhythm, timing, etc. Purposely throwing a pitch that is meant to be a ball, seems like a "waste" pardon the pun. It can be that one pitch that takes someone out of a rhythm. To purposely disrupt that can be problematic. I'm not suggesting throwing it down the middle but, I wouldn't recommend that with a 0-0 count either!!! Why not throw a pitch that you got one (or both) of the 2 strikes on instead of wasting one? Moreover, if you get known for wasting pitches, hitters will put the bat on the shoulder with a 0-2 count. i'm a believer in keeping all the pitches marginal. Around the zone, only going in the zone when I must. This is going to make the hitters have to be on their toes, swinging at pitches that are balls. It also means the umpires will likely give your more strikes when you are AROUND the zone all the time. Pitchers will get the benefit of the doubt. Yes, hitters can start to get comfortable knowing you're around the plate. But, if I still have them swinging at MY pitches and the ball is moving, the percentages are in my favor.

But since you asked about this same scenario, I'd still take my chances with a low in the zone pitch rather than a riseball that can go out with the bats/balls of today. Change my speeds, move it in and out. For the most part this is a game of percentages. A drop ball is going to stay in the park more often than a rise, even when they are sitting on it. In 2018, with polycore balls and composite bats, slappers are hitting 250' HR's. So, I play the percentages. The HR given up was a gift of the equipment (bats and balls), it wasn't crushed. At least, I dont think it was... I can't remember... I was too busy yelling at the TV. But it looked like a pop up.

anyway that was way more than you asked for. Sorry.

Bill

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