Gameday pitcher

[Hillhouse]

Potentially long post, sorry. Yesterday I got a text from a dad of a former student who's pitching in college and has a game nearby, asking if I wanted to go watch the doubleheader. "Which game is she pitching?" I asked. He didn't know. The coach doesn't tell them until game day. Folks, this is nothing more than a coach's ego. It's beyond stupid and should be outlawed from the sport. Coaches who do this are control freaks and they need their ego's checked.

I know the argument they make: "everyone should be ready on gameday" or "it shouldn't matter if their prepared". IT DOES MATTER YOU FOOLS. I can't exactly explain why but I'm telling you it matters. As a pitcher, young and old, I wanted to know what game I was pitching the next day. It helps me prepare mentally, physically, it alters what I eat in the morning, it alters how much sleep I need, it effects my state of mind the night before thinking about pitching, IT MATTERS. Yes, even if I'm not starting I know I have to be prepared in case I have to go in relief. But starting the game is different. It just is. Just look at MLB, those pitchers know 5 days in advance. Yes, part of that is due to their rest between games. But the other part is their preparation and mental approach. They can think about the opponent, watch film if they want, etc. IT MATTERS. Why can't coaches just tell their pitchers who's starting game 1 and 2?

I understand things happen. A starting pitcher can get injured during warm ups. They can wake up sick and unable to pitch. File this under s**t happens. And the non-starter who gets the call up for game 1 needs to step up. No doubt. But without any issues like this, it makes zero sense not to let your pitchers know. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. And lets be honest, the families would like to know too. It's easy to say a coach's job is to win, not to appease a family. Ok, I understand that. But what are we doing here? This is softball. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. Families are a part of that, no? This isn't some professional situation where Top Secret classification is needed and it will undermine your entire game strategy if you let the pitchers know in advance where they can tell Grandma, I'm pitching at 11am!!! It might even encourage them a bit more. Who knows?

Many people reading this have never been in the circle on a softball field in a game or on the bump for a a baseball pitching start. So this may seem silly to you. It's not. It matters. There is no reason on Earth why you can't tell your pitcher the day before what the rotation is. None. Your pitchers will thank you and be better prepared. All the nonsense about "they should be prepared every day no matter what" is just that: nonsense. They probably are prepared as much as they can be. But it does matter. And it's infuriating when coaches don't know that or care because of their control issues. Wake up and help the pitcher be the best they can be by giving them the advanced knowledge of their start. I guarantee it will alter how they prepare the day before and the morning of. IT MATTERS. End of rant.

 

[Towny9]

Potentially long post, sorry. Yesterday I got a text from a dad of a former student who's pitching in college and has a game nearby, asking if I wanted to go watch the doubleheader. "Which game is she pitching?" I asked. He didn't know. The coach doesn't tell them until game day. Folks, this is nothing more than a coach's ego. It's beyond stupid and should be outlawed from the sport. Coaches who do this are control freaks and they need their ego's checked.

I know the argument they make: "everyone should be ready on gameday" or "it shouldn't matter if their prepared". IT DOES MATTER YOU FOOLS. I can't exactly explain why but I'm telling you it matters. As a pitcher, young and old, I wanted to know what game I was pitching the next day. It helps me prepare mentally, physically, it alters what I eat in the morning, it alters how much sleep I need, it effects my state of mind the night before thinking about pitching, IT MATTERS. Yes, even if I'm not starting I know I have to be prepared in case I have to go in relief. But starting the game is different. It just is. Just look at MLB, those pitchers know 5 days in advance. Yes, part of that is due to their rest between games. But the other part is their preparation and mental approach. They can think about the opponent, watch film if they want, etc. IT MATTERS. Why can't coaches just tell their pitchers who's starting game 1 and 2?

I understand things happen. A starting pitcher can get injured during warm ups. They can wake up sick and unable to pitch. File this under s**t happens. And the non-starter who gets the call up for game 1 needs to step up. No doubt. But without any issues like this, it makes zero sense not to let your pitchers know. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. And lets be honest, the families would like to know too. It's easy to say a coach's job is to win, not to appease a family. Ok, I understand that. But what are we doing here? This is softball. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. Families are a part of that, no? This isn't some professional situation where Top Secret classification is needed and it will undermine your entire game strategy if you let the pitchers know in advance where they can tell Grandma, I'm pitching at 11am!!! It might even encourage them a bit more. Who knows?

Many people reading this have never been in the circle on a softball field in a game or on the bump for a a baseball pitching start. So this may seem silly to you. It's not. It matters. There is no reason on Earth why you can't tell your pitcher the day before what the rotation is. None. Your pitchers will thank you and be better prepared. All the nonsense about "they should be prepared every day no matter what" is just that: nonsense. They probably are prepared as much as they can be. But it does matter. And it's infuriating when coaches don't know that or care because of their control issues. Wake up and help the pitcher be the best they can be by giving them the advanced knowledge of their start. I guarantee it will alter how they prepare the day before and the morning of. IT MATTERS. End of rant.

As a former pitcher I agree 100%. I would also add as a relief pitcher I would prefer to know if I am first in relief or if I am the short/long relief for that game as well.

 

[EdLovrich]

Agree 100%. Heck, even as an umpire I want to know the day before (at least) whether I am working the first game behind the plate or on the field.

 

[Sparky Guy]

You are absolutely correct about wanting to know what games you'll be pitching. Unfortunately real life can be a lot different. I think a vast majority of college coaches hardly give any advanced thought to pitching. Not because of ego. Rather, more out of lack of understanding. Many coaches figure their pitchers will be magically ready at any time. And to the player's credit, most are, simply because that's what they were used to playing travel ball.

My daughter was fortunate when playing college ball. Her coach would always start who she felt was their #1 the first game and the #2 the second game. Relief was a different story. Most times it was the #2 for the #1 and the #1 for the #2 with the occasional #3 or #4 thrown in.

I know when I was coaching I would tell the girls who was the primary and secondary pitchers for the pool play games at the very start of the day. After that I tried to keep the same rotation throughout bracket play as best I could. I did a lot of young teams and spent a lot of time developing kids. We took our lumps sometimes, but almost every kid was very ready for the next level when they were done playing for me.

 

[Rolling Hard]

It doesn't take more than common sense to inform the pitchers who is starting a day or two before her start. Also coach should have a plan B for in case starter gets hurt or can't throw strikes. In other words, coach should always have 2 pitchers warm. Just saw Louisville game where SP got hurt and nobody was warm. 2nd pitcher came in and blew out her bicep on her 4th pitch. 3rd pitcher (not warm freshman) came in to replace 2nd pitcher and inherited a 3-1 count. Walked batter on 1st pitch and then went on to give up 5 more runs with 2 outs.
Sorry, thats bad coaching.

 

[radness]

Communication between coach and team helps players mentally prepare. Without that communication in my opinion puts players at a loss.
Because,
Uncertainty is hard to prepare for.
and can be exhausting for no reason.

 

[Hillhouse]

You are absolutely correct about wanting to know what games you'll be pitching. Unfortunately real life can be a lot different. I think a vast majority of college coaches hardly give any advanced thought to pitching. Not because of ego. Rather, more out of lack of understanding. Many coaches figure their pitchers will be magically ready at any time. And to the player's credit, most are, simply because that's what they were used to playing travel ball.

My daughter was fortunate when playing college ball. Her coach would always start who she felt was their #1 the first game and the #2 the second game. Relief was a different story. Most times it was the #2 for the #1 and the #1 for the #2 with the occasional #3 or #4 thrown in.

I know when I was coaching I would tell the girls who was the primary and secondary pitchers for the pool play games at the very start of the day. After that I tried to keep the same rotation throughout bracket play as best I could. I did a lot of young teams and spent a lot of time developing kids. We took our lumps sometimes, but almost every kid was very ready for the next level when they were done playing for me.

I think I covered the part about real life not working out when I said s**t happens. Obviously that's true. I can think of a story while pitching for the Salt Lake City team: we were in vans driving from our hotel to the fields. LONG before GPS in cars and phones. We had "turn at the oak tree" directions. lol. We got lost. We arrived 10 minutes before the game. Our manager said to the 3 pitchers, "whoever gets loose in the next 10 minutes is starting". S**t happens.

But before we were lost, it was another guy's turn to start and he knew it in advance.

 

[Rick M]

I love that this is coming from @Hillhouse! We need a player movement to include this language in the player contracts that we’re all required to sign.

In seven years of travel ball, DD has never had a coach who told her, “You’re starting game two tomorrow.” I’ve always assumed it was out of fear of parent blowback. No coach wants to hear ‘Why isn’t my kid starting game one?’ Or ‘You promised I was starting today.’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[radness]

I love that this is coming from @Hillhouse! We need a player movement to include this language in the player contracts that we’re all required to sign.

In seven years of travel ball, DD has never had a coach who told her, “You’re starting game two tomorrow.” I’ve always assumed it was out of fear of parent blowback. No coach wants to hear ‘Why isn’t my kid starting game one?’ Or ‘You promised I was starting today.’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a really great point about the parent blowback that can happen.

That kind of foot down on a standard would have to start at the beginning of a team's development together so that everybody understands how playing time is going to be administered. And add to that standard gossip and crap will not be tolerated. We do not need to have undermining negativity on this team.

If the coach has limited their ability to communicate to coach the team by allowing the possible blowback of junk then the coach has the wrong roster players/family on their team.

Communicate at the beginning

 

[Hillhouse]

I love that this is coming from @Hillhouse! We need a player movement to include this language in the player contracts that we’re all required to sign.

Sarcasm??