Moving up in the box

[Rolling Hard]

I love first pitch inside off the plate angled gyro FB (formerly know as a screwball) to the aggressive hitter. Usually results in a hard hit FOUL BALL. Hopefully off the batter's ankle or instep. Now your ahead in the count and the batter is in pain.

 

[Tango]

I think I read somewhere that 70% of all pitches are middle out in college. There is a reason for that. Even good HS/TB/College hitters will have a more difficult time hitting the outside pitch (vs the inside pitch), in particular if your pitchers are not throwing that hard. So with that said, I would work the outside river with their best pitches and mixing in an inside fastball off the plate once in a

I love first pitch inside off the plate angled gyro FB (formerly know as a screwball) to the aggressive hitter. Usually results in a hard hit FOUL BALL. Hopefully off the batter's ankle or instep. Now your ahead in the count and the batter is in pain.

Two of our pitchers have good a curve, drop, and change. We normally throw rise up and in. FB in off the plate or black. They both locate really good.

3rd pitcher which only has a FB and Great curve. 90% curve balls and it rises, drops, and flat on accident. Throws strikes but can’t locate. Probably the ace but not as polished as the first two.

 

[Vertigo]

Didn’t say change wasn’t effective. Said it makes the pitch higher and gets there in a shorter time frame. Didn’t say you can’t go in and out. Just can’t throw it by them. 56/57 is BP for this team. Most teams in our area we throw it by them if they move up.

I guess I’m just a little confused as to why the pitchers can’t make a small adjustment so that their CU come in lower? If you’re playing a team full of D1 level hitters I’ve got to imagine you have a pretty good team with good pitching? Also - with curves and drop curves, just have them aim more towards the top outside corner of the plate so that it won’t cross middle and will break away before the plate if they are up in the box. The pitchers should be able to make these minor adjustments. I’d just be very careful in throwing a rise if they are not good and reliable at throwing a low rise. Either it will be a ball high or will get crushed.

I don’t know - my dd sat around 57-60 in games and when we faced strong hitters up in the box going in at their hands with a FB or drop worked well when coupled with her CU away. Or even if she came back with a CU in that would work well, too. Sometimes 2 CU in a row would really throw them off.

 

[radness]

Would look at the batters swing mechanics/stance before making a predetermined decision to pitch location.

 

[Tango]

I guess I’m just a little confused as to why the pitchers can’t make a small adjustment so that their CU come in lower? If you’re playing a team full of D1 level hitters I’ve got to imagine you have a pretty good team with good pitching? Also - with curves and drop curves, just have them aim more towards the top outside corner of the plate so that it won’t cross middle and will break away before the plate if they are up in the box. The pitchers should be able to make these minor adjustments. I’d just be very careful in throwing a rise if they are not good and reliable at throwing a low rise. Either it will be a ball high or will get crushed.

I don’t know - my dd sat around 57-60 in games and when we faced strong hitters up in the box going in at their hands with a FB or drop worked well when coupled with her CU away. Or even if she came back with a CU in that would work well, too. Sometimes 2 CU in a row would really throw them off.

The two polished pitchers normally keep the change low and out. Really consistent. So throwing it lower is a ball. I think change and busting in is the best way to go. These two normally never miss over the plate with outside curve balls. They will get over the plate some with the inside curve and get hurt with it.

The third one is weird, her curve just breaks different evert pitch with great spin. Can’t change speeds to save her life. Call it out paints it in and gets the call

I think the umpires we had also changed the strike zone when they moved up. Limited in seeing this.

 

[sluggers]

The third one is weird, her curve just breaks different evert pitch with great spin. Can’t change speeds to save her life. Call it out paints it in and gets the call

You need to have a reality check with her. She is never going to play in college without an off-speed pitch. She can learn to vary the speed of her pitches...even 5MPH difference between pitches will throw the batters off a little.

IMHO, you are overthinking this. If moving up in the batters box would make every a .500 hitter, they would all do it.

The disadvantage of moving up is that the batter has slightly less time to react to the pitch. They will have trouble with off-speed and good breaking pitches.

 

[Tango]

You need to have a reality check with her. She is never going to play in college without an off-speed pitch. She can learn to vary the speed of her pitches...even 5MPH difference between pitches will throw the batters off a little.

IMHO, you are overthinking this. If moving up in the batters box would make every a .500 hitter, they would all do it.

The disadvantage of moving up is that the batter has slightly less time to react to the pitch. They will have trouble with off-speed and good breaking pitches.

The number 3 is not my student but plays on my team that I call pitches for so it's a delicate situation. She does work with me every once in awhile, like today. We worked on change for about 30 minutes and it was serviceable at the end but may not be there the next time we work. She has offers to a few small schools.

I'm probably over thinking it. All I know for sure is my DD had a no hitter going against them twice into the last inning but the last two times they moved as far up as possible and crushed her. It maybe me more than her and trying to figure it. Didn't think she threw that bad actually. Change and drop are my DD best pitches. Can throw curve for a strike almost automatic but not her best pitch, IMO.

Other pitcher is similar to my DD.

 

[Hillhouse]

I used to LOVE it when I'd see hitters up in the front of the box. Thinking you will hit the ball before it breaks is the common thinking but, I love love loved seeing that. I would throw riseballs all day against that. I don't think it's a coincidence that the best hitters in the fastpitch world (men and women) almost all stand at the back of the box. I know I did too (although I'm not putting myself in that category). I did it so I could see the pitch as long as possible.

A hitter in the front of the box has a better chance against a good dropball than a good rise. A really good drop has it's break late, sometimes right before the batters boxes. So there's a 50-50 chance they can catch it before it bites down. Regardless of whether you believe the riseball actually goes up or not, every riseball needs trajectory to help it. A slightly upward trajectory out of the hand to go with and compliment the spin. Since the ball is climbing upward from the moment it leaves the hand, it's a continuous movement. A drop on the other hand, if let go perfectly will come out of the hand straighter and the correct 12/6 spin will make the ball bite down as late as possible.

Does that mean dropballs are ineffective? No. But it's the percentages. From a statistical standpoint, riseballs are the way to go. Change ups are big too but, that pitch is irrelevant to where the batter is standing.

Also, it pays to watch the hitter's feet and let the umpire know the batter might be stepping out of the box, just like a slapper does. If they are up far enough, it's possible the step could be out of the box. It's worth looking and making it known.

 

[Fury_Mike]

I would also add the good pitchers learn how to adjust to hitters in the front of the box by simply getting the ball to break sooner. My pitchers work on it and are pretty effective including their drop and cutters

 

[ArmWhip]

Theoretically speaking if moving up in the box to 'hit it before it breaks' works then the counter move is to 'backdoor' your movement pitches, basically start the pitch out of the zone and bring it into the strike zone at the last second. If a RH hitter moves up in the box to hit a RH pitcher's curve before it breaks to far outside then the pitcher should start the curve way inside and break it onto the inside corner. If the hitter is up in the box she will have to make contact out in front and basically pull the ball foul or let it break in for a called strike. But I'm not so sure that late break is really that much of a factor. If a pitch starts to break 20ft out and moves 10in that's 0.5in of break per foot of travel. Moving up in the box 2ft is only going to change ball location by 1in, that doesn't seem like much.