Pitching Strategy

[Greenmonsters]

IMO, if a pitcher doesn't have the control to live on the edges, then you might as well have a monkey calling pitches.

IMO/IME your monkey, many pitching coaches/instructors, and the majority of FP coaches calling pitches don't recognize and appreciate the value and effectiveness of changing speeds. Rick Pauly's "effective speed" thread provides valuable insight into what changing speeds entails.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

IMO/IME your monkey, many pitching coaches/instructors, and the majority of FP coaches calling pitches don't recognize and appreciate the value and effectiveness of changing speeds. Rick Pauly's "effective speed" thread provides valuable insight into what changing speeds entails.

My monkey appreciates randomness so he will throw three dice: one for pitch, one for location, and one for speed.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

IMO, if a pitcher doesn't have the control to live on the edges, then you might as well have a monkey calling pitches.

IMO/IME your monkey, many pitching coaches/instructors, and the majority of FP coaches calling pitches don't recognize and appreciate the value and effectiveness of changing speeds. Rick Pauly's "effective speed" thread provides valuable insight into what changing speeds entails.

Honestly, I thought everyone was aware of pitches having effectively different velocities based on location. Old news.

But if a pitcher can't control her pitches then a pitch caller can't execute ideally.

 

[Greenmonsters]

My monkey appreciates randomness so he will throw three dice: one for pitch, one for location, and one for speed.

That's a better approach than what many are using.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Honestly, I thought everyone was aware of pitches having effectively different velocities based on location. Old news.

But if a pitcher can't control her pitches then a pitch caller can't execute ideally.

Sorry, I made the mistake of assuming that the monkey knew that changing speeds involved more than just location-specific effective velocity variability. It was one of the things that our old friend Hal was dead right on. IMO, there is a distinction between a pitch caller not being able to execute ideally and leaving it up to a monkey.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

From a batter’s perspective, the ‘higher’ a ball is thrown in the zone, the more a batter needs to go out and get it. Likewise, the ‘lower’ a ball is thrown in the zone, the more a batter feels the need to let it travel.

The more ‘inside’ a ball is thrown, the more a batter needs to go out and get it. Likewise the more a ball is thrown ‘outside’, the more a batter needs to let it travel.

The extremes being ‘inside/high’, where a batter feels most compelled to go out and get a pitch, and ‘outside/low’, where a batter feels most compelled to let a ball travel.

Now let’s take a pitcher with a fastball that is essentially a peel drop, and compare that to the same pitcher’s turnover drop. On my radar gun, I frequently measure the turnover drop as being 3-4mph slower than the pitcher’s peel drop / fastball.

So if a pitcher without a riseball just threw their fastball “inside/high”, and the plan is to throw the next pitch “outside/low” … then in addition to the next location being “effectively” slower from the batter's perspective, the pitcher can use their “turnover drop” which is “physically” slower. The fact that the pitch is "physically slower", combined with the location being "effectively slower", adds to the overall "relative effective" speed differential.

All that said … if a pitcher can’t control pitch locations, then it’s a somewhat mute point.

Location, location, location. All pitches need to have mastery of location.

 

[Greenmonsters]

From a batter’s perspective, the ‘higher’ a ball is thrown in the zone, the more a batter needs to go out and get it. Likewise, the ‘lower’ a ball is thrown in the zone, the more a batter feels the need to let it travel.

The more ‘inside’ a ball is thrown, the more a batter needs to go out and get it. Likewise the more a ball is thrown ‘outside’, the more a batter needs to let it travel.

The extremes being ‘inside/high’, where a batter feels most compelled to go out and get a pitch, and ‘outside/low’, where a batter feels most compelled to let a ball travel.

Now let’s take a pitcher with a fastball that is essentially a peel drop, and compare that to the same pitcher’s turnover drop. On my radar gun, I frequently measure the turnover drop as being 3-4mph slower than the pitcher’s peel drop / fastball.

So if a pitcher without a riseball just threw their fastball “inside/high”, and the plan is to throw the next pitch “outside/low” … then in addition to the next location being “effectively” slower from the batter's perspective, the pitcher can use their “turnover drop” which is “physically” slower. The fact that the pitch is "physically slower", combined with the location being "effectively slower", adds to the overall "relative effective" speed differential.

All that said … if a pitcher can’t control pitch locations, then it’s a somewhat mute point.

Location, location, location. All pitches need to have mastery of location.

In a perfect world that wouldn't be an issue. In the world we live in, we have to learn how to get by when things are less than perfect.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

In a perfect world that wouldn't be an issue. In the world we live in, we have to learn how to get by when things are less than perfect.

A pitcher can be highly effective at the national level by focusing on mastering just 3-4 pitches. Part of that mastery includes locating the pitch.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Stopped by to watch a B-level State Championship game today (16B) ... which was near my house.

The final score was 11-10.

A total of 21 runs scored in a single game. Not exactly the score one would expect of a high-level championship game.

Neither team had pitchers that could routinely locate the ball on the edges. Hence the score and the resulting 21 runs.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Let me state it differently ….

If a team is planning on competing at the PGF National tournament (18U or 16U premier classification), and the attitude from the team’s pitchers is “pitch location be damned”, then I think the team is in for a rude awaking.