Strike/Ball Ratiol

[Rocketech1]

A few comments:

a) Throwing 65% (+/-5%) strikes seems to be the sweet spot
b) In general, pitchers are trying to strikeout every batter that enters the box. They may however, pitch to certain locations with runners on base (e.g. pitch inside to a righty with a runner on 3rd with less than two outs) to lessen the damage if the ball is hit.
c) Someone said above "the goal of a pitcher is to put the ball in play...", I completely disagree with that statement
d) In general, pitchers need to strikeout more batters than they walk. Most pitchers should strive for at least a 2/1 strikeout to walk ratio.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

A big factor on strike/pitch ratio is whether the coach likes to waste pitches after getting ahead in the count. Had a coach that wasted 1-2 pitches whenever they got ahead in the count 0-2/1-2 and got upset if a waste pitch was close enough for the batter to make contact.

 

[IRONMAN]

GameChanger is good for this stuff.

One bad one that sticks out is LOBB - Lead off base on balls. Both HS pitchers at DD's school have done this 10 times this year. 100% of the time that LOBB has scored

 

[IRONMAN]

Here's one more good stat from our HS.

1st pitch strikes lead to walks less than 6% of the time

 

[Rocketech1]

A big factor on strike/pitch ratio is whether the coach likes to waste pitches after getting ahead in the count. Had a coach that wasted 1-2 pitches whenever they got ahead in the count 0-2/1-2 and got upset if a waste pitch was close enough for the batter to make contact.

As a pitcher's parent, nothing drives me more crazy than DD giving up an extra base hit on an 0-2 count (walking the first batter of the inning is a close second . With that said, sometimes pitchers need to go after the batter when ahead in the count. For example, if you are batting to the bottom of the order; know the batter's weakness (e.g. can't hit the high strike); can throw a deceptive off-speed pitch; have overpowering velocity or movement, etc. than I think its ok sometimes to throw it to the corners for strikes on 0-2 counts. Last year I posted a thread about how my DD struck out the side with only 9 pitches (all strikeouts were looking). Had she thrown waste pitches, things may have ended differently that inning?

 

[Rocketech1]

Here's one more good stat from our HS.

1st pitch strikes lead to walks less than 6% of the time

How many times does it lead to a hit?

 

[Sparky Guy]

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.

Reminds me of the scene in Bull Durhamn where Kevin Kostner tell the pitcher to hit the mascot with the ball.

 

[IRONMAN]

How many times does it lead to a hit?

28% of the time

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Just be clear, strike/ball ratio is different than strikeout/walk ratio. I don't think Ks are as important as some make them out to be. And as you mentioned the girl who gets ground balls is just as effective.

Ground balls factor in other things such as fielding ability. This is why when measuring the effectiveness of pitchers you wouldn't use Wins or ERA.

The general consensus is that FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is the most accurate way to measure a pitchers effectiveness.

FIP is defined as: "The formula is (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP, plus a constant (usually around 3.2) to put it on the same scale as earned run average."

The above FIP is a baseball weighted formula. There is a slightly different one for fastpitch; I may have posted it somewhere before.

The beauty of it is that Game Changer tracks FIP as a stat for you if you use it. I find FIP to be spot on when comparing pitchers and pitcher performance.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

As a pitcher's parent, nothing drives me more crazy than DD giving up an extra base hit on an 0-2 count

I hear you, however it depends on whether it was poor pitch or great hitting on a good pitch. Hitting the batter with an 0-2 count is very aggravating.

The meaning of "wasting a pitch" varies. I hate it when there's no purpose served other than to keep the batter from swinging at it and getting a hit. Legitimate usages are expanding the zone on the batter or setting up the next pitch.