Take the first pitch

[Amy in AZ.]

One of the local 8th grade coaches, made the girls take the first pitch last night. It was not pretty. The opposing pitcher was pretty good and did not issue any walks. So, the pitcher would throw a first pitch strike and then, the coach would yell "Now you've seen it!" Parents were grumbling, that their DDs weren't swinging the bat, but I told them that it looked like the game plan.

One little girl did swing at the first pitch and the coach yelled at her "Remember what we talked about!" Then, one little girl looked like she was going to swing and held up and he yelled "Why would you even think about that!"

We lost badly, but then, 70% of the time our girls had 1 strike on them, going into the box.

 

[JJsqueeze]

ha....My DD was 2 for 2 last night swinging at first pitch strikes. I was a little concerned that she was not waiting for her pitch even though she got the hits so after the game I asked her if she noticed that she only took 2 swings during the game and she said "they were strikes dad". I shut my mouth. NOT A FAN OF TAKING AS A RULE except on a 3-0 count.

 

[FrozenRope]

Take a pitch definately has it's place in the game, but sending your kids to the plate with a blanket instruction of take a pitch is crazy. Especially if the other pitcher figured it out and grooves a first pitch fastball every hitter to get them in the hole 0-1 with no fear of the ramifications of doing so. As the coach and father of a pitcher...I can't drill it in her head enough that that first pitch strike is HUGE. (not meaning she should groove a FB on every first pitch, but she does need to get a piece of the plate)

 

[Mrek]

For me, if you are going to strike out, swing the bat three times in the plate appearance.
4 times is better.
5 times is better still, and so on (great hitters spoil great pitches)...

My DD is a pitcher.
If you are going to spot her a strike, so much the better.
If she only has to get 2 strikes to register a K, there just aren't going to be that many balls in play

 

[Amy in AZ.]

My DD was a pitcher, too. And I always looked for this strategy and would let her know about it. It is easy for these girls that are 13/14 yo to throw a strike especially when no one is swinging.

Now, if the pitcher has walked 3 girls in a row, yes make her throw a strike, buy that wasn't the case last night.

 

[Ken Krause]

I have never understood that take the first pitch mentality either (on the part of a coach especially). What do we drill into the heads of pitchers? Get ahead in the count! In other words, throw a first pitch strike. That first pitch might be the best one you see in that at bat. Why just give it away?

On the other hand, there are some hitter who should think more about taking that first pitch. I had one girl this summer who was one of my best hitters, but when I looked at the stats for first pitch outs (thank you iScore), she actually had a lot of them. I was tempted to recommend she take the first pitch and work from there but decided against it as I wasn't sure whether it would make her too conservative or uptight. Kid was hitting north of .450 so tough to argue.

But to just send everyone to the plate with the bat on their shoulder? Wasted opportunity in my mind, and the risk (of getting down 0-2 or 1-2 quickly) is not worth the reward.

You see that sometimes with young teams, where the coach is more focused on winning than teaching his/her girls to play the game. I've seen teams that are obviously just waiting for the walks, and depending on passed balls to score. Yeah, it works when they're young. But the girls never learn to hit, and when the pitching gets better they're at a huge disadvantage.

 

[Sweet Lou]

There are times to tell girls to take a pitch but this doesn't sound like one of them.

As Amy points out, wild pitcher who has walked a few batters, sure I might instruct a girl or two to not swing until you have 1 strike.

Down in a game late trying to get a base runner, might do the same thing with taking til you have one strike.

A hitter who hacks at every pitch that I'm trying to get to be more selective, might have her take a pitch now and then.

But to tell every batter to take the first pitch just for the sake of taking the pitch is down right stupid.

 

[canyonjoe]

The problem with saying if you are going to strike out take 3 swings is not a bad attitude for young hitters, but as you get better most good hitters don't strike out very much. I know our our 12U team the top 6 or 7 hitters will put a ball in play on a very high percentage of swings. I would never tell a kid to never swing at the first pitch, but I stress to my DD to only hit if it's where you want it. If they throw a inside corner at the knees or a borderline pitch take it and hope for a better one. If she swings at it she will either foul off or not hit it solid. It's the same with 1-0,2-0 even 2-1. Again this is for good hitters who don't miss a lot of pitches and are comfortable hitting with 2 strikes which most older hitters are. Now with hitters that miss a lot I would expand the first pitch zone and go back to the 3 swing idea, but I see teams that swing at a lot of first pitches hit week grounders and popups.

 

[About Them]

It's especially gratifying when HC does this (for an entire season of 12U tb) and the opposing coach is calling "fastball down the middle". I cannot tell you how many time I sat there watching the other coach call that same pitch over and over again. When confronted with this valuable tidbit-o-info my coach just kept on keeping on. I think by the end of the season a number of girls started forgetting the "take sign"...I know mine did a few times.

 

[Bleacher Bum]

Taking the first pitch, along with taking until you get a strike, is very frustrating 'strategy', especially for younger players. Many of the younger players have problems making contact, and you've just taken away 1 of 3 chances to hit a hittable pitch. As mentioned earlier, give them a green light if it's the pitch they like. At the younger ages, use it to develop their hitting capability, not their ability to stand with the bat on their shoulder.