Thoughts on pitching "Up and In"

[Ken Krause]

If the issue is being afraid of hitting the batter, you can tell the pitchers the story Carrie Dever-Boaz told at a coaches clinic a few years ago. Tell them if the pitcher throws the ball down the middle and the batter smashes it right back at her and hits her in the shin, the batter isn't going to come out to see if she's ok. She's going to run to first. If the pitcher is still lying on the ground whining about it, she's going to run to second.

If you hit a batter now and then, it's not such a bad thing. If nothing else it serves as a lesson to the rest of the batters.

One last thought. I always tell my young pitching students that while we don't want to hit anyone on purpose, if you do happen to hit a batter she'd better cry. They seem amused by that.

 

[alabama_lowlife]

I always tell my young pitching students that while we don't want to hit anyone on purpose, if you do happen to hit a batter she'd better cry.

As told to me by another dad/coach with whom i work: "If you're gonna accidentally hit em, you better NOT hit em with a change-up! You better hit em with a fastball."