Food For Thought - Pitching Strategies

[Geronimo22]

I want to get some pitching strategy talk going. Understanding pitching is understanding hitting and vice versa. I'd like to hear some guys opinions on what pitching strategies work (in real life as well).

After listening to the Yankee game two days ago, I wrote down some comments I heard Al Leiter mention. Some are probably basic ideas...

1) Righty on righty or lefty on lefty - fastballs on the inside half are common.

2) I never like throwing a 0-2 change up unless you are going to throw it outside and out of the zone, so you can go back inside on the next pitch to get the batter out.

[BIG17EASY]

Those are both very basic tenets of pitching, although it's important for opposite-handed pitchers (righty facing a lefty hitter and vice versa) to get inside, as well. That's why so many lefties are now throwing a cutter that they can run inside on right-handed hitters to jam them.

Also, most pitchers don't like throwing any pitch in the strike zone on 0-2, not just changeups. When you're ahead in the count like that, it's best to get the hitter to chase a pitch for strike three rather than getting a called strike three. That way even if they make contact, the pitch is likely so far out of the zone that they don't make good contact.

[Joey]

Some of my pitching strategies.

First time through the lineup, I try to show as little of my repertoire to the hitters as I can. If I have 4 pitches, I try to only show 2. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't, but the idea is to save something in order to mix it up the 2nd and 3rd times through.

I like to work out, then in. If I get 2 strikes on a batter, I'll try to get them to chase something outside. If they don't bite or if they foul it off, I'll then try to bust them inside. But you have to mix it up some or else the CPU will pick up a pattern.

If it's a dangerous hitter and you fall behind them, don't give in. Nibble on the outside corner and, if you hit it, great. But if not, a walk is a lot better than grooving one in a hitter's count.

If more comes to me, I'll add them later.

[jkra0512]

Good strategies guys! I'm a guy who likes to change speeds often as well as the eye level of the hitter. To do that, like Joey said, throw only a few different pitches to start the game. For me, I like the fastball/changeup combo. THen slowing start showing your other offspeed stuff like curve, slurves, sliders, etc.

I also try to pitch to corners and not catch too much of the plate. If you know a batter's cold zone, attack them there to get ahead in the count. Having said that, getting ahead in the count and keeping the ball low are two axioms that player's shouldn't stray too far from, they're very important.

My favorite pitch sequence is going low fastball (strike), low fastball (strike), high fastball (ball), low outside with a changeup for the punch out. It's my absolutely favorite way of getting hitters out, doesn't happen all the time, but when my pitcher is on, he can make it rain all day.

[doubledeuceR6]

I like the fastball / changeup combo as well along with an occasional backdoor slider. The slider works well in on the hands on 0-2 counts also, make sure you get in though or it'll get hit hard!

I stay down in the zone alot with an occasional fastball up out of the zone just to show something different. I'll use a curveball from time to time but I cringe everytime I throw it!

[C_Bailey24]

I tend to pitch more to the outside on same sided batters and inside to opposite sided batters early in the bat. I heard one of the guys on MLB Network one time say "own the outside portion of the plate. So now i literally start off every same sided batter with something on the outside first time through the lineup and then adjust from there. I've also started to pick my battles more just like a real pitcher would as far as sometimes pitching around the top batters in the lineup when situation permits. Now of course when you're facing the Red Sox, Rangers, etc it's a little more difficult to do.

[Dogbarian]

Commanding the low outside corner was the Leo Mazzone mantra (for you young'uns, he was the Atlanta pitching coach up until a few years ago). And the old school theory was fastballs up and in, breaking stuff low and away.

However, I think one of the more subtle reasons that pitching is getting more dominant is because pitchers are moving away from those simple strategies. Greg Maddux was among the first to throw a 2-seamer inside to lefties, where it would look like a fastball off the plate in on their hands, but the movement would break it back over the low inside corner for a called strike. Of course, he had the control to pull that off - if you miss and get too much of the plate, well, that's the wheelhouse for many lefty sluggers.

A few years ago, changeups became the popular pitch, because it was easier on the arm, easier to teach young pitchers to throw, and with good arm motion, was deceptive to the hitters because it showed fastball, but wasn't (and the movement down was just a plus). Now, cutters are becoming popular, because it gives slider behavior without the red "keyholing" indicator that the batter could see and pick up on.

It's all about deception - confusing the hitter, giving him he doesn't expect.

What I like to do for starters is use the fastball heavily on the first time through the lineup, and sparingly use my breaking stuff, usually as an out pitch, or early in the count to "show" it, as well as establish pitcher confidence in it. The second time through the lineup, I start them off with breaking pitches, to mix it up.

Another thing I do on the first time through the lineup is to throw strike 1 on the first pitch. Then, after several hitters, I start throwing the first pitch a little further off the plate, since they start getting more aggressive. And since I hate walks, I try to avoid nibbling too much. If I get to 0-2, I'm not throwing a strike, but when I get to 2-2, I am definitely trying to throw a strike. Tom Glavine, I'm not.

As far as aiming specific pitches, I keep the breaking pitches at the bottom of the strike zone and almost always aiming to have them either break out of the zone, or catch the edge. Getting a lot of the plate with soft stuff is a recipe for getting smacked. With the exception of burying sliders or cutters down and in, I rarely have my stuff breaking "towards" the hitter, although on occasion I will go for "back-door" pitches, aiming a slider to break in over the outside corner. As I said with the 2-seam though, if you are going to miss that pitch, miss outside, not over the plate.

For relievers, I typically use a pattern of 2 fastballs, then a breaking pitch, then alternate fastball and breaking pitch for the rest of the at-bat. And depending on what pitches I have, I'll use a different one based on the batter. For example, my lefty RTTS reliever has a 4SFB, slider, and circle change. He'll use the slider against lefty batters and the circle change against righty batters, probably 80% of the time (occasionally using the opposite pitch to cross up the hitters).

[Heroesandvillains]

Pitches with similar movement, but varying velocity, can be deadly in this game.

Here are some combinations I love a starter having:

1. Cutter/Slider
2. 2-Seamer/Circle-Change
3. Straight Fastball/Straight Change
4. Curve/Slider

These allow the user to keep the hitter off balance. Show them the cutter just off the plate...show them the stright fastball in the same spot...then somewhere later in the at-bat, start the slider (all away) in the same spot as the two previous fastballs.

Like-movement pitches induce foul balls; getting the pitcher in 2 strike counts.

Along with this, starting pitches in similar areas of the strike zone are great for racking up K's.

A high and away straight fastball is a wonderful starting point for the high and away (I cannot emphasize AWAY enough. This curve has to be a ball) curveball to a like-handed hitter. The ball starts in the same place - same eye level - and can really fool a poor disciplined hitter.

I have PLENTY more to say on this subject, but it seems there's already some killer posts above me demonstrating the importance of in vs. out, up vs. down, and mixing speeds. All of which are essential to success.