Pitch to Contact Pt 4 – Solution

Here’s a list of eight points that successful pitchers follow.  It doesn’t have a fancy name like Pitch to Contact.  It’s just called Pitching.

1. Get “Strike One,” on the first pitch of the at bat. I know this is a pretty obvious one, but in the era of taking pitches, the first pitch of an at bat is similar to a foul shot in basketball: it’s a free shot at the target!  It doesn’t matter what pitch you throw, just don’t be predictable and throw the same first pitch to every hitter.  Hitters aren’t dumb!  They’ll figure it out soon enough, look for “your” first pitch, and will take a good hack.
2. Learn to trust more than your fastball when behind in the count.  I vividly remember talking to a former big league pitcher and listening to him say that he HAD TO throw a fastball in 2-0 counts, because he didn’t want to run the risk of falling into a 3-0 count.  The way he said it, I almost thought it was one of those unwritten rules that I hadn’t heard of yet!  There’s nothing wrong with throwing a fastball in a 2-0 count, but don’t just throw it because you think you’re supposed to!  99% of the hitters out there want to hit a fastball, and CAN hit a fastball… especially when they KNOW you’re going to throw them one!  (After all, what pitch do they practice hitting the most?)
3. Don’t pitch to avoid walks.  This goes hand-in-hand with the last point, because pitchers have the tendency to worry about walking hitters when they fall behind in the count.  My thought: So What?!  Look, I’m not saying walks are a good thing, but they aren’t the worst thing that can happen to a pitcher.  You know what is?  Allowing hitters to take aggressive swings and pile up hard hit baseballs, because YOU threw pitches that were less-than your best, in order to avoid giving up a walk.  Always challenge hitters.  It doesn’t matter what pitch you’re challenging them with, just as long as you give your best effort to throw a quality pitch.
4. Keep your pitch sequences “unpredictable.” That simply means keeping hitters guessing.  As a “control pitcher,” I made a living of “pitching backwards,” or more specifically, throwing my change up in fastball counts.  If I (or my catcher) noticed the hitters picking up on my plan, the sequence changed.  Let me tell you, watching a big hitter stare at a “crushable” pitch, because it was “out of sequence,” is beyond priceless, and not to mention, allows you the option to go back to your “preferred pitch sequence.”  BTW – You want to know why Cliff Lee is, well, Cliff Lee?  Look no further than here!
5. Develop more than one pitch to lean on in any situation. This is similar to point number two, but not the same.  “Trust” (point 2) shows up during the game.  The time you take to develop “extra pitches,” happens away from the game mound.  This starts in the off season, and is maintained throughout the season.  If your off season workouts and in-season bullpens are “your pitch” dominant, you can’t expect to trust any other pitch in times when you really need to.
6. Don’t be afraid to throw to the upper part of the strike zone – and higher.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a great fastball either!  A guy like Jamie Moyer doesn’t throw hard – at all.  Yet he loves to throw fastballs a little up in the zone.  Why?  When a hitter sees that “fastball” creeping up to the plate, his eyes will light up, his hands will squeeze the life out of the bat, and he’ll over swing.  The result: pop up.  I don’t know about you, but when there’s runner’s in scoring position and the infield’s playing in, I’d much rather give up a pop up instead of a ground ball.
7. Don’t give hitters so much credit.  I can’t stand watching a pitcher get ahead 0-2 on a hitter, and then think they need to either waste a pitch (key word: waste) or start to nibble.  It’s 0-2!  You can’t get the hitter in a worse possible count.  Don’t do him any favors by allowing him back into the at bat by wasting pitches in order to “be a pitcher.”  What better time in the count can you get the hitter to take a weak swing?
8. Don’t worry about your pitch count totals.  I don’t want to get into how much it bothers me the massive amounts of attention pitch counts get, but let me just say this: don’t worry about your pitch count!  Pitch counts aren’t “The Debil,” (“Waterboy” reference) but they shouldn’t be the back bone of whether or not you had a successful outing.  I’ve had pitchers tell me that they had a great outing because they only threw “50 pitches,” despite the fact that those 50 pitches only got them through two innings.  What?  If you follow the rules I’ve laid out here, those 50 pitches would get you into the fourth inning – at the very least!  Go ahead and count pitches, but please divide that number by the number of hitters you’ve faced.  If you’re averaging more than five pitches per hitter, you’re doing something wrong.  (This point alone needs it’s own post!  I better stop here!)

Coach Bones