LOS ANGELES, CA — Beginning with youth baseball, there is too much emphasis on pitchers throwing as hard as they can for as long as they can, with absolutely no fundamental development on how to pitch to a hitter. Kids are told what to throw and where from an early age by a coach sitting in the dugout. Sorry, but that coach cannot see how a hitter is set up in the box from that spot as well as the pitcher and catcher can.
The pitcher and catcher are in a game of their own during a nine-inning game, attempting to work the strike zone – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
Every hitter is different, and it is not about throwing something with utmost velocity. Two things will eventually catch up to players who never learn how to “Pitch.”
Number One: They will slowly see that batters will ultimately be able to time that fastball that has little movement, requiring the pitcher to develop more sink or run on that heater, which he can do by twisting his arm into a pretzel to get it to move. Over time, that will lead to soreness and possible long-term injuries. They need to work on command and control—not velocity.
Number Two: It takes years of pitching to hitters to know what and why you are throwing that pitch. The coach can not see the batter’s face or body language. Nor can he see how he is set up in the box with his feet. Learning how to read a hitter takes years of trial and error. Sometimes, a hitter will swing and miss at a particular pitch, and the coach calls for it again. In the meantime, the well-learned pitcher will think, “I got away with that pitch and am not going to throw that to him again today.”
The bottom line is to teach these young pitchers how to pitch to a batter and allow them to think for themselves. Have them work on pitches that they feel comfortable throwing, and show them how to change speeds on all of their pitches. Let them have the courage to throw a 0-3 curveball or change away.
Billy Connors, a great pitching coach for the Cubs and Yankees, would always tell me stories about coaching his pitchers. Sometimes, it was about throwing a cutter or change-up and other ways to fool a hitter. In some cases, it was about how a hitter would try to fool you to get you to throw that pitch again.
But the one thing that sticks in my memory is what he always told his pitchers: “Your job is to get out of the inning and get your team off the field and not to see how hard you can throw that rock!”
That requires knowing how and what to throw in a situation. It’s not about velocity.
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