fbpx

menu

365 Days to Better Baseball - Thinking Like Major League Pitchers

HomeBlogsJack Perconte's blog365 Days to Better Baseball - Thinking Like Major League Pitchers
HomeBlogsJack Perconte's blog365 Days to Better Baseball - Thinking Like Major League Pitchers
365 Days to Better Baseball - Thinking Like Major League Pitchers
Author: 
Jack Perconte

Thursday Throwing Tips Outsmarting the Opposition

Baseball players do not get to the major leagues on talent alone. Major league players use all their years of training to outthink the opposition. Of course, when they get to the major league level, they are playing against others who have done this too, so it is a difficult level to remain at.

English: English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Baseball pitchers have to be the most cerebral of all players because they must "outfox" batter after batter, while batters only have to do it when batting three or four times a game. Pitchers learn to use their pitches to set hitters up and get outs by changing speeds and locations. Additionally, professional pitchers, with the help of catchers, coaches and "the book" on hitters,' analyze batters swing from pitch to pitch to give them clues as to what might work to get the batter out.

Youth baseball pitchers do not get all this help, however those who learn to analyze the opponents swing tendencies have a great chance of getting more outs.

Youth baseballpitchers should learn to notice if batters are:

  1. Late or early on their fastball when late inside fastballs are best, when early off speed pitches and outside pitches is the way to go
  2. Under, over or just missing their fastball when under high fastballs are best, when over low balls, when just missing and fouling straight back, off speed pitches
  3. Waiting back on their off speed pitches or lunging at them when lunging, off speed pitches are best, when waiting back, fastballs with a mixture of all pitches

 

Of course, a well-placed pitch of any kind puts the pitcher at the advantage and one that pitchers have the most confidence in throwing, but observing batters' tendencies is part of the pitching, learning process. Having a good memory is also important for pitchers, as it will help them if they remember batters from at-bat to at-bat.

About Jack Perconte

After playing major league baseball, Jack Perconte has taught baseball and softball since 1988 and offered valuable coaching training too. He has helped numerous youth players reach their potential, as well as having helped parents and coaches navigate their way through the challenging world of youth sports. Jack is one of the leading authorities in the areas of youth baseball training and coaching training advice.

All Jack Perconte articles are used with copyright permission.

Get Jack's Books on Amazon

latest comments

There are 0 comments on "365 Days to Better Baseball - Thinking Like Major League Pitchers"

 

 

 

post a comment

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.