Larry is the author of several informative books on learning and playing very good baseball. His experience covers coaching at many different levels, up to and including the high school level. While working for a major media company for 37 years,he has had the privilege of talking to many professional baseball players, managers, coaches and scouts. His website is unique in that it offers many of his FREE tips, right on site. Visit him at http://www.larrybaseball.com/
Let's switch sports to football, but just for a second. I thoroughly enjoy it when a quarterback throws a "bomb" for a touchdown on first down. The reason for the successful "bomb" is usually that it was unpredictable and most likely the defense was looking for a running play. I think you now know where we're going with this.
As a baseball pitcher, you too better be unpredictable, especially when facing the better hitters! Try not to get into patterns where hitters know what pitch you are going to throw.
A very common problem with many pitchers is that they throw a first pitch fastball to almost all hitters. If a weak hitter is up, it is actually recommended. Just proceed with a bit more caution if a good hitter is up.
Let's say you are pitching and you start off the first three batters in a game with fast balls. If you throw a first pitch fastball to their number four hitter, you really have no right to be upset if he hits a bomb off you. No right to be upset whatsoever because you were predictable.
Good hitters will stay awake at night trying to figure out things to help them improve their baseball hitting. One of the things the good hitters do is to look for patterns like this, where a pitcher starts almost every hitter off with a fast ball. They are constantly looking to gain any advantage and that's one of the reasons they are good hitters. Good hitters talk about opposing pitcher's tendencies constantly while on the bench. As a pitcher, you want them to be talking about how you will throw any pitch on any count and how unpredictable you are.
Pitchers must mix in an occasional breaking ball or off speed pitch on the first pitch to keep hitters honest. Avoiding being predictable is not just limited to throwing a breaking ball on the first pitch.
One of many good baseball pitching tips is that you can be unpredictable when the count favors a hitter also. It doesn't have to be on the first pitch. You may be facing a very good hitter and the count is 2-0 or 3-1. You can practically see the smoke coming out of the good hitter's ears as he's "digging in" for your fast ball. What a perfect time to go "off speed" or to throw the breaking ball.
Batting averages are extremely low on 2-0 and 3-1 counts when the pitcher opts for a breaking ball or for an off speed pitch. Extremely low.
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