PITCHER SMARTER NOT HARDER

Unless a pitcher can throw his breaking pitches for strikes around 85% of the time, he is cutting his own throat by throwing them much on 2-1,2-2,3-0,3-1,3-2. A pitcher that throws breaking pitches on those counts is saying that he has to fool the hitter in order to get him out. This is giving the hitter way too much credit. Every strike does not get hit, every ball hit is not a homerun, and if a hitter know what pitch is coming, that still does not mean he will get a hit. If you find yourself always trying to fool the hitter, you will find yourself walking a lot of hitters that you should not walk and 80% of them are going to score runs that should never be scored.

The only way to become a great pitcher is to overcome the fear of having the ball get hit. The great pitchers do not trick the hitters. When the count favors the hitter, the pitcher provides him with the opportunity to get himself out. He can increase his chances of getting the hitter out by changing speeds on the counts when the hitter is looking fastball. Watch a hitter in batting practice. The hitter know what pitch is coming, what speed and to what location. In this perfect hitting situration, a hitter rarely hits over .350. How much harder is it to hit when the hitter does not know what pitch is coming, at what speed, or where it is coming to? All the percentages in baseball favor the pitcher. It is the great pitchers who learn how to take advantage of this situation. That is what this type of pitch selection will do for you. Pitching is very easy; most pitchers make it way more difficult than it actually is.

Put pressure on the hitter
Make him hit the ball rather than walk him
Don't give the hitter too much credit
Us the counts

0-0: White	Challenge the hitter. If you go 0-1 on a hitter, he will hit around.240; if you miss and go 1-0, he will hit up-wards of .390. Obviously, it is a big psychological/statistical edge to have on a hitter. If you throw a strike on the first pitch, the hitter can take it for a strike or he can hit it. If he hits it, there is an 87% chance that the ball will be caught. Don't give the hitter more credit than he deserves; pitch offensively and challenge him. In simple terms, "Throw the first pitch strike to every batter".

0-1: Black	You are four pitches away from a walk and you can try to make a great pitch. Try to throw this pitch down, hard, and to the black. There is not need to give the hitter any pitch that he has a chance to hit hard. Start to bury the hitter on this count -- get it to 0-2.

1-0: White	It is a must to at least stay even with the hitter early in the count. This is a count to challenge the hitter and not a count to nibble or throw a low percentage strike pitch. Challenge the hitter, get a strike or an out on a hit ball. REMEMBER, EVERY STRIKE DOES NOT GET HIT -- you must throw a strike.

1-1: Black	You are back even with the hitter now and 3 balls away from a walk. Go ahead and try to make the great pitch on the black again. You are closer to a strike-out than a walk. Take advantage of the count. Throw something down on the black. Don't let the hitter escape these counts; put pressure on him. Let the count tell you when you can throw those great pitches that are unhittable on the black. If you miss, miss off the black down and it's no big deal. If you are trying to throw pitches down on the black, you will find that when you miss, you won't be missing belt high down the middle. Concentrate and you can get the pitch where you want it.

0-2: Off the Black	If you don't concentrate here and know exactly what you are doing, you are going to get burned. The mistake most pitchers make on 0-2 is that they think this is the time to really hump up or really bust off the wicked curve. The problem with that is when you try to do these type of things, you usually have less of an idea where the ball is going exactly. When you are this far ahead of the hitter, you don't want to throw a pitch unless you are sure of where it is going. This is a count where you want to know exactly where it is going. Forget the middle of the plate. The hitter has to widen his strike zone a little so you just widen yours also. Your goal here is to make the batter swing at a pitch just out of the strike zone. * Throw it outside. If thrown inside, the hitter will step into it. If thrown outside, there is greater room for mistakes It doesn't matter what kind of pitch you throw as long as it is a pitch that you can get into a certain area just about all the time. Most hitters are just about convinced that they are out when the count is 0-2. Don't let this opportunity slip away; use it. Give the hitter a pitch that he can get himself out with.

1-2: Black	This is the only strike-out situation. Use this count and bury the hitter. Make this the last pitch you throw to this hitter. Make that goal on this count. Thow something hard, down and on the black. Forget the hiddle of the plat and get all over the corners. The hitter know he is in the hole and he is on the defensive. If he gets a pitch on the black and hits it, he will not be able to hit it well. When you get to 1-2, throw him 1 more pitch; use the count.

2-2: White	If a pitcher walks a lot of hitters, he is usually making mistakes on this count. You do not want to get tricky or nibble on this count. Go back to putting pressure on the hitter. This is a great count to change speeds on. Don't be looking for a strike-out on 2-2. Throw a pitch that is a strike and get the groundball, flyball out.

2-0: White	This is another great count to change speeds. The hitter know that you need to throw a strike but many of them think that you are obligated to throw them a normal fastball. They will usually swing at anything near the zone; make sure you get the pitch in the zone because you don't want to go to 3-0. Make it easy on yourself and very tough on the hitter, and take something off of the fastball that he is looking for.

2-1: White	You are 2 pitches from a walk and 2 from a strike-out. This is not a count to get trick on. Put pressure on the hitter and challenge him. This is another good time to change speeds but whatever you do, go right after the hitter.

3-0 3-1 3-2: White	Over the course of a season 80% of all your walks will score. That is a lot of runs. One of the major goals should be to avoid walking hitters. Add to that the knowledge that over 85% of all balls hit are outs, then your goal should be to make the hitters hit the ball rather than walk them. This is the situration you are faced with on these counts. Don't try to fool hitters on these counts; put pressure on the hitter to hit the ball. 3-1 and 3-2 are great counts to change speeds on your fastball. No hitter is going to give up an at bat to look for an off-speed pitch on 3-2; the hitter is almost giving you an out on that count if you can take it. On these counts, the hitter is thinking you have to throw him a fastball that he can hit hard -- change speeds and get the pop up or ground out.