Five Rules to Live By for Pitchers
There are many unwritten rules with the game of baseball. Some of these "rules" are grounded with fact and data, while others are mere superstition. Overall, pitchers are very superstitious. It takes a very special person to be a pitcher. Some players hate having the spotlight on them during the majority of the game, and for a pitcher that is your role. No other player touches a baseball more during a game, besides a catcher, than a pitcher. Therefore, we must know what we are doing when we are out there. Like any position, there are a few rules to follow. These pitching rules are not of superstition, but followed by data. Therefore, these rules for pitchers will ensure success for any pitcher who steps on the mound.
Rule 1: First Pitch Strikes
Take a moment to first look at the table above. If a pitcher pitches a first pitch strike, the batting average goes to .319. If the pitch gets called ball one, then the batting average shoots up to .338. On-base percentage goes down as well if the pitcher pitches a first pitch strike. Most shockingly is the slugging percentage. Hitters who get ahead of the pitcher after the first pitch, has a huge chance to slug or hit for power. On the other hand, if the pitcher throws a first pitch strike, slugging percentage goes down seventy-five points. That is quite the swing in points. Therefore, pitching first pitch strikes is essential for damage to not be done by the opposing offenses.
Rule 2: First Man Outs
The first batter can be a difficult out to get for a pitcher. Many pitchers have expressed a mental roadblock for them in regards to the first batter they face. Once they get the first batter out, things seem to go smoothly for the pitcher. A key to overcome this mental roadblock, is to not focus on the significance of the first hitter faced. Instead, treat every hitter as an event. Focus on one out at a time. Then, the double play ball can truly be the pitcher’s best friend because the pitcher will get two outs for the effort of one out.
Rule 3: No Lead Off Walks
Lead off walks piggyback on the first man out mantra. Regardless of how the first batter gets on base, he will score 38% of the time. On average a leadoff walk or single leads to an average of .905 runs. This correlates to an Earned Run Average of 8.15. This is assuming the pitcher stays in for the whole inning and all of the runs are earned. Therefore, not allowing the leadoff hitter to reach first base in every inning is huge. After the first out is received, it is a deflating blow for any offense to score even one run because they only have two outs to get a batter across three bases and home plate.
Rule 4: No 0-2 to 3-2 Counts
Look back to the batting average, on base percentage, and the slugging percentage according to the plate appearance count. An 0-2 count has a slash line of .149/.159/.227. When the hitter works to get the count back to his favor the slash line improves to .204/.449/.348. Allowing the 3-2 count to happen after having an 0-2 count is inviting for trouble to happen. A mental key to focus on is to treat each pitch as an event. In other words, play one pitch at a time. This makes every pitch not feel bigger than the last. Which should alleviate any of the pressure the pitcher should feel in stressful situations.
Rule 5: No 2 Out Walks
The last rule is an important one. There are instances to where I have seen many pitchers pitching well and then they walk a hitter with two outs. After the walk, the pitcher tends to lose all sense of control on his pitches, and gives up a bunch of runs. A way to prevent this from happening is
to focus on one pitch at a time. The most important pitch is the current pitch.Therefore, all of the pitcher's focus should be on the current pitch.
All of these rules are backed with either real in-game experiences or by data. Therefore as players and coaches we must help our players find ways to overcome these mental roadblocks, and to create individual strategies for our players to find success. To simply assume that these events won't happen is unrealistic. What is realistic is helping the players find a way to prevent these events from overcoming their performance on the mound.
Rule 2: First Man Outs
The first batter can be a difficult out to get for a pitcher. Many pitchers have expressed a mental roadblock for them in regards to the first batter they face. Once they get the first batter out, things seem to go smoothly for the pitcher. A key to overcome this mental roadblock, is to not focus on the significance of the first hitter faced. Instead, treat every hitter as an event. Focus on one out at a time. Then, the double play ball can truly be the pitcher’s best friend because the pitcher will get two outs for the effort of one out.
Rule 3: No Lead Off Walks
Lead off walks piggyback on the first man out mantra. Regardless of how the first batter gets on base, he will score 38% of the time. On average a leadoff walk or single leads to an average of .905 runs. This correlates to an Earned Run Average of 8.15. This is assuming the pitcher stays in for the whole inning and all of the runs are earned. Therefore, not allowing the leadoff hitter to reach first base in every inning is huge. After the first out is received, it is a deflating blow for any offense to score even one run because they only have two outs to get a batter across three bases and home plate.
Rule 4: No 0-2 to 3-2 Counts
Look back to the batting average, on base percentage, and the slugging percentage according to the plate appearance count. An 0-2 count has a slash line of .149/.159/.227. When the hitter works to get the count back to his favor the slash line improves to .204/.449/.348. Allowing the 3-2 count to happen after having an 0-2 count is inviting for trouble to happen. A mental key to focus on is to treat each pitch as an event. In other words, play one pitch at a time. This makes every pitch not feel bigger than the last. Which should alleviate any of the pressure the pitcher should feel in stressful situations.
Rule 5: No 2 Out Walks
The last rule is an important one. There are instances to where I have seen many pitchers pitching well and then they walk a hitter with two outs. After the walk, the pitcher tends to lose all sense of control on his pitches, and gives up a bunch of runs. A way to prevent this from happening is
to focus on one pitch at a time. The most important pitch is the current pitch.Therefore, all of the pitcher's focus should be on the current pitch.
All of these rules are backed with either real in-game experiences or by data. Therefore as players and coaches we must help our players find ways to overcome these mental roadblocks, and to create individual strategies for our players to find success. To simply assume that these events won't happen is unrealistic. What is realistic is helping the players find a way to prevent these events from overcoming their performance on the mound.
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