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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Pound the Strike Zone!!

Locke pounded the zone -- throwing 67 of his 92 pitches for strikes -- and he worked perfect innings in six of his seven frames. He only ran into trouble in the fourth when he allowed all three of his hits and his lone run, which came on a Ryan Howard single through the shift. He was coming off his shortest outing of 2014, as he walked five and gave up five runs over three innings against the Cardinals last Tuesday.
"[Catcher Russell Martin] has been stressing to me over and over and over, how much more uncomfortable it is of an at-bat when you're behind," Locke said. "I was just trying to get ahead of these guys. It doesn't have to be your best fastball, changeup, curveball, but just find a way to get ahead of these guys and you can find a way to put them away."

"Pound the zone", "put it on a copier" -- whatever the catch phrase du jour is -- this really goes to the fundamental confrontation in baseball, which is not necessarily between the two teams, although ultimately it is, but the many pitcher - hitter confrontations battled throughout the game.

It goes back to the Theo Epstein quote:
Plate discipline, pitch recognition, strike zone awareness are each different building blocks of a successful hitting approach.  Mechanics and strength training might get more attention, but baseball skills that center around controlling the strike zone are becoming more and more valuable.  How important is plate discipline? 
I’ll reference Chicago Cubs president, Theo Epstein, here:
I believe 90 percent of the game revolves around controlling the strike zone

Ninety percent of the game is a huge chunk. Controlling the strike zone and the count are the most important predictors of success for both pitchers and hitters. Which is why there is increased emphasis on plate discipline stats for hitters and K/BB ratios for pitchers. The rate at which you win these inter-game battles ultimately determines who wins the game at-large. 

Kuip and Kruk were just talking about the difference between a waste pitch and a waste(d) pitch. Below are a couple of definitions. Very important difference in how pitchers and coaches attack hitter. I see so many that get will get the hitter to 0-2, the worst hitting platform to hit from, and then immediately throw more of a waste(d) pitch than a true waste pitch. 


waste pitch
Web definitions
is a pitch designed to be outside of the strike zone which will entice the batter to swing at a bad pitch or to set up the next pitch location and type.


waste a pitch[edit]

  • When a pitcher gets ahead in the count he may choose to throw a pitch that is outside the strike zone in hopes that the batter will chase a pitch he can't hit. "Waste a pitch" is the opposite of attack the strike zone. An example of this usage drawn from a Q & A session: "Basically, it's the preference of pitchers on the mound about wasting pitches. Tigers hurlers choose to attack opposing hitters." Wasting a pitch is the pitching counterpart to the batter "taking" a 3-0 pitch in the hope that the pitcher will throw another one outside the strike zone and result in a base-on-balls.
 http://www.hardballtimes.com/a-pitch-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-or-is-it-part-1/
http://www.hardballtimes.com/a-pitch-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-or-is-it-part-2/


Here is where the rubber hits the road in this count management emphasis, in the game strategy area. Pitching coaches appear to be split somewhat into FPS or first pitch strike guys and More 1-2 than 2-1 counts guys. You can make a compelling case for either, I thin beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 0-2 is the worst count to hit from so a first pitch strike is the only path to the that platform. But there is not that much of a increase in average to the hitter that if a pitcher can get to 1-2 more often than 2-1 versus even the 0-2 count that pitchers cannot be effective. For younger pitchers or those who sometimes struggle with control, putting too much pressure/emphasis on that first pitch might be a negative to the AB.

Food for thought. 

from Beyond the Box Score:
AL East Pitching Coach Philosophies


Interestingly, all three of the aforementioned pitching coaches believe strongly in making the 1-1 pitch count. This idea has also been trumpeted by Dr. Mike Marshall, with the idea that while the first pitch is very important, it is also a pitch where a lot of damage is done by hitters, so trying to get ahead with an uninspired first pitch fastball should not be automatic.
One way to interpret the philosophy shared by these coaches is that they want to maximize the number of 1-2 counts and minimize the number of 2-1 counts. With this in mind, we can look at how these three teams have executed in getting to these counts.

'via Blog this'


more from the article:

Baltimore Orioles

(Rick Peterson, Director of Pitching Development, quote from 2013)
"So the most critical count of all is the 1-1 count," Peterson said. "That’s a 260-point swing. … So we’re telling our catchers and our pitchers, we’re not looking for backdoor knuckle sliders on the black on the 1-1 count. It’s a low percentage strike. Let’s throw a high percentage strike."

Boston Red Sox

(Juan Nieves, Pitching Coach, quote from 2013)
"After the first three pitches, I want everybody to be 1-2. That’s my favorite count," pitching coach Juan Nieves said.

Tampa Bay Rays

(Jim Hickey, Pitching Coach, quote from 2013)
"It's almost a 200-point swing in on-base percentage with one ball and two strikes as opposed to two balls and one strike," Hickey told the pitchers. "Get ahead, and everybody becomes David Price," the team's 2012 Cy Young Award winner.

As we have seen before, even really good hitters struggle a bit when put down in the count 0-2 and 1-2 on a consistent basis. Obviously, the reverse is also true, get behind in the count to a good / great hitter is simply asking for trouble.

from theoleballgame.com
Batting Splits By Counts

Take a look at the tables below, we'll disect them further down! I promise you, these statistics are not boring or fluff, they are a tool as much as a bat, glove and fungo are tools.
AL 2009 / Top 10 Averages
CountJoe Mauer (.365 )Ichiro Suzuki (.352 )Derek Jeter (.334 )Miguel Cabrera (.324 )Michael Young (.322 )Robinson Cano (.320 )Jason Bartlett (.320 )Erick Aybar (.312 )Denard Span (.311 )Magglio Ordonez (.310 )
0-0.474.453.448.388.450.432.290.358.444.393
1-0.469.410.389.514.370.373.429.356.304.259
2-0.591.516.321.286.520.294.250.500.333.267
3-0.000.000.500.500.000.000.000.000.000.000
0-1.439.351.354.422.354.329.357.317.391.342
1-1.491.431.474.328.327.257.397.328.337.432
2-1.509.432.306.425.414.455.371.520.357.324
3-1.355.350.400.467.643.417.381.375.750.500
0-2.256.351.182.294.051.256.214.222.344.240
1-2.241.184.253.099.125.329.303.273.238.321
2-2.239.247.274.222.220.227.239.236.247.212
3-2.317.383.314.327.404.204.339.214.167.224

NL 2009 / Top 10 Averages

CountHanley Ramirez (.342 )Pablo Sandoval (.330 )Albert Pujols (.327 )Todd Helton (.325 )Joey Votto (.322 )Chris Coghlan (.321 )Ryan Braun (.320 )Miguel Tejada (.313 )Felipe Lopez (.310 )Nyger Morgan (.307 )
0-0.470.357.417.340.415.317.418.388.388.405
1-0.395.519.442.432.321.600.514.323.442.432
2-0.381.412.409.333.176.471.500.333.500.667
3-0.500.000.333.500.667.000.0001.000.000.000
0-1.389.383.333.244.567.314.416.322.354.403
1-1.421.429.306.457.382.451.377.329.400.373
2-1.429.286.212.500.545.345.343.432.351.583
3-1.400.308.400.368.286.357.308.444.500.000
0-2.150.184.196.139.250.214.221.354.130.154
1-2.134.221.250.247.197.286.231.221.262.167
2-2.235.284.263.293.190.189.204.208.208.123
3-2.333.278.333.333.324.303.267.262.254.356




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