PITCHING – Be accurate outside the strike zone.

(this is an excerpt from Mark Gola’s forthcoming book, Baseball’s Sixth Tool)

A pitcher throws four pitches to a batter. The fourth pitch is on a 1-2 count and the batter taps a groundball to shortstop for an out.

All four pitches were out of the strike zone. Is the pitcher wild? Not exactly. He's accurate outside of the strike zone.

Coaches talk about pitchers being wild in the strike zone. What they mean by that is the pitches are getting too much of the middle of the plate. Despite the fact the pitcher is throwing strikes, they are not quality strikes that are located in an area that troubles the hitter.

The flip side of that is being accurate outside of the strike zone. Anxious hitters have a tendency to chase pitches, so if they don't possess the discipline to lay off balls out of the strike zone, why throw them anything in the strike zone? In addition, these pitches can also serve as purpose pitches that set up another pitch. Here are a few examples.

1. Getting a hitter to climb the ladder up and then out of the strike zone.

2. Moving the hitter’s feet. Get him feeling uncomfortable.

3. Breaking ball in the dirt to see if he’ll chase.

4. Changeup down an away to get a rollover ground ball.

5. Fastball up and in to get a pop-up with runners in scoring position.

6. Expanding the strike zone in an attempt to get calls from the umpire off the plate.

It is important, however, that you're accurate outside the strike zone. Pitches far outside of the zone won't get even free swingers to bite. They must be inviting enough so that hitters will commit to starting their hands. If this sounds easy, it’s not! Few pitchers spend time learning to throw balls. But they should.

Aggressive hitters are targets, but game situations can make hitters over-anxious as well. A runner on third base with less than two outs is a perfect example. A batter is hoping to get a pitch to drive. Use that to your advantage. Know that he needs to get the barrel out to drive the ball and will commit to swing a fraction sooner. Throw a pitch that's just off the plate and you'll set him up to get himself out.