PREPARATION - A Common Mismatch in Focus and Preparation
It doesn’t get much more personal than the hitter vs. pitcher match-up. One is trying to defeat and/or dispose of the other.
Hitters are taught to learn as much about the pitcher as possible before their encounter. Items like arm slot, pitch types, velocity, pitch patterns and tendencies provide information that enable the hitter to feel prepared and educated.
Pitchers are taught to feel what’s working for them that day and also be attentive to the hitter. Perhaps there is something about the hitters stance, pre-swing or swing that the pitcher can try to expose.
There is a big difference between theory and practice. Many players have great answers in terms of what they’re supposed to be doing during a game, but few actually apply it. The following scenario (below) does not embody every hitter/pitcher match-up, but more often than not, it’s an accurate depiction of what actually transpires.
The hitter (Brian runs off the field, takes off his cap and verifies he is hitting fourth this inning. He grabs his bat, takes out his batting gloves and sits on the bench.
The pitcher (Jeff) takes his warm-up pitches. He notices that he’s releasing his fastball early in his warm-up pitches and tells himself to stay back and balanced. He throws a breaking ball that he gets around and then snaps off a good one. He throws two change-ups and then a fastball from the stretch.
The hitter (Brian) is out of sunflower seeds. He goes to his buddy Jay and asks him for a handful of seeds. Jay jokes that Brian must owe him about 10,000 seeds. They break into a playful argument over who bums more stuff off the other.
The pitcher (Jeff) faces the first hitter. He throws two straight fastballs, the first for a called strike and the second fouled straight back. After missing with a breaking pitch down and away, he throws a fastball inside and jams the hitter for the first out. The next hitter holds his hands very low. Jeff throws a first-pitch fastball at the letters, and the hitter promptly pops the pitch up for the second out
The hitter (Brian) suddenly realizes that he’s on deck. He can’t locate his helmet. He’s searching all around for it, but can’t find it. He tries on another helmet, but it’s too tight. The next helmet is a little big, but workable. He hates using a different helmet. “Who the heck has my helmet,” he thinks.
The pitcher (Jeff) senses that the hitters are now looking for a first-pitch fastball. He starts the next hitter off with a change-up. The pitch pulled foul off the end of the bat. Jeff throws a breaking ball low and follows with a fastball up and in. The count runs to 2-1. Jeff is feeling himself rush out and tells himself to stay back. He doesn’t want to give up a two-out walk and decides to make the hitter earn his way on. He throws a hard fastball away
and the batter hits a line drive single up the middle.
The hitter (Brian) sees the base hit, grabs his bat and walks up to home plate. He hears his father call out to “get a good pitch.” The third base coach yells, “Come on everybody hits.” Brian remembers that he’s been dropping his back shoulder lately and reminds himself to drive down through the ball. He takes two practice swings.
Brian digs in the box, takes his stance and looks out at Jeff. Jeff toes the rubber and stares in at Brian.