The Curveball: Part 3

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

When last I blogged we were discussing the curveball and the mechanics involved with how to hit this pitch. This week I want to discuss exactly what pitchers are trying to do with the breaking ball when they are attacking hitters. I believe that if you as a hitter understand how the pitcher is trying to go after you with the breaking ball, you will be better prepared to hit it OR lay off of it.

First lets deal with a RHP vs a RHH or LHP vs LHH:
Generally speaking, early in the count the pitcher is trying to throw the curve for a strike. In doing so they are usually going to start by throwing the curve at you, usually at your waist and let it break over the plate. The idea being, if they start it at you they can raise doubt in your mind and get you to bail out or at least freeze. This pitch is actually a good one to hit because it is intended to be thrown for a strike which means it is going to cross the plate around mid-thigh level. This is an elevated curve that you can get good wood on. (as long as you don't bail out)

Once the pitcher has two strikes on you he does not want to throw you a strike. He wants to throw a breaking ball that starts as a strike then breaks out of the zone. See the final pitch of the world series for a perfect example. By starting this breaking ball in the zone, the pitcher gets the hitter to start his bat, by breaking it out of the zone he gets the hitter to chase a bad pitch, which he is either going to miss or hit weakly. This breaking ball usually starts down the middle and breaks low and away out of the zone, often in the dirt. If as a hitter you know this, you can train yourself to take this pitch and force the pitcher to bring the ball up in the zone. Anytime you get the pitcher to bring the ball up in the zone it is going to work in your favor.

Next lets talk about the RHP vs. LHH or LHP vs. RHH:
In these match-ups the breaking ball is no longer going away from the hitter but actually coming towards the hitter. Because of this, the pitcher has to adjust how he attacks the hitter with the curve. In these match-ups, the pitcher usually will try to throw a backdoor curve for a strike early in the count. Meaning he will throw the breaking ball by starting it off the outside corner of the plate then break it over the outside corner for a called strike. The thought being he will get the hitter to give up or quit on the pitch because he thinks it is a ball, and then drop it in late for an easy called strike. As long as you dont give up on this pitch too soon, it is a good pitch to hit because it it elevated and easily shot into the opposite field.

With two strikes, the pitcher will try to break the curve at your back big toe. He will start the breaking ball middle-in at strike height, but get it to break low and in under your bat. Usually the hitter will either swing over the top of it, foul it off his foot or dribble it weakly on the ground. Again as a hitter you must train yourself to lay off of this pitch and make the pitcher bring the ball up in the zone. If you get the pitcher bringing the ball up in zone you will have a great chance of getting a good pitch to hit.

Tune in next time as we will cover the final part of this series when we discuss, "How to practice hitting the Curveball."

Quote of the week:
The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage of weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.
-- Hank Aaron

Matt Schilling is the Senior Director of On-Field Instruction at Baseball Factory. Schilling graduated from Coastal Carolina University, where he was an All-Conference and All-State player while being voted the fourth best second baseman in the country by the Smith Award Group. Schilling went on to coach at Coastal for five years, helping them reach the top 25. He is also a former Associate Scout with the Atlanta Braves.

Situational Hitting: Part 4

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

We have been discussing situational hitting and ways to make yourself a productive hitter by executing when in "situational hitting" situations. This week we are going to discuss the following situations:

1. Hit and Runs

2. Leading off an Inning

Hit and Runs:

Every coach seems to have a slightly different opinion on what they want their hitters to do on a hit and run. In general a perfect hit and run will have the batter hit a ground ball to the opposite field. When a runner is on first, the middle infielder who is on the hitter's opposite field side usually has coverage of second in the event of a steal. So if the hitter can hit a ground ball through the vacated hole caused by the middle infielder covering second, you have a perfect hit and run. The problem is that the pitcher doesn't always throw a good pitch that you can hit on the ground to the opposite field side, so what do you do?

I have a few rules of thumb that will help you with a hit and run. First, if your coach puts this sign on, you HAVE to swing at the pitch, even if it is a ball. The only pitch I would not want you to swing at is a ball in the dirt. A pitch in the dirt is very difficult for the catcher to try to throw a runner out on, so there is no point in swinging just to protect the runner. Next, focus on hitting the ball on the ground but don't worry so much about hitting it to the opposite field, focus more on hitting it where it is pitched. I have seen too many players get an inside fastball and try to hit a grounder the other way and they wind up getting jammed and popping up, sometimes resulting in a double play.

So...focus mostly on getting the ball on the ground and hitting it where it is pitched. If you can take it "oppo," do, but do it without altering your swing too much. Lastly, most young players that I see get the hit and run sign from their coach, will chop down at the pitch. You need to have enough bat control to be able to hit a good, solid ground ball without having to significantly change your swing. Talk to your coach and ask him what he wants from a hit and run and make sure that you are clear on what expectations he has.

Leading off an Inning:

The leadoff hitter on a team is usually the best at getting on base and usually has some speed. The problem is that he very often only leads off the first inning. As hitters we are all going to be leadoff men. We are all going to have the responsibility of getting a rally started. So what types of things should you do to be effective?

First, raise your intensity. When your team is down a run in the 9th inning it always amazes me how much the offensive team raises its itensity. All of a sudden players are doing whatever they possibly can to get on base. They move up in the box, up on the plate, try to get hit by pitches, they will dive head first into first base trying to beat out a ground ball. All kinds of extra effort in just to try to get on base. Why don't players and teams do this in say the 3rd inning? Because the game is not on the line...or is it?

As hitters, if you are leading off an inning, get your butt on base! Do whatever it takes. I would suggest moving up on the plate a little bit. Often pitchers don't like the look of a batter on top of the plate and it will intimidate them enough to pitch away from you and out of the zone. This can get you into a hitters count giving you a better chance to get a better, more predictable pitch to hit. As we have discussed in previous blogs, this gives you a much better chance to get a hit and get on base. Lastly, check the defense. Often the corner infielders may be asleep the first few pitches of a new half inning. They may be playing a little too deep which may give you a chance to drop a bunt for a hit.

All of the situations that we have covered are immensily important to the success of your team and to your production as a hitter. Always make sure you are clear in your mind at what your job is and what you have to do to be successful in that situation. If your mind is clear you will function much better without a hesitation in the box. Good luck and EXECUTE, your coach will love you for it.


Schilling graduated from Coastal Carolina University, where he was an All-Conference and All-State player while being voted the fourth best second baseman in the country by the Smith Award Group. Schilling went on to coach at Coastal for five years, helping them reach the top 25. He is also a former Associate Scout with the Atlanta Braves.

Work the Count - Take a Strike: Part 2

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

Last week I wrote about the two quotes mentioned in the title: "Work the Count" and "Take a Strike." I commented that I did not like these comments because they were misleading and incomplete. The fact is that the more balls and the less strikes that you have, the better off you are. AND the first pitch of an at-bat is in fact a VERY good pitch to hit. I based a lot of these facts off the statistics of Major League hitters last season and of other seasons that I have researched. I used the following chart which I showed last week and I will show again this week:

Batting average by count for all MLB players in 2007:

0-0 = .344

1-0 = .341

2-0 = .351

3-0 = .394

0-1 = .324

1-1 = .327

2-1 = .338

3-1 = .368

0-2 = .166

1-2 = .178

2-2 = .195

3-2 = .233

As you can see, when hitters have two strikes on them they are not very successful. When they swing in non two strike counts, they have much greater success. At the end of last weeks blog I left you with a question. What count do you think gives up the most homeruns? My guess would have been 2-0 or 3-1, traditionally great hitters counts. The answer: 0-0.

WOW! This answer blew me away, but it does make sense. For one thing, every hitter is guaranteed to have a 0-0 count every at-bat. But the other reason is that big league hitters have figured out something that pitching coaches all over the world don't want hitters to know.

ALL PITCHERS ARE TAUGHT TO GET AHEAD OF THE HITTER!

Sorry to yell but this is so obvious. No pitching coach teaches his pitcher to fall behind (look at the chart above for the obvious reason). So if as a hitter you know the pitcher is trying his best to throw a strike with the first pitch, why on earth would you want to take it? Chances are high that you will get a strike, and if you swing at strikes you have a much better chance to hit.

I once went to a baseball clinic and heard a very well respected Division I baseball coach speak on pitching. For 30 minutes he went on and on regarding the importance of getting ahead of the hitter and throwing strike one. After a 15 minute break he then spoke on hitting and preached the importance of working the count deep and taking pitches. To me this made no sense. Clearly this guy must have been a pitcher at heart. Why on earth would you tell hitters to take strikes if you are telling pitchers to throw strikes early? Am I missing something?

The truth of the matter is that teams who see a lot of balls and lay off bad pitches are very successful. The Yankees and Red Sox are great at this. Rarely do you see their hitters swing at bad pitches. As a result they do work the count, by taking balls, not strikes. Their hitters get themselves into advantage counts ( 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1) a lot. That is working the count the right way.

For fun I thought that I would rattle off a few more facts for you that you might find interesting.

Again these are based on the 2007 MLB season and were found at Baseball Reference:

• The best count for hitting home runs was 0-0 giving up 853 dingers.


• The next closest count was 1-0 giving up 615. (clearly swinging early helps)


• Worst count was 0-2 with only 173 round trippers.


• 0-0 count gave up the most doubles, triples, homers and RBI's.


• The next most productive count in all those categories was 1-1.


• When a pitcher got ahead of a hitter 0-1 they struck out 21,644 batters! (now you know why pitchers want to throw strike one and why I am so against taking a strike)


• In contrast when the pitcher fell behind 1-0 they were only able to K 10,545 batters.

Clearly you can see that swinging the bat in one of the first three pitches that you see can make you very productive as a hitter(if those pitches are strikes). The deeper the count goes the more the hitter tends to tense up and try to put the ball in play. The earlier in the count you swing the looser you are and the more you try to drive the ball. So use this insider information, understand what the pitcher is trying to do and step in the box ready to swing early in the count and watch your confidence, batting average and production rise.

Matt Schilling is the Senior Director of On-Field Instruction at Baseball Factory, Schilling handles all on-field elements, including one-on-one training.

Schilling graduated from Coastal Carolina University, where he was an All-Conference and All-State player while being voted the fourth best second baseman in the country by the Smith Award Group. Schilling went on to coach at Coastal for five years, helping them reach the top 25. He is also a former Associate Scout with the Atlanta Braves.

Work the Count - Take a Strike

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

"Work the Count."

"Take a Strike."

These two famous phrases that we always hear from hitting coaches have been around for a long time. While I partly agree with some of what "they" are saying, ultimately I believe that these are flawed, incomplete and misleading comments for hitting coaches to make.

For years I have been told as a hitter, "The more pitches you see, the better your chance to hit." I have also been told to, "work the count deep." So this would lead me to believe that batting averages on deeper counts SHOULD be better. These well accepted hitting philosophies must be right because I have been hearing them for as long as I can remember. In fact, they have become an unwritten rule in baseball. I personally have never bought into these ideas, mostly because I liked to swing at the first pitch. So I did some research and came up with some very interesting findings. The following numbers were obtained from http://www.baseball-reference.com/ and are based on the 2007 Major League Season.

Batting average by count for all MLB players in 2007:

0-0 = .344
1-0 = .341
2-0 = .351
3-0 = .394
0-1 = .324
1-1 = .327
2-1 = .338
3-1 = .368
0-2 = .166
1-2 = .178
2-2 = .195
3-2 = .233

Based on these numbers you can see that simply "working the count deep" and "taking a strike" is not necessarily effective. If it were, then the 3-2 count should be the best count to hit in and clearly it is not. The fact is, the less strikes you have and the more balls that you have the better off you are. Just another reason why it is so important to swing at strikes only. Also it appears that the first pitch of an at-bat is a GREAT pitch to hit! So why on earth would we want to take a strike? (unless of course the pitcher can't throw strikes)

Take some time to review these statistical facts and tune in next week for a deeper discussion on this topic. Oh, and one last thing, what count do you think gives up the most homeruns?