The Curveball: Part 4

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

We have been discussing the curveball and how to hit it and how pitchers are trying to use it to get you out. Today we are going to discuss some different ways to practice hitting the curveball.

If you think about it, most hitters practice hitting fastballs about 99% of the time. Therefore it is no shock that most hitters are better at hitting fastballs than any other pitch. Imagine if in your daily routine or practice sessions you could change that to 75% fastballs and 25% off-speed pitches. You would make great improvement in your ability to hit off-speed pitches. What I have found is not only does it make hitters better at hitting breaking balls but it actually enhances their ability to hit the fastball and use the whole field. When you only work on hitting fastballs it is easy to develop the habits of lunging at the pitch, not keeping your weight centered, and not keeping your hands back; because you can get away with some of these flaws to hit a fastball. There is no way you could get away with these flaws when facing a pitcher who changes speeds (which most pitchers do).

So what can you do to work on hitting breaking balls? Here are a few ideas for you:

1. Change of speed side toss
Have a friend flip you normal good old fashion side toss; however, he will need to vary the height of the flips. A low flip will get to you quicker, much like a fastball. A high looping flip will be slower and take longer to come down into the hitting area, much like a curveball. Sometimes have him simply pump fake the pitch without telling you. If you can take the pitch centered and balanced you are in good position, if you have commited yourself forward, your in trouble. This drill will help you to feel yourself get to your launch position without commiting to a fastball or curveball and will give you the chance to hit either one.

2. Change of speed front toss:
Have your buddy set up behind an L-screen about 15 feet in front of you and flip you front toss, but rather than just pumping you straight pitch after straight pitch, have him loop the tosses up a little higher with a little spin on it. This will simulate a slower, looping pitch much like a breaking ball and it will get your eyes in tune with looking for spin.

3. Machine curveballs:
If you have access to a pitching machine, set it up to throw you curveballs. But don't set it up to throw the nasty sharp down breaker. Set it up to throw you hangers. A hanging curve is a mistake, HITTERS MUST KILL MISTAKES! The really good, tight, sharp breaking balls are great pitchers pitches. First train yourself to hit the mistakes, if you get good at that you can start working on the pitchers pitch.

4. Live BP:
If you have a friend or coach who can throw a decent breaking ball in batting practice, have him throw it to you. Have him throw you regular fastball batting practice, then breaking ball batting practice and then have him mix it up.

5. Pitch recognition:
Simply play catch with a buddy who pitches. Get about 60 feet apart and have him throw fastballs, breaking balls and change ups to you. It does not have to be full speed and you can do it standing up. Work to try to recognize the pitch in his release point. Shout out what pitch it is as fast as you recognize it. Sometimes you will be wrong...so what. The goal is to train your eyes and brain to recognize what pitch is coming to you as quickly as possible.

I hope these tips help you. Implement these drills into your practice sessions and see your batting average and hitting ability rise. Good luck!

Quote of the week:

Before everything else; getting ready is the secret of success.

-Henry Ford


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.

The Curveball

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

On a daily basis I see hitters both young and old struggle with one particular pitch. Day in and day out I see guys swing and miss and wave at this demon of a pitch. I see the same mistakes over and over again and it drives me crazy. In college I majored in History. There is one quote attributed to history that I love and it crosses over all walks of life and especially into baseball. "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it." In other words, if you don't pay attention you can make the same mistakes over and over again. Or even better, learn from your mistakes. This demon pitch that I am referring to is the curveball.

I see hitters struggle with this pitch endlessly. At the big league level Wily Mo Pena quickly comes to mind. This guy can hit the ball a mile and has tremendous bat speed, yet he is not a very productive hitter because he has one enormous weakness...he can't hit a curveball and pitchers know it. I go out and watch high school and youth games and I see much of the same.

From my point of view it appears that three major problems are happening:

1. Hitters have no idea how to hit a curveball.

2. Hitters have no idea what the pitcher is trying to do with the curveball.

3. Hitters do not practice hitting curveballs enough.

Over the next few weeks I will be discussing a plan of attack for hitters on how to attack this evil demon.

Quote of the week:

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should accomplish with your ability" - John Wooden, legendary basketball coach


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 3

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

The last few weeks we have been discussing situational hitting and being able to execute when faced with those situations as a hitter. Last week we talked about suicide and safety squeeze bunts. This week we are going to focus on the next two on the list:

Man on 2nd with Nobody Out
&
Man on 3rd with Less than Two Outs

When a coach says that his team does all the little things well, these two items are big ones on that list. I go crazy watching professional games because so often the big leaguers do not execute in these situations. Worse yet it does not even appear that they are really trying to execute correctly. As young players you can make yourself a valuable member of the team and a productive hitter if you can execute in these spots.

Man on 2nd with Nobody Out

This is when you are not asked to bunt by your coach but you must still advance the runner to 3rd. A simple ground ball to second will do the job perfectly; however, I prefer to have my hitters look to drive the ball to the right side. The key for hitters in this situation is to get a pitch on the outside portion of the plate if you are a right-handed hitter and on the inside portion of the plate if you are a left-handed hitter. Simply swinging at a pitch in the correct portion of the zone makes your job much easier. In the end you need to hit the ball behind the runner and ideally on the ground so that the runner can advance to 3rd. It does not matter if you make an out, you will have done your job.

Man on 3rd with Less than Two Outs

This is probably the most important situation that you can be in. This is when there is an RBI on the line. You have got to score that runner. Teams work so hard to get runners to 3rd with less than two outs so that it makes it easier to score the run. What is critical in this situation is that you are aware of where the defense is playing. If the infield is back, all you need to do is hit a routine ground ball out and you will score the run. If the infield is in, you will need to drive a fly ball to the outfield or hard through the middle.

When in this situation many young hitters will alter their swing too much to try and hit a fly ball and will pop up in the infield. You must keep your head down and stay on the ball so that you can make solid contact. Focus simply on hitting slightly below center on the ball so that you can get the necessary lift. When in these spots, keep it simple and don't try to do too much. Don't try to hit a homerun when a simple ground out will do the job.

Remember these tips and be in control of what you are trying to do in these situations and you will become a clutch run producer for your team. Next week we will talk about hit-and-runs, a man on second with two outs and leading off an inning.


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.

Tool Talk: Hitting

Andy Ferguson: Another Day, Another Double Play

Throughout my travels, I always try my best to take some time and catch up with each tool. It is always interesting to learn about players from the point of view of the tools themselves. Some have more to say than others, not only about their own particular importance and value, but also about the relationships they have with other tools.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with the tool Hitting. Hitting’s job is defined by the ability to get base hits, but as people have begun to look at the statistics that support Hitting a little differently, his job description is beginning to change as well. He is particularly outspoken about his fellow tool Power, and how Power can’t truly exist on its own.

Andy: Hitting, good to see you again. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Thanks for spending some time with us today.

Hitting: No problem. You and I didn’t spend much time together while you were playing, that’s for sure, but now that you are scouting you have been spreading my good word. Always a pleasure.

Andy: Thanks for pointing out that I wasn’t a very good hitter…AGAIN. I am sure everyone knows that by now. If you keep it up, I may go and try to make friends with Running – even after all my comments about how the 60-yard dash is overrated.

Hitting: Oh, all right. I’m sorry. My cousin, Five O’clock Hitter, said you and he got along real well. That’s gotta count for something huh?

Andy: Well, he's right. I certainly could hit in batting practice, just not when the game started...but enough about me. I wanted to talk to you today about your relationship with one of your fellow tools, Power.

Hitting: Oh, him. He always gets all the credit. Oh, look! A homerun! Blah, blah, blah. I’m so sick of hearing about him. He’s nothing without me, at least that’s what I’ve been trying to tell everyone for years.

Andy: Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t realize it was such a sore spot for you, but since it seems to be on your mind, why don’t you tell us about it?

Hitting: Now we’re talking! First of all, just so we all are clear, players use me to get base hits – not just singles, but any kind of base hit. That counts doubles, triples, homeruns, and heck even walks too. Players that can really use me well go to the plate with a good plan, they swing at strikes, and they make a lot of hard contact.

Andy: Yeah, yeah. We know all about that. Matt Schilling has been saying a lot of good things about you in his blog entries.

Hitting: Really? I’ll have to check those out. Running told all us other tools that all he ever heard Matt talk about was 60 yards this, 60 yards that. After all, he did coach at Coastal Carolina you know.

Andy: Of course I know that, and believe me...we have all heard his claims about runners. Back on task please?

Hitting: Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. As I was saying, if a player doesn’t have a good enough grasp on how to use me, he may be able to use my friend Power in batting practice but he sure won’t be able to use him in games consistently. He won’t be able to make good enough contact, especially on good velocity and off speed pitches, to be able to get to Power.

Andy: Can you give us an example? Maybe a Major League player that we would all know?

Hitting: Just use my friend Ryan Howard as an example so far this year. He’s struck out 38 times in 96 at bats, or almost 40% of the time. He only has 17 hits so far this year, of which 5 are home runs – nowhere near the pace he has been on for the last couple of seasons. Bottom line: he just isn’t making enough contact for his power to matter. His start to 2008 reminds me of how a lot of high school players try to come to the plate with only Power, it just doesn’t work. Don’t worry, Ryan Howard will come around. I’m not making fun of him, he and I get along real well. As for young hitters with these kind of numbers, they need to realize that all players must first be hitters and then worry about power.

Andy: Thanks Hitting, that’s good stuff. I know all of us in the scouting community realize this, but it's clear that young players don't understand that yanking and jerking balls out in batting practice just really isn’t all that impressive.

Hitting: Glad to be of service. As I always say, “any day, any hour, hitting is always a lock. If you only have power, you better have fun at five o’clock”. By the way, is that a haiku?

Andy: Uh, no. Not a haiku. Too many lines, too many syllables and it rhymes. Close though... Thanks again for your time.

Hitting: One more thing. You think you could skip the double play for me today? We, uh, don't get along very well.

Andy: No problem. Something tells me I won't get that request from your friends Fastball, Curve, Changeup or Control...

Andy Ferguson is currently the Senior Director of Baseball Operations with the Baseball Factory.

Ferguson joined the North Carolina State baseball team as a walk-on, and went on to solidify his role on a team that participated in four consecutive NCAA Regionals. He later coached with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and then served as an Associate Scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres.

Having a Quality At-Bat

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

In my last blog, I talked about "The Quickest Way to Become a Better Hitter", which was to make sure that you swing at strikes. This week I thought it would be good to discuss exactly what a hitter SHOULD be trying to do each time he steps in the batter's box. While teaching hitting lessons at the Baseball Factory I often like to ask players what their goal is when they step into the batter's box. The most common answer that I get is: "To get a hit." While I can understand this thought process, I am not convinced it is the best approach.

In my opinion a hitter's goal should be to have a "quality at-bat." What is a "quality at-bat?" I would define it in the following ways:

1. You swung at a good pitch to hit.
   
2. You hit the ball hard.
3. Or, you did your job that particular at-bat.

Note that the hitter has control over all three of these points. You can't control whether or not you get a hit. You can't control whether the defense makes a diving catch and robs you. You can't control the umpire when he calls you out at first when you are clearly safe. But you can control your pitch selection, centering the ball on the barrel and whether or not you do your job.

So when a hitter says to me that his goal is to "get a hit," he is not setting a goal that he has total control over AND he is also setting a goal that a great hitter will reach only 35% (.350 hitter) of the time. Trying to have a "quality at-bat" each time at the plate IS realistic and can be obtained 70 to 80% of the time. If you achieve your goal more often you are going to be a more confident hitter which makes you dangerous.

I have seen too many young hitters celebrate a bloop single on a bad pitch, and then get angry when they line out to left field. Isn't that backwards? Shouldn't you be happy to hit the ball hard and angry to hit a lazy pop up? Coaches and scouts want players who hit the ball hard, often.

In reviewing the three points I mentioned that can define a "quality at-bat" I want to make sure that you understand them clearly. We talked about Point 1 in-depth last week. You must swing at strikes. Swinging at pitches in the zone gives you a much greater chance to get a hit.

Point 2 is also pretty clear: hit the ball hard. Ultimately that is the goal of hitting...to hit the ball hard. I have gone 0-4 many times and felt like I hit the ball great. Too many young players tell me they were 0-3 and not hitting well when in reality they hit the ball hard, just right at people. If you can hit the ball hard in 3 of 4 at-bats that is a great day.

Lastly, Point 3, do your job in that particular at-bat. This is the one that hitters often have trouble grasping. This is situational hitting. If you are up with a man on second and no outs, your job is to move the runner over. If you hit a dribbler to second, you did your job and had a great at-bat. If you are up with a man on 3rd and 1 out with the infield back, just hit a routine ground out to short. You will drive in the run and have done your job. That is a great at-bat. Too many hitters try to crank the ball to the outfield and wind up hitting a pop up. Now you are out, didnt score the run and took a bad swing. When faced with situational hitting opportunities don't be greedy, just get your job done and you will have "quality at-bats" and be a productive hitter.

Clint Hurdle, Manager of the Colorado Rockies, once gave me this simple formula:

Quality at-bat + Quality at-bat + Quality at-bat = A productive hitter

Simple but it makes sense. So when you are out playing in your games or coaching your players, preach to them to have a "quality at-bat" every time up and watch your players confidence, production, and average rise.

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.

The Quickest Way To Become A Better Hitter

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

Since America has become such a quick fix society I thought I would make my first blog a quick tutorial on how to be a better hitter…quicker. Now this is going to sound really basic and simple and corny but there is a lot of truth in it. While teaching lessons in our batting cages my instructors and I have annoyed our players to death with 1 simple credo: SWING AT STRIKES!!!

The quickest way to be a better hitter is to swing at good pitches to hit. Just about any hitter who takes the game seriously can hit a ball that is thigh high and over the plate. After all, this is the location that we practice hitting the most. Whether it is tee work, side toss, front toss, or a pitching machine, we all want our coaches to give us good feeds IN the strike zone. So most of the time we practice hitting GOOD pitches. Yet when hitters go into game situations they very often swing at bad pitches. It is really hard to hit a bad pitch solidly.

I always laugh when a player swings at a bad pitch and pops out and then comes to me and says “coach, something’s wrong with my swing, did you see what I did wrong?” Yeah I saw what you did wrong…you just swung at a pitch that was at your neck. There ain’t nothing wrong with your swing, you just swung at a bad pitch!

Hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult things to do in sports. As hitters we make it even harder by chasing bad pitches. Most bad hitters get themselves out. Most good hitters make the pitcher throw strikes. When you can get a pitcher to throw the ball over the plate you greatly enhance your chances of hitting the ball hard.

Chasing bad pitches are what I call “confidence busters”. Take a player that goes 0-3 while chasing bad pitches in two out of his three at bats. He is convinced he is not hitting well and that therefore something must be wrong with his swing. He starts questioning his swing, his ability, and his confidence is shot. Better yet, he has a bad round of batting practice before the game against a coach who struggles to throw consistent strikes in BP. The coach is frustrated because he has to throw to 12 hitters that day and he can’t find the strike zone so he instructs the hitters to “just swing at everything”. Now you have a team of hitters who go into a game with no confidence because they hit poorly in BP, and the last thing they did before the game was “swing at everything”. Now they go into the game and chase bad pitches, and perform poorly, and they develop bad habits…and poor confidence. It is a vicious cycle.

So the moral of the story is: ALWAYS swing at strikes. Make the pitcher throw the ball over the plate. Do not help him by chasing bad pitches. When training in the cages, swing at strikes. Develop good habits, don’t reinforce the bad. Swing at strikes and watch your confidence and your batting average 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.