Academies
Pitch Recognition is part of the Future
In January 2015, Dillon Lawson stood on stage at the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Orlando, Florida, and delivered a 35-minute presentation on the art and science of pitch recognition for hitters, and how to maximize it as a competitive advantage.
Tech Makes Baseball a Simple Game: You See the Ball, You Hit the Ball, You Got It?
This is the third story in a five-part series that examines how swing biomechanics and the proliferation of technological tools are helping hitters.
Modern technology is able to illuminate the kinematic sequence of a hitter’s swing, but those assessments top out at the athlete’s torso. What happens above the neck is just as critical, and it’s hard not to lean into baseball’s most famous truism of all: Yogi Berra famously said the game is “90% mental,” which makes perfect sense if you ignore that fact that he said the other 50% is physical.
How To Hit a Pitcher With a Dominant Two Seamer or Cutter
You look at the scouting report and the pitcher you’re facing has a dominant fastball.
You don’t panic because you’re a good fastball hitter. You eat 90+mph for lunch, every day.
Then underneath that, it says…..with good movement. Uh oh.
Anyone can hit a flat fastball, but the two-seam/cutter…different story.
If you get jammed on the cutter or two-seam, the reason is that the pitcher is doing a better job of locating his pitch than you are at fighting to get to the inner-half of the ball.
Stand In On A Bullpen
Sometimes we struggle to face a pitcher with good movement because we don’t see it enough. Being able to dominate the plate with decent velocity & movement is rare which is why it’s held at a premium.
If you have a teammate who pitches with some movement, ask to stand in on his next pull pen.
Track the ball. Repetitions at game speed if how you practice this.
Another way to stand in on a pitcher with some movement is to face the pitchers inside the gS app.
Tee Work & Fighting The Pitch
There’s nothing worse than getting jammed, having the ball roll to the pitcher and then you having to pick up your thumbs on the ground.
If you got jammed, two things happened. Either you were late on the pitch, or you didn’t fight to get to the inner half on the ball well enough.
How do you train to nip both these in the bud? Simple. With Tee work.
Focus on getting your front foot down early while placing the Tee on the inner half of the plate, and practice driving the ball back up the middle.
Choke Up
Lastly, if you’re struggling to make consistent solid contact with the two-seam or cutter, choke up.
I get it. Every one of you hitters with an ounce of ego wants to be able to control the bat without having to choke-up, but let me just shut down that thinking with two simple sentences…
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Barry Bonds choked up.
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Tony Gywnn swung a 32.
Pitch Recognition Recap
Pitchers that can sling it with movement are held at a premium.
Hitters who can hit pitchers with movement are too.
That’s the sign of an elite hitter. An athlete who can make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat and from pitch to pitch.
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How To Hit The Change-Up
I bet you 90% of your strikeouts are either a strike three called looking because you weren’t ready to put the ball in play or chasing a ball in the dirt. I’m right, aren’t I?
Here’s the truth. If you don’t learn how to: Post up, Load late, Recognize “shade”, you will underachieve when you face a pitcher who can locate and pitch off of his change-up. The change-up is the most dangerous pitch in the game. Why? Because it’s really hard to hit 93 mph and 83 mph at the same time. If you want to hit the change-up hard, you better have a great approach or have eyes like Teddy ballgame. If the approach is all you have, it better be a good one. Here’s how to get it done.
Post Up
Be aggressive on anything up in the zone. If it starts up, it’ll stay up. If it starts down, it’ll end up way down. Here’s one way to look at it – imagine a table, waist-high that’s sitting on top of the plate…anything that starts above that table, you’re gonna take a daddy hack. If it starts below that table, you’re spitting (taking) on until you have two strikes.
Why does this work? A breaking ball/offspeed pitch that starts above that table will still be a strike after it breaks or drops. If it starts below the table, it’ll probably end up in the dirt once it crosses the plate. This is called plate discipline.
Load Late
Most of your thrown away at-bats are after pulling pitches you have no business pulling. You’re not letting the ball travel enough to attack the inner-half of the ball. So you get the topspin and weak ground ball, pull-side. You might have a great swing, but it’s not translating because your approach is off. Do this instead. Push the plate back in your mind, load a little later and focus on driving the ball back up the middle. Now, you’re on time to hit the change-up and on plane to still hit the fastball, middle away to the big parts of the field.
Recognize the Shade
We all know that different pitch types have a different spin. Another way to look at it is like this. The “lighter” the pitch the slower it is. A fastball is darker to the eye because the seams are spinning faster. The change-up is the lightest because the seams are spin the slowest and in a horizontal rotation. The change-up has almost a pink tint to it since the seams are spinning slower. When trying to recognize the change-up better, anticipate a lighter shade. The lighter the shade, the slower your load and separation becomes. Your timing changes. You make an adjustment during the pitch. This is what great hitters do.
Bringing It Home
If you’re struggling with hitting the changeup, get great at posting up, loading late, and recognizing “shade”. If it’s up in the zone, it’ll end up a strike. Move the plate back in your mind and use the big part of the field. If it’s a lighter tint, it’s probably an off-speed. Make sense? Good. What’s been your approach lately with two-strikes? Let us know in the comments below.
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Absorb The Unexpected
It’s game day. You show up to the field.
Pregame B.P. Done.
Pre-Game Warm-Up. Done.
Go back to the clubhouse. Put on the game uniform.
Taped up. Tarred up. Swig some water, Gatorade…and finish whatever superstitious pregame routine you got, if you even have one.
Cleats are on. You’re good to go. Locked in…until…
…you’re in the dugout. You look over at the line-up.
You’re not hitting in the spot you normally hit in.
You’re not playing the position you normally play.
On top of that – the pitcher you thought you were facing, isn’t pitching. It’s a pitcher who pitches from the opposite side on the mound, and he throws harder but wilder.
Even the hitter’s eye is all jacked up. It’s maroon.
Who paints a hitter’s eye maroon? You’ve only hit in blue or dark green. WTF.
You have two options.
Get on your heels because things aren’t going according to plan…so you go into a shell, become unresponsive to your teammates and start worrying about what happens if you fail…
…or dig in, dig deep, build your team-mates up, see this as an opportunity instead of a problem and embrace the chaos.
Hitting…isn’t just about swinging a round bat at a round ball…
…it’s so much more.
It’s learning how to be a great competitor.
It’s about showcasing your composure.
When the game is on the line, or scouts are in the stands…you still compete with toughness and focus.
Even keel.
What’s the first step? It’s simple.
You realize the truth that you’ve known deep down this entire time.
It’s not about you.
It’s never been.
It never will be if what you want is to be a valuable part of any line-up.
How do you know you’re playing this game knowing it’s not about you?
You smile a little every time the coach gives you a hit and run or sac bunt because you know you’ll get it done.
You have the instinct to take a pitch ahead in the count when the runner gets a good jump to swipe a bag.
You turn a fly ball that drops in shallow right into a double.
You play solid defense when you’re struggling at the plate.
It seems like every game ends with a little dirt on your uni.
All in all. You’re a gamer.
Gamers don’t quit. Gamers don’t panic…
…and Gamers sure as hell don’t pout.
If you want to be a true gamer…absorb the unexpected.
Get 40% off with an annual membership inside the gameSense pitch recognition & baseball vision training platform. Over 40% off with you start an annual membership!
Pro & College Level Pitch Recogntion & Vision Training Sequences.
Speciality Pitch Recogntion & Vision Training Sequences.