Are They Picking Your Pitchers?

Total Reading Time: 3 minutes

This week we’re talking something called micro-lives and how to keep your pitchers from getting picked… My passion is helping people and I hope this newsletter helps you!

Today's Topics:

• Give “Micro-Lives” a Try

• Are They Picking Your Pitchers?

Give “Micro-Lives” a Try

Micro-Lives are just a term I made up to describe a different type of “live” that’s a great way for pitchers to mix pitch work/development in with throwing to batters.

Let’s say you have a pitcher who is great in the bullpen. Her pitches break great and she’s full of confidence. But when she throws live she becomes a different pitcher - her pitches flatten out and she gets hit, hard.

No doubt we all have pitchers like this, at least to some degree. They’re world-beaters in the bullpen and totally change against hitters.

I’ve come to realize it’s a result of trust - the pitcher trusts that her pitches will work in the bullpen, but she doesn’t believe (or trust) that they’ll work well enough against hitters. So, we usually have her throw live for 20 minutes or so while telling her to just “trust your stuff” and it doesn’t make her better.

Well, I’m suggesting we try a different approach to full-on live, something I call micro-live.

In the diagram below you’ve got 2 Pitchers throwing in the Bullpen and 4 Hitters on the field for Live. Pitcher 1 does a short round of her specific workout in the Bullpen, then goes out to the field to throw that exact workout against 2 Live hitters. She then rotates back into the Bullpen and repeats, while her pitching teammate (Pitcher 2) does the same thing to Hitters 3 & 4.

This is definitely easier during Individuals, but with some planning you can make it work during your team practice as well. Try it! It’s a great way to gradually help your pitchers take their bullpen selves into the game.

Are They Picking Your Pitchers?

Getting your pitchers picked is not only an advantage for your hitters, but it’s a very disruptive thing for your pitcher. It’s something we rarely work on in practice and can take a pitch, or even your pitcher right out of the game.

At our recent Pitching Summit Kirk Walker, who I think picks as good as any coach out there, spoke on the topic. He simplified it by giving a couple things to start with:

• Start with the Change Up

• Start with the Grip

He also said, “every pitcher will tip or tell something on every off speed/changeup.”

Since a good changeup can be gamechanging it’ll be the first pitch coaches try to pick, so let Kirk teach you how to help your pitchers become pick-proof.

SAVE NOW!! Save $150 on the Pitching Summit Video Recordings!!!!

Watch Kirk Walker talk Picking Pitches, along with inside secrets from Jen Rocha, Trisha Ford and Nate Walker in our 2024 Pitching Summit presentations.

Hope you enjoyed this Issue. If there’s something specific you want to read about send that to me at [email protected]

See You Next Week!