Baseball Pearls

The key to the 3-6-3 DP is the pivot and throw by the first baseman. If he turns and follows through with the back foot like normal it takes him an extra 2-3 steps further away from first and makes kit tougher to get back and cover the bag. Keep the ball of the pivot down , turn on it and retreat to the bag.

One waste of money is the Advanced Scout in MLB. They watch upcoming opponents play then create a report like this: “ Barry Bonds is killing everything outside right now so throw him inside.” Two pitches into his first AB he hits an inside FB into the Bay.  Great hitters adjust way faster than normal people. The pitcher has to watch his reactions to each pitch, learn what he’s looking for and where. That takes a strong understanding of hitting.

Pitchers have to know more about hitting than hitters and very few actually do. A hitter needs to know what he thinks and feels when he is hitting good, and what goes wrong when he isn’t. An MLB pitcher has to know how to get 400  good hiitters out and every one of them is different.

Pitchers must utilize the concept of “Effective Velocity.”  If a pitcher could throw only one pitch at only one speed,90 he can still slice up the hitter by locating his pitches. As he moves the ball from middle, middle in toward the hitter the pitch plays faster to the hitter. Likewise as it elevates it also plays faster. When he locates out or down 90 plays more like a slower pitch.

The key to pitching is the same as the key to marriage- contol your misses! Throw in,:miss in. Throw down, miss down. Thrrow out, miss out. etc. Sometimes with slow stuff and breaking pitches when you are aheadb in the count, the hitter is dar more apt to chase the slow stuff down rather than out. 

If a pitcher is throwing strikes he should work quickly. Get the ball back, get the sign, and deliver the pitch.

If the pitcher temporarily loses the plate it is important for the catcher to slow him down. Get off the mound, gather yourself, and re-focus. A visit from the catcher often helps the pitcher regroup.

Pitchers’ ability to field their position is grossly under-estimated. Pitchers actually field more chances than any infielder with the exception of the first baseman and no one gets as many difficult chances under pressure. Pitchers have to be great fielders!

Situation “BLUE” means look for an alternate play. If you boot a ball, pick it up and either throw it to 1B or fake it to 1B and look for another play. DP situation with men on 1B & 2B the pivot man either throws to 1B or fakes to 1B , throws to 3B. Bases loaded , grounder to the infield, same situation. Catcher either throws to 1B or fakes to 1B throws to 3B.

Every time a pitch knocks a batter down the catcher should throw right over the falling hitter to nail a runner on the corner. Knock down a RHH, pick to 3B. Knock down a LHH, pick to 1B. Itshuman nature when a teammate gets knocked down the runner freezes and if the catcher doesn’t hesitate he picks him.

With a runner on 3B and a passed ball/wild pitch we have our runner break full speed for home. After about 4 full-speed steps he makes his decision to stop or go depending on which was the ball goes. We score many times at a short backstop becaise the ball richochets or the pitcher is late covering.

Very important to success in baseball is your visual skills. Eyes change with age so an annual eye exam with a sports vision expert is a must. 20-20 vision is not good enough for baseball, we need 20-15. I remember Mike Trout at the AAU testing Out-scoring everyone in both vision and reaction drills.

Responsibilities should be posted up well before the game.. Whats done before the game, during and after. Who runs the bullpen, the dugout, charts, foul balls, watching runners tag the bases etc. Great coaches are organized and have systems.

Every starter in our program is responsible for his understudy. He is to tutor him, guide him, and ensure that he is ready to fill in if needed. He is also working with him so that both of them reach their goals. Setting an example is a must.

The Captains of each group is responsible for the positioning of his group during the game. The catcher is responsible for the captains and the pitcher while the Pitching leader controls the bullpen. 

Leadership must be taught as well as responsibility and accountability. We have a captain of the Ofers, a captain of the Infers, a captain of the pitchers, and a Captain of the Catchers who is also one of the Captains of the Captains.

Swing at anything close and put the ball in play with 2 strikes” has been taught for over 100 years. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. Bat control greatly increases as you move your top hand up closer to the barrel. If the ump calls you out it was too close to take! Hit the bench! Be aggressive!

Pickoff throws to first should be knee high over the bag but anytime the receiver is on the move the throws should be chest high. Infielders much prefer the ball up rather than down where they are in danger of getting kneed by the baserunner.

We want our infield coach to fungo balls to the fielders’ extreme.right or left as well as balls right at them and slow rollers. We want the middles to read and try to get moving when the ball hits the bat. Most HS inf’ers can only cover and throw accurately when the ball is right out them.

Great hitters have a great two strike approach. In fact what separates most MLB All-Stars from everyone else is often their ability to hit with two strikes. When Ted Williams took over the Senators he insisted each guy work on his two strike approach every day.

Hitting HRs doesn’t necessarily mean more strikeouts its just that saberticians are saying strikeouts don’t matter and MLB pays for HRs. There’s no such thing as a two-strike approach anymore. Ask the Phillies if they would rather have had Tre Turner put the ball in play or strikeout with a man on 3b, one out in a 5-4 game for a trip to the World Series. 

When every guy throws 95, 95 becomes pedestrian! Look what MLB  hitters are doing this year when velocity is at an All-Time high. Record HRs. Sure there are record strikeouts but that’s because MLB is paying players on HRs. We also had a guy flirting with .400 all summer who gets it. 

All great pitchers are outliers! They throw significantly harder or slower than the norm. The best pitchers in MLB are guys who mastered the ability to locate, vary speeds, change angles, spin more or less, create movement and deception. Tunneling is good, but two tunnels are better!

There are 18 things a pitcher must master to be a dominant pitcher and right now kids are concerned with only one-velocity!  The craze is throw 88 at 15, commit early, dad gets a hat and has Sonny Boy blows out his arm. The emphasis should be learn the art of pitching and let the kid grow into his body!

The third season after the Off- Season and Pre- Season is the Regular Season where our focus is maintaining strength while focusing on being “game ready” at all times.  We try not to break things down, use weighted implements, or do anything that might effect our rhytym and timing.

Modern MLB techniques are not being taught in America. Pro infieders throw from many angles off either foot, pitchers use different arm slots seldom over the top, and great plays are usually made with one-hand. Baseball is still a game of pitching and defense.

Lefties should work on their pickoff moves daily. If a pitcher can master all 13 move variations to 1B he can completely shut down the running game. Keys are a set up, no look, bad, good , super, step back, and hang moves with various ”tells.”

After a 2-3 month Off-Season where our emphasis was Pysicality we begin the Pre-Season ( Spring Training) where we continue on a Strength Maintenance Program and begin to gradually get our arms and body ready to function at a high level. 

Right-handed Pitchers should try to get their pickoff moves to first down to or under 1.0 seconds and their delivery times to the plate at 1.3 seconds or less. W want our pitchers to vary their looks, their picks and their hold times.

To be a great ballplayer one needs great athletic movement sequences and an exceptional baseball body. In other words on a 10 scale MLB players have 9-10 mechanics and a 9-10 body!  

One way to wipe away any debilitating thoughts we ask the hitter to say “Ball” when the ball comes out the pitcher’s hand, and “Pop” when it hits the bat. Focus on .”see the ball, hit the ball” beginning with “Ball/Pops” in the on-deck circle.

Baseball hitting is really a defensive skill that requires a clear mind, well above average vision and focused attention on the release point. At the moment of release the hitter ‘s mind must be devoid of all thought ready to read and respond to whatever speeding targets the pitcher hurls his way.

Baseball players must remember that weight training changes your neuro- muscular system and effects the rhythm and timing of your swing and your pitching delivery. Athletes should take dry swings or throws between sets and take some live reps after workouts to loosen up and keep their timing.

In the off-season our focus is on resting our arm and rejuvenating our bodies.

“Bigger, stronger , faster” is our mantra. Greater  explosiveness, power, speed , quickness and agility are our goals. Flexibility and mobility are far more important than bulk.

I would like to pass on something I learned from Ken Griffey Sr. He told me to think of any coaching tip I’ve ever heard of and he could identify an MLB star that believed in it. ( Ex.- Swing up, down , level, etc.) He said nothing you say is right for everyone, and nothing is necessarily wrong either. Hitting coaches watch a hitter  in games and then get a picture in his coaching brain of what the swing should look like as opposed to what it looks like now. You then say what you gotta say until you get the hitter to do what you want him to do, and then ask him what he thinks and feels.You then regurgitate what he told you to him when he needs it. The hitter doesn’t have to know what he actually does, he has to know what he thinks and what he feels when he’s hitting good.. If he is really good he will eventually overdo what you said and lose the feel and you’ll have ro recognize it and say something new! 

My takeaways:

Anything you say can be right or wrong depending on who you say it to and how he reacts to what you said. 

Your job never ends and you are seldom right very long! Stay humble and listen to your hitters.

55%of all At Bats end up with 2 strikes on the hitter. If you don’t have a quality 2-strike approach you will never be a great hitter

If you can’t hit certain pitches (high fastballs or outside curves, etc) don’t swing at ‘em until you have 2 strikes. Learn to foul off nasty pitches when you have 2 strikes.

Outfielders should run like a sprinter without a glove. Pump the arms, run full speed and don’t put the glove up until you are about to catch the ball.

70% of infield fielding errors go under the glove. Put the glove all the ground and field from the ground up and eliminate 70% of fielding errors.

You can’t hit a target you can’t see. Baseball players need to set goals and work to achieve them. Goals should be Written, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Vivid.

Guys don’t do lines or rows, that’s not a guy thing. You can say to 250 girls “spread out and make 50 rows of 5 girls” and in 2 minutes they all line up like little ten pins. Tell 4 guys to give you 2 rows of 2 and the 4 guys will mill around until you finally grab them by the shirt and move them into position yourself. I believe it’s the first manifestation of “Don’t tell me what to do honey.”

With 2 strikes turn into the Tazmanian Devil- Hit anything that moves unless it bounces or you can’t reach it.

Speed up the game. Increase the noise level, take less time between pitches, rush the hitter, step out on opposing pitchers, false start, roll the ball, start runners, do anything you can to control the tempo of the game. In short, take your opponents out of their comfort zone and make them beat you in an environment they have never experienced before.

Our idea of a perfect perfect game is 27 outs on 27 pitches. That way the pitcher can do it again tomorrow!

A pitcher’s job is to make the hitter MISHIT it until the batter has two strikes. Then and only then does striking him out become an option.

No strikes or 1 strike-NEVER LATE;  2 strikes- NEVER EARLY!

Run full speed on every play. Hustle on and off the field.

Look to get involved in every play. Know what you are going to do if its hit to you, remind others what to expect, back up anticipated throws, yell verbal cues like “stay down,” “hit your cut,” “3-3” etc.

Great players are a result of their daily process.

If you wanna run fast, you have to run fast every day. If you wanna throw hard, you have to throw hard and if you want to hit hard you have to hit hard every day.

When an on deck hitter is swinging his weighted implement watch him, he is telling you what he can hit.

70% of all missed grounders go under the glove. Put the glove on the ground and eliminate 70% of the misses.

Do what my wife does when I give her my car…  Crash into something! Either crash the bat into your back or shoulder, barrel to your back heel, or slam your back shoulder into your chin.

Squeeze your cheeks together when you swing, no funny noises.

Chin on your front shoulder to chin on your back shoulder.

The key to pitching is the same as the key to marriage, control your misses!

Control your barrel or your barrel controls you. Control your woman or your woman controls you. I can only say that because she is not here.

Swing hard in case you hit it Swing without moving your head. Keep your eyes in the contact area for a 2 count in BP.

Timing is Rhythm, Rhythm is timing. All great hitters have great timing. Activate your barrel, activate your butt! Get them in rhythm with each other than try to get yourself in rhythm with the pitcher, Time up on him while you’re in the on-deck circle.

Hitters eyes don’t work like a video camera taking one movie thru the entire flight of the ball. The eyes work like a land camera taking picture, picture, etc. through the flight of the ball. If a hitter doesn’t pick it up at release his eyes won’t really see the ball for awhile.

I have had hundreds of MLB players & tons of great hitters & pitchers in my 50+ years of coaching. The thing is every single one of these great players was an original. No two players looked exactly the same. Never let a coach take away your originality.

I miss the old days when we played in the sandlot with older kids running the game & the lil guys playing outfield until they grew up & moved into the infield. Every neighborhood kid played & learned every position. No umps, no parents & we were better coached!

Did you know? Hitters can’t hit what they can’t see. MLB players above average visual skills.  Get yours eyes checked annually. 20/15 adjusted if possible.

Swing hard in case you hit it! Attack every pitch. You should always plant your feet & think SWING until you realize the pitch is no good at which time you check your swing.

Never confuse activity with accomplishment. Better to take two quality swings assessing how you did & what you did versus taking 50 mindless swings with no purpose or focus.

In the off-season each athletes’ focus should be on bigger, stronger, faster. Baseball is a fast twitch sport & your winter work should focus on getting quicker & more explosive . You must dominate your body weight & become more athletic.

During season hitters should concentrate on things:

1. 1. See the ball longer
   2. Maintain your vision & bat speed
   3. Focus on timing Don’t break your swing down

Great hitters have great timing. You can have the ugliest swing in the world but if you can time your swing so that the barrel collides with the ball at the proper time, you are going to be a “hitter.”

Seeing the ball longer means pick it up out of the pitcher’s hand. Move your eyes from the pitcher’s hat to the release point at the last instant & follow the pitch all the way in with a still head. Keep your eyes on the contact point for a 2 count in BP.

With less than two strikes, never late. Look fastball & be on time. With two strikes, never early. Go into your two strike approach , think FB away but be ready for slow stuff. In MLB the avg. on a batted ball with 2 strikes is .321. Put the ball in play.

There are no secrets in baseball. Only guys who don’t watch the game or don’t know to share what they saw with their teammates. “Swinging Late,” “Dead Pull,” “ Stay down,” “you, you,” “Me,me,” “Cover, Cover,” “ Hit your cut, “ “Tandem,” “Tagging,” The sounds of real baseball!

Timing is Rhythm, Rhythm is timing. All great hitters have great timing. Activate your barrel, activate your butt! Get them in rhythm with each other than try to get yourself in rhythm with the pitcher, Time up on him while you’re in the on-deck circle.

Being a professional hitting coach is much like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel only the walls are constantly moving. The minute you step back to admire your work, it’s all gone. One minute you’re telling him he’s opening up, the next day he’s too closed. It never ends.