The Fundamental Job Of A Pitcher Is To Throw Strikes

“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”

– Sandy Koufax (pitcher for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers 1955-1966: 1963 NL MVP; 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Award Winner; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame 1972)

A pitcher has a lot to do while on the field.  By virtue of starting with the ball on every play, the pitcher is directly involved with every sequence that takes place on the field.  No other player can claim this responsibility.  With so much to do, with so many things to conceivably think about while on the field throughout a game, it would be very easy for a pitcher to lose sight of what being a pitcher is really all about.  And as a pitcher, you don’t really want to lose sight of what being a pitcher is really all about.

The three basic axioms for a pitcher include 1) Throw Strikes, 2) Throw First-Pitch Strikes, and 3) Get Ahead and Stay Ahead In the Count

Throw Strikes

The fundamental job of a pitcher is to throw strikes. This obviously doesn’t mean that a pitcher must throw a strike on every pitch or that a pitcher wouldn’t on occasion intentionally throw a ball.  But throwing strikes is what makes a pitcher a pitcher.  If a pitcher can’t throw strikes, that pitcher won’t be a pitcher very long.

The obvious consequence of not throwing strikes is that a pitcher will give up walks.  A walk is basically giving the opposing team a free base runner.  And although any individual walk may not result in a run scored, if a pitcher keeps giving up walks, eventually if not almost immediately, the other team is going to score because of the walks.

Another less obvious result of not being able to throw strikes is that a pitcher puts his own teammates to sleep in the field.  Fielders can lose focus.  And if they find themselves standing around long enough thinking to themselves that the ball isn’t going to be put into play, their minds turn to other things.  Fielders aren’t going to be ready.  They’re going to lose a step.  And they’re going to use bad technique.  Such things happen when fielders mentally doze off.

If you find yourself struggling to throw strikes, don’t get bent out of shape.  It’s not the end of the world.  The trick is to continue to do your best and try to work out of whatever situation you find yourself in.  At sixteen years old, when I was a junior in high school, I remember pitching in a varsity game away at St. Louis Park.  We played for a while, then the game was delayed because of weather.  After a break in the action, I remember returning to the mound and struggling a bit (struggling a lot in fact).  My arm had stiffened up during the break because of the damp, cool weather.  I wasn’t throwing well at all.  I walked the bases loaded.

To make what could be a long story short, I hunkered down, refocused, and did what pitchers do.  I began to throw strikes.  With a couple strikeouts and a pop-up to the infield, we got out the inning with no St. Louis Park runs scored.

Do your best and try to work out of whatever situation you find yourself in.

Throw First-Pitch Strikes

A first-pitch strike is a powerful weapon.  Batters, for different reasons, often don’t even swing at the first pitch of an at-bat.  Sometimes the batter wants to see what kind of stuff the pitcher’s got.  Sometimes if the the pitcher is struggling, a coach will tell his players to watch a pitch or two.  “Make him throw strikes” is the coaching mantra to hitters in these situations.  And sometimes the batter is simply timid.  The reasons don’t really matter all that much.  As a pitcher, just know that batters often don’t even swing at the first pitch, and try to take advantage of it.

An 0-1 count is preferable to a 1-0 count.

This doesn’t mean that you pipe one right down the middle of the plate on the first pitch of an at-bat  You still have to be smart.  You still have to know the situation.  You still have to have an appreciation of each batter’s size and ability.  But an 0-1 count is preferable to a 1-0 count.

Over the past decade or so, a few baseball-loving, statistically-minded people with way too much time on their hands have attempted to quantify the advantage of a first-pitch strike.  And although numbers can be sliced and diced to say almost anything one wants, a first-pitch strike in major-league baseball is easily worth on average about 20 points in an opposing team’s batting average and can be worth as much as 50 points in an opposing team’s batting average.  Which means a batter that might otherwise hit .300, only hits about .280 (conservatively) and might only hit about .250 after going down 0-1.

Even if statistics weren’t available to support the idea, the power of the first-pitch strike makes intuitive sense.   Pitchers are afforded more options after throwing a first-pitch strike.  They can try different pitches.  They can try different locations.  With an 0-1 count, pitchers are in the driver’s seat.  With an 0-1 count, batters get defensive and often chase bad pitches.

An 0-1 count is preferable to a 1-0 count.

Get Ahead and Stay Ahead In the Count

For a pitcher, in the same way that an 0-1 count is preferable to a 1-0 count, so too is a 1-2 count preferable to a 2-1 count.  So too is a 1-2 count preferable to a 3-1 count.

Getting ahead and staying ahead is great.  A count of 0-1, 0-2, and 1-2 are pitcher’s counts.  Pitchers are afforded more options after getting ahead and staying ahead.  They can try different pitches.  They can try different locations.  With an 0-1, 0-2, or 1-2 count, pitchers are in the driver’s seat.  When behind in the count, batters get defensive and often chase bad pitches.

Getting ahead and staying at least even is good.  A 1-1 or 2-2 count is preferable to falling behind.  A pitcher has to make good pitches, but the pitcher is still afforded some wiggle room if he makes a mistake.

As a pitcher, falling behind 1-0. 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, or 3-1 isn’t fantastic.  These are hitter’s counts. Hitters can be selective.  As a pitcher, you try to avoid these counts.

If you find yourself as a pitcher behind in the count, don’t get bent out of shape.  It’s not the end of the world.  The trick is to continue to do your best and try to work out of whatever situation you find yourself in.  At fifteen years old, while playing for the Wayzata travel team (there was only one travel team per age group back then), I remember pitching in the opening game of district playoffs.  The winner of districts got to play in the state tournament.  I believe we were playing a team from Hopkins, but I can’t be certain.  What I do remember distinctly, during the first inning, was going 3-0 on each of the first three batters.

To make what could be a long story short, I hunkered down, refocused, and did what pitchers do.  During each at-bat, I began to throw strikes.  I struck out each of those batters during the first inning.  (Although they were pleased with the outcome of the inning, my coaches weren’t overly thrilled that I’d fallen behind 3-0 on each of these batters.  Interestingly enough, I went 3-0 on the first two batters of the second inning.  Then struck both of them out too.)

Remember, do your best and try to work out of whatever situation you find yourself in.  And don’t lose sight of what being a pitcher is really all about – Throw Strikes, Throw First-Pitch Strikes, and Get Ahead and Stay Ahead In the Count.