Pitching Strategy help

[edsachs1]

Does anyone know any good websites that explain pitching strategy? Not so much how to throw different pitches, but when to throw them. Thanks.

[Dirtberry]

Does anyone know any good websites that explain pitching strategy? Not so much how to throw different pitches, but when to throw them. Thanks.

drmikemarshall.com

He has it laid out in detail for each batter types and tendencies.
he was the first MLB pitcher to quantify tendencies.
All of this info is free at his web site.

[SimiBaseball]

Marshall's Strategy: Randomness

drmikemarshall.com

He has it laid out in detail for each batter types and tendencies.
he was the first MLB pitcher to quantify tendencies.
All of this info is free at his web site.

I recently re-read Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". What a great read - all fans of the game should check it out.

Anyhoo, this response is funny because Bouton, who was a teammate and friend of Marshall's on the Seattle Pilots in 1969 mentioned that in a team meeting where the manager and pitching coach wanted to discuss pitching strategy to the various hitters in order to position their defense, Marshall's response to "how are you going to pitch this guy and that guy" was "I'll know when I'm out there". Bouton elaborated that Marshall's strategy was to be completely random with his pitch selection to reduce the odds of the hitters guessing correctly. (There's definitely something to that if you can throw all your pitches for strikes.) Marshall drove his catchers crazy by calling his own game essentially.

In spite of what people may think of his personality and his current philosophy, there is no denying that Marshall achieved some unbelievable feats during his career that we are unlikely to ever see again.

[Baseball gLove]

Pitchers today have a smaller strike zone when compared to pitchers of Marshall's era. Batting line-ups are far deeper today which means pitchers have to stay focused deeper in lineups than in the past. Look at the Batting Avg of today's shortstops and catchers compared to when Marshall threw. Perhaps it is the smaller strike zone that is the reason for more pitchers getting hurt.

[virg]

Pick your speed, spot, etc according to a batter's reaction to previous pitches. Called "pitch sequencing". If you can hit the spots you can learn to make it work, and it can make you unpredictable. It takes fine control plus a helluva catcher.