Josh Womack and Prentice Redman Bat Tricks

You Call This Baseball?

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You Call This Baseball?

I begin this post with a disclaimer. I run a program for catchers. I sleep, drink and eat catching. I look at baseball through the eyes of the catcher. I try to come up with ways that leagues can better help the development of their leagues catchers.

When I use the term Minors level in this article I am refering to ages 8-9, maybe some 10″s

I discovered a number of years ago one of the reasons that it is often hard to get enough kids to want to catch. At the Minors level, why would a kid want to be responsible for 20 runs scoring? Since the pitchers are still learning to hit the glove, and he is struggling to figure out how to catch the ball in the dirt, it is not uncommon for there to be 20 runs scored solely on passed balls. Why would a kid want to get behind the plate when he knows he’s going to “Let” 20 runs score.

Few kids get the opportunity to learn to tag on a fly ball when on third and score from there because the first pitch that goes in the dirt and gets by the catcher he scores. Actually in many games, every kids that gets on scores. And you call this baseball????

A few years ago the youth program in our town made the change that in the Minors there would be no scoring from 3rd on a pass ball. NO Scoring at all!!!! By the 2nd week of the season we were having games 2-1, 3-2, like real baseball, not 21-17 . It took the pressure off the pitcher and catcher to relax and have fun and not be so overly concerned about runs scoring.

The next season we made another observation. Our infielders never had the chance to make force plays. As soon a player got on first they player would “steal” 2nd, then “steal 3rd” and any chance for a force was usually lost. So we implemented the following rule change. No runner can move, even on a pass ball, until there are 2 strikes on the batter. Now there were many opportunities to make the force at 2nd or 3rd. And we even saw a few double plays that first year. We did have some coaches complain about the reduction in running. But then they have a very unrealistic view of base running at the youth level anyway. Here’s there idea of what happens when a runner gets on first.

Pitch crosses plate, runner goes,…sorta…catcher fakes throw, runner goes back to 1st….sorta….runner dances the jig off of first to bait catcher to throw,…catcher runs out from behind the plate very badly faking a throw…..runner goes back to 1st…sorta….catcher tosses ball to pitcher, runner must go back to first..,…yeah that was baseball.

Try that base running at the Babe Ruth Level on the 90ft diamond and the runner will be picked off every time. Why do coaches encourage all this unrealistic base running that in no way teaches anything that will be used once the player gets to the bigger field. Simple, the coach wants to win, and doesn’t care if the tactics he employs are not ones the kids will use at the higher levels.

No wonder our youth catchers have so much trouble making the throw at the big field. It’s bad enough that the throw is 42 feet farther then the small diamond, but as a youth player they have never been able to use the simple premise of..Runner goes..catcher throws. We have allowed our catchers to get caught up in the ridiculous game of cat and mouse coaches play on the base paths instead of just acting like a catcher and making the throw. Teach your catchers if they see the guy break, make the throw, don’t wait for the coverage to get there, make the throw. That’s real baseball. If the infielder doesn’t go to the bag because he’s not paying attention, then he will be the one that needs the instruction. If your centerfielder is paying attention then he will do what his job is and back up the play. That’s baseball!!!

Put in place rules that limit this joke called base running that has no other purpose then to run up scores at the expense of the development of young catchers and pitchers. I’m not opposed to teaching aggressive base running, stretching a single to a double, tagging up from 3rd on the fly to the outfield. But the ridiculous antics of some teams that run the bases in a manner that will only ensure they will be thrown out when they get to the higher levels needs to stop.

Learning the Pujols Approach

JUSTIN STONE TRAINING BLOG: Learning the Pujols Approach

Learning the Pujols Approach
Ok I'll admit, although I work for the White Sox, I've been a lifelong Cardinals fan. With that being said, players that work with me probably get tired of me talking about Albert Pujols in regards to the swing. One of the things I've been happiest with in talking to my players recently, is how successful their approaches have been at the plate.
There is much more to hitting than mechanics. Players need to understand their strengths and weaknesses, what a pitcher is trying to do to them to get them out, situations, and also how the count affects what they are looking for. Anyone that follows baseball knows the terror Pujols has been on to start the season. When I'm not working, I try to watch as many at bats of his as possible. One thing that I've noticed of Pujols, like most hitters who are in hot streaks, is he is not hitting out of his "zone."
"Zone" hitting simply means that a hitter does not have to cover all 17 inches of home plate all the time. No player is good enough to cover that much of home plate successfully. What hitters need to do is seperate what they consider their "hitter's pitch" from the "pitcher's pitch." If hitter's are patient enough to stay in their "zone" until they get two strikes on them, they are going to find that ball in the middle of the plate eventually. Here is how I know this. No pitcher at the ameatuer level is going to throw three balls on a corner in one at bat. I know this becauase big league pitchers can't do it either. The closest guy to doing so was Greg Maddux, which was why he was still pitching in the big leagues throwing 83mph at the end of his career. That being said, there will be a hitter's pitch in every at bat, or the pitcher walked the hitter. Hitter's just have to be patient enough to get that pitch. It may be the first pitch of the at-bat, or it may not be until later in the at bat, but in any case it will be there.
That is what has made Pujols so good so far this year, and in his entire career. He simply doesn't give in to the pitcher on a "pitcher's pitch." This makes the pitcher either force something into the heart of the plate, or walk Pujols. And Pujols has been patient enough to take his walks. Pitchers often comment that there is no one way to pitch to Pujols and I believe that is true. When Pujols has struggled in short stints in the past, it is because he finds himself trying to do too much and he begins chasing "pitcher's pitches" thus getting himself out. This is no different than most big league hitters. When they stay in their "zone" and try not to do too much, they hit "hitter's pitches." When they chase, they struggle, making their hitting zone much too large and too hard to cover and getting themselves out. Bonds and Manny (Steroids Aside) were also great at this. Here is a great quote by Manny in a recent ESPN article, talking about the pitch on the inner third of the plate, "I don't swing at that pitch unless I've got two strikes. And then I just try to foul it off." What Manny is saying, is the inner third is not a "hitter's pitch" for him, so he lets it go until he has to hit it.
A simple generic approach I have taught my hitters that they have raved about to start their seasons is that early or up in the count 0-0, 1-0, 2-0 or 3-1 I'm looking in a general area 3 or 4 baseball's in width. As I add a strike, 0-1, 1-1, 2-1 we add a baseball on each side, which is still excluding the corners (pitcher's pitches). Of course with two strikes, we have to cover the plate, plus some, and our approach takes us to looking for the fastball away. This general approach has slight changes from person to person based on their individual strengths and weaknesses. There are a dozen drills that we do working on this specific approach. I know it works, based on the feedback from my students and from watching Pujols tear the cover off the ball to start the year! The bottom line is that a "hitter's pitch" is something a hitter should hit hard 7/10 times while "pitcher's pitches" we may only hit hard 1 or 2 out of 10 times. What balls should hitter's be attacking? If a hitter can learn to stay in their "zone", hitting becomes a lot easier.