Taking the first pitch?

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Thoughts on instructing players to.....

 

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I read some where that by taking the first pitch, the batting avg. will drop 75pts

 

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My opinion...many times the first pitch is the best pitch.

 

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From a hitting standpoint I can't stand it. Often the best pitch you will see in an at-bat. Attack strikes and hit them hard no matter the count. As a pitchers dad, THANK YOU, she will just take that first strike and move on. Along with what Semper said my daughter's pitching coach had a chart that showed a batters average dropped considerably when they fell behind 0-1 in the count. I don't remember the actual numbers but it covered every count and was very interesting.

 

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As with everything else, it depends a lot on the situation. Sometimes the first time up in the game or against a new pitcher, I will have the batter take the first pitch to get a look at a pitch and instead of being overanxious ... or if the pitcher warms up wild or walked the last batter, or if we want a runner stealing on the first pitch to get in scoring position, or if it's late in a time limit game and we are ahead. There are a lot of reasons to take the first pitch. If the first pitch is a strike, semperfi is right that the chances of getting a hit drop, but if it's a ball, that chance is going to increase. Again, it all depends on the situation. I will say that I don't want to train my hitters to be passive on the first pitch ... I want them to be aggressive, unless I give them the take ...

 

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Taking the first pitch strike drive me crazy! Especially when they shake their head afterwards as to say "that was a good pitch". I've coached and/or played against a girl in our area for many years now who has done this since I can remember and it still drives me crazy today. Fortunately, I have taught her well (hey, somebody has to take the credit, haha) and she is a pretty solid hitter who is usually okay with giving up that first strike.
With that said and other have mentioned, there are a few game situations that warrant taking the first pitch. In my opinion, that the decision of the coach to give the take sign in those situations. Otherwise, hit the ball!

 

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My dd loves it when batter takes the first pitch/always a strike

 

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At certain levels of play you will only get one good pitch to hit. Taking a "good" first pitch strike isn't a good idea.

 

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If our catchers see that a team does that they feast on it.

My dd loves it when batter takes the first pitch/always a strike

 

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As coachjwb said, you don't want to do this as a rule, but there are times it's called for. Down multiple runs in the last inning is one. Facing a pitcher that can't throw a strike would be another.

I have had a couple of hitters in the past who were mental enough that they just had to take that first pitch. Frankly, it's a sign of mental weakness. In college, other teams learn this and they just throw a strike down the middle. I told one of them, why not just inform the ump you would like to start with an 0-1 count and move the game along?

 

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Taking the first pitch as a default non-decision does a multitude of bad things.

1. Pitchers are beat up to get ahead in the count and most attempt to throw the first pitch in the zone. This puts the pitcher way ahead. The batter should just see near strikes for the rest of the at-bat. Breaking stuff off the plate etc..... nothing to hit and nothing to drive.
2. It changes the batters mental outlook, putting her back on her heels and batting NOT to strike out. Quality pitchers will issue only one or two walks a game.
3. Quality pitchers will chew up a team that has been taught to take the first pitch. The pitcher now only has to toss 2 strikes but has 4 balls to play with. This is not the math that favors the batter.
4. It changes the teams mental outlook and the passivity will flow over to base-running and fielding. You can not have an aggressive team that turns it off and on like a light switch. The players will wait for the coach to tell them to take the next base and they won't get the lead runner. This is a downward spiral effecting all performance.

Taking the first pitch is clearly left over from baseball. The baseball boys only have 2 good pitches. Taking a look at one may make sense because it will have to be thrown again. Most quality softball pitchers will have game ready; 4 or 5 good pitches at multiple speeds. Taking a look at the best pitch and then attempting to hit breaking stuff has to be one of the silliest strategies in softball....but please don't pay any attention to this advice, I need the wins.

 

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The only way this works is with a struggling pitcher and an overly aggressive offense. If I see a pitcher going 2-0 to just about every batter she faces, I might suggest dialing it back and using that pitch for timing. Otherwise, I'm not getting in my batter's head. This would have to be a predictable pattern over, say 2 innings, for me to even mention it.

Players on the bench are not looking for patterns the way coaches are and may not realize that she's working behind in the count with every batter.

Though it's never mandated unless a take sign is given, it could be a useful suggestion to your hitters, until the pitcher starts bringing it in on the plate earlier in the count.

 

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I think by far the biggest issue here is not coaches asking their players to routinely take the first pitch, but players who have had drilled in their heads to do so by dads who played baseball many years ago, and who were trained to do that themselves. Again, there are times in the game to do so, but I completely agree that it should not be routine and it can cause passiveness in both hitting and in the rest of their game.

 

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Coachjwb has made a couple of good points. My daughter played in high school with a girl who always took the first pitch ('hit the snot out of the ball, coincidentally). Her dad was always standing behind the backstop. When we played tournament ball in the summer and dad couldn't be there, suddenly the girl was swinging at first pitches - when they were what she was looking for. It didn't significantly affect her average. But everybody is different. The point is - Never say "never swing at the first pitch". It's situational.

 

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Someone had instructed my DD in the past to take the first pitch... she often took first pitch for nice hits. I finally talked to her and said listen, if the first pitch is a good one and you want it, drive it. She's gone back to that and hits well. Matter of fact, last weekend she took first pitch of her first AB in a double header and drove it over the fence for her first HR.

 

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Once I was tired of being victimized by called third stikes. So I decided that if we focused on the first strike we'd never get to the third one.
I told the team that they would do a sprint for every called first strike, the whole team including the coaches.(U14 level) The kids became so focused on hitting the first strike that they drove each other to be very aggressive on that first pitch and they hit the ball hard. By the end of the weekend they we not running a single sprint, called third strikes disappeared and batting averages went up by a 100 points. Life is good.

 

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Fairman ... that's an interesting approach ... I like the idea of it to help teach aggressiveness. While I still think there are many situations to take first pitches, and it's not something I'd do all of the time, you're not saying to always swing at the first pitch either ... only if it might be called a strike. As someone mentioned in another thread today, this is a good place to get ideas of what other teams do and how to address issues. You can even teach an old dog new tricks!

 

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I would guess that it's learned early in rec. ball for the most part, when pitchers constantly struggle to find the plate. I know it's not the norm, but would like to add there are some hitters out there who are looking for a pitch in their zone, are not afraid to hit with 2 strikes, and are able to foul off the border line pitches waiting for the mistake. Of course these hitters have no problem jumping on the first pitch if it's there.

 

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I would guess that it's learned early in rec. ball for the most part, when pitchers constantly struggle to find the plate. I know it's not the norm, but would like to add there are some hitters out there who are looking for a pitch in their zone, are not afraid to hit with 2 strikes, and are able to foul off the border line pitches waiting for the mistake. Of course these hitters have no problem jumping on the first pitch if it's there.

I agree with you. The first strike you should be looking for "your pitch" you can drive. Your zone get's bigger with more strikes. You have to have the trust that your hitters can hit with 2 strikes on them.

 

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I dont know about the info of taking the first pitch drops your BA 75 points. But I do have first hand written knowledge that the more pitches a batter sees the more productive they are. If going thru the line up our batters see 25 or more pitches in that inning we are scoring runs. Its about being selective on location and then aggressive on what you can drive. Not just hit but drive.

The pitcher catcher and umpire work out of a strike zone, the batter works out of a hitting zone. Jut because blue called it a strike dosent mean its something the batter can drive. If you have never seen a pitcher before and you swing at the first pitch and ground out what have you accomplished. If you go thru the line up 3 or so times and you see she has a history of trying to get up in the count by coming across the middle of the plate then your second time at bat by all means punish her by driving it.

I like long at bats, I like watching my hitters go deep in the count. I like wearing pitchers out and punishing them if they make a mistake. Hitting is a game within a game. Its about adjustments.

Why do most power hitters go deep in a count while most contact hitters do not? The reason is A power hitter is looking for that one pitch to drive. A contact hitter is looking to put the ball in play. I teach my kids to swing for power below 2 strikes and to swing for contact after. Attacking any thing close at 2 strikes.

This like any thing else its just another way of looking at things.

Tim