MLB Pitching Observations From The 6th Row

You can learn a lot from watching Big League pitchers.

Yesterday, I took my dad to the Yankees-Cardinals rubber match at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. An early Father's Day gift.

For my dad, a huge Yankees fan, it was his first time seeing his beloved pinstripes up-close-and-personal since a visit to Yankee Stadium with his father in 1968.

We were six seats from the Yankees batters box (one of the perks of being a professional pitching instructor with a large client base in the St. Louis area) and we had one heck of a time despite the Bronx Bombers losing momentum (and eventually the game 5-3) on a seventh-inning home run from Cardinals pinch hitter Scott Seabol.

Actually, that dong didn't come as a surprise.

The pitching throughout the day was sub-par from both dugouts.

However, two guys did stand out: Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen and Yankees late-inning mop-up reliever Flash Gordon.

The reason?

While we were being slowly lulled to sleep by the slow, monotonous, 30-seconds-between-pitches-pace of starters Matt Morris (Cards) and Carl Pavano (Yanks), hitters were having a field day.

Then, in comes a few Yankees relievers and a couple of Cards hurlers, who gave us much of the same.

In the eighth, the Yanks called in Flash. Up-tempo. Cap pulled low. All business. Working fast. Throwing strikes (throwing 94-95 mph, too) and getting outs. 1-2-3.

Joe Torre probably should've brought him in earlier.

Izzy followed for the Cards and shut the door. He, too, was all business. Moving hitters with a good, hard inside fastball, then dropping his breaker in for a strike. He'd pitch, hop back on the mound and pitch again. Fast. The Yanks didn't have a chance.

Here's my point.

You can learn a lot from watching Major League pitchers. What my dad and I observed Sunday was the pitchers who worked faster, performed better. The pitchers who took their time, walked off and around the mound in between pitches didn't do as well because they weren't ever able to develop any rhythm. And as you may know, rhythm gets outs. And outs win ball games.

Painfully simple pro pitching advice, I know, but every bit apparent in Sunday's game. Work fast (and under control) and you too can have better success on the mound.

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher™
www.thecompletepitcher.com
www.thecompletepitcher.blogs.com