What Pitch Would You Throw Here?

Here's the pitching situation: a right handed pitcher is facing a right handed hitter. On the first pitch, the hitter pulls a fastball down the third base line almost knocking over the third base coach in the coach's box.

As the pitcher in this scenario, what pitch would you throw next?

Here's what I'd do in this situation:

If a right-handed hitter pulls my first pitch fastball foul down the left side of the field, it tells me he's likely cheating on the inside part of the plate. That simply means he's working to speed up his bat and likely committed early on the pitch (meaning he may have been guessing fastball and swinging no matter what).

Therefore, I'd come back with a backdoor change-up on the outside part of the plate. (Another option is an outside curve ball, but because I'm a righty throwing to a right-handed hitter, I'd rather throw a off-speed pitch that starts outside and backs up a bit (like my change-up) instead of a pitch sweeps the other direction (across the plate) in order to catch the outside corner (like my curve ball).

Would you have done the same?

Yours in baseball,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher™
www.thecompletepitcher.com