What To Look For And How To Dissect A Baseball Hitter's Batting Stance

When it comes to beating a hitter, there are a number of things you can do to give yourself an advantage. One of the biggest, perhaps, is to observe the hitter's batting position relative to the plate.

Now the younger you are, the harder this might be. I understand that. There are other things to focus on such as throwing strikes, knowing what to do in defensive situations, etc.

However, as your confidence and experience build, watching the hitter can be a good thing to learn to do.

One of the things I learned in pro ball is that you can watch the changes in a hitter's batting stance between pitches and during an at bat that can tip you off to what pitch the hitter might be looking for. Or, better yet, it can tip you off to what pitch he is afraid of seeing while even or behind in the count.

An example: If a hitter crowds (stands close to) the plate, he might be looking for fastballs over the outer-half of the plate. If a hitter's stands off of the plate, such as slugger Jim Edmonds of the St. Louis Cardinals, above, he might be looking to extend his hands on a pitch middle to middle-in.

Of course, these are generalities. Whether or not it'll work in your own games has as much to do with what you observe, as well as what your experience has taught you.

My point is this: The sooner you observe hitter's batting stances, the better off you'll be -- and the more success you'll have on the mound!