Pitching strategy: What to do when you're up 0-2

I know what it's like to get caught up in a game. You're in the zone. Chugging along. That's the "rhythm of pitching" that coaches and pros talk about. It's how you get in a groove and stay there.

But sometimes, that rhythm can work against you. Like in 0-2 counts. Yeah, you're ahead of the hitter. But don't relax. Don't forget to concentrate a little extra on 0-2.

Make your pitch unhittable either by moving the hitter's feet to set up the 1-2 pitch (keep the ball below the hitter's waist) or by picking at the corners of the plate. Nothing hurts your chances of winning more than giving up 0-2 hits.

Bear down and make a good, "purposely" placed pitch.

Like chess, pitching's a game of out thinking the other guy

Have you ever heard a coach say baseball is a game of chess? Some of my high school coaches used to say that. It's essentially true, though.

Like chess, where you're thinking a couple of moves ahead, you're concentrating on the board -- you should do the same on the mound.

Here's how.

As a pitcher you should never tip off your pitches, show visible anger, or be predictable. Having the same mechanics for all pitches, keeping the same facial expressions, and mixing up your pitches sets you up for success.

Don't be predictible, think ahead, and check-mate your opponent. That's the key to pitching. And that's how baseball pitching is like chess.

Reds' doc: "We know better than to allow Little Leaguers to throw curveballs"

Dr. Timothy Kremchek is the medical director for the Cincinnati Reds and has performed surgeries on such major league pitchers as Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood. He recently operated on the arm of USC's Arik Hempy.

Kremchek is nationally renowned for providing surgeries through the Beacon Orthopedics & Sports Medicine center in Cincinnati. He also has been the leading advocate nationally for legislation and education of coaches and parents about the overuse of pitchers’ arms in youth baseball.

Kremchek recently agreed to a question-and-answer session by telephone with staff writer Ron Morris of The (S.C.) State newspaper.

Question: Little League Baseball and Dixie Youth Baseball suggest that curveballs not be thrown, but neither has a rule against it for 11- and 12-year olds. Is that enough? And what do you think when you watch the Little League World Series on TV?

Answer: It is disgusting. I don’t watch it anymore. I saw a kid a couple of years ago, that’s all he threw was curveballs. I would love to see what happens to him in three years. You might as well watch some parent hitting his kid. Knowing what we know and what we are preaching, and then to watch a kid throw a curveball at that age. ... It made me sick. I’m against it. It should be illegal at age 12. They should have pitch counts and no curveballs. It’s a serious abuse of pitchers. ... The future of these kids in baseball is very dismal. That makes me absolutely sick. I can become violently ill watching that. It kills me. We are watching 12-year-olds with sponsorships, ESPN coverage, immense peer pressure, the over-desire to win at age 12. Who really gives a (darn) at age 12? That kid on the mound thinks he can pitch in the major leagues one day, and God bless him, but his chances are almost zero, because no one is telling him the truth. That is absolute child abuse on public display. At age 11, these kids are the best pitchers because they can throw curveballs. At age 14, they are watching the other kids play. By and large, we know better than that, and the people around him know better than to do that.

Read more here.

How to avoid Little League elbow

Ouch,.... Got Little League elbow? So do a lot of kids playing youth baseball. Here's the good news: Little League elbow is largely preventable, if kids follow these tips.

• Throw less

A broad recommendation is that pitchers base their number of pitches each week by multiplying their age by 10, so an 8-year-old would limit his pitches to 80 a week. A 12-year-old would throw no more than 120.

• Warm up

Coaches should educate players to the importance of and techniques for stretching and strengthening the arms and shoulders, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says. Always take time to warm up and stretch. Research studies have shown that cold muscles are more prone to injury.

• Throw correctly

Poor throwing motions put too much stress on the elbow. Discourage sidearm throwing because it is three times more likely to cause injury, according to the surgeons' group.

• Master the basics

From ages of 8 to 14, players should work on three phases -- gaining control, increasing velocity and developing a command of the strike zone, throwing only fastballs. Pitchers should begin throwing change-ups at age 10, but no breaking pitches (curves, sliders, etc.) until at least 14.

• Recognize injuries

Any persistent pain, loss of motion (especially extension) or X-ray abnormalities should keep a player on the sidelines until the symptoms disappear or a doctor clears the player. Little League elbow is known medically as medial apophysitis because it's always on the inner side, or medial side, of the elbow. So not all elbow pain is Little League elbow.

Source

Poor form, overuse lead to pitching injuries, doctors say

If you are going to throw the ball, you need to learn how to throw it right. It's about learning the mechanics. That's a given. But it also might be the solution to a common pitching problem many youth pitchers face: Little League elbow or Little League shoulder.

Tracy Wheeler And Mary Meehan of Knight Ridder write the following article, which appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader, June 20.

Among pitchers younger than 12, as many as 45 percent complain of chronic elbow pain, according to several published studies. At the high school level, nearly six of every 10 pitchers suffer chronic elbow pain.

Yet another study -- in the May/June 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons -- showed that it might be even worse than that, with 50 percent to 75 percent of all adolescent baseball players -- not just pitchers -- reporting elbow pain.

"It's bad. Many parents -- and coaches -- don't understand how many pitches a kid should throw. They think, 'They're young, they're healthy, they can't get hurt,'" said Dick Schoonover, owner of the Dick Schoonover Academy of Pitching Instruction in Munroe Falls, Ohio.

For most young baseball players with throbbing elbows, the real problem is the never-ending baseball season.

Boys this age are now playing more baseball than ever. Even in cold-weather climates, baseball has become a year-round sport -- and that, more than anything, is leading to the increasing number of elbow injuries.

"There very definitely should be a limit on the number of pitches thrown during a season," said Dr. Ben Kibler, medical director for the Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center. From studies "it looks like about 800 pitches is getting to the overload point. You've got to understand that you can't go out and throw all the time."

Plus, he said, players are pushing themselves harder and harder to throw faster. "Everybody is throwing to match the radar gun," he said.

Since the last baseball season, Kibler said, he's had to operate on four patients for baseball-related elbow pain. He's had to tell eight players they had to stop playing to give their arms a rest. Another issue, he said, is the prevalence of young players throwing breaking pitches. Because of the mechanics of the way the ball leaves the player's grasp -- to make the ball spin, the wrist is rotated and the elbow follows -- the breaking pitch, if done incorrectly, can be harmful.

And, he said, to learn how to pitch it properly, kids have to throw hundreds of balls incorrectly. They will try to muscle their way through pitches, he said, but many young players simply don't have the strength in the legs and trunk muscles to do that.

The consequence is elbow and shoulder pain, he said. "They've got to realize that until kids have muscle, the only way they can throw the ball well or efficiently is through good coaching," he said. Combine overuse with inherent physical weaknesses, and you've created a recipe for injury, said Dr. Joe Congeni, director of Akron Children's Hospital's sports medicine center.

Congeni said most young baseball players who come to his office will heal with a combination of rehabilitation and rest -- sometimes two to three months without throwing a baseball. Others will need surgery. They're typically 8 to 15 years old. And they're almost exclusively boys because the roundhouse motion used by female softball pitchers doesn't create stress on the elbow the way pitching a baseball overhand does.

Read what the solution is here.

Why pitching isn't rocket science

Steve Rogers, shown third from right, was the National League ERA champion in 1982 at 2.40 with the Montreal Expos. He recently held a pitching clinic where he taught youth pitchers, ages 9 to 13, the fundamentals of pitching.

Rogers focused on getting "set to pitch" properly and consistently, starting with pointing the shoulder without the ball at the target. "If you do that, it'll make your hips go toward the target," Rogers said. "If your shoulder and hips go at the target, your body goes the same way."

As the pitcher goes in his windup, Rogers also stressed the importance of reaching straight back and pointing the ball toward second base. "That's where you get your accuracy and velocity," Rogers said. "It's not rocket science, but it takes a lot of practice."

Read the complete article here.

To pitch in college, you've got to get noticed. Here's what I recommend.

It's the summer, which means one thing: There's no better time than now to get hooked up with a summer league baseball team and keep pitching. It's one of the best ways to get noticed by college baseball coaches -- and even pro scouts.

If you've got to work this summer to earn some extra cash, that's fine. But see if you can work mornings -- or on days that you don't have practice or games.

It's no secret to why ball players -- and pitchers, in particular -- from warmer-weather states wind up getting better looks by college coaches and pro scouts: they play year round. Top draft pick Andrew Miller, shown here, played year round. You should, too. And summer league play helps.

No matter where you live, if baseball pitching is important to you, find a way to play summer ball -- and have fun!

Nine pitching essentials

Here's what this post isn't about: pitching velocity. Why? It's a little overrated. Ask a college coach or pro scout how they evaluate baseball pitching talent, and many will list these qualities:

• size and strength
• work ethic
• effective second and third pitches
• positive
• quality mechanics
• smooth, efficient delivery
• pitchers' who take responsibility for their actions and reactions on the mound
• pitchers' who are team leaders
• "complete" pitchers

It's not a complete list, of course. But it's not all velocity, either. That's because "There's more to it than throwing the ball 90 miles an hour," says Roger Clemens.

How to win, and also develop youth pitchers

Cal Ripken, Jr.'s got a nice little column in the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Readers write in and "Ask Cal" baseball-related questions. It's worth adding to your "favorites" list of Web sites. Here's an article that appeared June 11.

Rich Krutsch of Fort Smith, Ark., asks: In our youth league, we have seen a trend in which teams have one or two pretty good pitchers and a couple that might need some practice. They will pitch their better player the first couple of innings, and if all is going well, switch to a less accomplished player to finish the game. If things get close in the later innings, they bring back their starter as a type of closer. What effect do you think this has on the pitcher's arm that has a break in his pitching time?

Cal's response: DEAR RICH // I think many of us who have been successful pitchers at the youth level have been there. I can remember starting the game on the mound, being moved to shortstop and then being brought back in to pitch. It often occurs when there is a greater emphasis on winning.

For the youngest, the emphasis should be more on developing the pitchers by teaching them the proper mechanics and then allowing them first to throw to a catcher and later to face opponents in a game situation. It is important to protect these kids, not only physically, but also their psyches. A lot of patience must be applied. Young pitchers must learn to stand out there on the rubber and to face hitters. That's the only way they are going to develop. If you pull them - or more important, if they fear being pulled - whenever something goes wrong, they are going to either feel too much pressure when they pitch or not want to go out there at all.

If winning is one of the team's primary goals, then the strategy about when to pull and replace a pitcher depends on the success that pitcher is having that day. How to handle these situations depends primarily on the philosophy of the team and the league. For younger pitchers, however, it is important to allow them to develop.

Cal's column can be found here.

What this pro baseball scout looks for in pitching talent

Matt Merullo, an Arizona Diamondbacks area scout, welcomes any opportunity to clear up the "mystery" of scouting and baseball's amateur draft.

First, he said "everybody is getting more exposure than they realize." Then he explained, "true physical ability is more important than statistics." The latter is "confusing because statistics are what we read in the papers, how we rate major leaguers. Still, the only place statistics don't lie is the majors and sometimes it is even confusing there."

The Diamondbacks went into the draft, his seventh, with a dozen names from Merullo's area (New York-New England). It is the result of his seeing about 100 games in 85 days and a trip to Arizona to talk up his choices with the scouting department.

Scouting techniques and philosophies vary in a changing game. Merullo leans toward the old school, the ex-player who relies more on intuition than a bunch of text-book learning (there is actually a scout school now) and mechanical aids (radar guns, computers, etc.).

Arizona has picked a dozen of Murello's recommendations including pitcher Matt Torra, a first round pick last year out of the University of Massachusetts. University of Connecticut pitcher Tim Norton was on his list this year. (The Yankees drafted him in the seventh round).

This is not a great area for prospects. Weather and scheduling are major problems. "You find a lot of good pitchers and some physically strong, gifted kids," he said. "You don't find a lot of shortstops and centerfielders. You find a lot of catchers in New England and some power hitting prospects now and then."

When he finds them, he works hard for them. "I want to go into their house with the money they deserve, sign them to a contract and start them on their way in professional baseball," Merullo said. The prospects - the list started with 80 - are "the kids I want and will find easy to deal with."

Tryout camps, now called showcases, are equally influenced.

Truth is, it is not a world for the faint of heart. "Nobody deserves to play pro baseball," Merullo claimed. "It is a privilege to have the ability and you either want to go after it and develop it or you don't but nobody deserves to play pro ball because of their heart or soul or determination."

Before you declare somebody a prospect "you have to be familiar with what a real prospect looks like, you have to have seen it," Merullo went on. The real ingredients including physical size and quickness are often overlooked [by the host of folks] trying to tell scouts how to do their jobs.

He probably is already aware of the prospects in the area. "You got to see a single player but you're looking at two teams," Merullo explained. "You make a note when you see a skilled freshmen running around."

He would just as soon do his job undetected. "Some guys like it but I can do without the hype," said Merullo, who admits to sometimes actually avoiding people. "You don't want to see an act. I want to see pre-game preparation, the intensity level of getting ready. Hype is not a good thing."

Scouting is involved with looking ahead but it starts with determining if a prospect has what it takes to survive within a basic baseball truth: the speed of the game picks up the higher up you go.

"Once I identify a kid as a player I want to start talking to his family, feeling out the kid a little bit. Finding out where his head is," he continued. Interestingly enough, how a prospect will deal with failure is a big part of Merullo's report. Prospects, often big fish in little ponds, are not terribly familiar with failure.

"You have to know the organization you work for and you really have to know the kid," explained Merullo. "Every kid has his own set of circumstances. You are the doorway that leads the kid into the system. You have to have an idea of how he's going to adapt to mechanical changes they're sure to make. How is he going to react to failure when that happens?"

Most prospects are looked at several times - "you got to have something to keep us coming back" - and Merullo hopes at least one of the visits is on a bad day.

Merullo has to determine, especially with high schoolers, "what is that kid's life going to be like when he goes off into pro baseball? Is the kid ready for Yakima, WA (Pioneer League) or Missoula, MT (Northwest League)" - the bottom rungs in Arizona's system....

Pete Zanardi, a freelance writer from Chester, writes about a variety of subjects for Shore Line Newspapers. Read the complete article here.