Pitching strategy: What to throw, where to throw it

In baseball pitching, knowing what to throw and when to throw it is key to having success on the pitcher's mound. That's why I encourage pitchers to get in a habit of watching hitters take their warm-up swings -- watching how they swing the bat.

A baseball hitter's natural warm-up swing path most of the time can tell you where he'd like the pitch. See if you can pick it out with the hitters you face.

What seems to be the pitch location that they hit the best? You'll want to aggressively pitch around that spot.

In the game, watch how the hitters stand at the plate: closed stance, open stance, bat held high, held low, hitch in the swing? All tell you something about the hitter. All will help you pitch to the batters' weaknesses.

• Pitch inside to a batter who holds his bat on end, pointed straight in the air who crowds the plate or swings a slow bat
• Pitch high inside to a batter who's nervous, uppercuts the ball strides too far or does not rotate the hips
• Pitch outside to a batter who swings with an open stance pulls his head out, taking the eyes off the ball in swing
• Pitch outside low if the batter swings down (chops at the ball), uses an open stance without a stride, just swings with the arm strides and steps in the bucket

(Submitted by Bill Chapones)