3 simple pitching strategies to lower your pitch count

Want to lower your pitch count? Throw fewer pitches. You can do that three ways:

1. Throw all pitches for 66.7% strikes.
2. End 75% of at bats within three pitches.
3. End 100% of at bats within five pitches.

In order to end at-bats quickly, you must maximize the number of strikes you throw early in the count -- on the first three pitches.

The first strike is the soul of every pitcher's success, and MLB statistics show that pitchers who don't throw first-pitch strikes do poorly. Pitchers in the majors give up base hits on fewer than 10% of their first-pitch strikes. Go right after the hitter on the first pitch!