How To Be A Better Baseball Relief Pitcher

Pitching in relief requires a different approach that starting. You need to be comfortable with uncertainty, as your daily routine won't be as fixed as a starting pitchers. You will need to be able to warm up and establish command of your pitches quickly when called. For more advanced pitchers, that means throwing your breaking balls and off-speed pitches for strikes in the bullpen.

As a reliever, you can get away with being more emotional on the mound because you're only out there for a few innings at a time. That's why you see a lot of baseball closers with a bit of flair and personality. They're only out there for an inning. Yet I always preferred and tried to emulate the reserved demeanor of a closer like Mariano Rivera -- always stoic, always in control of his emotions and the pitching game.

But the most important part of being a successful baseball reliever is that you will need to shake off a bad outing almost immediately and be prepared to go to work the next day. I like to refer to this as having a "short memory." Whether you perform well and help your team win or do poorly, you must put it behind you and prepare for tomorrow. Because you never know if you're going to pitch, And you want to be ready if you do.