Pitching Question

In baseball, pitchers/managers look to get the right handed pitcher vs. the right handed batter or lefty vs. lefty. Although it is slight, the averages show there is an advantage for the pitchers to have this match up. I am thinking there is just less time for the batter to see the ball in this kind of match up, plus you have a mound that has the ball coming from a higher angle in baseball.

The question is, why isn't there the same advantage in softball? I never see anyone bring in another pitcher to get the lefty/lefty or righty/righty match ups. Or a LH pinch hitter brought in when a RH hitter is due up against a RH pitcher.

In fastpitch, could it be the lack of a mound, the low release point, less reaction time, lack of left handed hitters and pitchers or a combination of all this?

I am a hitting coach and purposely try to only know the basics about pitching. So what's the deal?

 

I think there is an advantage with lefty/lefty, but there doesn't seem to be many left handed pitchers. I guess in travel ball we tend to have 2 or 3 pitchers, and alternate them game by game. I could see bringing in the lefty to face a lefty in the right situation.

 

Pitcher

Agree somewhat as lefty are hard to find. I have a good one this year. Spin of ball, screwball, which way curve breaks, rise, etc can all come into play against certain hitters and lefty can cause trouble for both sides of plate.

Over the years most teams have had only one quality or two at the most quality pitchers and could not afford to burn that player to pitch to one batter. Sure U can make a sub and bring in another player as well but may weaken another part of your team. Rosters in softball have not allowed for the specialist role,especially in travel ball as parents and players have a hard time accepting that role and paying to travel all over the country. NC has more quality pitchers as softball has grown and U may see the future move to pitching specialist as well as defensive specialist, bunt specialist, etc. Our parent and player base, as well as fan base will have to become more tolerate and stratergy oriented to bring on this part of the game.
Hey we may get there but pitching for the most part is still ahead of hitting in this state and so we look for a little change in speed, movement, etc to get out of a key jam.

 

JMO

 

BMAC: this is an excellent question and one that I have pondered myself having a DD who pitches as well as a son.

I have come to the following conclusion: Its the difference in the release point on the breaking stuff and the fear it creates.

This is a bit of the history: My DD lost a pivotal conference game last year when a Righty hit a curve out to RF. In the state championships in Raleigh for one of the sanctioning organizations two summers ago Alley Cashen hit another curve for a 2 run HR and the LB's beat us 2-0. This made me start thinking because she has a nice curve. This past summer my son pitched his LL all star team to a district championship with a particularly nasty curve ball. I have watched kid after kid bale out on it. I never have seen this happen on in a FP game and the reason is that in baseball with the over the top release the curve looks like its coming right at your head! In FP it looks like its coming at your hip so there is no fear factor.

This is the reason you see switch hitters in baseball.. to avoid the righty/righty and lefty/lefty breaking ball advantage and being able to hit the breaking ball coming from outside in.

There exists no such advantage in in FP because breaking balls create no such fear of being hit in the head. In baseball our target for the curve was the righty's top front left shoulder!

 

Great point and makes a lot of sense. I remember that feeling with seeing a curve ball coming right at your head! I guess it's similar to a riseball between your hands and chin!

 

I feel...

That the issue over pitching time does indeed come up more before college, but after that BMAC is right college coaches want to win...period. But ont eh other side of that subject, there is also the situation a lot in TB where teams only have 1, all game pitcher, and others that can't throw an entire game or whatever, that leaves the 1 pitcher, pitching way more than sometimes they want to or need to!

I don't know about ya'll but I have seen a pitcher throw a high screw ball that has made more than a few batters bale out! I think the fear facter still exist just in a different manner.
Why can Jenny Finch strike out so many baseball batters?
Having said that, I do not know the answer to the question!! LOL I will however use some brain waves to ponder the subject!

 

Maybe

 

Finch K's baseball guys because . . . .

They have never seen a pitch that rises (or at least appears to rise). Baseballs can only appear to go down, in or out. If these baseball guys regularly hit against Finch they would adjust.

As for BMac's original question the answer is not simple (lots of factors involved) but it does illustrate that hitting a softball is different from hitting a baseball. I will say that having watched a good number LH FP pitchers in both HS and college that the transition for the lefty to college can be difficult. In HS and travel ball these girls can get by nibbling on the outside to most RH hitters. This just will not cut it in college. The strike zone gets smaller and hitters learn to go to right center. For a lefty to succeed in D1 she's got to be able to go inside RH hitters. Kat O is the obvious example. She was able to throw the curve both in or out on RH hitters. The lefty on my daughter's college team hit more batters than all the other pitchers on the team combined and was very successful.