Absolute #5 – You need to throw a Change-Up to be successful at a high level

This is a terrible title for this post, and also misleading.  I am a big fan of the change-up.  What I really want to address is the kids we have that come to camp and claim to have 5 different pitches, or the freshman we recruit that show up with the same thinking.  Any coaches reading this probably just smiled, because they know exactly what I am talking about.

I understand that the society we currently live in is impatient.  Heck, I am impatient.  (A great example of my impatience was creating a separate post to share the video of the Hall of Fame class just elected talking about how they developed their signature pitches instead of waiting to include it in this post where it fits nicely https://coachope.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/hall-of-fame-class-of-2015-must-watch-video/)  However, some things take time, and developing a pitch is one of those things.

It is consistent with today’s society to jump from one idea to another without fully exploring and comprehending any of them.  The development of a pitching arsenal is also something that young pitchers treat this way too often.  My intent is not to long for the glory days, rather to encourage-maybe even challenge, pitchers and pitching coaches to focus on mastery rather than rushing to develop a 4 or 5 pitch package without truly mastering any of them.  I am going to speak in somewhat general terms in this post, as a future series will be devoted to developing a pitcher’s gameplan, which is something I have spoken and written about in the past and feel very passionately about.

A pitcher is going to have more consistent success if he can throw a pitch to a specific location consistently.  Once the ability to do that has been achieved, only then does it benefit a pitcher to move on to throwing that pitch to a different location or beginning to develop a new pitch thrown to one specific location.  The ideal plan would be for a 3 or 4 pitch arsenal, each thrown to multiple locations, but that takes a long time to do!

I like to refer to each pitch in a pitcher’s arsenal as a “weapon.”  In order for a pitch to truly be a weapon, it needs to be executed (I will present my definition of execution as a part of the “Gameplan” series).  We get in trouble when we cannot execute a pitch, which hurts us by throwing that pitch in locations that allow hitters to put good swings on it, or by not being able to consistently throw a pitch for a strike.  The obvious danger is hard contact or giving away free bases.

While it may feel limiting, and certainly is not as exciting as the feeling pitchers have when they get a new toy, I would argue that taking the time to master a weapon before attempting to develop a new one is the best way to create a sustainable plan for consistent success.  When you have a weapon you always know what to do when you need to make a pitch.  You won’t get beat on your other stuff that way.  It is a pretty lousy feeling when you lose a game and the pitch that you get beat on is your third offering (or 4^th, or 5^th).

When a first year pitcher arrives in our program, we frequently remove one or more pitches from their arsenal, and challenge them to master a fastball to one location, then prioritize what is next in the development process.  Not everyone is best off throwing a fastball to multiple locations before they can throw two pitches to one location.  The prioritization is where the coach comes in.  We need to guide the pitcher in a direction that will allow for the greatest success in the shortest amount of time.  In 2010 Dietrich Enns was the Freshman of the Year in the Mid American Conference, a first team All MAC selection, an All Mideast Region pick and a Freshman All American……and in 60 innings he threw more than 95% fastballs, all 4 seamers.  I have no doubt that if we had forced him into developing multiple pitches before we forced fastball mastery that he would not have been able to have such a great year (and without him doing what he did we would not have won the MAC championship that season).  D went on to take what flashed as an above average change up as a freshman and turn it into a consistent second pitch over his next two years with us, and then once he got to professional baseball he has since developed an average slider to go with the other two weapons.  He is well on his way to pitching in the big leagues, and there is no way to know how we would have delayed (or maybe even prevented) his progression had we asked him to do more than master one pitch at a time.

The process of developing a gameplan is a long and constantly evolving one.  In a time where patience is not a popular thing, I would encourage young pitchers to slow your thoughts down and do it right.  Further, I would challenge pitching coaches to take this approach to help put your pitchers in the best position to be successful.  I understand this is not an easy challenge, but it is in the best interest of truly developing pitchers.

I have one more post planned in this “Absolutes” series.  I would welcome your thoughts either via a comment on this page, tweeting at me or posting to my Facebook page on what you’d like to see next.  I have narrowed the options to the “Gameplan” series I mention in this post or a “Mentality” series that gets into the mental development of pitchers.  Let me know what you think and I will go with what my audience prefers.

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