Pitching Inside
Thursday, May 5th, 2005Say what you want about the Baseball Tonight crew, they just had the best analysis I have seen in a long time. Of course, it confirms what I have been saying for years: pitchers who pitch inside are most effective.
Baseball Tonight spotlighted Red Sox pitcher, Bronson Arroyo. They showed how he pitches inside. He hits batters from time to time (remember the Sox-Yanks brawl last season with ARod). Both John Kruk and Harold Reynolds, former MLB batters, said that when you are known for pitching inside, a pitcher instills fear in the batter. That fear will buckle the knees of a batter on a breaking ball inside.
In contrast, a pitcher who is not known for pitching inside, does not instill fear. Batters remain in the box and follow those balls. The visual used for this example was Sammy Sosa teeing off on former Cy Young award winning Roy Halladay.
For years, pitchers have moved to the outside of the plate. Yes, Maddux and Glavine perfected the outside of the plate. Virtually everyone else missed. Pitching inside is part of the game. A pitcher, even one who has mediocre stuff like Arroyo, can set up the outside pitch easily by learning to come in tight.