Professional Baseball Coach - Chicago Cubs
San Luis Obispo, CA
Joined December 2013
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The best DO NOT catch the ball deep in running situations. First contact is at extension as they are flexing back to make the exchange DOWN out of the glove. It’s the way your body best organizes itself to throw with force,speed & efficiency. Letting the ball travel is NOT a thing.
If you are a pitcher(Any level), a pitching coach or head coach or manager at any level, this is a MUST read. It was generated by Fred Corral who now works in development for 108 PERFORMANCE in Knoxville.
LETTER FROM “THE GAME”
A Message to the Pitcher
Allow me to introduce myself.
I’ve been around your clubhouse, your bullpen, your dugout—and most of all, your head—for a long time.
I am The Game.
I’ve seen better arms than yours.
Harder throwers. Better stuff. More talent. More opportunity.
And I’ve beaten plenty of them.
Not because they weren’t good enough.
Because eventually, I convinced them to stop doing what made them good.
That’s how I work.
I rarely beat you all at once.
I beat you one decision at a time.
I get you to stop preparing.
I get you thinking about results instead of execution.
I get you worried about velocity, mechanics, the umpire, the defense, your role, your ERA, who’s watching and what happens next.
Anything that takes you away from this pitch works for me.
Because I know something about pitching that sometimes you forget:
You are at your best when you attack.
So I try to make you defensive.
You call it being careful.
I call it winning.
I LOVE FEAR
I love when you fear contact.
When you forget that most balls put in play become outs.
When you start trying to avoid barrels instead of creating outs.
When you nibble.
When you guide.
When you hope.
When you try to make the perfect pitch.
That’s when the hitter becomes the House.
And I have you.
The great ones understand:
FAH: Fearlessly Attack Hitters.
Not recklessly.
Fearlessly.
Know your weapons.
Know the hitter.
Know where damage lives.
Know where chase lives.
Then make your pitch with conviction.
Be the House.
Establish the terms.
I LOVE 1–0
Want to know one of my favorite counts?
1–0.
Because the only path to 0–2 runs through 0–1.
So I whisper:
Be careful.
Feel your way into the at-bat.
Don’t give him anything too good.
Then you’re 1–0.
Then 2–0.
And suddenly you’re throwing what he wants instead of what you want.
That’s why I hate pitchers who understand the value of 0–0.
Win the first pitch.
Win the Race to Two Strikes.
Understand the 1–1 hinge.
Earn leverage.
Then use it.
On or off in three. Put away in four.
I LOVE INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT
This is one of my newer tricks.
I give you numbers.
Velocity.
IVB.
HB.
VAA.
Whiff rates.
Chase rates.
Heat maps.
Count tendencies.
Pitch usage.
Matchups.
More information than pitchers have ever possessed.
And information is powerful.
The man with the most information at the end wins—not the man with the most toys.
But here’s how I turn your information against you:
I get you to keep analyzing when it’s time to compete.
I get you thinking about seven possibilities instead of committing to one.
I get you chasing somebody else’s movement profile instead of understanding your own.
I get you staring at the iPad instead of seeing the hitter.
I turn preparation into hesitation.
Paralysis by analysis.
That’s when your greatest advantage becomes mine.
Study everything.
Learn everything.
Know your arsenal.
Know the hitter.
Understand movement, damage, chase, counts and tendencies.
Gather information until it creates clarity.
Then when you step on the mound:
simplify.
The information has already done its job.
Now trust it.
See the target.
Make a decision.
Commit.
Pitch.
The smartest pitcher isn’t the one thinking about the most things when the ball leaves his hand.
It’s the one who used the most information to arrive at the clearest decision.
I LOVE WHEN YOU FORGET WHAT PITCHING IS
Hitters are trying to create timing.
Your job is to disrupt it.
Pitching isn’t owning a collection of pitches.
It’s making pitches work together.
Front to back.
Up and down.
In and out.
Hard and soft.
Run and cut.
Carry and drop.
You aren’t simply moving the baseball.
You’re moving the hitter.
Change his eyes.
Change his decision.
Change his timing.
Make pitches look alike long enough to become different too late.
Attack space.
Attack time.
Because hitting is timing.
Pitching is disrupting timing.
I LOVE TWO-STRIKE PITCHERS WHO BECOME SOMEONE ELSE
They attack to get to two strikes…
then suddenly start trying to trick everybody.
They chase the strikeout.
They overthrow.
They expand too far.
They abandon what earned the count.
Please do that.
But the best pitchers understand:
Two strikes don’t change who you are.
Finish the confrontation.
Move the baseball away from damage and toward chase.
If he doesn’t chase?
Attack him again.
Sometimes the best put-away pitch is simply another quality strike.
I LOVE THE PITCH YOU CAN’T LET GO
Walk somebody?
Carry it.
Bad call?
Show everybody.
Error?
Get angry.
Home run?
Feel sorry for yourself.
Please.
Because while you’re thinking about the pitch that’s already gone…
I’m waiting to beat you with the next one.
That’s why I hate the 1–3–1 Mentality.
One pitch.
Three outs.
One inning.
I cannot use the past against you if you refuse to live there.
I cannot use the future against you if you refuse to go there early.
Your power exists right now.
AND I WILL TEST YOUR EGO
Someone else will start.
Someone else will close.
Someone else will throw harder.
Someone else will get promoted.
Someone with less talent may have more success.
Then I’ll find out who you really are.
Will you become bitter?
Stop preparing?
Stop serving?
Let your role determine your standard?
That’s when I win.
But I struggle with players who eliminate ego.
They prepare.
They serve.
They compete.
Their role may change.
Their standard doesn’t.
I WILL GIVE YOU FAILURE
Count on it.
Make a great pitch—you may give up a hit.
Make a bad pitch—you may get an out.
Dominate—you may lose.
Struggle—you may win.
I am not always fair.
But I am always revealing.
Eventually, I expose whether your confidence comes from results…
or preparation.
If you need success to believe in yourself, I can take your confidence away.
But if your confidence comes from knowing:
I prepared.
I have a plan.
I know my strengths.
I will attack.
I will compete.
Then I have a problem.
HERE’S HOW I BEAT YOU
Fear.
Ego.
Poor preparation.
Too much information without clarity.
Not enough information to prepare.
Fear of contact.
Fear of failure.
Trying to be perfect.
Living in the previous pitch.
Worrying about the next one.
Pitching away from your strengths.
Forgetting to compete.
Give me one.
I’ll work on the rest.
HERE’S HOW YOU BEAT ME
Prepare.
Gather information.
Know yourself.
Know the hitter.
Know where damage lives.
Know where chase lives.
Understand your movement.
Trust your weapons.
Then simplify.
Attack the zone.
Win 0–0.
Win the race to two strikes.
Control 1–1.
Finish 2–2.
Disrupt timing.
Pitch to your strengths.
Accept contact.
Accept failure.
Eliminate ego.
Serve your teammates.
Stay present.
One pitch.
Three outs.
One inning.
When I make you afraid—
Fearlessly Attack Hitters.
When I put you on defense—
Be the House.
When I overwhelm you with information—
Find clarity.
When I make the game complicated—
Simplify.
When I remind you about yesterday—
Next pitch.
When I make you worry about tomorrow—
This pitch.
I am difficult by design.
I’m supposed to test your preparation, conviction, humility, toughness and character.
You cannot control everything I give you.
But you control what you give me.
Give me preparation.
Give me information with purpose.
Give me conviction.
Give me aggressiveness.
Give me humility.
Give me your complete attention for one pitch.
Then do it again.
And again.
And again.
Do that long enough and something changes.
I stop playing you.
You start playing me.
I am The Game.
I’ll see you at the field.
Come prepared.
Come informed.
Come convicted.
When you play your 3B well into the 5 hole with a runner on 3B & a LHP pitching you are vulnerable to a steal of home.
LKD transition to throw. Big alignment component to this move. Pop time are going down in MLB & I think the alignment piece is a big factor. In RKD setups in potential running situations some catchers start less square & have their left shoulder point to 2B & just raise up off their right knee to throw in response to the runners 1st move to steal.
BIZARRE THINKING
I’m not sure with Simpson’s running speed & his ability to control the speed & direction of his bunts, that with runners on 1B & 2B that you don’t have a better chance of gambling with some type of rotation bunt defense to get the force at 3B.
Breakdown of Liam Hicks CS
TTP 1.60 POP 1.87 TAG .10=3.57
BR ran 3.70 based on pitcher’s 1st move & his arrival at 2B. He broke .10 after the pitcher’s 1st move. To be safe he would have to have broken before the pitcher’s 1st move. The batter tried to help the runner by showing bunt & trying to cover the ball with the bat(Bunt shade) to hinder the catcher’s vision & momentum.
From Steve Gilbert’s Daily Blog
YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL & NOT EXPECTED TO MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS. THEY LOVE YOU “WIN OR TIE.” YOU ONLY NEED TO SATISFY THE “MAN IN THE MIRROR.”
Early turn BHB to 3B by Rays Chandler Simpson with no outs & a runner on 1B. Took a near perfect play by Jose Ramirez to get him out.
1) Earlier turn.
2) Plus bat angle.
3) Contact near the end of bat to soften the bunt.
4) Eyes & barrel of bat connected.
5) Does not run until he sees the ball down.
Walls with plus vault steal timing on this SB. Bailey makes it close on a tough low out pitch. Low slot on target athletic throw.
Tremendous job by Kwan fighting to catch this LD hit on his glove side so he could aggressively move through it. Athletic one handed tag by Bailey on the receiving end.
Tyler Walls with textbook push bunt. He shuffles up in the box to create a wider lane to bunt(more fair territory ) & then drop steps before stepping towards the second baseman. The goal is to firmly bunt the ball past the LHP. It’s basically a running sac bunt. Herrin was not going to beat him to the base. His only option was to reach out & tag him from behind.
Caught stealing throwing matrix from Tom Tango. Two feet above the ground & two to four feet up the 1st base line.
facebook.com/reel/4917299748…
SHEFF TALKING ABOUT HIS TWO STRIKE STANCE. NOVEL-In today’s game we only heard about your ‘A’ swing & approach.
