I watched a program tonight and they were talking about injuries to pitchers in MLB.
They said that this is a result of not learning to pitch inside, due to the metal bats many used in high school and college.
Does anyone know what they meant and could that be a possibility?

If I had to guess I think they meant that since pitchers dont use that inside corner with their fastball that they tend to go to the breaking ball on the outside of the plate. The number of breaking balls by pitchers seems to increase every year. Pitchers won't go inside on hitters with metal bats because it's too easy to get around on an inside fastball or even just bloop one out there. I guess they mean the breaking balls have been hurting pitchers.

I can completely understand where they are coming from.

I think it is much more common w/ the college and possibly the high school game. However the pro game is not what it used to be in this aspect.

There is simply not much fear in a hitters mind at levels below pro baseball. College and High School rules commities will not allow the players to police the game. Add to the fact that many of today's college and high school coaches (particularly the ones below the age of 30) have become used to coaching under different rules as of those from the past.

The fight rule which is in place now at the college and high school levels will not allow players to leave their position nor the bench in the event of a fight w/o the penalty being ejection from the game. Completely insane in my opinion.

Baseball is one of the few (if not only) sports that can be policed effectively by the players. (IF THEY ARE TAUGHT HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY)

This does not mean that teams/players/coaches go out looking for fights or beanball wars. It just means that there are consiquences for ones actions....in most cases the actions will be, admiring HR's, stealing bases or bunting for base hits w/ a large lead late in the game, intentionally taking someone out to the extreme, or sometimes just being too darn successful. Some would say this is not right......Well right or wrong it is how the game (for the most part) was and IMO should be played at levels above HS. Pitchers can even police bad umpiring (balls and strikes).

A pitcher's job is to get outs!!!! He does not want the hitter to be COMFORTABLE! To negate that comfort the pitcher must pitch inside, and often more than inside. I do not, for a second, think that it is acceptable for pitchers at the youth level to throw at hitters. However, it is possible to teach kids the importance of pitching inside and encourage them to overcome the fear of hitting batters.

The above is one way to look at it........or at least the way I feel....


To answer TPM's question:

Most College and HS coaches are in the "winning games" business as opposed to the "player development" business.....as you well know

Most College and HS hitters cannot handle stuff away from them.......College and HS coaches do not have enough confidence in their pitchers ability to locate the ball inside (or anywhere for that matter)......College and HS pitchers, on the whole, simply do not locate very well.......Coaches would rather roll the dice on a hitter rolling over something away from them rather than a young pitcher trying to go inside and miss to the middle of the plate or hitting a batter.....the result is a generation of pitchers never learning how to pitch inside.

LOW

I am with you---we always took care of our own "business" between the lines and we never had fights--it was just the way the game was played and should still be played--nowadays every player is looking to fight at the drop of a hat or any inside pitch


Baseball is the greatest game every created and should just be left alone---

If we were all to go back to wood we would see more inside pitching

LOW,

Pitchers do not pitch inside because:

They have a fear of hitting batters.

Aluminum bats don't break and jam shots are line drives in the scorebook.

They get into the habit of always working away because it's the safest and most effective way of getting younger hitters out.

Here is what I disagree with:

"The fight rule which is in place now at the college and high school levels will not allow players to leave their position nor the bench in the event of a fight w/o the penalty being ejection from the game. Completely insane in my opinion."

It's a great rule and allows order to be maintained in a scholastic and collegiate environment. These are NOT PORFESSIONALS defending their living on a baseball field.

I was once in a baseball brawl in 1984 that lasted about 10 minutes and the police had to come in off the highway to break the thing up. There is nothing more dangerous that having 50 angry, motivated and pumped-up guys scrambling to hit each other.

BBalldad....I see where you are coming from....I just differ w/ you a little.....

After playing/pitching and coaching professionally and in college I am well aware of the fears of pitching inside. They differ from kid to kid. Two top reasons are they don't want to hit anyone (more due to the fact that it puts someone on base), the other is they fear if they do not get it in enough it will end up in the parking lot or in the gap......And for many years we are all aware of the fact that aluminum bats create more texas leaguers blah blah blah.....

I too have been in bench clearers...one of which lasted 10 solid minutes (in pro ball)....police were not required.....I've also seen the change in the way kids act and the way some coaches do things that could get someone hurt (coaches that come to mind are summer league coaches of the travel team variety) Ohio Warhawks guy chaps my a**....There are many, I've seen good and I've seen REAL BAD.......I just think there is a respectful way to play the game and some don't always adhere.....so the consiquence is people get thrown at....part of the game....has no business in baseball below the college level....as I said before.....

Things have changed in society and w/ the way the high school/college game is played......I've had first hand experience at all levels from a players/pitchers perspective and from the coaching perspective........The only side I have not been on is from the parents view.....which handicaps me in a way...but also allows me to give unbiased opinions.......

If you aim away and miss on the outside lane, you throw off the plate or in the middle. If you aim in, and miss, you either hit the batter or throw it over the middle.

Every pitcher misses. My son worked the inside lane this summer a lot. He is a better pitcher because of it. Hit a couple of batters, both after two strikes. Hitters knew he wasn't trying to hit them and seemed pleased he did.

Another note. If an adult coach instructs a player to hit an opposing player with a baseball, it is a criminal assualt.

TPM, I'm not sure where they were coming from with regard to injuries.

Metal bats or no, Texan son works the inside very hard and has been very successful there. Always has. There are no more "handle hits" that make it out of the infield than there are end of the bat bloops that make it over the infielder's heads.

And he is in a woodbat tournament, he starts licking his chops...

Texan,
I am not sure where they were coming from either, that's why I asked. I missed the first part, but they were showing pictures of MLB pitchers getting hit by the ball. Then they said it was a result of pitching against aluminum bats and I heard something about pitching inside.

This article is posted on HSBBW. I have my son read it over and over. He incorporated the philosophy into his pitching and has vastly improved.

PITCHING INSIDE

One thing I've noticed in youth and HS ball is that players are encouraged by teammates to get hit.

Rarely do players ever move out of the way of a pitch anymore.