My Response To A Question Regarding My Kevin Long Blog Post

Q: Mickey Hatcher wouldn't have been fired if Albert Pujols were having a "normal" spring. But whether or not Kevin Long deserves any blame, my question is what does he do as hitting coach? Why is he even needed?

Me:  Reminds of what somebody once said about Chad Bohling, the Yankees' sports psych guy, who has presented the hitters with a pre-game feel good about your swing, muscle memory DVD.

Sometimes you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

Yankees Hitting Coach Kevin Long Catching Heat?

People really give way too much credit on the impact a hitting coach has on players on the MLB level. Not that they aren't competent. The Rangers let Thad Bosley go, and he's one of the best bio-mechanics and mental approach guys in the country. As for Kevin Long, somebody has to be the scapegoat, but it's really hard to change the "I'm stayin' with what brung me" attitude of hitters in the bigs. Kevin, Thad, and a multitude of MLB hitting coaches, past and present, would tell you the same.

 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1189648-is-kevin-long-on-a-short-leash-as-yankees-hitting-coach?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=new-york-yankees

Perfecting A Pitching Delivery That Minimizes Injuries

First thought that helps minimize injuries is that pitching is more than just throwing. Use the strike zone to your advantage...change speed and location of your pitches to disrupt the hitter's timing.

Learn the hitting flaws. Most lineups only have a few grooved hitters even on the pro level.

Learn how to take advantage of the flaw and pitch to that specific flaw. 

If you’re at the Little League level, eventually your catcher will learn the flaws, too. Right now he’s learning to receive, block pitches, set defenses, and busy watching the hitter’s feet and bat speed while tracking your pitch.

Pitching coaches and pitchers have their own language and sayings to get the message across:

Sit and Drive…Land at a 45   

“Sitting” helps you to not “rush”, but instead, stay balanced in your delivery. As you step toward home plate, stride so that the ball of your lead foot and toe will land at a 45 degree angle. This ensures proper hip rotation after your lead foot lands, and that you’ll be using your legs as well as your arm in your pitching mechanics.

Push, pop...over the top...leaves you with pep in your step*

The push is the balanced push off of the pitching plate (pitcher’s rubber). Pop is a term for the hip rotation after landing the front foot at a 45 degree angle during the delivery.

“Over the top” is the action of the trailing foot in a complete follow through (this happens naturally after your pitching arm elbow passes by the opposite knee following your delivery). Hence, after your elbow passes your knee in your follow through, your throwing side foot will rise above your throwing side hip without any extra effort on your part. This is what pitching coaches actually mean when they say “bend your back” in regards to a follow through.

*More on leaves you with pep in your step

This just means that you’ll have more endurance/stamina because you’re using your legs and your body to pitch with…instead of just using your arm which will make tire faster and can lead to injury.

Shoulder to shoulder makes your pitches bolder

For control of your pitches, your front shoulder heads (points) to the location you want your pitch to go. After delivery, your back shoulder will point toward the same target that your front should was targeted at… which greatly improves control accuracy and will occur naturally with the correct follow through. This is what pitching coaches call “full rotation”.

Bolder pitches means that you’ll spot your pitches to areas that hitter’s have trouble hitting solidly (they prefer to hit the ones that are thrown over the middle ten inches of the plate in the strike zone).

Pitching to a dime* makes the hitter bitter

The mitt is not the target for the pitcher. It is better to throw (not aim) to a smaller target. A dime target is small, but if you miss- you’ll miss “small”. [Remember a pitcher targets areas away from the middle ten inches of the plate.] Instead of pitching in the middle of the plate, you’ll focus on the catcher’s knees and shoulders since they are usually outside of the middle ten inches of the plate. Therefore, visualize and concentrate (focus) on a dime located on the catcher’s knees and shoulders as targets before and during the delivery of your pitch. *Also, contrary to some coaches’ thinking, you’re never too young to develop this kind of concentration skill… especially when pitching.

Any coach, on any level worth his salt, routinely has his pitchers practice pitching to a designated catcher. At each league level, from Little League to MLB, pitchers follow a Sequence Pitching Schedule. This is another important process to help pitchers develop arm strength, confidence, and command & control. During sequence pitching sessions, it’s imperative that the pitcher’s pitches are charted by a helper. This promotes a game like atmosphere…to simulate game like pressure.

Also, during the throwing session, the pitchers usually alternate throwing 5 pitches from a full windup and then 5 pitches from the stretch. The number of pitches thrown during a session depends on the number of days until the next scheduled appearance in a game. Once the number of pitches to be thrown during the session is determined, the catcher will call the type of pitch and the location for each pitch. On the Little League level, 1 is a fastball and 2 is a change. In higher levels of competition, more types of pitches are thrown, and the pitches are numbered respectively. Locations are also numbered on the catcher. The right and left knees of the catcher are numbered 1 and 2 & the right and left shoulders of the catcher are numbered 3 and 4. On a side note, since the pitcher is getting valuable feedback from a capable helper after the session, make sure the helper has a clip board with a pencil and paper that have rectangular strike zones with cubes inside the rectangles to note the location and type of pitch thrown during the session. For the benefit of the pitcher’s focus, the helper shouldn’t interact with the pitcher until after the throwing session. The helper will silently circle pitches that miss their spot and mark pitches that are on target during the session. It is recommended that punishment of some type for missing the called location be used to make the session more competitive among the pitchers on the team.

GRIP

With seams, the pitch will sink. Across the seams, the pitch will not sink as much. Some will suggest that gripping a ball across the seams will make it rise. Even the best power pitchers don’t really have the ball rise when their grip is across the seams due to physics.

Choking the pitch will reduce the velocity. Also, choking the pitch is better for younger pitchers because it produces a natural change up. When a pitcher matures, usually when they start shaving, a pitcher can learn breaking pitches and other grips for a change up.

Your ultimate goal as a pitcher is to keep the hitter off balance by changing the speed and location of your pitches. Be stoic & never show your emotions in a game when you are pitching. Do this and you will have an edge over the hitters you face.

Summer League Hitting Routine

On Deck Circle

Begin mental prepping with your pre-pitch Hitting Mantra while reinforcing your muscle memory with the MP30 Training Bat

NEXT

Repeat before the 1^st pitch and after each sequential pitch...

Outside box if league rules allow:

      Situational Awareness:

          Know outs and base runners' locations

      Depth Perception Tune Up:

          Focus on 2B’s cap logo, then shift focus to Pitcher’s cap logo

          Begin Pre-Pitch Personal Hitting Mantra (See Hitting Mantra/Mental

          Routine Blog)

          Night Game… Close eyes for 5 seconds for improved vision  (See

          Retina/Vision Trick)

In box or “half and half” if league rules allow:

      One Deep Breath…In through the nose; out through pursed lips

      Look to third base coach, receive signs, square up to the pitcher, and re-focus

      mentally

      Begin Fine Centering-Soft Centering (Focus on Pitcher’s Logo & then re-focus

      visually to the Release Point  (Avoid being hypnotized by watching the Pitcher’s

      Windup

      Gently shift your weight from back to front repeatedly over your center

      point (40-60) as you are fine centering and soft centering visually. Continue the

      rhythm rocking breathing in through the nose going back and breathing out  

      through a slightly open mouth going forward. This keeps the jaw relaxed to

      prevent teeth clinching which can lead to blurred vision. Plus, on contact

      keeping the internal organs compressed through breath control helps to optimize

      power. (Key emphasis is to do this simultaneously with a controlled, calculated

      rhythmic weight shift.)

      From Release Point:

         Identify pitch and velocity

         Begin Tracking  Mentally…Yes, Yes, Yes, YES* or Yes, Yes, Yes, NO.

         *(At contact, squeezing the handle in the palms helps add more power

         as a result of a neuromuscular response)

Post Hit:

       In the dugout, enjoy the congratulations and the pats on the back. Reward

       yourself with a cup of water. Funny as it sounds, you should do this.
 (behavioral conditioning)                 

Yankees' Phil Hughes

Next start for Phil Hughes is Sunday, May 6, 2012, against the Kansas City Royals. I will be watching to see if he has made any adjustments to help him improve his performance. The Yankees sorely need him to start bringing his A game. Battle on, Phil.

New York Yankees' RHP, D.J. Mitchell, Jr.

D.J. Mitchell

Full Name: William Douglas Mitchell, Jr.

Position: Starting Pitcher, but currently working as a relief pitcher in the Yankees’ Bullpen
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 160 lb.

Born: May 13, 1987 in Winston-Salem, NC (Age 24)
School: Clemson University (Clemson, SC) (All Transactions)
Debut: May 1, 2012

D.J., a lean RHP with a high 3/4 release point, did his collegiate pitching as a Clemson Tiger, and was drafted as a 10^th rounder in 2008. In 2011 he was named the Yankees Minor League Pitcher of the Year. This Spring he just missed making the Yankees roster coming out of Spring Training.

On the plus side he throws a hard sinker at 88-91mph that has very good late movement, and he mixes in a good breaking slider that averages 80mph.

Mechanical flaws in his delivery that can undermine his performance are stepping open and landing on his left heel on his stride to the plate. By opening up early, this means that he’s relying on his arm in his delivery and not using his legs and lower body. This will affect his endurance and the number of pitches he can throw in an outing. Due to this mechanical glitch, he’ll need more rest to recover his arm strength during a series… which will in turn hampers his availability. From the little I’ve seen of him, he has been able to defy the tendency of pitchers that land on their heel of their stride foot. This usually causes pitchers to elevate their pitches. It will be something to watch for in future outings.

D.J. is young and a work in progress. He certainly has a future, but realistically, he can’t be expected to be a quick fix for the Yankees rotation or bullpen this season.

Hitter's Count Question

http://www.checkswing.com/forum/topic/show?id=2099111%3ATopic%3A251228&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
"I want to know what do you think is a batters count and how do you coach the AB. This discussion has surfaced amongst our coaching staff with considerable differences of opinions. I have my ideas but im open to something new."
 Besides the generic 2-0, 3-1, I believe that every pitch is hitter's pitch...along with the idea/belief that you expect fastball and adjust to the curve on any pitch during an AB. Branch Rickey's count average may go against this, but a hitter has to be aggressive and ready to hit on any count obviously.

DR Baseball Trip Announcement

Dear Coach Pittman,

I am emailing about a unique opportunity that is available this summer.  Ritch Price, Head Baseball Coach at Kansas University, is putting together a team of 15 high school baseball players (2012, 2013 and 2014 grads) to go to the Dominican Republic for a week. The dates of the trip are July 30-August 5. Any of your players who have an interest in coming are welcome to join us. Please pass this invitation along to your team.

This trip is unique in that the players will have the chance to work with a small group of players and a Division I baseball coach for the week improving their baseball skills.  We will have regular workouts with Dominican players and play a series of games during the week.  There will be tours, college guest coach lectures and the beach.  We will visit the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers Dominican Academy.  In addition, it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the Dominican Republic - the world's most dynamic nation in terms of baseball (the Dominican currently puts more players in MLB, per capita, than any nation including the U.S.)

It is a very good opportunity for players who have an interest in playing college baseball.

For itinerary and more details, please see the website:  http://www.dominicanbaseballcamp.com/

The roster will be limited to 15 players and we are currently accepting registrations. Trip cost is $1,950 and that includes flight, lodging, meals, transportation, games, coaching, tours and activities. To sign up, please visit:   http://www.dominicanbaseballcamp.com/plan-your-trip/sign-up/

Please let us know if you have any questions. Feel free to reply to this email or call Sam LeBeau, who is assisting with logistics with the trip and can answer most general questions. His number is (434) 466-2128.

For more information about coach Price, please see http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/price_ritch00.html

Thank you for passing along this unique opportunity.
Sam LeBeau
on behalf of Ritch Price
Head Baseball Coach
Kansas University