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Would hitters benefit from more practice against "game situation"-level pitching? It occurs me that they get a lot of practice against decent batting-practice

by xefer 10y ago

Would hitters benefit from more practice against "game situation"-level pitching? It occurs me that they get a lot of practice against decent batting-practice pitching and pitching machines, but how often do they get reps against high-caliber pitching outside of actual games?

MaxLeiter 10y ago
Probably not. MLB teams play 162 games a season, you can probably consider pre-season games to be practice for game-sitation pitching. The players get plenty of out-of-game practice from spring training and experience (minors, college, etc).
- sigusr1 10y ago
  I don't see how they could not benefit. How many pitches a game are they seeing? Like 15? If you had the pitches for it (I don't think they do), it seems like you could do a few hundred a day if you were deliberately practicing.
bdcravens 10y ago
When I was a kid, I remember a conversation about Charlie Hough (knuckleball pitcher). The crux was that hitters would never get practice against a good knuckleball, since once you found a pitcher who could throw a good knuckleball, you'd sign them to a contract and save their arm for real games.
meddlepal 10y ago
It's called a simulated game and it is used... sparingly at the major league level but very common in the minors either for rehab assignments or as training. There are also fancy pitching machines that can recreate different types of pitches at various speeds for hitters to work with in batting cages. The answer is an unsatisfactory maybe. Pitchers good enough to throw game-quality pitches and do it often enough are already playing professionally for a team. And teams don't generally want any extra workload being put on their pitchers arms because (1) good pitching is rare and (2) it's expensive to develop (time to majors) and control ($$$ to retain). Back to simulated games... Starting pitchers throw practice sessions between starts and teams might occasionally put hitters out there to take some cuts. Not sure it actually has a tangible benefit compared to just using a machine. My guess is no. Edit: I'll liken it a little bit to golf. Matches are a terrible way to get better at golf. You make the biggest gains through repetition work at the range. Getting your swing to be consistent, working on making good contact, etc. Good mechanics can turn you from a guy who shoots well over 100 to someone that shoots low 90's consistently. But the range isn't a game situation. Game situation golf teaches you how to get out of jams and situations you just cannot get into on a range... but they're hopefully few and far between. So biggest gains end up coming from repetitive practice while going from good to really good (lets say shooting mid-80's) comes from good mechanics and knowing how to move around a course.
bgawlowski 10y ago
Some would argue they should get a lot more: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=29246 http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2924...

by xefer 10y ago

MaxLeiter 10y ago

Probably not. MLB teams play 162 games a season, you can probably consider pre-season games to be practice for game-sitation pitching. The players get plenty of out-of-game practice from spring training and experience (minors, college, etc).

sigusr1 10y ago
I don't see how they could not benefit. How many pitches a game are they seeing? Like 15? If you had the pitches for it (I don't think they do), it seems like you could do a few hundred a day if you were deliberately practicing.

bdcravens 10y ago

When I was a kid, I remember a conversation about Charlie Hough (knuckleball pitcher). The crux was that hitters would never get practice against a good knuckleball, since once you found a pitcher who could throw a good knuckleball, you'd sign them to a contract and save their arm for real games.

meddlepal 10y ago

It's called a simulated game and it is used... sparingly at the major league level but very common in the minors either for rehab assignments or as training. There are also fancy pitching machines that can recreate different types of pitches at various speeds for hitters to work with in batting cages. The answer is an unsatisfactory maybe. Pitchers good enough to throw game-quality pitches and do it often enough are already playing professionally for a team. And teams don't generally want any extra workload being put on their pitchers arms because (1) good pitching is rare and (2) it's expensive to develop (time to majors) and control ($$$ to retain). Back to simulated games... Starting pitchers throw practice sessions between starts and teams might occasionally put hitters out there to take some cuts. Not sure it actually has a tangible benefit compared to just using a machine. My guess is no. Edit: I'll liken it a little bit to golf. Matches are a terrible way to get better at golf. You make the biggest gains through repetition work at the range. Getting your swing to be consistent, working on making good contact, etc. Good mechanics can turn you from a guy who shoots well over 100 to someone that shoots low 90's consistently. But the range isn't a game situation. Game situation golf teaches you how to get out of jams and situations you just cannot get into on a range... but they're hopefully few and far between. So biggest gains end up coming from repetitive practice while going from good to really good (lets say shooting mid-80's) comes from good mechanics and knowing how to move around a course.

bgawlowski 10y ago

Some would argue they should get a lot more: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=29246 http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2924...