I tell kids all the time that I never saw a pitch that I didn't like. Really! If the pitcher threw the ball anywhere that I could reach it I was hacking. Earlier in the count the better. I would be willing to bet that I averaged only 2 or 3 pitches an at bat. I liked hitting first pitch fastballs as much as anyone. It kills me to watch a player take that first pitch right down main street. It just doesn't make sense to me to allow a thigh high fastball to go by. Aahhhhhh! Swing the Bat! I was flipping through twitter and a friend of mine, Dr. Mike Pugh re-tweeted a post from @BaseballSecret1 that was comparing the relationship between ball and strike counts vs batting average. I am unaware of how accurate his numbers are or what level of baseball these came from but I am sure that they are accurate for almost all levels of play.
Count Batting Average
3-0 .394
3-1 .368
2-0 .351
0-0 .344
1-0 .341
2-1 .338
1-1 .327
0-1 .324
3-2 .233
2-2 .195
1-2 .178
0-2 .166
I did a google research for Count vs Batting Average and this is the information that I found on Batting Average Analysis - Average vs Count. Here are the MLB Number from 2014. courtesy of The Sporting News.com
MLB hitters are batting .336 when putting the first pitch in play
After 3-0 count: .282 average
After 3-1 count: .274 average
After 2-0 count: .281 average
After 1-0 count: .268 average
After 2-1 count: .252 average
After 1-1 count: .234 average
After 0-1 count: .221 average
On a 3-2 count: .216 average
After 2-2 count: .193 average
After 1-2 count: .178 average After 0-2 count: .166 average
Staggering difference in overall average when putting the first pitch in play .054 points higher. What does all this mean. It seems pretty simple to me get in the box ready to hit. Hitting with two strikes is hard to do even for a MLB player. Find a way to stay out of two strike counts, hit a fastball early...don't miss it. Have a plan. Coach Kevin Clary at Champions Baseball School says this all the time. "Be a Yes Yes Hitter! Expect a strike and be ready to hit it." When you take that first pitch strike you are letting the pitcher dictate your at bat. You are not a danger to the other team if you keep the bat on your shoulder. Your opponent (the pitcher) is trying to get ahead in the count. Now you know why. Revisit the numbers above. If I were pitching I would want to throw to hitters behind in the count all day long. As a hitter I want to get and hit ahead in the count and that starts 0-0!
My dad once told me "If you don't like striking out then don't ever have two strikes. Hit strike one or two then you will never strikeout." Sounded like pretty good advice 35 years ago and I seems that it is still good advice today!
Coach Bale
