If hitting is timing, then pitching is disrupting timing. There is no better way to do that than to be unpredictable as a pitcher.
Hitters are taught to look for fastballs in particular counts–0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2. They sit back and look for a pitcher’s fastball. If they have any doubt what type of pitch is coming–they lose a little bit of confidence. That can be just enough to get him off his game.
Throwing breaking balls and change ups in these hitter’s counts is called ‘pitching backwards’ and it is a very important for a young pitcher to eventually develop this skill in order to get to college because that’s when hitters will really make you pay for your mistakes.
At the lower levels, it’s really not as important to pitch backwards as it is to get ahead in the count. Throwing quality strikes is enough to win at that level. There are a few advanced hitters that you may be forced to pitch backwards to in order to fool them, but not every team has a player like this.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on it. Build up the confidence to throw a change up behind in the count now, rather than worrying about it later.
That’s because once you get to college, this changes greatly . If you can’t throw a change up or a breaking ball in a fastball count to get even, you will not be successful. I’ve seen many pitchers of mine that had elite velocity but couldn’t pitch backwards and had difficulty finding any success in college.
Almost every pitcher that I played with or against in the big leagues was able to do this. The ones that couldn’t are the ones that didn’t last very long. Now, this doesn’t mean that they didn’t trust their fastballs–it’s still their bread-and-butter pitch. They all had good fastballs and knew the importance of establishing it early in the game. But, as the game goes on and hitters try to look for patterns it was crucial that they were able to spot their breaking balls behind in the count so that they wouldn’t groove one.
It can make the difference between a good outing and a poor outing. Over the course of a season, it could make a huge difference.
Having the ability to spot a breaking ball on a 1-0 count makes you a more complete pitcher. It makes hitters uncomfortable and it will lead you to winning more games. College coaches will be impressed if a prep pitcher is able to execute this skill. In my opinion, this is much more important than velocity. These are the guys that are successful. It is right there with movement in terms of importance for a pitcher.
Master this skill and you have a chance to be a very successful pitcher.
