Are You An RBI Man?

I was recently re-reading the book Think Better Baseball: Secrets from major league coaches and players for mastering the mental game. It was written by Bob Cluck was a major league coach and scout. He wrote a short passage entitled: Are You an RBI man?

In this passage he is asking a great question regarding a hitters mindset in RBI situations. The question is should guys go out of the strike zone in RBI situations to drive in the runs? The hitters he is talking about is your middle of the line-up guys. He is not referring to your 7,8,9 hitters.

He is basically saying they should go out of the zone in order to drive in runs. He uses guys like Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and Ted Williams as examples of hitters who would not stray away from the strike zone but would instead take their walk and leave it to the next guy.

He asked the question is this being selfish or showing respect to their teammates? He then mentions hitters such as Edgar Martinez, Manny Ramirez, and Juan Gonzalez as hitters who will consistently go outside the strike zone if necessary to drive in runs. After all, they are getting paid big bucks to drive in runs not walk.

The questions is who is right? My personally opinion is I would prefer my RBI's Guy's to expand their zone, as long as it is a pitch they can put a good swing on, to be as aggressive as possible to drive in runs. Certain players in your line-up have a knack for it and to me it is in your advantage if you they are more aggressive to drive in runs.

I am curious what our readers philosophies are on this question. This is something I talk to my hitters about. We have certain guys in our line-up who are coached to be more aggressive in those situations and others who should continue to look for the ball in certain zones they are waiting for.

Turning The Pitcher Around On The First Pitch

Turning the pitcher around on the first pitch simply means, swing as hard as you can at that first pitch. There is nothing complicated here. We are simply gonna try and turn the pitcher around on the first pitch. We want to rattle his cage! We are going to take a shot at knocking his confidence down on the first pitch of the game.

Think about it from a pitchers perspective. You are confident you are going to throw well. You had a great pre-game pen. Your excited and focused! You throw that first pitch of the game and the lead-off man, who usually is up there to set the table, stands all over it.

What does that do to a pitchers mentality? What does it do to his confidence? It is more mentally demoralizing giving up a shot on the 1st pitch of the game then it is on the 4th pitch? Should it be? No. Is it? Yes!

On a number of occasions we have sent our lead off hitter to the plate with the following instruction: Swing as hard as you possibly can at the first pitch. Forget about our approach on count hitting and swing at the first pitch. Think fastball and let it go as hard as you can!

We told our lead-off to forget about reading spin or anything. Just swing hard! If the pitcher starts you out with a curveball or change-up and you are way out in front of it we don't care. You are simply gearing up for a fastball and swinging out of your socks.

Often times we will combine this with our 604 Team Hitting Concept. What it does is help mask the concept of working the pitcher. Truth is on some occasions it works and sometimes it doesn't. It is no different then anything else in life. I am a strong believer however, that the risk is definitely worth the reward.

Is there the possibility that the batter will make an out on a bad pitch because he is looking to be so aggressive? Of course there is but it is worth the risk in hopes you might turn the pitcher around. One out versus a shell shocked pitcher is a trade I will gamble on any day!

The majority of the time we put this on our hitter fouled of the first pitch. He would take such a hard cut he would lose mechanics slightly and just miss. A few times our hitters recognized the pitch as being not even close and took it. There were also a few times where we hammered the first pitch both for hits and outs.

The most notable turning the pitching around on the first pitch came in the 2006 State Championship game. As I noted in another post we did not hit the ball extremely well that year. I moved our top hitter into the lead off spot for that game. The first pitch of the game he sent it over the left field fence. Talk about a tone setter that was it. It was the start we had dreamed of and jump started us to the championship.

In Conclusion

I believe it is well worth it to take a shot now and then at turning around the pitcher on the first pitch. If your are facing a dominant pitcher then taking a shot is in your best interest. The worse thing that can happen is your hitter makes an out. If the pitcher is that dominant then the odds were he was going to make an out anyway.

What most likely happens is the hitter will swing and miss or foul off the pitch. In this case it's 0-1 and your still hitting so not a big deal. But there are times when the baseball gods are smiling down on you and the ball finds the sweet spot on the bat and changes the game almost before it even started! Best of Luck!

The 604 Team Hitting Concept

The 604 is based on the idea that opposing pitchers are going to be in for a very long day. The picture to the right is a visual cue as to the frustration we want to build up inside the opposing pitcher. We want to build exhaustion into the opposing pitcher until he makes some mistakes and cooks his own goose much like the Supreme Court was doing to Roger Clemens.

In 2006 our ball club was up and down throughout the first two thirds of the season. The biggest problem we were having was our inability to hit the ball consistently. In fact, as a team we were hitting well below .300 heading into the last 7 regular season games of the year. We needed to find ourselves and have something to hang our hat on at the plate as we prepared for the State Tournament.

Out of necessity the 604 was born. I am not claiming to have invented this idea because teams have been using similar systems for as long as the game has been around. I am simply stating the way we changed our approach at the plate and changed our fortune on the field.

Let me first give you the reasons why we made a change to our approach at the plate. We were struggling scoring runs. We could not get enough guys on and when we did we couldn't get them in. As each inning went by I could see our team pressing more and more. It was like they were playing in quick sand. Our players would begin feeling increasing amounts of pressure as the game would move along if they did not score. The harder they pressed the deeper they sank.

You could see it on their faces and in their body language. We had two glaring problems staring us in the face. One, at best we were an average hitting ball club. We had a few hitters who were solid and others who still needed work. Second, the few hitters we had really began to press because they felt like they had to hit if we had any chance at winning. This only made things harder on them.

So the question became how do we relax our players and at the same time give ourselves the best chance to score runs. We had always been a very aggressive hitting program but we needed a new gameplan. The game plan we came up with was the 604. The concept was to drive the pitchers pitch count up to 60 pitches by the 4th inning. It has always been my belief that once a pitcher gets to 60 pitches he begins to tire. If he is a horse and can throw 7 strong innings then the concept still works because your hitters will see a lot of pitches and make adjustments.

We wanted one of three things happen:

#1 - To get to the other teams bullpen

#2 - To fatigue the opposing pitcher and catch him before they took him out

#3 - If #1 or #2 didn't work then we would have confidence facing him late in the game because we have seen his arsenal. By that time we may have picked up him tipping pitches as well.

We knew this would not be easy but we convinced the players how our season would change with this new approach. They were looking for answers and had trust in our program so it was not a hard sell. Now we had to figure out the process by which we would drive up pitch counts and change our players mindsets.

The 604 Team Hitting Concept Rules:

Rule #1: Take a strike unless it was an RBI situation. If there was a runner on second or third you would hit with an aggressive approach.

Rule #2: No curveballs until you had 2 strikes. If it was an RBI situation then no curve balls until 1 strike and then you could be aggressive and hit a curveball up.

Rule #3: 3-1 was a take pitch unless it was an RBI situation.

Rule #4: Once the opposing pitcher gets to 60 pitches we open back up to our aggressive approach. It will stay that way the rest of the game regardless if they change pitchers or not.

That's it's, 4 rules! I realize it isn't a new and earth shattering idea but we set it up in the following manner. I told our team that we would focus on scoring runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th inning. I even told them I didn't expect them to score in the first 4 innings so there was no reason for them to worry if there were zero's across the board at that point. If we scored runs early it was gravy to us.

We assigned a clicker to one of our players in the dugout and had him track the opposing teams pitcher. We told our players their main goal was to drive the opposing pitchers pitch count to 60 by the fourth inning. It was our goal if we could get there after three innings but we felt just as well if it took us into the fourth inning to reach that point. In 8 of the 12 games we played that year in the 604 we reached 60 pitches by the end of the third inning. In the remaining 4 we reached 60 in the beginning to middle of the fourth inning.

Here is the effect it had on our 06 team. We went on to finish the year with 12 consecutive wins including a State Championship. To see the turnaround in our confidence and demeanor was awesome to watch. I was very fortunate to have great kids who bought into everything without much hesitation. If I came up with something new for them they just went and did it the best they could.

Here's why we were able to accomplish that dream. First, our players became much more relaxed. I mean it was night and day in their body language from before. I mentioned earlier that they would press harder and harder each inning and it would only make things worse. These guys were so focused on that dam pitch counter that the scoreboard didn't even seem to exist until the 5th inning.

Second, we were able to fatigue, remove, and adjust to the opposing pitcher. It took some time to get to them but our players bought into the idea we would win late. When opposing teams jumped on us early it was our players who kept saying we will get em at 60. Truth is I did very little coaching at that point because they were simply following a process we had set up and worked on.

I can remember playing a rival school who was getting the better of us. It was like the 2nd or 3rd game we were running the 604. I was in the third base coaching box scratching my head when I heard our player with the pitch counter begin to call out the pitch count. We had a batter in the box and the kid takes the first pitch for a ball. I hear someone yell 60! Then the next pitch is a ball and I hear 61! At that point the rest of our players caught on and you could just see and feel their spirit change. It was awesome!

We went on to score 4 runs in that inning and won the game. The players were completely sold at that point on what we were doing. They had a process they could follow and it built confidence in themselves and the team. They truly believed by the end of any game they would give themselves a chance to win.

Let me give you one more example. We played in the State Semi-Finals that year for the right to play for a State Championship. The team we were playing was much more talented then we were. Their pitcher was a hard throwing, bomb hitting stud who was about 6'4. Their shortstop was a great player who was hitting somewhere in the neighborhood of .650. Truthfully, I questioned that in my mind before the game but then the kid went 4 for 4 against us and I quickly realized how legit he was.

The game began and their Big pitcher hit a pair of 2 run home runs out of a ball park with professional dimensions. They backed that up with 10 other hits by the 5th inning and a solid pitching performance to go with it. We more then had our hands full at this point. When all of a sudden the pitch counter hit 60.

We huddle before the bottom of the 5th inning. I told our team to turn around and look at the scoreboard. It read 6 -0 with 12 hits to 2 I think. I told our kid to show the counter to our players. Once they saw the pitch count was over 60 a bounce came back in their step. They began saying things like "it's our time" and "these are our innings".

I told them we were playing a good game even though, if you were there, it felt like we were getting killed. I said they have 12 hits and a pair of 2 run homers but the score is only 6-0. I told them they made a mistake by leaving us in this game. As big a part as the 604 was to our season so was throwing strikes and fielding the ball. We weren't dominate strikeout pitchers and flashy fielders but we didn't walk people or kick the ball around. We had done both very well up to this point.

Fairytale story we come back and score 7 runs in the next two innings and won the game. In fact, to make it even more of a storybook season we won our final 4 playoffs games in our final at bat. It was an exciting run and was largely due to the 604.

A final note here was also how our players began to battle at the plate. We were routinely sending hitters to plate for 7 and 8 pitch at bats. I mean players who hadn't battled earlier in the year were fouling off pitches and making life miserable for opposing pitchers. Their swings hadn't changed one bit but their attitude and approach had. It really became a contest at times to see who could see the most pitches in an at bat. Our players would foul off a 2-2 pitch and our bench was going crazy. I know alot of that was the personality of our players and we had some personalities but if you give the players something to believe in they would grab hold.

In Conclusion

The 604 is a sound concept allowing teams to be successful. In order for it to work the players must buy in and run it right. They must truly go to school on the opposing pitcher watching and learning everything they can on each pitch. In the end if the pitcher is throwing well and in the game still what you have done is create a study guide for your hitters to use when they take their finals in the last 3 innings.

Like I said earlier this is not new concept in coaching baseball. Nor do I believe you should play this way all the time. In fact, I coached over 200 games and only ran the 604 in about 5% -7% of those games. I do believe when I come back to coaching that percentage will go up but it will not be a full time philosophy.

If your team is struggling at the plate and you need something to break it up then give the 604 a try. It may be what turns your season around. Best of Luck!

The Advantages Of Hitting With Wood Bats During BP

I want to discuss the advantages of using wood bats during BP sessions. We are going to assume that money is not an issue. I know the day and age we live in but for arguments sake you all have unlimited budgets here. OK, let's get back to the idea of using wooden bats.

I am a big believer that players swings are affected by using aluminum bats growing up. The reason I say that is because players don't use their bodies in general as well as they could. They leave a lot of power on their lower half because they don't load and unload properly from the waist down.

The biggest reason is the fact they don't have to with the aluminum bats. They can be arm swingers and still get the ball out of the infield and even into the gaps. I don't see a lot of players anymore who truly drive the ball on an consistent basis. With the space age technology we send our hitters to the plate with, you would think the ball would be jumping off their bats.

I really don't see that happening as much as you would think. I am not saying that there are not hitters who hit with their lower halves but at least in my observations I don't see it enough. The reason I believe is because kids hit with aluminum bats all their life now and they can be arm swingers and get away with it.

I know when you use a wooden bat it takes much more skill and technique to hit. First, if you expect to drive the ball you need to incorporate your lower half. Second, you need to hit the ball on the sweet spot. You can't cap it and have it fall in. You certainly can't get handcuffed and expect to get anything out of it swinging with half your body. In fact, I believe our hitters would do a much better job staying inside the ball and being quicker to the ball with a wood bat. If we could combine that swing with the aluminum bat then players would have the best of both worlds.

An interesting note you probably have never notice is how many players look to be in the right position when they finish but are not there at contact. I have seen a lot of players on film, my own and opponents, who hit with no lower half but afterwards turn the back foot and pivot the hips. At fast motion it appears to a point that they are doing it right. When in reality they are simply finishing with style to keep the coaches off their backs.

I have had fundamentally unsound hitters have good years because we can cheat the fundamentals with the aluminum bat. I have coached kids on how to take their bad swing and use the aluminum bat to their benefit. If you start messing with a players swing in the middle of the year you are asking for trouble. A kid who is comfortable and confident with a mediocre swing will have more success then a player who is working hard trying to change a flaw in his swing in the middle of the season.

The cool thing about this idea is the fact I believe hitters would better self-correct. I think they would naturally begin to make changes in order to have success. If you break enough bats you begin to make changes naturally. With aluminum bats I see players continually make the same mistakes over and over without ever making an adjustment. Getting jammed with an aluminum bat compared to a wooden bat just aren't the same thing.

Hitting a ball in the gap for a triple with an aluminum bat and flying out to the center fielder with a wooden bat with the exact same swing sends a clear message to the player. The message is simple: If I am going to drive the ball I need to load up correctly! I need to load with both the upper and lower body! I need to stay inside the ball and be quick taking my hands straight to the ball! I better get full extension after contact!

Is this going to make everyone on your team a good hitter? No! As long as there is baseball there will be good hitters and bad hitters. That will never change but I am completely convinced that every hitter in your program will improve. That every hitter in your program will hit the ball a little harder and be a little more consistent. And that hitters on your team will begin to naturally make some changes to help their success!

In Conclusion

I have never been a position where financially I could outfit the entire team to follow my own advice. Once I return to coaching this will be one of the first things I institute into our practice plan. I have worked with individual players who used this philosophy and seen tremendous results which is why I decided to write this post. I can remember when I first started coaching not allowing players to hit with anything other then the bat they would use in the game. At least the same specifications anyway. I can see now without question the advantage of the wood bat in BP.

The benefits are all there for us so it should be a no brainer in my opinion. It only takes a small improvement in order for you to get an edge on your competition and this is an easy way to get it. Your players will quickly see the advantages and begin to help themselves. Plus all players love to hit with wood some times because it makes us feel like major leaguers. There has never been a baseball player who hasn't dreamed of being in the show!!! Best of luck!