How To Properly Make Adjustments On The Mound!

By Larry Cicchiello
Updated: May 9, 2013

As a baseball pitcher, you absolutely must make pitching adjustments throughout a game. Just as you make your adjustments, remember that the good baseball hitters will adjust to you also, which is one of the reasons they are good hitters.
If you made a good hitter look bad on a changeup, he’s going to adjust. There is a very fine line you have to walk here. If a particular batter is struggling with a certain pitch or a certain location, by all means continue to throw it during the game. On the other hand, proceed with a little caution and always remember that if he’s a good baseball hitter he may adjust also, so don’t “go to the well” once too often. Like I said, this can be very tricky. If a good hitter has trouble when I went “off speed” to him in his first two at bats, by all means I should consider to continue going off speed to him. But, I must proceed with lots of caution because if he is a good baseball hitter, he knows what I’m probably going to do.

At the risk of contradicting myself, it may possibly be the right time to sneak a fastball by him. Does this sound like a chess match to you? Well, it’s because it is a chess match that goes on between a good baseball pitcher and a good hitter. Baseball pitching is not just getting the ball and throwing it to your catcher. The real good hitters and pitchers are almost constantly trying to out think each other!

You have to make pitching adjustments each time you have an outing. If you have three pitches in your arsenal, on some days maybe only two of them will be working for you. One of the more important baseball pitching tips to remember is that you still have to show the hitters the one pitch that’s not working. Just show it to them as a ball and not as a strike.

If you have a great breaking ball on a particular day, it will become a hot topic on the other team’s bench in no time at all. It might be time to start throwing more fast balls. Then, the opposing bench will start to talk about your “heater.”

If you are fortunate and have good command of three pitches on a particular day, then they very well may be talking about how they have a major problem on their hands!