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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function
#53842	10/06/2017 3:13:42 pm		Ignore
motko Joined: 09/06/2014 Posts: 358 Nauvoo The Great Horned Owl IV.6	I am quite new to baseball, i come from Finland and the first time i started to regularly check mlb and watch the games was when SF won KC in game 7 in the world games. So very Basic things i just dont understand. So my question is, Do pitchers choose different pitches when theres empty bases or baserunners and especially runners in scoring position? For example, looks like fastballs are hit harder than any curved balls/sliders/sinkers, so is it better to throw fastball when theres no baserunners cos if it happens to be hit to outfield or homerun , the damage is not as bad as if there was baserunners? Not talking about brokenbat.org, but baseball, the sport.
#53847	10/06/2017 4:07:31 pm		Ignore
occham Joined: 11/07/2011 Posts: 258 Inactive	It depends on the baserunner. If the baserunner is someone likely to steal a base, then pitchers are more inclined to throw fastballs because they're easier for the catcher to field and throw in an attempted steal. You may be aware of the 'pitchout' where the pitcher will intentionally throw away from the hitter so that the catcher can have an unimpeeded throw to try and get the runner. There's also a sort of 'unintentional' pitchout where the pitcher will throw a fastball up in the strikezone, often for a ball. This pitch is also easy for the catcher to catch and is very hard to hit, even if the batter swings. The catcher is also essentially standing up when he catches the ball making it an easy transition to throw. As pitches go, sliders and tailing fastballs are also usually pretty easy to field. They break sideways not terribly far, not down are usually 85+ MPH in velocity. Hard sinking fastballs are often difficult to field and throw, particularly if they're in the dirt. Change ups and slow curves are not hard to catch but they're SLOW and so they give the runner more time and make the catcher rush his throw. A knuckleball is difficult to catch but many catchers '2-hand' catch the ball anyway and knuckleball pitchers never have much of a windup so they're kind of middle of the road in practice but have a high incident of the catcher just flat out muffing the catch, particularly under the pressure of trying to get a runner. So knuckleball pitchers will use fastballs almost as pitchouts. If the runner is slow, then the pitch section may not be affected at all. THAT being said, there are some pitchers who just flat out don't care about base runners in any practical way. The most famous in modern baseball probably being Randy Johnson. He had possibly one of the worst pickoff moves for a lefty in history and a long delivery, even from the stretch. But he threw 100-ish miles an hour and faced few left handed batters so right handed catchers at least had a clear throwing lane I remember one year where Johnson, in 15-ish starts up to the all-star game, had only faced 6 left handed batters ALL SEASON to that point. Updated Friday, October 6 2017 @ 4:11:09 pm PDT
#53855	10/06/2017 5:23:44 pm		Ignore
lostraven Joined: 07/02/2016 Posts: 1269 Corvallis Ravens II.1	I'm just going to leave this recent Yale study here. Effect of Baserunners on MLB Pitch Selection

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