I often hear annnouncers on radio/tv describing the battle of wits between a pitcher and a batter, with the batter trying to guess what pitch is coming so he can be ready to hit it and the pitcher trying to outguess the batter and throw something the batter is not expecting so that he will not get a good swing at the ball. It seems to me, however, that the best strategy for the batter is to not try to figure out what the pitcher will be throwing, to have an open mind, to just wait there and hit whatever comes over the plate. Since he won’t have any expectations about the pitch, he won’t be fooled and is less likely, say, to swing thinking it is going to be a fast ball when in fact it is a slow curve. Am I missing something?
Yes; the time the baseball takes to get to the plate is likely much, much shorter than you think. When you talk about “waiting there to hit whatever comes over the plate,” you’re talking about a span of less than half of a second. A human being just can’t put his or her muscles into motion quickly enough to wait on a pitch, diagnose it, and get a full swing onto the ball by the time it arrives.
This works fine in very low level baseball; at the big league level what you’re suggesting isn’t physically possible.
You could make very weak contact this way by simply slapping at the ball wherever it is pitched, but you could not hit the ball with the power needed to get enough hits to stay in the major leagues.
That said, it’s not quite just a matter of guessing what pitch the pitcher will throw; the batter’s approach differs depending on what the count is.
There’s the risk-reward side of things: If the batter guesses correctly, he can make better contact. He doesn’t need to be right all the time to be a successful hitter.
Go to a batting cage and hit all the fast balls you can. Don’t think about watching the ball – yet. You have to get your bat speed up and be used to screaming fast balls. When you get better at this, go to a crappy batting cage where things aren’t so consistent. Once you do that, it’s time to scope out pitchers.
Without the benefit of Major League scouting, you’re going to have to go to games and watch pitchers. Watch how they pitch and watch their delivery. Take BP against real live pitchers to get used to arm motion and delivery.
When you’re ready, try to see the pitchers grip and look for the various pitches: two seem, curve, sinker, etc. They had Michael Jordan looking at a quick moving slide projector and he had to guess fastball, curve, slider, etc.
Once you have in your mind what the pitch is, then you have about…oh…0.2 secs to adjust your swing accordingly.
The only problem with waiting is that the pitch has already gone past.
Read about Ted Williams’ approach to hitting. His cardinal rule was: Get a good pitch to hit. A big part of that was having a good idea of what pitch was going to come at him.
And he was absolutely deadly if he guessed correctly because his hitting mechanics were pretty close to flawless.
mazinger_z covered the mechanics well. Then there’s the entire psychological perspective and that’s where things can get complicated.
Just as the pitchers have a scouting report on the hitter, hitters have a similar one outlining the pitcher’s tendencies.
What does pitcher X throw on his first pitch? what about when the count is 3-2?
Does he throw differently from the stretch? What about when the base runner is apt to steal? What happens when he’s on his 15th pitch in the inning?
Then if your buddy is on second and can pick off the sign and is able to relay that to you (generally done with the runner leaning a particular way rather than signaling with the hands) then this adds a whole other aspect.
Of course someone will suggest that all of this is bunk and you’re better off just relaxing and reacting and not trying to over-think but you can see it’s more than just making contact with the ball and hoping for the best.
The strategy for hitting a baseball.
“It’s a round bat, and a round ball, and you gotta hit it square.”
To expand on my rather short answer earlier, it’s less important that a batter be able to accurate guess the next pitch as it is that the batter effectively control an appropriate area of the strike zone. Just because you know what the next pitch is going to be does not necessarily mean you want to swing at it. You might know it’s a slider, but there’s a big difference between a sharply throws slider down and away - which is nearly impossible to hit effectively - and a slider that comes right across the plate waist-high.
a batter should generally decide the area and, to a limited extent, pitch type he is willing to swing at given the count (and, in some cases, situation.) With no strikes, you should be very choosy, getting even choosier if you have a 2-0 or 3-0 count. Swing only at pitches in a specific zone where you like to hit. I always preferred the high fastball, so on no strike counts I was generally looking for a mid-to-high fastball inside, since I could rip that pitch. If it’s anything else, lay off. Even if it’s a called strike you still have two more. Swinging at a pitch that isn’t in the right spot might give you contact, but there’s a good chance it’ll be useless contact, a weak grounder for an easy out.
With one strike, the batter must become somewhat less choosy, again depending on the number of balls in the count (at 3-1, by all means be picky.) With two strikes, the batter must become defensive, willing to swing at any pitch the umpire will likely call a strike.
Guessing the next pitch becomes more important as the strikes mount up; at no strikes you select YOUR pitch and swing if you like what you see. At two strikes you should probably know what the pitcher’s preferred out pitch is, and be prepared for that pitch. If he’s already whiffed three guys all on fastballs inside, you are quite likely to see an inside fastball.
Trying to spend too much time guessing is where guys can outthink themselves. You should go to the plate with a plan - what you’re trying to accomplish to start with and how you will react if the count goes in your favour or away from your favour. But trying to perfectly guess the pitch on every pitch is not a good plan.