College to Pro: Pitch Design Considerations
How arsenals need to evolve when moving to professional baseball
Something that is understated within the game of baseball is how different the styles of play are from the college to professional levels. Even at the highest levels of college baseball, the strategies enacted by offenses and pitching staffs are completely different from what they are in the minor league ranks. Pitchers have a totally different job in college baseball than they do in professional baseball, the offenses react completely differently to high level pitching and the skill gap is so wide at the college level there is a ton of variance.
In college, the game is completely centered around winning, while in the minor leagues it is centered around development or sometimes evaluation. Minor league players are attempting to showcase their abilities while college is centered completely around winning and being a team, and the outputs from each style of play are opposite in many ways.
In college, offenses will do whatever they need to do in order to score runs. They do not focus on playing the game in a way that will project at the major league level. College hitters swing significantly less, chase pitches out of the zone significantly less, and will generally do way less damage than professional hitters. If a college team is completely outmatched by a power arm, instead of trying to compete in a straightforward manner, they do things like “take until you get 2 strikes” or “play a lot of small ball” or “crowd the plate”. Don't get me wrong, all of these things are totally okay to do, and most are simply smart baseball. You play to win the game, and doing whatever is necessary within the rules (both written and unwritten) is acceptable in my book.
However the professional game is played completely differently, these hitters are there to prove they can compete with the best in the world. They don't care how hard you throw because being able to compete against you is required for them to be able to make it to the big leagues. They aren't going to do something cheeky like lay a bunt down, and they're certainly going to be swinging if they get a fastball early in the count. They might play some small ball, but they are not going to do anything differently from a hitting approach standpoint.
This dichotomy created a cavernous difference between the necessary pitching approaches in both of these leagues. The professional game is played in a high octane fashion, throwing your best against the hitters best, while the college game is significantly more cat and mouse. In professional baseball, every person in the lineup is an amazing hitter and athlete, while in college the 3 hitter might be a 1st round pick but the 6th hitter might never get near the professional game in any way.
What do you change?
At this point, it has become a tale as old as time. You see tons of college arms get drafted every year with higher walk rates than you would expect from a professional. Only to see this player's walk rate shrink in the professional ranks with no real improvement as a player. What gives? Well, he finally gets to play against hitters who aren't scared to compete with him head on. He gets to face players that have a swing first mentality, and aren't there to score runs but rather showcase their capabilities.
On a deeper level, the higher swing% (SW%) from hitters gives the professional arm more leeway in terms of command. The low SW% in college demands pitchers tailor their capabilities and strategies to higher in zone rate (IZ%), and pitches that are more palatable for the college hitter. An example of this would be a pitcher who has a devastating sweeper with over 20 inches of horizontal movement, only for college hitters to never swing at it. Given this pitch's movement, it is incredibly hard to land in the strike zone consistently, and hitters will swing at it less. If you are a pitcher that already complains and deals with hitters not swinging enough, or a high walk rate, you want to stay far away from this.
The best thing to do with that sweeper is to turn it into a pitch that is more tailored towards a high IZ% and a higher SW%. You don't necessarily need to change it all together, but changing the thought process from making it be a big mover to throwing it harder with a tighter movement profile would certainly be a good move here. Say you threw the sweeper at 80 with -22hb. Taking the same pitch and sacrificing a little bit of supination for some velocity could make the same pitch 83-84 with -13-15hb. This new pitch will create much more swings, and will definitely offer a much easier process of throwing the pitch in the strike zone.
This new pitch might have a higher whiff%, leading you to need to throw more pitches to get hitters out, but the higher IZ% coupled with the higher SW% will most likely make the trade off worth it.
General Idea:
To find success in college, you need to throw the ball in the zone more often. Hitters are more mature and polished, swing less often and are significantly more patient. This is a recipe for disaster when it comes to pitchers with fringe command and high level stuff.
Pitchers with big time swing-and-miss in their arsenal need to adjust to the factors of the college game. Sacrificing a little bit of stuff for a lot of control and a higher SW% will be a payoff that benefits you almost every time.
As always, the game is ever changing and adapting. You need to change with it. Adapt your arsenal to what is happening, and whenever your arsenal over-corrects and you see hitters getting too comfortable you will have to adapt right back.
John