charting pitches - examples?

[corlay]

as an assistant TB coach,
this season I think I may endeavor to chart our pitchers.
I think the accumulated stats may reveal things to make our pitch calling better.

I have no idea where to start.

I thought at a minimum Id log for each AtBat:
Batter #
Pitch
Location
Result (swing strike, take strike, foul, ball, hit, HBP)

what else should I be logging?

maybe the type of foul? (foul tip, lined foul, pop foul, etc)
and type of hit? (bunt, slap, IF ground ball, IF fly, line drive, OF fly, etc)

Im thinking I would have to setup a pre-made sheet,
that made it quick and easy to codify and log these stats.
Anyone have a good example to share?

thanks!

 

[JAD]

While I applaud your enthusiasm, I will say that we tried charting pitching a few years ago and it was very time consuming and provided very little valuable feedback. Unless you are playing the same teams repetitively it is difficult to develop pitching strategies against batters. Also, when you are charting pitches you never really know how effective a pitch was. Say you call for a screwball, and the pitcher hangs it right now the middle of plate and the pitch does not move and gets hammered 275' for a home run. In your chart you may say never throw that batter another screwball, but in reality your pitching just made a mistake and threw a meatball with marinara sauce....

 

[Jcuevas]

Its pretty simple honestly but your catcher needs to be able to communicate back n forth with you. JAD is correct about a missed spot and it gets driven otf and that's where your catcher comes in handy. We started at 11u so our catchers and pitchers understand the importance of pitch calling. Its helped them develop a ton. 13u now and they call their own game. As far as playing new teams well I've worked with my DD on looking for flaws in a hitter. What you have posted is all you need to chart.

 

[csuttonthompson]

I would check into Game Changer it has the basics and you can record all kinds of info. Most just use it to record overall games but I know you can record pitch type, where it was hit etc. it may be what you are looking for-


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[wjdempkowski]

I think it depends on your role as to what you may want to track. If you are the pitching coach, then by all means, chart location, type of pitch, balls, strikes, # of pitches per batter, etc.

If you are the head coach, then you really only need a few pertinent stats. You want to know how many first pitch strikes your pitcher is throwing, and then her ball/strike ratio. Like my peers have suggested, have talks with your catchers to see if your pitcher is hitting her spots. Ideally, you want to minimize walks.

If this is your first time, start small with things you can readily observe and determine result before you start worrying about the more complicated and time consuming stats.

We use GameChanger and it provides a wealth of information after the game.

Last bit of advice, maybe enlist a parent that is not a pitcher's parent, to sit behind the backstop and do your charting for you.

 

[The Maj]

If you are considering charting pitches then you really need to consider GameChanger or iScore.

 

[cuzmail]

Say you call for a screwball, and the pitcher hangs it right now the middle of plate and the pitch does not move and gets hammered 275' for a home run.

Next time you are at one of my DD's games let me know. You have obviously seen her pitch this past week!

 

[Ken B]

Not sure if this is helpful:
Pitching Chart Explanation