Daily Archives: August 25, 2009

Between the Ears: The Mental Side of Pitching

Michael Schwimer Blog

Many of you have asked about pitch calling and the mental approach to the game. I have also been asked to put some film up on the site, so you can see what I am trying to describe. This article kills 2 birds with one stone. At the bottom of this paragraph you will find 2 links. The first is the 8th inning and the second is the 9th inning of my most recent outing, August 20, 2009, a 2 inning save vs Dunedin Blue Jays. I will explain to you what my thought process was behind each pitch I threw. My advice is to click on the video and go pitch by pitch with me. As in read my commentary on the pitch, watch the pitch, press pause, and then go to the next one. Obviously you can do whatever you want, but I think this would make the most sense.

8th inning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb2C0g5FhYU

9th inning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrl3VSBwTDI

THE SITUATION: I have just been called in to relieve Julian Sampson in the 8th inning. We are winning 1-0 and there are runners on first and second with no outs. At bat for the Jays is Manny Rodriguez, their left handed cleanup hitter. Keep in mind, I have pitched against the Blue Jays multiple times this season, so I know their hitters tendencies pretty well, and they know how I pitch.

Continue reading Between the Ears: The Mental Side of Pitching →

Site design notes

Maintenance

As I mentioned recently, I’ve been working on tweaking the site a bit, changing the layout of some features and trying to improve the overall quality of the content here, specifically the presentation, which I’ve never been really 100% happy with. With the help of frequent commenter BC, I’ve added a new page at the top of the site called “Profiles“, which, as you can imagine, contains player profiles. Previously, I had links to these profiles on the left side of the page, but it was confusing and the layout wasn’t very good. Now, all of the profiles are in one place and they will be easier to find. The information listed in the profiles is not complete, I’m going to continue to update things. I’m also going to add stat charts under every player at the end of the season, as well as links to various articles and also scouting video when I can find it. If you come across articles on players, please post them in the comments ON THE PROFILES PAGE, don’t post them here, and I’ll then add them at the appropriate spot. By adding the profiles page at the top, I’ve removed some of the clutter from the left side of the navigation panel, which should make things cleaner.

That is all.

Arizona Fall League representatives?

8. Arizona Fall League

Its just about that time again where the rosters for the Arizona Fall League will be announced. The rules for eligibility are pretty simple.

* Each MLB team generally sends 6 guys.
* 5 of the 6 players selected must come from AA and AAA, 1 can come from A ball
* International players (ie, non-drafted free agents) are only eligible if their country of origin does not have organized winter ball.

So, looking at those requirements, lets have your guesses.

Update –> Thanks to andyb, here are the rosters

Cisco, Mathieson, Schwimer, Zagurski
Gosewich, Hanzawa, Brown, Susdorf