Leave'em or Yank'em

[Empire United]

When is the best time to pull a pitcher? Some coaches look for the positives. She's barely missing, the blue is squeezing her, etc. Some coaches yank'em on the 2nd walk, if she is not hitting her corners, or just tossing plain ole'meatballs. Do you let her battle through? Do you yank her? or Does it depend on a tourney or a friendlie?

[Clean_up]

Depends on the situation, friendly - let her work through it cause that's what friendlies are for; tournament, pull her if she's lost her focus, 2-3 walks, missing spots. You can always have her warm up again, regain her composure and have her re-enter if needed. JMO.

[2bucketdad]

IMO every pitcher is different, and some just naturally are able to work through it but some have to be trained through mental conditioning in practices...the best are the ones that throw one pitch and then after the play they don't even remember the last pitch they threw be it a strikeout or hit out of the park...And sometimes even the best that can normally work through stuff are done and done is done...Sometimes damage can be done yanking them out and sometimes the damage can be done leaving them in too long...

I guess all of that is just saying sometimes its hard to tell and many times you end up second guessing yourself and thinking you made mistakes.

IMO in frendlies or pool play at young ages if you have more than one pitcher, it is best to have a game plan and let the pitchers know it and stick to it if possible...i.e. we have x amount of time and usually get 4 innings complete in this amount of time so we are going to give Sally the first two and Suzie the third and forth...

...Pitchers can be hard to deal with, usually it's is alot easier if the pitcher is not your demon spawn...

Sometimes they need to be pushed, and sometimes they need to have their minds taken off of the game for a minute...

DD1 struggling knows she is struggling and up against the wall, I call time and start out there she drops her shoulders some more and looks down knowing dad is probably going to ream her a new one and I go to the circle and ask her "after this is over do you want to go to Mickey D's or Subway?" she smiles and says subway, I leave the circle and she gets the last K's...
and I'm brilliant...

Sorry if that was a whole lot of saying nothing that offered any help!

[wadeintothem]

As a part of this, I've often wondered why just about all FP coaches will sink with a pitcher who has obviously lost her stuff? In most cases FP coaches don't pull her or they pull her when it is too late. I've found FP coaches very slow to pull the trigger on a pitcher who has obviously lost her stuff. It's usually very obvious that she's done and yet she's still in the circle.

[Sftbll4ever]

Depends on the situation, friendly - let her work through it cause that's what friendlies are for; tournament, pull her if she's lost her focus, 2-3 walks, missing spots. You can always have her warm up again, regain her composure and have her re-enter if needed. JMO.

Clean_up has it as far as our coaches. If it is a friendly, let them work through it, that is the only way to train them. Sometimes you just don't get the same game time experiance pitching live at practices. In tournaments, pull em'. We do enough friendlies here to get that practice in.

[Coach11]

When is the best time to pull a pitcher? Some coaches look for the positives. She's barely missing, the blue is squeezing her, etc. Some coaches yank'em on the 2nd walk, if she is not hitting her corners, or just tossing plain ole'meatballs. Do you let her battle through? Do you yank her? or Does it depend on a tourney or a friendlie?

Many factors come into play.....but IMESHO, the number one determing factor is knowing your pitcher. Does she have rough innings even on good days? Can she work herself out of trouble? How will she respond if left in....if pulled?

Most of that can be taught though. Our pitchers know from the get-go, that we don't expect them to strike every batter out, or win every game. It's a team sport, and I'm just as quick to yank a pitcher as I am to put in a pinch hitter. Whatever the circumstances are at the moment, is what determines my move.

Last season (14U) I pulled my #2 from a game we were winning by 4 runs in the last inning. She was pitching well enough, but the other team was hitting her pretty hard. I put in my #1 to shut the door and win the game to get us to the semifinals of the tournament. She was pretty broken up about it, so we had a sit down afterwards. Apparently, she had never been yanked from a game she was winning. She got over it, and now understands that on this team, she isn't the prima donna her parents (and other coaches) have treated her as. I believe she has come to appreciate that. I've kept her in many more games than I've pulled her....including some we ended up losing pretty bad.

I've also seen coaches choke, and pull the trigger too soon. In another game last season, we were up by 2 or 3 in the 2nd inning. Our girls were really struggling to hit there #1 pitcher though. Most of our runs were unearned and their IF was having a tough morning. Coach pulled his pitcher and put in his #2. We hit her so hard, we run ruled them in our next at bat.

The score is one of the last things I worry about when deciding whether or not to change the pitcher. Sometimes, even when they're on, they lose. Something they need to learn.

[3Bsnag]

....I've found FP coaches very slow to pull the trigger on a pitcher who has obviously lost her stuff. It's usually very obvious that she's done and yet she's still in the circle.

I definitely agree with this and often wondered why the world of FP doesn't believe in closers, except Team USA. Why is it more important to "let her work through it" or let her "finish what she started"? Screw that- pull her and let's win this game. (excluding friendly's)

I don't think most FP coaches find/hire complimentary pitchers to their primary. There is more of an emphasis in finding a #1, #2, etc.

[wadeintothem]

....I've found FP coaches very slow to pull the trigger on a pitcher who has obviously lost her stuff. It's usually very obvious that she's done and yet she's still in the circle.

I definitely agree with this and often wondered why the world of FP doesn't believe in closers, except Team USA. Why is it more important to "let her work through it" or let her "finish what she started"? Screw that- pull her and let's win this game. (excluding friendly's)

I don't think most FP coaches find/hire complimentary pitchers to their primary. There is more of an emphasis in finding a #1, #2, etc.

Yes, that is what I was talking about. You dont work "through" losing your stuff. Yes, eventually, the laws of ball dictate you will make your 3rd out. that doesnt mean she "worked through it". I dont get it.

And it is most definately not limited to friendlies. When you get to championship play, most teams ride their top dog like she is a show pony.

That's also when you start hearing "he's squeezing you" (no one loves a strike or out more than an umpire) or stuff like that.

[Tucson]

Having raised both a baseball pitcher and a softball pitcher, i found it was not uncommon for the coach to look at me and sort of indicate "what do you think?" I could say "wait" or "yank him/her, now."

Nothing is worse than sitting there, knowing that your kid is done and the coach keeps him/her in.

I remember specifically, sitting in a HS parking lot, listening to the game on the radio, during one of those cold March days in IL. My son threw one in the batters ear, threw one against the screen, and threw one into the dirt 10 feet from the batter. The coach came out and then left him in.

My son's implosion continued. The radio announcer was trying to be nice, but there was just nothing left to say. My kid was a senior.

I got out of the car and started up to the field and mercifully, the coach pulled him.

That was an extreme example of a kid who suddenly couldn't throw, but I have always thought it was an interesting phenomenon. He never played again.

[DonnieS]

As a coach, I can tell when my dd needs to come out, I usually get hints of it during pre-game. I usually have warmed up two pitchers at least for the 1st game of the day and I will tell the other to stay at it a little longer. In a regular tight game, I am usually at the 2 bb and I am going to pull the trigger, talking non-showcase games, some times sooner if I see meat balls out there. This is 18u by the way. And there are times when I am trying to give another pitcher a rest, and I will stretch it farther because we have what I consider to be a comfortable lead.