Let’s imagine a typical scenario in the lives of pitchers and pitching coaches. One of our pitchers has just completed a bullpen session. He turns and flips us the ball. We say, “Nice job, Johnny – who’s next?”

Now, let’s picture that same situation, only this time we’ll pretend that we’ve gone the extra mile for our pitcher, and charted his bullpen, using a program called Pitcher’s Edge. It goes like this: “Here are your Command Ratings for this bullpen:

All of your command numbers went up from the last bullpen, John. It’s because you have incorporated the mechanical adjustments we’ve been working on. It is probably also a matter of better focus on your part – great job.”

What’s a Command Rating?

The “Command Rating” I am referring to is a simple formula for determining how well a pitcher hits his intended spots. Each pitch is charted on a palm pilot. You first select the intended location (where the catcher is set up) then, you select the pitch type, and tap the screen again where the pitch actually ended up. The computer does the rest. It shows graphically where each pitch went, and provides a summary of how many pitches hit the spot, slightly missed (within 6-10 inches of the intended spot), or missed by a wider margin (major miss).

The command rating, then, is simply Hit Spot % + ½ of the Slight Miss%. I found that a command rating of 30 was about average. Our best pitcher had a rating of 36, and the pitcher with the lowest rating had 22. It ends up being similar as a measuring stick to what batting average is for hitters. The difference between a 36 and 22 command rating is like the difference between a .360 hitter and .220 hitter.

Providing Invaluable Feedback

In the opening scenario, we have offered this young pitcher more valuable feedback than he has ever received. He didn’t just throw pitches and wait for us to tell him something about his body movement. He pitched as if it were a game, with a purpose. His purpose was to command his pitches better than he has all year. The Pitcher Command Report is one of three reports in a software package called Pitcher’s Edge™ that can be generated after a bullpen or game outing. It really is the command equivalent of the radar gun. I had the opportunity to try it out this past season with our high school pitchers. I knew it was an excellent teaching tool, especially when our pitchers came to me and asked, “Coach, can I see my reports?” This happened constantly.

Identifying patterns with missed spots

One of the other benefits we get from this particular report is that it identifies where pitches miss from their intended spot. You might find, as I did with one of our pitchers, that whenever he attempted to go inside and missed his spot, he missed to the other side of the plate. He never made a hitter move his feet. That can be mechanical, or it might be more of a mental issue, but having the printout helped bring it to his attention. We started using a football tackling dummy in the batters box, and set a goal for pitches that missed the spot to be inside, rather than outside or over the plate. This pitcher improved his command rating dramatically as a result of this process.

Proof that command is the key

Having a way to measure command is remarkable. What makes it that much better is that the Pitcher Command Report also provides feedback on hitter success against pitches that hit the intended spot, and those that missed the intended spot. We charted every game and many of our intrasquads this season. One of the amazing results was that out of 849 pitches logged as Hit Spots, only 8 were put in play hard. That is just over 1%! On the other hand, out of 651 strikes that were logged as Major Misses, 97 were hit hard. That equates to 15%.

You can view sample Pitcher Command Reports, and watch the online video tutorial by clicking here. I can vouch for how easy this program is to use, and how much of an impact it made for our pitching staff, and myself as well. I hope you get a chance to use this valuable resource.