The first pitch

It has been said many times that the best pitch in baseball is strike one. Therefore, why aren't more pitchers simply grooving the ball right down the middle to get ahead with strike one? Well, it's never quite as easy as it sounds. Here's what goes into deciding what pitch to throw.

Obviously, if we knew the batter was taking a pitch, a fastball down the middle would be just what the doctor ordered. But, that's not the way it works. The hitter has the ability to swing at strike one. Thus, making what would be strike one a potential BLAST. That wouldn't be good so pitchers start doubting the efficacy of throwing a fastball near the strike zone.

I'm now going to make an assumption. I'm going to assume that the pitcher on the mound has a second pitch (usually a breaking ball of some sort) that he can throw for a strike. This pitch usually is thrown with less accuracy. It also happens to be a harder pitch to hit at amateur levels simply because amateur hitters don't see it enough. So, the debate! Throw the pitch you can control that risks getting hit or the pitch you can't control that won't get hit.

This concept separates the better high school pitchers from the very average pitchers. A strike one with the breaking ball is a devastating pitch in high school baseball. If you can do it, you're ahead of the game as the hitter simply can't look for any pitch.

Now, if you can't throw a curveball for strike one, I contend you should throw a fastball and the hell with the consequences. Here's why.

1) The batter might be taking. Many batters take the first pitch.

2) There is no guarantee he will hit it for a base hit.

3) Throwing a fastball on the first pitch for a ball opens up more options than throwing a curveball for a ball. Most high school hitters after taking a fastball for a ball still have that curveball in the back of their mind. Most high school hitters that take a curveball for a ball will eliminate the pitch and will now be sitting "dead red."

This #3 concept is a very overlooked part of first pitch pitching. An opening curveball for ball one puts the hitter in a very favorable position to look for that fastball. A fastball for ball one simply says I missed but you haven't seen my second pitch yet. In the back of his mind it's still there.

I would love to see the stats on this concept. Opponents batting averages with a 1st pitch curveball for a ball vs. a 1st pitch fastball for a ball.