3-0 green light?

When the count goes 3-0, what thoughts go into giving the batter the green light.

The first thought that goes into my mind is "What does a green light mean to them?" Are they going to interpret the sign as "I am swinging." If that is the case, then there is no way I would give the kid the green light. I believe that this often is the attitude that goes with the green light. I think that players need to learn to hit 3-0 and it comes with experience. And even then, it is a guarantee that they will be a good hitter in this very advantage count. I believe that research has shown that 3-1 averages are much better than 3-0 averages. Also, because of the Sportscenter age, many amateur players think that 3-0 counts should mean home runs. However, at the big league level the walk dominates the results.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/PQPP

The only time I would even consider giving a player a green light is if there was a runner in scoring position and the batter hitting behind the 3-0 hitter is struggling. If this were the case, I might ask the batter to try and drive the runner in.

I have had batters ask me "why didn't you let me swing?" I ask them

1) Were there any runners in scoring position?
2) How many extra base hits do you have?
3) Do you think the 3-1 pitch would be that much different than the 3-0 pitch?

Finally, I try and convince them that if they believe that me not allowing them to swing on a 3-0 pitch was the ultimate demise to their at bat then they really need to work on their confidence level.

The 3-0 pitch results in a player on base over 90% of the time There is absolutely nothing wrong with that being 1st base.