Velocity vs. Command?

This is something that becomes more and more clear to me every game I see from the dugout and every year I play baseball. I am in my 6th professional season of baseball this year and more and more I continue to value my ability to throw strikes over how fast I can throw the ball. I see guys in the Atlantic League dice people up throwing 85. Granted these guys have years and years of experience so they really know how to pitch, but they can get guys out without having to throw extremely hard. So,f you are a young pitcher then please do not consume yourself with just throwing hard.

Don't get me wrong, velocity plays its roll and it is most definitely better to be able to throw 95 with decent command than 85 with great command. Usually that 95 mph guy will succeed more often if he can stay around the zone. Work hard and take care of your arm and get your velocity as good as high as you can, but don't weigh everything on trying to throw 91 instead of 89. Instead focus your concentration and efforts on maximizing your ability to command the fastball and throw your offspeed pitches for strikes consistently. The guy who throws 85 with great command will almost always be more valuable to his team than the guy who throws 95 and doesn't have a clue where it is going.

Usually the guy that throws 85 and pitches to contact will have his defense play better behind him more consistently as well. It never fails, when you walk people your defense inevitably makes more errors because they get frustrated when their pitcher is not being efficient and throwing too many pitches. It's not that they are trying to play bad, but when you go deep into counts consistently on hitters you put your defense on their heals.

Moral of the story is that command defeats velocity over the course of a season and a career. Strikes are more important that mphs!! So make sure you focus on your game and your routine accordingly.

-Isaac

Long Island Duck's Field, Central Islip, NY