Pitcher Duties
When we think of youth pitchers the act of pitching and (hopefully) striking out a batter come to mind. While that’s great, a pitcher has other duties and these have to be layered in over time. Some of these include:
- Helping to control the other team’s run game
- Covering bases
- Helping with rundowns
- Backing up the infield
Helping to control the other team’s run game
Pick off’s work in youth baseball. It’s not unusual for a youth baseball player to get on base and fail to pay attention and get picked off. Even if the pick off fails to get the runner out, doing this well can slow down the other team’s run game so they are a little hesitant and are unable to steal at will. This means that not only does the pitcher need to practice the skill, but the rest of the team needs to practice covering the bases during a pick off attempt.
Covering bases
The pitcher is responsible for covering the corners (first and third base) when those infielders are drawn away from their bases. I like to start this by waiting for it to happen during a drill, then introducing the concept to the whole team when it doesn’t happen. Then we start training it, slow ground balls that draw the first baseman away from first and requiring the pitcher to cover. Same for third base. Then we are ready for more speed and applying this outside of specific drill situations.
Helping with rundowns
The pitcher has a role in rundowns. When the runner is caught between third and home, the pitcher backs up the catcher. When the runner is between first and second the pitcher backs up first base. This has to be practiced for the pitcher to be able to know where to move when it happens.
Backing up the infield
When everything goes wrong and the ball is in the outfield and has to be thrown in, I like for the pitches to back up the infield players. For example, if the ball is being thrown to second base the pitcher should be backing up the middle infielders.
