The high pitch and cheap home runs

There are a lot of coaches who want their hitters to lay off the high pitch.  For the purpose of this post, a “high pitch” is a pitch that is just above the strike zone (belt to letters).  Generally speaking, the more velocity a pitcher has the tougher it is for the

hitter to hit in that location.  As I said, most coaches would rather have their guys stay away from that pitch and look for something down in the zone.

I don’t agree.

I had a hitting coach early in pro ball that criticized me for NOT swinging at those pitches.  His rationale was that a pitch in this zone was, in most cases, a mistake by the pitcher.  The pitcher wanted to get the ball down but missed up and out of the zone.  The coach felt that as you move higher in the game, pitchers make less and less mistakes so if you get one, jump all over it.

He then followed up with his most important high pitch advice … “but you’d better learn how to hit it.”

Staying on top of the pitch is key to hitting a high pitch.  If you don’t, by the time the bat loops up to the ball, it will be past you.  To get a visual on this, click HERE.

I was by no means a home run hitter.  My coach said a guy like me could pick up some “cheap home runs” if I changed my approach to the high pitch and began to hack at them.  A “cheap home run” according to him was a home run hit by a guy who doesn’t normally hit for power.  I was skeptical but worked on hitting the high pitch better.

The result?  All my minor league home runs were on high pitches.