I enjoy learning from this board.
Earlier this year I read a major league hitter saying that the reason Johan Santana was so tough was that his changeup was completely indistinguishable from his fastball.
In terms of pitch sequencing, I was recently reading up on Orel Hersheiser. I was surprised to learn that he had become a professional poker player with a fairly high level skill. Interesting.
Then, when reading one of the old articles from the SI vault written during his prime, one of his coaches said that Hersheiser was one of the biggest gamblers on the mound that you would ever find. He meant that Hersheiser would throw pitches at spots in the count where almost no one else would throw that pitch. Interesting.
Re: the prior post. I think in any sport, if you can instill in an athlete the fear of looking foolish, it freezes him and reduces his performance significantly. Hitters don't fear missing a fastball, or not getting it solidly. Thats just part of the game to them. Missing a slower pitch or hitting a chopper or pop-up from it isn't the same, and they feel it is an embarassment to them. The boys who don't have the physical makeup to bring the hard heat can survive in the meantime by perfecting movement, location, and keeping hitters off balance. As the Lincecum chart above shows, its not easy either. There is a relatively small range of velocity in which his changeup has positive value. Too fast or too slow and it has no value.