Having your "great stuff"

Dying is easy, pitching is hard.

It is way harder than it looks.

i understand you cant always be your best, but as long as you get proper nutrition and maintain a regular workout schedule there is NO reason you shouldn't be your best everytime you take the mound (with the exception of some relievers who just get thrown around randomly, still they should be close) i think the mental aspect is the main part that just KILLS players. KYLE FARNSWORTH how can a guy fail so much whose got stuff as good as his?! sure its some bad luck but i tihnk its mostly mental

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It is way harder than it looks.

This is a favorite line in our family. When my son was four my dad got him a sawed off club and took him golfing. He watched for a little bit and took his turn wacking at the ball without much success. He turns around to my dad and says 'Wow, it's harder than it looks!'

We use that line whenever someone is having a bad day....always gets a smile...

I always get a laugh when I see coaches who weren't pitchers getting excited because a pitcher isn't hitting his spots or can't get a given pitch over. Pitching is finding out what you've got that day and finding a way to make it work. Some days it gets better as you go along if you last long enough. Some days it doesn't so you just figure out how to get by.

I've always loved to hear a former pitcher in the radio booth. They bring insights to the game that are unique, and the radio medium forces well thought out and detailed explanations (if the guy's any good).

Ed Farmer is the White Sox radio guy and loves to talk pitching mentality. He talks about how one pitch won't be working the first few innings, but then in the fourth it starts working great, while another that you had counted on is falling apart, but there's that time where you've got some of both of them.... it's really good stuff.

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Originally posted by CPLZ:
"The stuff where I was totally in control of the game and could do anything I wanted with hitters? Maybe 20% of the time. The stuff where I was good, maybe another 25% of the time. The rest of the time, over 50%, I had to pitch with less than great stuff. That's where the mental toughness comes in. I knew one or two of my pitches weren't working well, I knew I was gonna get hit some, but still, you go out there and battle."

I just texted this to my son. He pitches tonight and I guarantee his best stuff isn't here yet in the early part of the season.

Thank you.

CP,
Great stuff and thanks.
This is something that takes some young pitchers a while to figure out.
You can have the best game of your life, then next outing the worst. The object is, every level that you move up, the more you are expected to deal with those down days.
Even the best, have bad days. There is absolutely NO way a pitcher can ever be at his best everytime he takes the mound, but he should absolutely know when it's not working and make adjustments quickly. I think that is where the seperation comes in. Some learn it earlier than others, and the ones with the most issues adjusting are those who never met failure and then it hits them like a brick and they can't deal with it.

It happens with hitters as well---there are days they look so uncomfotable in the box that it is sickening while others they ooze confidence