Hitting against a Pitching Machine

I hate machines and never use them. One thing we do is use a short cage. We get about 45 feet away and throw pretty hard. It's not perfect for simulating a real life pitch but it's not that bad.

We were going to face a guy one day throwing low 90's with all kinds of scouts there. My guys had seen 85 tops all season and were starting to get a little apprehensive facing this guy. We took short cage BP with the guy throwing as hard as he could from 45 feet away. Hardly any of the guys touched BP and thought I was crazy for making them do it. My lead off hitter almost killed the pitcher with a linedrive up the middle on the 5th pitch he saw.

So back to the point I say leave the machine alone. Use it for catcher popups or something.

we've had better results from cranking the pitching machine up. our best hitting teams have hit off machines alot. we've had better results from that than throwing bp short. theres a time and place for both but over the last couple of years ive come to realize you get no benefit from throwing bp less than 54 feet - the timing is nowhere near anything realistic. you're alot better off putting the machine on the mound when you can't put a live pitcher at that distance.

My son (fifteen year old soph) hits against Pro Batter a lot. It's a screen with a pitcher so the hitter can follow the windup rather than focus on a hole. Pro Batter can be programmed. He sets it up for a random combination of 85 and 82 mph fastballs and 72 mph curves over twenty pitches.

Pro Batter

We have a home plate pitching machine from sports tutor and it is unbelievable. Great teaching tool. It has lights that light up in between pitches so you can get your timing down. The ability of the machine to throw great breaking stuff with pinpoint accuracy is a supreme plus. One of the biggest advantages of it is seeing stuff out of the strike zone, curveball, sliders and fastballs up. The kids see it and are more familiar with it when they have real at bats. They are expensive but worth it.

Well i will agree with the mix them up..
i have had years we never used a machine and hit ..We have had years we used it quite a bit. As a rule I have tried to use the jugs or atec for only high velocity with varsity and sub varsity. We use a Iron mike all the time and front toss and short cage every day along with live bp every day. A few years ago I had a very talented team that i thought could make it to the state tourney which in Texas is 5 rounds just to get there. There was a pitcher in our region and perienial power that i knew would be in our way. The guy was 6'10 and threw low 90's..We worked every wednesday of the year off a jugs machine up on chairs throwing 90 from 50 feet or so. I don't know if it was the true reason, but we faced him in game 1 of a series in the third round and tore him up. 13 hits and a 3 run jack over the scoreboard by our stud..the kids had confidence, and they had seen harder every one of those wednesdays..I think it's just about quality cuts and approach..who knows whats the perfect formula. I want a home plate, but have two Iron Mikes and love them.

I've actually used an atec in the past to show my kids a nasty deuce and work on hitting it back up the middle. Other than that, I use it more for bunting and catcher's (popups and just catching off of it) than anything else.

How to select the right type of pitching machine? How much is the maintenance cost of machine? Please, provide me the details of pitching machine the baseball.

I also don't like machines much and opt instead for front toss with some zip to it.  In that way you can incorporate some type of timing movement in the front toss.  However, I also used machines in the cages while I threw live arm on the field.  You can be creative and find ways to help hitters work on their timing even with a machine.  For example, we bought one of those soft toss jugs feeders and set it up without any tension on the spring.  As the arm rotated to flip the ball, instead, it laid the ball into the machine.  Hitters could time that.  Good luck. 

Saw the Oriole's Chris Davis taking on field BP a couple of weeks ago and he was using a machine instead of live arm. Looked like a basic two wheel Jugs.

 

Different guys like different things. Saw a segment on Freddie Freeman and he liked to do soft toss in the cage to get his swing down. Said he wasn't a tee guy. Like soft toss instead.

 

If you look at Victor's profile and this post it gives the impression that he's using Google Translate, and that he is here for commercial purposes. I wouldn't put too much effort into replies.

 

That said, my kid hits off a machine once or twice a week during the off season so he can keep his swing mechanics and eye fresh while his focus is on basketball and/or academics.

My 2 cents--Let's say you own a wheeled machine that throws hard.

We all know a wheel machine is hard to time. Possibly, it's counterproductive.

At the tail-end of practice the day before you're going to face an exceptionally fast pitcher,

Crank it up and get your batters in the cage--without bats-- so they can visually acclimate to the faster closing speed.  Just tracking the pitch.  They'll beg you to bring their bats in the cage and take some hacks, don't let them.

 

It's efficient. In about 45 min. there's enough time for your starting nine to each see about 20 pitches.

 

Tell them, "Track the damned pitches!  We're saving your best swings for tomorrow."

 

 

 

 

Ideally, you have some coach arms that can do the job with velo, mix and movement but that is certainly not always the case.  So, as others have said, you make do and simulate a delivery however you can with the machines.  We have been fortunate in that area for a while and use iron mike primarily for a bunt station.  Son's college uses pitching machines for a variety of hitting drills.  The players prefer live but must learn to adapt.

TCB1;

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit with Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers hitting coach. He was at the Arlington Stadium in the batting tunnels sitting in a chair, 20 ft from Rusty Greer throw underhanded.

 

Of course, he had the pitchers screen turned around.http://m.mlb.com/video/v5583247/rudy-jaramillo-hitting-tips. This drill was for batters reaction to the ball. I like it.

 

Later when I met Edgard Martinez with the Seattle Mariners in Spring Training, he show me his drill of tracking the "marked" ball at 100 mph from the iron mike pitching machine.

 

The next hitter was Ichiro, he was actually swinging at the 100 mph pitch and making contact.

 

BP and pitching machines should be used as a tool to "work on specific element in your swing" or eyes.

 

Bob