Side of the rubber

It is all about angles.

Oh, ok, well that clears that up!

hahaha...sorry.

Most LHPs will throw from the 3B side of the rubber to bust RHH's inside OR to get a backdoor strike on a LHH.

Some pitchers vary their position on the rubber depending on the pitch.

The conventional wisdom is that a LHP should pitch from the 1st base side, and RHP from from the 3rd base side. This approach maximizes the angle at which the ball arrives at a hitter compared to a line connecting home plate and second base.

I think that the difference in angle between a LHP and RHP can be disconcerting to a batter, but for a given handedness, I am dubious that moving the release point of the ball laterally by less than two feet is actually significant, because the batter need only open or close his stance by 2 inches to completely compensate the angle.

But I'm not in the batter's box!

Pulling up videos of Rogers, Glavine and Santana, all three pitch from the third base side of the rubber.
Santana throws so far over that only half of his foot is touching the rubber.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RcaTY3P0HOM

It is about angles. With some pitchers it about comfort. However some very good pitchers will move between the 1b and 3b sides to get different looks on different pitches thrown. A breaking ball thrown from the 3b side for a rhp will come right at the rh hitter and break over the plate, at least in theory, the pitch still has to be made. Same pitch from 1b side will come to the rh hitter and then break away. Different view from the hitters perspective. I would say the majority of RhP's like the 1b side and majority of LhP's like the 3b side.

When a lefty throws from the third base side of the rubber or a righty throws from the 1st base side they are trying to get more armside run on the fastball. My guess is that pitchers with high overhand slots typically throw from the armside of the rubber. I'd guess that Rivera with his cutter might throw from the third base side. Have to check that one.

Using both sides can be effective. It can add a slight angle toward or away from a batter. A little different look can give a little deception.

The pitcher just has to avoid becoming predictable. He must be able to throw different locations and grips from each side of the rubber. Else the deception is lost.

Can't say that I've ever seen a pitcher use both sides of the rubber in a game. I'll have to watch more closely and see how often that happens.

I can tell you it is relatively rare. Texan Son's PC was one of the few who taught it. But that PC's pitchers were very effective using both sides.

Trevor Hoffman uses the 3B side against lefties and the 1B side against righties.

quote:

Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:
I think that the difference in angle between a LHP and RHP can be disconcerting to a batter, but for a given handedness, I am dubious that moving the release point of the ball laterally by less than two feet is actually significant, because the batter need only open or close his stance by 2 inches to completely compensate the angle.

Tom House would agree with you. House would have a pitcher select a place on the rubber that minimizes/eliminates postural changes.

IMO its ok to move around on the rubber as long as your not doing it only on certain types of pitches.