You fool around with different pitches playing catch, but it's not the same when you've got to face some guy with a bat in his hand.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's not just what you do on the pitch, it's what you do off the pitch.
If a pitcher sees you fiddling with the bat, he'll stall until your arms are tired before you even get a chance to hit.
In my own case I have frequently faced the pitcher when I had no desire whatever to hit. I wanted to get a base on balls.
When you don't have one that you throw for strikes - they are good hitters - they can cancel out one pitch and go to another. Now I have four pitches. If one's not working, I've got three others. It makes the game totally different.
You keep pitching. Most of the pitches run wild. A few are caught.
I can understand the fact you don't want the ball slipping out of a pitcher's hand because someone can get hurt.
One game, one pitch can change everything for a hitter. The way I like to approach it is that every at-bat is its own unique opportunity to go out there and do something really good.
There are certain things I can't do, certain pitches I can't hit. You stay away from them. You try to wait for pitches you can hit. The bat speed isn't what it used to be. You make up for it by using your head, working counts, getting ahead in counts and getting pitches to hit and hitting them hard.
Never let yourself get fooled by the same pitcher on the same pitch on the same day.
You got the ball in your hands and you're in command, and if you get your good pitch where you want it, nobody's gonna hit you.