Pitchers with low velocity?
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I'm looking for some advice on how to pitch with lower velocity pitchers. (Valenzuela, Maddux, Romo) etc. I really only use pitchers with high velo. I see how my opponents handle the fastball and figure out a pitching strategy for the rest of the game from there. The only pitchers I can usually hit are the low velo guys but I've run into a few people that really give me fits with them. What's the best strategy for pitching with them? I'm thinking just keep everything low, spam the offspeed stuff until they begin to time it and than mix in the fastballs(to make it look faster?)? I'd really appreciate any advice. Also is Valenzuela any good to pitch with online? He was one of my favorite players as a kid.
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Mix locations without a specific sequence (like you were rolling a dice before every pitch); avoid spamming low in the zone, too obvious. When pitching low, go way low so he misses or fouls it off. Yes the FB here and there will screw up timing. From time to time, go back to back FB when he’s expecting you to come back slow. Most important is to watch timing (he’s he on it, late, or early and attack accordingly until he’s timing it) and PCI placement: that may give you a hint on where he’s sitting with his PCI on certain counts or where he’s having difficulty reaching with it.
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Fernando has a high pitch release so the best way to pitch with him is high tunnels. Even though he has low velo, he’s the one on my team with the best K/9. Something absurd like 190K in 115 innings or something like that. Fernando you need to throw the screwball and circle change alot with the occasional FB out of the zone
Maddux is the same way. His sinker tunnels well with the cutter and the circle change and has insane movement.
Basically with low velo guys, you have rely alot on tunnelling and sequencing to keep your opponent off balance
Spamming low is NEVER a good idea. What you’re basically doing is telling your opponent he only has to worry about 1/3 of the zone
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I see that expression a lot here, tunneling? What does that mean?
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Just throw moving pitches down the middle (sinkers/cutters). Weak contact for days.
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@yankblan_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
I see that expression a lot here, tunneling? What does that mean?
It means the pitch goes through the exact same path but breaks differently at the end. Let's say you've been spamming cutters in on the hands, if you wanna successfully "tunnel" a sinker off of that pitch, you throw it in the exact same location and it will look like another cutter for a ball, but instead it breaks down and towards the plate at the last second for a strike. You can also do it vice versa, making your opponent think it'll be a sinker inside and then jam him with a cutter way inside. The goal is to make the pitch look identical but with a different break at the end to either make someone chase or freeze.
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@yankblan_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
I see that expression a lot here, tunneling? What does that mean?
Basically it’s the idea that two (or more) different pitches are delivered from the same height and angle out of the hand and travel the same trajectory long enough to look identical
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@yankblan_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Mix locations without a specific sequence (like you were rolling a dice before every pitch); avoid spamming low in the zone, too obvious. When pitching low, go way low so he misses or fouls it off. Yes the FB here and there will screw up timing. From time to time, go back to back FB when he’s expecting you to come back slow. Most important is to watch timing (he’s he on it, late, or early and attack accordingly until he’s timing it) and PCI placement: that may give you a hint on where he’s sitting with his PCI on certain counts or where he’s having difficulty reaching with it.
Thanks man
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@hikes83_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Fernando has a high pitch release so the best way to pitch with him is high tunnels. Even though he has low velo, he’s the one on my team with the beat K/9. Something absurd like 190K in 115 innings or something like that. Fernando you need to throw the screwball and circle change alot with the occasional FB out of the zone
Maddux is the same way. His sinker tunnels well with the cutter and the circle change and has insane movement.
Basically with low velo guys, you have rely alot on tunnelling and sequencing to keep your opponent off balance
Spamming low is NEVER a good idea. What you’re basically doing is telling your opponent he only has to worry about 1/3 of the zone
Thanks for the detailed advice. I appreciate this a lot. Is Fernando ok to use online?
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@coachbelichuck said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
@hikes83_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Fernando has a high pitch release so the best way to pitch with him is high tunnels. Even though he has low velo, he’s the one on my team with the beat K/9. Something absurd like 190K in 115 innings or something like that. Fernando you need to throw the screwball and circle change alot with the occasional FB out of the zone
Maddux is the same way. His sinker tunnels well with the cutter and the circle change and has insane movement.
Basically with low velo guys, you have rely alot on tunnelling and sequencing to keep your opponent off balance
Spamming low is NEVER a good idea. What you’re basically doing is telling your opponent he only has to worry about 1/3 of the zone
Thanks for the detailed advice. I appreciate this a lot. Is Fernando ok to use online?
He’s more than ok. I think he’s still a top 5 option. He’s still in rotation and I have pretty much every card in the game
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Thank you sir!
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@coachbelichuck said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
@hikes83_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Fernando has a high pitch release so the best way to pitch with him is high tunnels. Even though he has low velo, he’s the one on my team with the beat K/9. Something absurd like 190K in 115 innings or something like that. Fernando you need to throw the screwball and circle change alot with the occasional FB out of the zone
Maddux is the same way. His sinker tunnels well with the cutter and the circle change and has insane movement.
Basically with low velo guys, you have rely alot on tunnelling and sequencing to keep your opponent off balance
Spamming low is NEVER a good idea. What you’re basically doing is telling your opponent he only has to worry about 1/3 of the zone
Thanks for the detailed advice. I appreciate this a lot. Is Fernando ok to use online?
yes.... he's great. I haven't used him personally, but him and Cabrera are the two guys I've struggled the most against online. I hate facing those two guys.... Fernando is very hard for me to pick up.
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Fernando definitely usable, he’s got a slow delivery though and low velo so it can be tedious at times.
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Facing Fernando on HOF when your muscle memory wants you to hack early is tough; if the player knows how to use him, good night…
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Thanks man. I haven't seen him at all. I faced that guy Cabrera for the first time on Saturday. First time I've rage quit in a very long time. That guy is glitch or something
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@timshady10_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Fernando definitely usable, he’s got a slow delivery though and low velo so it can be tedious at times.
Thanks man. That's good to know.
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@yankblan_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
Facing Fernando on HOF when your muscle memory wants you to hack early is tough; if the player knows how to use him, good night…
Thanks man. I'm usually hanging out in the lower divisions but that's good to know, if I can ever move up.
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@hikes83_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
@yankblan_psn said in Pitchers with low velocity?:
I see that expression a lot here, tunneling? What does that mean?
Basically it’s the idea that two (or more) different pitches are delivered from the same height and angle out of the hand and travel the same trajectory long enough to look identical
I was about to come in here and say exactly this. Example: Slider and a Fastball. Throw slider first, then throw a fast ball at the exact same spot where the slider was going before it broke it's plane. This works wonder IRL as well. You can have a teams best hitters looking silly. Obviously you have to mix up your pitch sequences, locations, etc. But tunneling is something that doesnt get the recognition it deserves. My opinion at least.
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Tunnelling is the king this season. Just wanted to add to what the other guys were saying in here.
There's two parts to pitching I'd like to elaborate on to help - tunnelling - and watching your opponent's swing results section. Combining the two will result in a bad time for any opponent, even the best of the best. There are guys who are absolute pitching gods that can't hit worth a lick in the top 50 right now, just go check RS hitting and pitching stats.
Anyway here's my strategy:
For the first batter of every game - I like to throw a few balls to start the game off. Low and inside, high and inside. If they chase, you know two things - a) tunnelling is going to be incredibly effective and b) you aren't restricted to staying in the zone.
For tunnelling, here's my tips. At the start of every AB. Pick a spot you want to work off of. This can be anywhere you want, literally anywhere for the first few batters (if you start to see them barrelling a certain location, cross it out from your mind as a place to start your tunnel).
If you start with a slider or off speed, throw it, and make sure you're staring at your pitcher's release. Wherever it is before it starts breaking - that's where your fastball should go. I don't care if it's down the middle. That's where it should go. That's how tunnelling works most effectively.
Now, that doesn't mean your next pitch is a fastball, which is what guys above are kind of implying by not elaborating. This is when you want to look at the swing results section in the bottom left. Say that first pitch was indeed a slider that broke to the bottom right corner, and you've set yourself up for a middle high fastball down the middle. The question you have to review is: was he early? Was he late? And how early and late? If he was slightly early or slightly late, maybe it's time to tunnel that fastball because the change of speed will throw him off. If he's very early or very late, it's time to throw that exact same pitch again - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is the BIGGEST mistake I see my opponents make. I'll be very early on a slider, and they'll go right to the tunnel fastball, and I send it to timbucktoo.
The best pitcher I faced in my most recent 12-1 BR run (my only loss) - at one point he threw me 8 straight sliders before giving me a fastball. I fouled every slider off very early but slowly and surely started to get closer to getting the slider on time. The second I had the slider timed, he went to that fastball, and I popped up very late. Incredible sequence. "Convince me you're on the pitch before I stop throwing it" was his mantra, and it worked insanely well.
Combine this all with pin point pitching, and you're giving people a world of hurt.
