Originally published on February 14, 2024 by Chad Miller, Heather Keepers, and Allen Thomas.
Overview
There has been a trend developing over the past three years that hitters are drifting back in the batter’s box. Hitting coaches have stated that it gives the player more time to see the pitch and make an adjustment. As hitters have made this adjustment a few things have happened with the evolution of the game.
- Pitchers have developed higher spin rates on their four seam fastballs. Through the course Pitcher Development plans pitchers are now able to improve their vertical ride metrics to have four seam fastballs climb between 14 to 21 inches from the initial perception point. By standing in the back of the box this allows the ball to travel farther and have more perceived ride. If a player can move up in the box this will allow for less perceived ride and allow for the player to not have the ball change as many plains.
- Pitchers have begun throwing their breaking balls harder and this causes the breaking ball to break later. The depth of the breaking ball increases by an average of four inches from eighteen inches in front of the plate to six inches behind the plate. This will lead to a higher rate of swing and miss for players that are back in the box when facing pitchers with 2,700 rpm breaking ball spin rates. Breaking balls that are thrown over 82 mph will begin to optimally break on average at 57.6 feet (18 inches in front of the plate). Pitches will vary but players that can move up in the box will have a greater chance of barrel strike rates when moving up in the box due to the ability to minimize the depth of the break of the ball.
- Pitchers have developed more control on their secondary pitches and the rate of first pitch off speed pitches have significantly gone up from 38% to 44% year over year from 2022 to 2023 (Fangraphs).
Recommended Solutions
These three factors create a significant disadvantage for the hitter to set up in the back of the box. The section below will briefly review the disadvantages of being set up in the back of the box and review the advantages of moving up in the box to address these situations. At times coaches will attempt to make major adjustment to players mechanics, but the correction could be as simple as moving towards the pitcher to cut down the balls distance and make the trajectory move favorable for the hitter. The recommendations below are a few drills that a coach can utilize to help the player more comfortable in making the adjustment in the batter’s box.
1. Pitchers have developed higher spin rates on their four seam fastballs.
Drills
A. Reverse Sequence Drill – Working on a direct bat path and proper sequence. This simulates the proper path and positioning of the body.
B. High Tee – Working on adjusting the visual target and establishing comfortability with the positioning of the hitter in the batter’s box.
C. Pitching machine calibrated with a ball flight device. – Utilize accurate simulation of ride with the use of a ball flight analytic device (Rapsodo, Trackman, or Yakkertech).
2. Pitchers have begun throwing their breaking balls harder and this causes the breaking ball to break later.
Drills
A. Point of Contact Tee – Place the tees in the different points of contact that the player will now be contacting the ball. Players will be able to get comfortable with their depth perception in relation to their positioning with the plate.
B. Bounce Front Toss – The coach will bounce the ball to the player hitting instead of a true pitch. The player will adapt by seeing that the arc of the bounce is where the ball is easiest to consistently hit.
C. Pitching machine calibrated with a ball flight device. – Utilize accurate simulation of ride with the use of a ball flight analytic device (Rapsodo, Trackman, or Yakkertech).
D. Firm Overhand Mixed BP – The coach will throw extremely firm (hard) batting practice to the player. The longer that the ball travels the greater the ball will move in the direction of the spin.
3. Pitchers have developed more control on their secondary pitches and the rate of first pitch off speed pitches have significantly gone up from 38% to 44% year over year from 2022 to 2023 (Fangraphs).
Drills
A. Tunneling – Hitters will work on recognizing their zone and tracking the ball into the zone to make a swing decision based on their tunnel vs. a spin.
B. Pitching machine calibrated with a ball flight device. – Utilize accurate simulation of ride with the use of a ball flight analytic device (Rapsodo, Trackman, or Yakkertech).
C. Situational Hitting – Players focus on executing a situation and location of what they need to do to score and move the runner. For example, runner of second base and trying to score the runner. Often pitchers will throw an outside slider to a hitter and is the optimal pitch location to accomplish the goal.
For more information please contact:
Chad Miller M.A.
(502)407-1434
ChadMiller7@icloud.com