Hey guys! We're gonna talk about how to ready your bullpen today so we're gonna
talk about some ways to communicate better Easi strategies so you can get
your relief pitchers up warm right end of the game quickly and effectively
without any miscommunication so first of all terminology matters actually matters
a lot so we don't want vague stuff like hey I need you to go get warm hey I
might need you hey go get warm quick anything that's not specific is just
gonna kind of waste time and it's gonna make again your reliever throw either
too many pitches or too few and our goal is that he's always warmed up like
optimally so he's ready to go and I'm just ready to pitch every time you get
in the call so terminology matters so we want to be specific so terms and
concepts that we're gonna use number one this many batters so if you know
situations getting tense and you have a left handed pitcher and you want him to
face the lefty who's the number nine hitter and you're at the five hitter if
you better say hey you've got four batters you're ready or I need you for
the number nine hole hitter okay so that's a really easy way to do it that's
the way I do it that's way the way they do it in pro ball that they'll just call
your matchup so hey if this guy gets up you're gonna have him hey I need you
ready in three hitters or less is that possible yes or no and you have this
hitter so you're gonna face Manny Ramirez or you're gonna face Brian Giles
throwing out random retired major leaguers now so number two situational
readiness so I will tell pitchers a lot of times if the starters may be like
sort of look a little shaky or if he's his pitch counts coming up say hey just
so you know if the first two runners get on or if he gets the first and second
probably gonna go to you so be aware so watch the game and know that if we get
here - we get two runners on I'm probably gonna go to you even that might
not always be true there's always kind of extenuating circumstances but you
want to have them you want to give your relievers an idea of what situation
they're gonna go in so they can watch and be ready for themselves pitch by
pitch readiness so we'll talk about this more which is hey once the guys warmed
up a little bit now like okay we got to watch the game I may
need you I may not so I want you to throw a 1 pitch for every pitch he
throws or 1 pitch for every 2 pitch your starter throws or 1 pitch for every 3
pitches the guy in the game throws whatever it is just give them a tangible
amount to throw so that they're not just throw throw throw throw throw while
they're saying lose cuz you just kids just don't have an idea and I say kids
but you don't really have a good idea until you're in college I think are in
impro ball of how much it actually takes you loose and how to not waste all of
your bullets and then number 4 getting a pitcher hot I just want you to give just
understand that that can count as an outing so obviously for for amateurs
like if you didn't get in the game you didn't get in the game and it's not like
you pitched like they're not gonna feel like they pitch but in pro ball they're
you know if like you've got hot two days in a row you're gonna probably have a
down there three days in a row you're probably down to even though you didn't
actually go in the game so getting hot they know this at the higher levels
that's important when you get your arm up to full speed and you're going
there's a toll there's no there's a there's a recovery period that's needed
for that ok so first thing number one have a plan you know especially in a
tight game you should have guys you've already figured out are you probably
gonna be your guys to that game now I know in youth baseball it's it's tougher
there just might be everyone might be sort of equal or whatever but you should
have in mind if Johnny is starting you should know that timmy is your tight
game reliever and Billy is you're not taking reliever so when Johnny is
through the fifth inning he's out of pitches you know he's thrown his 80 90
pitches whatever and he's done for the day if the game is 7 to 2 you're gonna
go - you're not tight game reliever if the game is 2 to 1 you're gonna go to
your tight game reliever who's your who's your better guy who's your
pressure guy who's not ok so just have an idea of which guy you're gonna go to
depending on the situation and again that can always change right it's gonna
change well you should have an idea of who you're looking for and then you
should build your starting lineup around that so a lot of times they'll either
have to have those guys sit out to start the game or you'll probably sub a guy in
because there's reentry rules and youth baseball and high school baseball where
you can bring your starter out so he plays right you can bring him in having
to be loose and then if he goes in he goes
so you'll have to sit them next to their start so it just depends but you don't
want to wait until four runs are in and and then get somebody's up make sure you
know who you're gonna go to and just be ready just just have a plan so when is
the end so this is tough to discern sometimes and I know I've made this
mistake and sometimes you just need to let your your young pictures if it's you
know 10 through 16 you baseball sometimes you let them wear it and try
to get out of jams I mean a fortunate that's part of the learning curve of
baseball and it depends on your philosophy and if you prize development
over winning which is something I do but it's up to you but generally you can't
give up five six seven runs in inning and win a game you're just not going to
so you've got to know like where's where do we draw the line here so if our two
runners are in there's two runners on and there's no outs
you better get someone going if you're not going to allow them to score more
than four more than five or more than six or whatever it is you know it's in
the big leagues you won't get out of the first inning if you give up more than
five typically but they'll start to get somebody going if it's three or four
runs in just because they don't know if it gets out of hand they want to try to
stop it quickly so you want to try to define relatively evenly for your team
what's the end like how many can you give up an inning before I yank you
again that change is because of tournaments
pitch counts all that stuff you might just not enough have enough arms in your
and your staff in general to allow a kid to have a really long leash or allowed
to have it really short leash I actually misspoke but it just depends either way
you should define what is the max amount the maximum a lot of runs a pictures a
lot to give up and give an inning so a third thing you want to be three to four
batters ahead so again know where the cutoff point know who's coming up in the
lineup know what time through the order it is for a pitcher you know getting
through there's a mate and they know that there's a major statistical penalty
on a pitcher going through the lineup the second time and especially the third
time so they might bat 200 against the guy the first time through lineup 240
the second times we live I'm going to be 290 the third times their lineup
so it's you don't want to let them get through that third time through the
lineup if possible if they're not just cruising and dominating but you also
just need to be a couple batters ahead to know where the cutoff point is so you
know if you have to plan for what's gonna happen if they walk walk air hit
you know like who's coming up next and where do I need to intervene where do I
need to have any a reliever ready to stop the bleeding if we get to that
point so you have to kind of look ahead like okay three runs are in there's
these the next four guys coming up if this guy comes up and the only one out I
got to get our picture out of there or if this guy comes up and there's two
outs I might give him one more hitter if this guy comes up with no outs he's
gonna get out of this and then you get start to to shape your reliever say hey
you've got this hitter if there's this many outs you got this hitter if there's
as many outs or I need you in four hitters if this guy comes up at all this
inning you're gonna face him that kind of stuff so concept number one this
batter or a number of hitters so we we talked about this before I need you
ready in three hitters or I need you to face the guy in the hole I need you to
face the guy you know the number nine hole hitter whatever it is and sometimes
it can be hey go down there tell me as soon as you're ready I'd like you to
face this hitter well I like you be ready in two hitters if possible I'll go
out and stall but just let me know I won't put you in if you're not ready
typically a pitcher can get ready in three hitters pretty easily it's about
three or four minutes a hitter on average sometimes in two depending on
how fast just depends I mean there's lots of variables how quick the catcher
gets down there how far the bullpen will how far away the bullpen is all that
stuff so you just have to kind of kind of play it by ear but this batter or a
number of batters is an ideal way to do it because it gives them an exactly
they're like they're watching the game and they know if that kind of comes up
coach is walking out and I'm going in so I better be ready number two so concept
number two situational readiness in the pen here's what we need to be doing so
number one the reliever may not enter but the situation can always it can
change in a heartbeat or I could be single single to start an
inning and I got first and second can also be bases loaded no now and then
first pitch ground ball double play and then a pop of
so so these situations they come and go very very fast so when a reliever needs
to get ready to kind of watch the game and just be aware he's gonna warm up
they're probably 75% something like that maybe a little higher maybe a little
lower depending on who he is he's gonna watch the game and assess the situation
and then it's either hey if this happens you're gonna enter if this happens or
not and then just be ready both ways like just watch the game if it's a
couple of batters get on I might go out and talk to him if I go out and talk to
him there's gonna be one more hitter to go you know and just remember four
relievers you're gonna get eight pitches on the game mound so they don't have to
be a hundred percent already in the bullpen a lot of times that's
some mistake amateurs make that they're like trying to get fully game ready when
they don't have to be they just need to be close enough and as a as a coach take
a stroll out there talk to him a little bit then give the arm sign you know that
can buy him another three to five pitches so concept number three one two
one one two two or one two three so pitch to pitch this kind of thing so all
right this is the sixth inning for your starter his pitch count is not gonna be
super high he's almost he's at 80 pitches and he's gonna go 95 tops so
he's got to get out this ending kind of quick and he struggled the last inning
so you say hey go down there and just go you know one for every two pitches or
one two three every three pitches so just don't burn your arm out but just
when he throws a couple you throw one when he throws one you throw honor when
he throws three you throw one it gives them a tangible way to say okay I'm
gonna meter am i throwing I'm just gonna keep on I'm loose but I'm not gonna
overdo it alright so one the ones kind of when it's like hey you might have to
go in the game but it's not dire yet one to two you know you throw a pitch every
to the guy and the game throws that's when it's not super grave they'll be
ready in two hitters they need to be but again it just gives them a good way to
pace themselves and then lastly warming up can count as pitching so just
remember that just because your kids didn't get in the game does not mean
they didn't pitch because it is stressful getting your arm going I know
I've been in the game in four minutes from when my manager called me sometimes
and you just throw your coat off and it's just like bang bang bang you're
throwing pretty hard you go from 50% to 80% to 90% to 99% within like 10 pitches
so it's not easy on the arm and if you don't go in you still got a pretty
decent workout it's not exactly the same as pitching in the game obviously but
it's it's still a thing so as a coach just remember that if you're using your
kids relievers and they get hot on Thursday and then they pitch on Friday
then they get hot again on Sunday or Saturday but they don't go in they might
need to be done for the week I mean that's essentially three outings and
it's not exactly three outings but it's almost three albums so just remember
that warming up can count as pitching and say you have two relievers and it's
a sixth inning you send a reliever down say hey go get hot I need you in three
hitters if this this this happens and it doesn't happen you don't have to put
that guy in there for the seventh inning you can skip him and put another picture
out there okay now Johnny a way to get ready for me I didn't need you he's
gonna go out he's gonna pitch the seventh so you can do it that way too a
lot of times coaches they would get in this habit of I warm this guy out
therefore he's gonna be in to pitch next you don't have to do it that way you can
do it any way you want and it's pretty common that they're trying to use the
right picture for the right matchup so just you know the situation might change
I don't feel like when you warm a guy up he has to be the next one in the game
she doesn't couple things to to not do don't enter a pitcher in less than two
hitters time so they're just they're just not gonna have enough time to warm
up I mean it could be 99 degrees and I don't know they could but in general two
hitters is not enough just give a kid three hitters and if you know the
situation gets out of hand that fast that is your fault as a coach like you
should have been far enough ahead or you could have given the guy three hitters
don't give them to hitters or less unless there's like a major stall or
something two hitters just not quite enough time don't get a pitcher up and
down twice so you know starter gets up in the third inning you your started
gets in trouble in the third inning you get your reliever already doesn't go in
he gets out of it fourth inning gets into trouble again get your
reliever right again that's that's tough after the second time he doesn't go in
probably shut him down for the and just swap a new reliever in there
you don't wanna have a guy go up and down up and down and then finally he
pitches again I mean sometimes that'll happen but
again if you meet her a little bit better that can alleviate their problem
but if they get hot and then call it hot and then cold and then yeah if he and
try not to pull a pitcher in from the field if possible and the last they
allow your pitchers to warm up don't allow them to warm up too much and make
sure they have guidance because they might throw an 80 pitches in the bullpen
before you even realize it for you even catch on not a good situation so when do
you yank a pitcher mid inning first and second when no one out is a good time
anytime there's signs of struggle mechanically bad body language his pitch
count is getting too close consecutive walks if he starts you know hanging his
head the lineup of the HAR the lineup three four or five guys are coming up
you know those are good signs that distant pay let's just go to our next
guy and lastly you want to again if there's one thing you take away from
this presentation think three to four batters ahead plan for trouble give your
guys enough time to get loose but not so much time and by that you know you give
them guidance so they don't overthrow in the pan they don't throw a million and
they don't get warmed up too fast let them pace themselves teach them
communicate well and you'll have relievers who are ready to go in the
game we start to understand how to be ready they understand their role and
they're gonna be prepared to pitch as best as they possibly can when you rush
kids where you give them too much time and they overthrow they throw too many
you're just setting yourself up for failure you want to have the right dose
when they're ready to go in the game so again three to four batters ahead plan
for trouble any inning can go badly make sure you have the pitching the pitchers
that you need on the bench so they can go down to the pen and get ready in a
timely fashion you know especially innings four through seven just be ready
you should have a tight game guy and a game's not close kind of guy ready so
again all this stuff boils down to communication and so I just want to
share some of the tips that we used in pro baseball because I know in amateur
baseball the the terminology is sometimes vague it's sometimes very
informal it's sometimes just like hey go get ready what does that mean they throw
as hard as they can and then there loose in five minutes they're staring
into the pen or they're staring into the dugout they don't know what they're
doing next then they don't go in the game you just want to try to communicate
as best you can so use some of these terms use some of these concepts and I
promise you to help you have better more successful relievers
you