Baseball Pitching Know-How - The 30 Cardinal Sins of a Baseball Pitcher

By Nick Dixon

Every baseball team's fortune lies in the hands or the "arm" of the pitcher on the mound.

This can be said for pitching at every level from Little League Baseball to High School Baseball to College Baseball and to Major League Baseball. As I was watching the College World Series on ESPN last June, I noticed that every pitcher did the little things perfect. Every pitcher had basically the same approach to the game. Every college baseball pitcher in Omaha tried to get ahead of the batters, pound the strike zone with good pitches, and let their defense make plays behind them.

Before a pitcher "toes the rubber" there are many things that that pitcher must know. Little things make a big difference when it comes to baseball pitching success or failure.

Here are what I consider to be the 30 Cardinal Sins of a pitcher.


Not stretching and properly warming up before you pitch.
Walking the lead-off hitter!
Not spotting the fast ball.
Not knowing the number of outs.
Not knowing what bunt coverage is on.
Not sprinting to the plate to cover after a passed ball or wild pitch.
Hitting the lead off batter in the inning.
Hitting a batter with a 0-2 count.
Letting a hitter go from a 0-2 to a 3-2 count.
Allowing the batter to get a 0-2 base hit.
Hanging a curve ball.
Failing to cover first base on a ball hit to the right side.
Failing to back up 3rd or Home on a base hit to the outfield.
Making an errant pickoff throw to a bag.
Failing to vary your looks to check runners on base.
Allowing 2 walks in inning.
Not knowing who is covering 2B in a double-play situation.
Throwing a different pitch from what the catcher calls
Not setting up on the correct side of the pitching rubber. (RH on R, LH on L)
Allowing a walk with two outs.
Going 3-ball-count on any hitter.
Showing negative emotion!
Questioning an Umpire's Call!
Not running or icing your arm after the game to prevent injury.
Not wearing a warm-up jacket in cold conditions.
Failing to check a runner back to the bag on a come backer hit to you.
Throwing out of the windup with a runner on 1st or 2nd base.
Not pointing up in the air at a fly ball.
Not pounding the strike zone with a 5 or more run lead.
Not getting ahead of batters early in the count.

I am sure that you can add more. I hope that you find this information useful.

Good Luck till next time, Nick Dixon

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Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, the "Hit2win Company". Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Dixon is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products such as the Original BatAction Hitting Machine, SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, Original Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, Batting Cage Builder, the American Baseball Directory and the Hit2win Baseball Coaches Monthly Newsletter. Dixon has 5 blogs related to baseball training including the BaseballCoachingDigest Blog, CoachesBest Training Blog, Hurricane Machine Training Blog, Batting Cage Buyers Blog, and the Bat Action Training Blog.

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