MLB Tonight: Throwing Fastballs Up in the Zone

Al Leiter breaks down the importance of keeping fastballs up in the zone and what happens when they aren't thrown high enough.

[@KeepItFresh02]

I love Al's love and enthusiasm for baseball and pitching.

[@grehhet161]

when i was little and growing up watching the late 90s mets, he was my favorite. his intensity on the mound was like nothing i had seen at that point and i loved his post-game interviews. he was so in depth with his answers and it was obvious to me he was a really smart man. i said to myself a million times "he better become an announcer or stick with baseball somehow" after he retires and im so glad hes been working with the MLB network. ive been a fan of al for over 20 years now! crazy

[@PerkyPineapple]

I think that's the great thing about MLB Network in general. It feels like everyone is genuinely in love with the game and not only talking about it but explaining it with their experience. A lot of other sports shows with ex-pros feel like a lot are there for a paycheck, obviously there are exceptions but for the majority.

[@toadwiiremotewithwiimotion6247]

No other sports analyst show does it better than MLB Network

[@Lebronisthegoat3]

Bruh I see you in every video I watch

[@Siegeany15_on_twitch]

I totally agree they are incredible

[@nicktoosaucey8685]

all right calm down 😂 inside the nba wit ernie shaq kenny and charles is the best 😂😂

[@poopnugget33]

Jomboy

[@Lebronisthegoat3]

Poop Nugget true

[@MysteryGas]

I could watch Al Leiter all damn day. I could watch him explain the spin cycles on a clothes dryer and enjoy it.

[@demetriusmiddleton1246]

I wish that in every sport, more shows did in-depth analysis like this as opposed to creating controversy, spinning their own narratives, and the two second sound bite that our culture is used to.

[@chris00nj]

I could listen to Al all day. It's like me trying to throw strikes to my little leaguers (coach pitch). Hitting a 8" x 8" box at 40 ft is hard.

[@hjmobercgaming1209]

chris00nj bruh it’s not 8x8 😂

[@alexmuth4732]

@@hjmobercgaming1209 little league

[@mjmcalister]

So refreshing to see a sports show that actually focuses on the details of the sport. All the other networks it’s just gossip and what’s trending

[@wbdrugstrat]

That was actually a fun pitching lesson. Gotta love the intricacies of baseball.

[@jamespisano1164]

Good stuff. Cool. Love the passion and insight.

[@becomeaschads840]

Lol, he’s so right, but I can’t get over the fact that he confuses Shin Soo Choo and Ji Man Choi 😂

[@shahbash2434]

leiter is on fire! you can tell he loves the game

[@mikebigelow9057]

I could listen to Al Leiter talk and teach about pitching all damn day. No BS just straight facts. MLB network needs to keep Al on the air and teaching.

[@dreamingbaseball5511]

Thanks for posting we love this stuff 😊

[@bingchii-ling9393]

It`s a duck

[@IYPITWL]

亦林危 oh a duck

[@leonardogarces7563]

This is great young players can learn a lot with all of your analysis

[@titancribbing3363]

What a beauty Al is.

[@Jazzman-0]

These segments on MLB tonight are always awesome and I love them, but he’s just basically peaching to hit your spots, because the same could be said for the low pitch. It’s a really small window where it’s effective vs it’s a right down the middle homer vs a ball. I get what he’s trying to illustrate but with the batters emphasis on launch angle it’s going to change the game to prioritize both levels of the strike zone. That’s what I really love about the game, it’s so old yet there’s a constant back and forth between batters and pitchers to have an upper hand.

[@contrnsmagnificndjoobngtaint]

I m not really into baseball. But i love sports. ... this show is so freakn interesting. Love the highly technical analysis

[@AJEDDY97]

MLB Tonight has been consistently good with their analysis and breakdowns, just about since they started.

[@preston0808]

MLB network is the cream of the crop for baseball coverage

[@rftulie]

Good on Al for exposing the idea of throwing fastballs up as dangerous (especially if, as with Porcello, it's not your strength). Pitching in the majors is hard, and this is one good reason why.

[@davidstoyanoff]

Milwaukee lived up there last night and did well for 7 innings

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

analytics are great but i think that taking metadata over a large group (how many batters league wide hit balls in which areas) when you are trying to decide what an individual should do. instead, get a sample of their behaviors and their stats when changing that behavior, then use that data to fine tune the man. you tune a car's engine timing with its engine.....not with the 'average national settings for that car'.

[@chrisgratton6436]

I agree

[@Kane-ib5sn]

al leiter was a master at pitching up-stairs. they don't do it like he did anymore. one exception comes to mind: Hyun Jin Ryu...

[@lexthesavior]

Bro I fucking love these guys. Teaches me some shit coach couldn’t ever

[@vapssu]

al is the best analyst on mlb network

[@lleytonweaver9199]

when i tell my pitcher to throw high n the zone. I don't even have my glove in the strike zone in hopes that they miss high instead of low.

[@nicholasbraganca5710]

One of my pitching coaches taught me to throw the high cheese, you tilt your chin up just a little bit. Angles the eyes up a little bit

[@andrewdecker616]

5:50 A changeup is not a breaking ball, it is an offspeed pitch. In baseball, an off speed pitch is a pitch thrown at a slower speed than a fastball. Breaking balls and changeups are the two most common types of off speed pitches. ... Virtually all professional pitchers have at least one - pitch in their repertoire. its true that breaking balls (slider, curve etc.) are also off speed pitches, that doesnt make the changeup a breaking ball.

[@EVE101Patt]

this is so good in many different ways :-O

[@manifestgtr]

6:32 “Ugh...someone call tech support. We need to reset Al”

[@HwL01]

easier said than done though the high fastball just outside the zone but tempting hitter to swing at it. high risk high return pitch?

[@gretsky3463]

I love mlb’s attempt to cover up the juiced baseballs. They have created balls that are less dense that allow for more carry and compression. I wish they would just come out and admit it.

[@bremms1]

You needed Smoltzy there too.

[@dylbertj]

They must have a lot of fun

[@lukeyj8331]

That was awesome

[@taylorbell4445]

Velocity I think widens that margin of error, a fastball right down broadway is still a tough pitch to hit if it’s 100 and you aren’t sitting on it, porcello of course is not a hard thrower

[@SayerofThings]

Al gets so worked up

[@michaelwilhelm157]

That's good for what the strike zone ought to be. What I see when I watch games is every ump has a different strike zone and is never consistent. 3-in outside is a strike one call and the next batter up it's not a strike. Until MLB goes to some kind of computer or robot umpires I can't watch the garbage that they let go. The umps decide the game, not the players!

[@tchevrier]

the stupidity of baseball is that the top line there is actually in the strike zone

[@Stonedzioba]

92 up vs 100 up is very different

[@vapssu]

that being said, it is disingenuous to suggest that throwing at the knees is a safe location in today's game, even below the zone gets hit on the park all the time now. Miss slightly up and it's more of a nitro zone than missing down slightly at the top of the zone.

[@davidhume8640]

Nitro zone?

[@antiy4ho0]

@@davidhume8640 I think hes saying that if you miss a pitch that is in the bottom part of the strikezone you're throwing what launch-angle batters are looking for and the ball is going to get blasted.

[@waldenboulevard8047]

This is done with Spider Tack

[@samspade1620]

It's like they're trying to universalize pitching strategy and that just doesn't work. I understand using metrics but a pitcher should use the strategies that legitimately work for them.

[@Nyu0005]

Those middle two white line separate the boundaries behind what gets called strike or sometimes a strike is the why MLB needs automated strike zone calling.

[@kylemartin8655]

Time to do 100 pushups

[@trple2]

The comments on MLB Tonight seem mostly fake.

[@BulletDiscipline]

that's because there all former players they know what there talking about lol oh by the way game of the year is tonight guys Oak Vs T.B.

[@CrazyAboutVinylRecords]

The ball is flying out at historic rates because MLB has decided more homers is good for viewership on TV and attendance in the ballparks, so they started juicing the ball. Apparently steroids are only bad when players do them.

[@daledolan-zalaznick844]

This dude sounds like Hannibal Buress

[@rodriguezbaseball]

this is awful..... 1. You should throw up in the zone IF you have a high vertical break FB (Cole, Verlander, Hader, etc...) 2. High VB FB are correlated to higher swing and miss % and higher Fly ball %-- Meaning that the pitcher has a higher chance of influencing his outcomes. 2. Sure you can miss "middle-middle" when throwing the FB up in zone, JUST like you can miss when aiming for the corners and throwing a juicy FB right down the middle! 3. Aiming up and missing in the middle are not mutually exclusive. Like stated previously you can aim down and away and still miss middle. 4. Every batted ball has a "Launch Angle"--> Launch angle is a batted ball metric, not a swing metric.... A grounder, Pop up, fly ball, and line drive ALL have "launch angle"...

[@LandonChurch15]

Ok

[@denongomes2086]

Rams vs Packers

[@pascalmoll4834]

a duck

[@NarkoHamponTV]

Baseball is DYING on a fast pace

[@Hyperion856]

America is DYING on a fast pace

[@NarkoHamponTV]

HyperionSc2 💯

[@christianw6819]

@@Hyperion856 id love to hear you attempt an explanation

[@zacharyp7511]

3:55 “obviously this is not a strike” lol WRONG that’s 100% a strike learn the strike zone dummy

[@yeetusmcgeetus4946]

MLB zone is smaller than whatever little league zone you're using "dummy."