[BA2929]

I like articles like this. It's good advice for those people who may be new to the sport of baseball, or just follow it casually. It's a confusing sport when you get down to the "inside baseball" stuff.

Personally, I refuse to throw a 3-0 fastball right down the middle unless the bases are loaded. Even then I tend to lean towards one side or area of the plate or I'll even mix in my best breaking pitch if I have confidence in throwing it for a strike. Grooving a fastball straight down the middle, regardless of the count, is rarely a good idea.

I also don't adhere to the advice in the video which says you HAVE to throw a strike 1-0. Sure it's a good idea to not get down 2-0, but I'm not going to catch too much of the plate on 1-0 against a good hitter. 2-0 isn't the end of the world and in some cases might actually benefit you depending on how aggressive the hitter is.

Also, your best bets when you're ahead in the count (0-2, 1-2, 2-2) is to throw a pitch that starts in the zone, then breaks out of it. I hardly ever throw "waste" pitches unless I'm going up against a free swinger like Sal Perez or Alcides Escobar. Even my high fastballs are close enough to the plate where it looks like it could be a high strike.