Setting Up a Lefty – Part 3

The Low Respect Lefty

In the first part of this blog we discussed the different types of lefties we run into (check it out here: Setting up a lefty 1) and how to discover his type in a game. Part 2 discussed the “game within the game” and gaining confidence in your base stealing (check it out here: The Game Within the Game).  This blog will discuss the types of left-handed pitchers we face, specifically the “Low Respect Lefty.”

A Good Pickoff Move Defined:

The easiest way to describe a good left-handed pickoff is that it looks identical to the pitcher’s delivery home.  I know this seems obvious but I believe it is very important to discuss this with your team.  Why? Because once we recognize this then it will be important to just search out change and focus on it.

These lefties can be read move lefties, slide step lefties, or any variation.  It is important that we realize “low respect lefties” come from all makeups.

The Process:

As discussed in Part 1, we have gone through our fakes to be sure his move is not threatening.  He has some sort of key difference in his delivery to the plate that we can clearly see.  Once it is established, we will then work on getting jumps.

How Bad is the Move?

Just because the pitcher’s move is obvious does not mean he is slow to home… if so then the answer is just run.  If it is bad, but he is relatively quick to the plate, we are going to have to get more creative.

We should NOT be going first move on a “low respect lefty.” There is no point in gambling on a bad move that we can easily see.  The only way you will feel you should do this is if you only have one stolen base tool = run as fast as you can when the pitcher lifts his leg.  It is hard to run on ANY lefty with this as our only option… we are really looking for VERY “low respect lefties,” which I’m not even making a blog for.

*Refer to Adrian Gonzales vs. Jon Lester the other night in the playoffs.  Gonzales had one option only which made Lester a “medium respect lefty” or even a “high respect lefty.”  The coach is yelling at him to go but he only has one option…which isn’t fast enough.  He needed more tools, which have to be developed in practice.

When do we go?

This all depends on the pitcher.  How high does his leg lift when he delivers to the plate – High, medium or low? The runner must wait until the pitcher reaches his peak and then go.  It can be helpful to get the pitcher’s time to the plate from his peak leg lift.  Sometimes pitchers are still a 1.3 to the plate from the peak, which will allow us to run.  If the pitcher is lower than that then we need to shift to New School leadoffs vs. trying to guess a first move break.  The New School method should work for most guys for medium leg lifts and slide steps.  This will also defend against read move lefties due to the pitcher feeling an increase in movement during the delivery, although may take a bit of time to setup.

Issues:

The main issues we run into are runners assuming all lefties are great pickoff artists. In reality, the vast majority have easy tells.  Here are some places to check:

  • Book lefty – looks home to pick, looks to first to pitch
  • Hand bounce – his hands do not repeat their same motion on a pickoff
  • Posture – Body stands tall to pick, body crunches to go home
  • Twisting – Obvious turn in the core to throw to first
  • Hip drive – another posture issue, the body simply isn’t driving down the mound to pick.
  • Tension – you can see some “low respect lefties” begin to think before a pickoff.

As a runner you cannot assume the pitcher is good at holding runners, in fact I would do the opposite.  Think about it, most pitching coaches are right-handed and it is hard to effectively coach something you have never done.  So, of all the pitchers you will face in a season, most have never really worked on it and those who have are doing so without a ton of guidance.  

On the flip side, most runners don’t care about studying the pitcher until they are on first facing him the first time.  They do not know any tells and haven’t even seen a move.  This can make even “low respect lefties” tricky and can lead to a struggle getting jumps.  Invest in looking for tells, not only will you will find them but you get good at finding them quick.

 

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