Gameday- Starting Pitcher Routine

Here is a basic timeline that I would follow from one start to the next while in college:

Day 1: Game day
-2 to 4 half-pole jog to get the heart going.

-20+ minutes of stretching (legs, lower back, arm-sleeper stretch)

-10 backwards-to-forward jog/strides. - I saw Maddux do this in Spring Training on his gameday when I was in 8th grade. It is a backwards jog for 45 ft, and then you turn around and jog for 45 more feet. Do about 8-12 just to get your heart going. You're not going for a workout in pregame.

-15 to 20 towel drills. - Again, youre in warmup mode; so, all you are doing is working on finding the "feel" of your arm slot and building up to throwing the baseball. You can do these on flat ground or the mound. Build up the intensity as you go.

-Warm up catch. - I like to start in my opposite and equal/power position or the first 5 to 8 throws. This takes my legs out of the mix and allows me to focus on my upper half. My pitching coach or catcher is positioned about 50 feet from me here. From there, I step behind (small step) and throw at about 60 feet. Then, back it up to 90 feet doing this. After about 8-10 throws with my catcher gradually backing up. I like to ask him to "give me spots". This is what I call "playing catch with a purpose". At 60, then 75, then 90, then 120 feet of throwing to spots, you start to have pretty good feel of what the baseball is doing. Ill throw like this for about 8-10 minutes, the whole time building up my intensity until it is time to bring it in and go to the mound. I'll add, during that throwing session I would usually back it up to 180 feet of trying to "hit a spot", then bring it in.

-Mound warm-up. - Again, everyone is different; but, I like to make about 8-10 throws by stepping behind, lifting my leg, and throwing down the slope of the mound. This allows me to feel my timing and adjust to throwing on a slope. From there, my catcher squats down. Some guys like to throw 8-10 pitches with the catcher in front of the plate to start out. I usually don't do that. I will start out with all fastballs at 60'6", out of the stretch. I throw 2fb glove side, 2 fb arm side and do this set 3x. Then, I will throw 2 changeups and another fastball. (15 pitchers so far). Then I will go fb gloveside, fb armside 2 sliders, fb glove side (20). After that, I will take a 30 second-1 minute break for water/rest. My thought process here is that I don't want to start the game coming off of a 45-pitch inning. After a short break, I go to the windup. 2 gloveside fb, 2 armside fb, change up. Then fb gloveside, fb armside, fb gloveside, fb armside, slider. By alternating fastball locations, it challenges me to feel the difference in the two locations. (Now at 30 pitches). At this point, it may seem that I have not thrown enough off-speed yet. This is because I believe that a pitcher must first have fastball command, then the rest will come. After 30 pitches (6 off speed), I am ready to simulate hitters. No more than 6 pitches per hitter (If you walk him on 3-2 or punch him out in 3, move to the next hitter.). At this stage, I start out with a righty, then face a lefty; making sure that I mix in tough pitches like a backdoor slider to a lefty or a fastball in on a righty's hands. I will need those pitches in the game. The last hitter I will face is the opposing team's leadoff hitter. Getting the leadoff hitter out always settles me down and sets the tone for the game; so, I want to have a distinct plan of how I am going to face him. Also, by doing this with my catcher, he develops a clear-cut view as to how I want to attack him to start things off. And finally, I will throw one (maybe 2) 3-2 bases loaded pitches. This peaks my level of focus right before I have to go into the game, and practicing/executing that pitch before entering the game increases my confidence a good bit.

After that, gametime. Time to trust the work you've put in and the routine. When it is all said and done, if you make good pitches. you have a great chance to be successful.