A few weeks ago, we here at GoodGameBro put togther a quick guide on how to become a better hitter in the recently released MLB 14 The Show. Our number one request after the article dropped was a flurry of users asking for a similar guide for pitching.

While hitting requires a ton of patience and skill, the same can be said for pitchers on the mound. But it can prove to be a difficult task for newcomers, especially when so many pitchers offer different strengths and weaknesses. So how do you manage these different strengths? How do you chase no-hitters and keep your opponent off the scoreboard? Wait no longer, our guide to effective pitching in MLB 14 The Show has arrived!

Location, Location, Location
The key to any successful pitch outing is location. This may go without saying, but location is the single factor that will determine your success or failure on the mound. So what does location mean exactly? It’s simple. You want to have the ability to place the ball where you want it to go, but what most users get wrong is that the placement is different for each and every batter.

Sure, you may have success painting the corners through an entire ballgame, but this isn’t how real life pitchers approach an at-bat. Don’t be afraid to throw strikes, especially if the hitter you’re facing struggles with hitting the ball effectively. How can you tell which batters struggle? Well, first, always be aware of the batter’s batting average and most importantly, turn the hot zones on (located in the settings) by default. Hot zones will help you determine where a batter struggles inside the strike zone, and where he has success. Pay close attention to this, as it has an extreme effect on the hitter’s success at the plate. Try to keep the ball in an area where the batter struggles.

Another important tip here is that, as I mentioned above, location should be determined by the situation you’re facing. Don’t be afraid to attack weaker hitters with strikes, especially hitters near the bottom of the line-up or pitchers who are batting in the National League. You don’t want to waste pitches by throwing balls against hitters like this, as those pitches will start to raise your pitch count and tire your ace, or starter. Attack them. Throw strikes and don’t be afraid of the ground ball. An out is an out, and your goal isn’t to gain 27 strike-outs, it’s to get 27 outs.



Velocity is Your Friend
Velocity is something most users forget about when throwing the ball with their favorite pitcher. What is velocity? Velocity is how hard you’re throwing your pitch, and some pitchers have a unique ability to have good differentiation between speeds. This is a huge bonus, and it should be used to be effective on the mound. If you want to be successful with locating pitches inside the zone, the best thing you can do is learn to use velocity changes within your pitching style to confuse hitters.

Sometimes throwing the hardest fastball works, but having a pitcher being able to throw a 95mph heater and a 86mph change-up is even better. If you grow accustom to throwing one pitch speed, hitters will learn it quick and you’ll be looking at a relatively short outing. Try to focus on throwing combo pitches, meaning follow a fastball with a change-up, sinker or breaking ball (curve, slider etc.). These changes in tempo are extremely successful on any difficulty level, so use them to your advantage.

Personally, I find the meter-based throwing (the meter most similar to EA’s MVP 05), to be the best pitch mechanic in the game for controlling velocity and gaining complete control over the accuracy of your pitches. Use this if you’re new to the series or a vet, to have the most success on the mound (in my opinion).

Last tip – If you’re using the meter, be aware that you don’t have to throw pitches to their utmost strength, which can also be effective. Simply let go of the button a little early before the meter hits the red, and you’ll throw a slightly less powerful pitch, mixing up the speed, which also helps keep your pitch more accurate – great for when you’re trailing in counts or facing a 3 ball situation.



Stamina & How to Manage an Effective Bullpen
Stamina is vitally important to a pitcher’s success rate. Stamina can drop rapidly if a pitcher has a rough inning or faces too many high-pitch counts, yet another reason to be aggressive when the situation calls for it.

As a pitcher, it’s important to remember how long pitchers can last for on average. A common rule is that your starter should last anywhere between 90-120 pitches, that of course is depending on his success levels during that game. As a pitcher, you want to avoid pitch counts of 10 or higher, as that can hurt your starter’s ability to pitch late into the game.

Once you feel like your starter is gassed or isn’t being effective, replace him. There are still a lot of you who ask: “who do I go to in the bullpen?”, and the answer, again, is determined by the situation. If your starter gets rocked early, you’ll want to bring in a reliever who has good stamina. these are known as long-relief (or LRP in the game), and are used to pitch numerous innings. Use these relievers if your starter comes out in the 5-6th inning or sooner.

Middle-relief pitchers (MRP) are normally good for 2-3 innings max in the situation where your starter has to be replaced in the middle innings (5th, 6th), or for situational use. Situational use refers to hitter-specific situations. If you’re facing a left-handed power hitter, it’s good to attack these guys with a left-handed pitcher, as most same-sided hitters find it more difficult to hit a pitch from the closest arm. You see this expanded in the post-season, where real managers will sometimes use a specialty middle reliever to face one batter, only to be replaced right after. This technique works in MLB The Show as well, and if you have a good amount of pitchers left in the bullpen, don’t be afraid to use one for a specific batter. Most teams have left and right-handed MRP’s.

Your setup and closing pitchers (SU and C respectively), are used to hold leads and close out games. Closers are used only in the 9th inning (sometimes late in the 8th) and are brought in when your team has the lead by three runs or less for a save attempt. Setup men, sometimes known as “holders” are brought in normally in the 7th or 8th inning to hold leads while the closer warms up.

Personally, I don’t like leaving my starter in for more than 110 pitches, and if I have an opportunity to use my bullpen, I’ll do it, even if I feel like my pitcher can go 9 innings. Shutouts and complete games are rare, and they should be treated as such. If you get lucky and get to the 8th inning in 90 pitches or so, only then is it a good bet to keep your starter in for a full game.

Final tip for stamina if you’re struggling to keep pitchers in games for long periods – turn ‘Quick Counts’ off. I’ve noticed early on that Quick Counts jacks up your pitch count and stamina to an excessive rate due to every count starting above 0-0. With Quick Counts off, you’ll notice that a lot of AI opponents do swing on a 0-0 count, or you can get to 0-1 quickly, forcing pressure onto the CPU and lowering your overall pitch count – even substantially sometimes.



Know the Art of Attack & When to Lay Off
Just like hitting, knowing what situation you’re facing is critical if you want to be successful. If you’re protecting a one-run lead or trailing in a close game, the goal is to keep that close game intact, which may mean being less aggressive with good hitters. These are the situations where pitching to a great hitter may not be the best of plans, and you should take extreme caution when throwing towards the middle of the plate.

Once you have a bigger lead, or feel comfortable, you’ll want to minimize how many pitches your starter is throwing, meaning attack the plate with ferocity. Purposely throwing balls is not in the gameplan here.

So when should you attack? Minimize the stress of your pitch count by learning when to throw strikes and to whom. If you’re facing a power hitter and your opponent already has a man on base (especially second or third base), you may want to give up a walk. The reasons are simple: having a man on first and second increases the chances of a double-play – so use this when you have one out or less. These are the times to lay off and be less aggressive.

If you’re facing a zero-out and no men on base situation, throw strikes almost exclusively, as the damage, even with a home run will be minimal. Also know that if you get yourself in a 3-0 position, the cardinal rule is to throw a strike, but depending on the situation, sometimes I’ll allow myself to walk to hitter if he’s a good one, because those counts tend to lead to huge pitch counts. If the next two pitches are strikes, and the hitter fouls off two more, that’s a 7 pitch at-bat, and depending on the situation, giving up that walk and saving my ace 3 unnecessary pitches is worth it if the next batter doesn’t scare me, or I already have 2 outs. Again, situational awareness is key in determining your success. Don’t be afraid to use your own methods and allow a walk or two to save your stamina for later innings.



The Unknown Factor: Confidence
If you’re looking at the stamina bar of your pitcher, you’ll also see another bar – the confidence bar. Most users or newcomers forget to take heed of what this bar is telling the player. Confidence is an important factor for your pitcher and has a direct result on his effectiveness and ability on the mound. If your pitcher gives up a few runs and his confidence doesn’t drop, don’t be afraid to leave him in to see if he can rebound.

Some pitchers, especially great ones like Kershaw from the Dodgers or Verlander from the Tigers, can give up runs yet still have a great ability to forget those and continue pitching in dominant fashion. Having high confidence also means that a pitcher’s lowering stamina has less of a real-time effect on his ability to throw balls and strikes. You can feel comfortable leaving pitchers with high confidence in a big match, even if they’re tiring (to a limit).

If you notice your pitcher’s confidence lowering quickly, my advice to to pull him sooner than later, as you’ll pay for it in the long run. It’ll also hurt your pitcher’s ability to throw strikes on a consistent basis if you aren’t accurate with your meter.



Pitching effectively and with intelligence, can be a very rewarding experience in MLB 14 The Show. Having the ability to control location and velocity are paramount, as is educating yourself on the situation you’re dealing with, and understanding your pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses. Doing this can lead to some great results and a lot less stress on your hitters. By following these tips, you should see results and hopefully a lower ERA to boot. My last advice: use dynamic difficulty for pitching. This will help work you into a sweet spot of what works for you, and should help you progress from being a average pitcher to an ace in no time.