[bravos1]

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mariano has been throwing the same pitch for years and nothing has been done about it. ichiro is 1 hitter, i repeat 1 hitter. 1 hitter will not make a difference in the entire league average.

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True, but Mariano has more than just a great cutter. Also, his cutter has been progressively hit harder over the past 3 seasons. If a hitter knew for sure that the cutter was coming, RH hitters would start opening their hips earlier on the inside cutters and driving the ball oppo or just laying off it if it was on the outside corner. LH hitters would be able to get the bat head out in front more so they would not be getting busted on the hands.

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this little excericise we are talking about, i have done this and i know how it works, one last thing from my experiences...hitters used to complain about "pitchers BP," saying they hated knowing what was coming, that they just wanted to react to the pitch, that when they knew what the pitch was they would think to much and get in their own head and fail more than when they were just reacting. just a thought for you.

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I have done this little excersize many of times as well. Our hitters never minded this drill because the were able to work better on picking up ball rotation, release angles, etc. If you are facing a patient hitter, they shouldn't mind much. They still work on their reactions, and really start focusing more on location which any good hitter needs to do well. Great hitters would be uncomprehensible if the ONLY thing they had to focus on was location.

It is true, that even great hitters will have a hard time hitting a good pitchers pitch. But good hitters would be laying off of these and waiting for the mistakes. There is no pitcher in the world that has the accuracy to continue throwing these pitches again and again without making mistakes. Also, if the hitter knew that the slider was coming and the pitcher likes to throw it backdoor, the hitter would compensate and a good pitcher's pitch would become a very hittable ball.