A fresh count.

This is where the competition begins between pitcher and hitter.

He who shall get the advantage with this count shall be the victor in this battle.

Statistically speaking, a hitter who wins the 0-0 count and thus begins with a 1-0 count will see his batting average rise to compared to a hitter who falls behind in the count 0-1 will adversely see his batting average drop.

The pitcher must understand the importance of gaining the advantage over the hitter in this matchup.

Naturally, a good hitter will focus on process over outcome and here is a prime example of the sorts.

Rather than focusing on getting a “hit”, said hitter should be focusing on getting ahead, or better put, not falling behind in the count. Therefore a good hitter will not allow, under any circumstances, the pitcher to achieve an 0-1 count.

With this in mind, a good pitcher shall be taking advantage of this “risk-aversion” by the hitter.

Risk-aversion: avoiding risk in order to avoid failure.

Swinging in an 0-0 count is a risky strategy for a hitter.

Swing and miss: 0-1

Foul ball: 0-1

Hitters are humans and as humans tend to be, we are naturally risk-averse.

Understanding this basic psychology should lead a pitcher to believe that most hitters are not first pitch swingers.

Sure, there will be hitters in a lineup who are more aggressive in an 0-0 count and in most cases these hitters will be featured early in a lineup. As the game of baseball advances to higher levels, an above-average scouting report will reveal more often than not who the first pitch hackers in the lineup are and these hitters shall be attacked in a different fashion. 

Armed with this knowledge, a pitcher who can execute on the goal of winning the 0-0 count shall be rewarded with the “pitchers count” of 0-1.

Having a dominant inning begins with an 0-1 count.

Controlling a lineup and winning a ballgame begins with an 0-1 count.

Becoming an elite pitcher begins with an 0-1 count.

The 0-1 count can be achieved and should be achieved.

Achieving the 0-1 count is as much mental as it is physical. Of course, physically speaking, the body must be mechanically sound enough to deliver a baseball from a linear motion into a rotational action while the kinetic force and whipping action of the arm drives a 5 ounce, 108 stitch ball of leather hide towards home plate.

Mentality is where a pitchers wins.

Mentally speaking, the pitcher must have the mindset on an 0-0 count that they will win this count and be rewarded with an 0-1 count.

With all this in mind, how does the pitcher take a advantage of a risk-averse hitter?

By being the more aggressive competitor in this specific circumstance: the 0-0 count.

Rather than trying to be “perfect” and locate the pitch to a specific spot, on an 0-0 count, the pitcher shall be thinking “my spot” is the strike zone. Whatever that looks like for said pitcher, is.

A pitcher shall only have this winning type of mentality when it comes to the 0-0 count and those who do not possess this mentality will not find the same success in this game as those who do possess the winning pitchers mentality and philosophy of winning the 0-0 count, no matter what.

Baseball is a physical game played by humans who have minds and therefore baseball is as much of a mental game as it is a physical game.

Psychology: the study of the human mind.

Applying this to the game of baseball, more specifically to pitcher vs. hitter:

Aggressive pitcher vs. Risk-averse hitter in 0-0 count will lead to an 0-1 count.

Advantage pitcher.

Aggressive pitcher + Risk-average hitter = 0-1 count = advantage pitcher.

Armed with an 0-1 count, a pitcher can now focus on his craft of “making pitches”

Getting ahead and staying ahead.

Staying ahead begets staying ahead.

A pitcher who has the advantage of an 0-1 count will naturally be facing a weaker opponent at this specific point of the matchup. The opponent has now become a weaker hitter, a more defensive hitter.

Facing an 0-1 count, the last thing a hitter wants is an 0-2 count.

An 0-1 count will lead the average hitter to develop a defensive mindset.

An aggressive pitcher continues to stay in command of the count.

The reason why an 0-1 count leads to such a drastic drop in hitters batting average is simply due to this defensive approach by a hitter.

Every baseball game that has ever been played in the history of the game has had one common feature: an 0-1 count will lead to one of two results from a winning pitchers point-of-view.

Result one: 0-1 leads to 0-2 and then eventually a strikeout at some point in the count.

Result two: a defensive hitter when facing an 0-1 count will have a weaker swing which will lead to a weak ground ball or fly ball.

Winning pitching is winning the 0-0 count, no matter what.