And where do hitters thrive? Right down the middle. A fastball grooved into the heart of the zone is practically a gift, wrapped up and delivered on a silver platter. The best hitters feast on pitchers who are afraid to miss. They know a timid pitcher will give them something good to hit, sooner or later.

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Walks aren’t ideal, but they’re a part of the game. They happen. Even the greatest pitchers in the world issue walks. Greg Maddux, one of the best control pitchers in history, walked batters. Clayton Kershaw? Walks batters. Sandy Koufax? Walked batters. It’s not about avoiding walks at all costs—it’s about executing pitches, staying aggressive, and challenging hitters on your terms, not theirs.

 

Let’s talk about what a strike really is. Too often, you’ll hear fans, coaches, or teammates yelling from the dugout, “Throw a strike!”  What they mean is, “Throw it in the zone.”  But that’s a misguided way to think about pitching. A strike isn’t just a pitch that lands in the strike zone. A strike happens any time a batter swings and misses. A strike happens when a hitter fouls off a pitch with less than two strikes. A strike can even happen on a pitch that never even touched the strike zone. Pitchers who understand this don’t just aim for the plate; they expand their thinking, using movement, deception, and location to get outs.

 

Take, for example, a pitcher who throws a wicked breaking ball just off the edge of the plate. A disciplined hitter might take it for a ball. But many hitters will chase, fooled by the late movement. That’s a strike. A high fastball at the letters? That might be out of the official strike zone, but if the batter swings through it, that’s a strike, too. The best pitchers don’t limit themselves to just filling up the zone—they use the entire space around it, playing with the hitter’s vision and instincts.

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Mistakes can be used to a pitcher’s advantage also. A great example comes from a college game I watched where there were two outs and the bases loaded. The pitcher fell behind 2-1 in the count after missing high and inside with a fastball. Instead of panicking and grooving the next pitch, he stayed composed. He used that previous miss to his advantage. The next pitch? A slider that started in the same high, inside fastball tunnel as the previous pitch, but dropped down and broke across the plate just before reaching the plate. The batter, remembering the high inside fastball, read it the same way. Thinking it was the same pitch, he took the pitch - only to watch helplessly as it crossed the plate for a called strike two. And with the count even, the pitcher went to work, finishing him off with a fastball low and outside that painted the black. Strike three. If he had been locked into a “no walks” mentality, he might have just thrown an easy strike down the middle and gotten crushed. Instead, he trusted his stuff, worked the count, and won the battle. That’s smart pitching. That’s understanding how to turn a so-called “mistake” into an opportunity.

 

And let’s be real—umps aren’t perfect. Even at the highest levels of baseball, MLB umpires miss calls. Sometimes it works in your favor; sometimes it doesn’t. But one thing is for certain: you can’t control the umpire. You can’t argue your way into getting calls. The only thing you can control is the next pitch. That’s why the best pitchers develop a “next pitch” mindset. If a pitch is called a ball—even if it was a perfect strike—it’s over. Move on. Focus on the next one. Dwelling on missed calls only leads to frustration, and frustration leads to mistakes.

 

At the end of the day, pitching is about confidence. It’s about trusting your stuff, attacking hitters, and staying aggressive. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about competing. The best pitchers don’t worry about avoiding walks. They worry about executing their pitches, reading hitters, and making adjustments. They pitch with conviction, knowing that sometimes, a well-placed ball is better than a poorly placed strike.

 

So, if you’re a coach, a teammate, or a fan, stop yelling “no walks.” Stop posting signs in the dugout that remind pitchers of what not to do. Instead, encourage pitchers to attack, to trust their arsenal, and to focus on what they can control. Teach them that mistakes happen, but it’s how they respond that matters. The best pitchers aren’t scared of walking hitters, they’re too busy dominating them.

 

At the end of the day, baseball isn’t about avoiding failure. It’s about embracing the challenge, stepping onto that mound with confidence, and knowing that every pitch is an opportunity to win the battle. That’s the mindset that creates great pitchers. That’s the mentality that separates the good from the great. And that’s the kind of pitching that hitters truly fear.

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For more in-depth training on all mental skills and physical training, email Coach Helke. Free initial consult can be done in-person or virtually.