Windup position: is this legal?

[Kelly McNary]

I’m curious to know if this is a legal windup and pitch. I see no advantage gained by this, but the pitcher does lift his pivot foot high off the rubber before he puts it back down in front of the rubber to pitch. 
 

 

[maven]

How do you know that? FED doesn't announce their rules changes until much later in the off season.

[ErichKeane]

I saw it in an article about 3 weeks ago, and we discussed it here. The big item was the end of the jewelry rule.

[The Man in Blue]

3 hours ago, maven said:

How do you know that? FED doesn't announce their rules changes until much later in the off season.

https://www.nfhs.org/articles/prohibition-of-jewelry-removed-in-high-school-baseball-rules/

Rule 6 was adjusted to only use the pivot foot to determine whether a pitcher is delivering a pitch from the wind-up or set position. Previously, the position of both feet on the pitcher’s plate determined either the wind-up or set positions, prohibiting a “hybrid” position where the pivot foot was in the wind-up position and the non-pivot foot was in the set position.

“The Rules Committee received tremendous input from coaches and umpires that allowing the ‘hybrid’ would assist players to succeed in pitching,” Hopkins said. “Anytime we can write a rule to improve playability or increase participation, then it is prudent that we do so for the sake of the participants.”

 

So ... which of you umpires told NFHS that allowing "hybrid" pitching would "assist players to succeed"?

You know what else would help?  Continuing to eliminate any reasonable pitching rules.  In baseball and softball both, I am almost to the point of not calling anything a pitcher does.

[Jimurray]

5 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

 

So ... which of you umpires told NFHS that allowing "hybrid" pitching would "assist players to succeed"?

 

We didn't. The pitching coaches did as they did in NCAA recently. OBR allowed hybrid/sideways pitchers quite a few years ago but they tightened up their rule for umpires like you that don't pay much attention. I'll have to involve the only two coaches I'm aware of on this site, @beerguy55 and @Rich Ives why the switch to pitchers delivering sideways/hybrid but it is not hard to figure out what the pitcher is going to do. Unless you are not involved in the game which has happened even to MLB umps.

[The Man in Blue]

Ouch.  Kitty cat has sharp claws.

So what is it that I am not paying attention to?

My apologies that I don't like pitching rules that justify a pitcher doing the Hokey Pokey. 

[Jimurray]

8 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Ouch.  Kitty cat has sharp claws.

So what is it that I am not paying attention to?

My apologies that I don't like pitching rules that justify a pitcher doing the Hokey Pokey. 

Actually I would be wrong to accuse you of not paying attention other then a thread where F1 was starting on the rubber. Previous NFHS pitching rules did not require much paying attention compared to OBR/MLB and NCAA and you voiced your displeasure into having to discern a legal hokey pokey vs an illegal one. So if you just do NFHS, read the new rule when it comes out and just pay attention.

[beerguy55]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:04 PM, Jimurray said:

We didn't. The pitching coaches did as they did in NCAA recently. OBR allowed hybrid/sideways pitchers quite a few years ago but they tightened up their rule for umpires like you that don't pay much attention. I'll have to involve the only two coaches I'm aware of on this site, @beerguy55 and @Rich Ives why the switch to pitchers delivering sideways/hybrid but it is not hard to figure out what the pitcher is going to do. Unless you are not involved in the game which has happened even to MLB umps.

Just mechanics.  The "quieter" things are, the more effective (and reliable) the results.  Less moving parts leads to a more reliable pitch result, more accuracy, etc.   The more things are moving, the more you have to do to make sure things come together at the end.  The same can be said about the batter's swing...many players have high leg kick before two strikes, then quiet things down with two strikes.   Whereas Paul Molitor put up 3000+ hits and a HOF career without really stepping at all.  Keep it Simple.

 

I myself have simply been a proponent of always pitching from the stretch (and you see many MLB relievers do just that - the idea being that most relievers spend most of their time with baserunners).

The hybrid does add a bit of variety, and some pitchers need (or think they need) that extra motion to be more effective, or faster...hint - they don't.

[BigBlue4u]

I have a balk.  He pitched from a set without coming to a stop.

[noumpere]

1 minute ago, BigBlue4u said:

I have a balk.  He pitched from a set without coming to a stop.

If you think the video is taken from behind home plate, it can look like the set position.  But I think the video is taken from behind the 1b dugout, so the pitcher is in the wind-up position.