How To Throw A Successful Bullpen

 After your warmup playing catch session, sometimes a bullpen will be programmed by your head coach, pitching coach, or trainer. A bullpen is pitching off of a mound to a catcher, with a live hitter most likely uninvolved. The purpose of a bullpen is to get quality reps on an actual mound and rubber because your mechanical training will translate immediately. Whatever issue it may be, it will be fairly obvious almost immediately - a breaking ball doesn’t get proper spin, you can’t seem to locate, or you are rushing your internal clock are all possible underlying issues that could become apparent when you stand atop the mound.


So, what does a quality bullpen session look like? A couple of things should be involved:

  1. A catcher - Throwing to a net just isn’t the same, plus you want your experience as game-like as possible.

  2. A coach/another pitcher - As many sets of eyes on you as possible allows for more potential notes to pick up on.

  3. A video camera - If you feel a certain pitch was incredibly smooth, you can go back and review the film and see what exactly your body looked like during that specific pitch. 


Once you are all warmed up and ready to start pitching, there are a couple different drills you can do so you aren’t just “throwing to throw”. I always start with a “short box”, where the catcher squats a few feet in front of the plate. These are designed to work on honing in on mastering spin on breaking balls, as well as trying to be as precise as possible when it comes to locating your fastball. It also helps warm up your body a bit more - short boxes are designed to be around 55 feet with about an 80% intensity level. 


Next, the catcher will back up to normal mound distance (60 feet 6 inches) and set up on the arm-side of home plate. This ideally works on the pitcher’s ability to throw inside fastballs to hitters; so many young pitchers are scared to throw inside because they think they’ll hit the batter. Once you control the inside part of the plate, you can keep hitters on their toes and work outside from there. After 10 or so arm-side fastballs, they’ll switch to five-or-so glove-side fastballs. Catchers should NEVER set up right down the middle, because those fastballs are the ones that get hit 400 feet over center field. 


After those fastballs, it’s time to work your breaking balls and changeups. I like to start with a few arm-side changeups, focusing on pronation once again. I’ll aim for just below the catcher’s glove target so that my changeups die out and fade out of the zone. After I see success in my changeups, I’ll work on alternating sets between my fastball and changeup. One after the other, alternating each type of pitch, for four or five sets to really see the difference between the two. Then, I’ll repeat that process with my breaking balls. Ultimately, my bullpens will equate to around 35-40 pitches, give or take a couple depending on how I feel. 


The most important thing to remember is that these bullpens should be at the same intent as your in-game pitching reps. Watch Justin Verlander in a bullpen at Fenway right here. Notice the high intensity and the alternating pitches and locations. Remember: PRACTICE LIKE YOU PLAY!


-Sam Corbett

#W2W - NCC Cardinal Baseball

Stead Up!  -Homestead Ranchers

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