“Our BP pitcher would tell us that a change-up was coming and he would still dominate us” Jim Vatcher, former major league outfielder
When was the last time you heard a hitter say, “I can’t wait to hit this guys change-up”. Possibly never. The truth is hitters love fastballs. It’s what they’ve grown up on. It’s basically all they see in batting practice and it’s the one pitch that they are most geared to hit. Pitchers too have grown up on fastballs. It’s the pitch they’ve been trained to establish, command and condition their arm with. It’s also the one pitch they traditionally throw more often in game situations than all other pitches combined (change, curve, slider, etc.).