Colorado Rockies: The “inside” on how this tactic is changing the game

Charlie Blackmon is one of the most dynamic hitters in Major League Baseball today. He’s also someone who believes pitchers have to be able to pitch inside in order to be effective.

“It’s a situation where guys need to be able to pitch inside,” Blackmon told me inside the Colorado clubhouse after Sunday’s loss to the Cubs that includes Bryant and Rizzo being hit by pitches. “Just because a guy gets hit doesn’t mean he was thrown at. Sometimes, maybe there is some intent to throw inside. There’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. I don’t like to see guys hit but also if you crowd the plate and dive over every time, you have to get pitched inside. Rizzo got hit today. I think he can get hit by strikes. He has to get pitched inside. He’s made the inside corner the most difficult pitch for him to get to so guys need to pitch to what’s hard for him to hit. As a result of that, he’s going to get hit.”

Colorado Rockies

Is there a right way to pitch inside and take the corner back without instigating a brawl?

“I don’t think anybody was intentionally throwing at people. Sometimes it happens but if you do it and it gets away from you and hits somebody, then you’ve got a real problem,” Blackmon said. “You’ve got a situation where you’ve purposely thrown at someone and you’ve hit them, possibly caused injury, possibly hurt their team. In that situation, I think sometimes, not in every situation, but sometimes retaliation might be necessary. That could come in many different ways. That doesn’t mean you go out and hit the next guy. You certainly shouldn’t ever throw up high, above the midsection. You get hit in the hand or in the head, those are tough injuries to come back from.”

Blackmon by no means crowds the plate when he steps into the batter’s box. So what is his reaction when a pitch comes high and inside?

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“I think that’s a situation where he was trying to throw an inside fastball and it got away from him,” Blackmon explained. “It’s tough, right on right and left on left, a lot of times you think that pitch might be a slider so you hang in there. Then, all of a sudden, it’s a fastball. That’s tough.”