By Marissa Scott (@marissascotttt ):
Altitude makes fly balls look like out-of-the-park home runs and every fly ball feel as though it will never land.
The Mountain West’s slogan “Above the Rest” holds true.
The conference has the highest average elevation in NCAA Division I sports. Three of the seven teams have a stadium elevation of over 4,000 feet above sea level.
Playing at high altitude creates a clear disadvantage for one position: the pitcher.
“Pitching in elevation is a lot tougher,” said SJSU assistant and pitching coach, Tyler LaTorre.
“Balls that are left up go a really long way. Pitching staffs that don’t control the strike zone very well, they give up a lot of runs.”
Last season while facing University of New Mexico Lobos, the Spartans held them to six runs in two games at Municipal Stadium, which is 93 feet above sea level.
While playing them in New Mexico, a stadium where the elevation is 5,312 feet, SJSU gave up a whopping 35 runs in three games.
When throwing in higher altitude, approaches need to change.
“Pitching in higher altitudes creates less spin on your breaking balls and that’s the first thing I realized my freshman year,” said senior right-handed pitcher, Josh Goldberg. “My curveballs and my sliders wouldn’t spin as much and fly balls tend to go out.”
Sitting at 52 feet above sea level, the Long Beach, Calif. native was not used to pitching in higher elevations. In 2015 and 2016, Goldberg’s ERA hovered around seven but dipped to 4.91 in 2017.
“It was getting used to the altitude and getting more experience under my belt,” Goldberg said. “Once I got used to it, it helped me a lot.”
In 2017, San Diego State was the only program in the conference to make the top-200 list of lowest Division I team ERA’s at number 74. Fresno State was next at 218.
Pitchers find it more difficult to pitch in high elevation because the offense has the complete opposite problem: they hit well off of pitchers. With high altitude comes a high amount of hits and home runs, and in a conference filled with power, that’s a bad combo for those on the hill.
Air Force, New Mexico, Fresno State and San Diego State are first, eighth, 10th and 13th in batting average among all Division I schools, respectively.
Fresno State and Air Force also rank 17 and 20 in the country in home runs hit in that order.
“I have played in a lot of high altitude places and it’s a hitter-friendly league. Walks, extra outs and free bases will kill you in this conference,” LaTorre said.
To limit potent offenses in high-altitude stadiums, pitchers have to work the lower-thirds of the strike zone to try to get as many ground balls as possible.
“I try to keep the ball down a little bit,” senior right hander Jake Swiech said. “Our breaking balls don’t spin as much so you have to get the change-up going. Work the change-up and work the bottom of the zone with the fastball to try to keep the ball out of the air.”
As difficult as it is for pitchers to excel in high altitude, LaTorre knows it comes down to working with the pitches that gives the team an advantage.
“We are going to pitch to our strengths. If we have a pitcher that his strength is a curveball, we’re still going to go off of his strengths,” LaTorre said. “We’re gonna win or lose with our best stuff.”