Episode 2 of Atlanta Braves “Learning From Leo” Series Focuses on Command

Braves and Leo Mazzone: Command Masters

Here Mazzone expands upon the lessons learned from Johnny Sain in the first installment, preaching of pitcher consistency and command within throwing programs, the importance of making adjustments, sticking to routines, and, most of all, being an active listener.

“Command is the most important thing you have, and how do you teach that?” Mazzone ponders. “By having side sessions down in the bullpen.”

After all, Mazzone was never one to follow an instruction manual.

His pitching guidelines came from common sense.

Case in point:  Mazzone rehashes the time one unnamed Braves executive confronted him prior to first pitch of a regular-season game to question why he was working with  Steve Bedrosian on a side session. Mazzone, of course, encouraged his stagnant relievers who didn’t get in a game or warm up for two days to engage in side sessions to remain sharp and retain feel for their pitches.

“Gee whiz,” Mazzone lamented. “It’s not that difficult.”

Mazzone’s perspective, to this day, is built on persistence.

If a pitcher’s velocity was down, he didn’t care. Adjustments were to be centered on command, while emphasizing 80 percent of practice time on fastball feel, regardless of velocity.

The thought process here is that location is far more imperative to a pitcher than his “stuff,” a concept Mazzone inherited (and later mastered) as a young pitching coach from Hall of Famers Bruce Sutter and Ted Simmons.

In turn, he has passed that ideology down to Davis.

“At the college level, you get so handcuffed with what you should do with your relievers, because you have the mandatory off day, the travel day and then you have class,” said Davis, who keeps a notebook from the 1994 season that Mazzone gave him as inspiration for the way he manages his staff. “For us, it’s a set-in-stone rule, you never go more than two days without touching the rubber as a reliever.”

During the Braves remarkable run, Mazzone kept the evaluation process elementary from year-to-year. In spring training, it was often hard to tell if the Braves had just won the World Series the year before or if they had finished dead last.

“We had a saying,” Mazzone said. “Your most important pitch is always your next pitch, and your most important outing is always your next outing.”

But it was Mazzone’s modus operandi for maintaining healthy arms that set him apart.

With the big three, whether it was the middle of March or the dog days of August, routines never changed. Owning the down and away strike was vital, and too much rest in between sessions was risky.

Regulating effort was key.