Starting from the stretch, Luke Little of the Chicago Cubs, pitches to Tyrone Taylor of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Pitcher Goes into their Windup

The pitcher initiates the action by, well, pitching. First, though, the pitcher has to "come set", just like they would have to when pitching from the windup. This specifically refers to the pitcher, standing on the mound, bringing their arms together, then pausing. The length of the pause varies, but it must be long enough to be discernable. Also, the pitcher cannot come set while the batter is not paying attention to them. The first time they do, the home plate umpire can issue a warning, and if the pitcher does it again, the umpire can issue an automatic ball. A pitcher who also gets a little too cute with the pause runs the risk of being called for a "balk", which we will discuss later.

After they come set, the pitcher goes into a motion that prepares them to release the ball. When there are runners on base, most pitchers will use something called the “stretch”¹ as their pitching motion, with the general idea being that they deliver the ball more quickly than they would in the windup, thus making it tougher for a base runner to steal. No two stretch motions are quite the same, but the general idea is that the pitcher starts perpendicular to home plate, with left-handed pitchers facing first base, and right-handed pitchers facing third. Their motion usually includes a much more muted leg motion that looks more like a step than the leg kick seen in the windup.

The pitcher comes set, then pitches. What happens next hinges on what the batter does in response, as well as whether or not the base runners decide to take off.