Good friend of mine from college was a pitcher, (6 yrs in MLB), told me there was no more terrifying time than taking the mound and completely losin the plate...
He told me there's nuthin a catcher, pitching coach, teammate can do or say to help that situation.... Nuthin.
You are alone on that island, with all eyes on ya and all you can do is shit the bed...
Sometimes ya just gotta get your ass properly kicked..... Shouldda put that on a T-Shirt back in the days...
Said he would hit a guy once in a while when he was " in the fugue state".... especially if he didn't like the guy, as he didn't want to give him a free pass...made him work for it lol.