[sporr]

Holding the runner affects whether he gets a good jump or not. I'm fairly certain that if a computer runner doesn't get a good jump it doesn't say anything in the play-by-play. This means that the only time you see this mentioned is when the runner gets a good jump and makes a steal attempt.

As for the pitchout, it is an option for the defense. I think it is listed with defensive alignment options, but I don't have the game on my work PC so I can't check where it is for sure.