Calling Pitches

At the High School level, how often do you find that the catcher calls the pitches instead of the coach from the dugout?

 

This has always been a hard thing for me to understand. There are a lot of talented catchers at the high school level that do a great job at calling pitches but I still can not understand how they can see what’s going on better than the coach in the dugout. The coach has everything charted right there in front of him to make a solid guess at to what to throw next. He can see the batters swing. He has a clear advantage over the catcher. I also believe that catchers are more likely to get caught in patterns, that the coach has time to think around (Change things up). IMO, pitches should be called from the dugout. They will be in College.

Now with that said our catcher does a good job!

 

Ouch!

I just bit a hole in my tongue!

 

My son

after asking does not really care. He understands that the coach can, will and has left some calls to him. He talks with the coach after every inning and relays his thoughts. He tell him if a pitcher is on or off. Is the breaking ball hanging a bit, fast ball lossing some of it's pop and if something is just not working as well as it should. He even talks with him about a batter and what he has seen a player do in other games. Is the ump give any or not. Having been behind the plate other than high school, playing with players that you would not regulary see. This comes in handy.

 

Coach should....

period! Discussion covered before!

 

Friendly Rebuttal

Point #1 - The Catcher sees the entire field better than anyone else in attendance including coaches, fans, other players and even the umpire. This view of the game includes an up close and personal view of the hitter who is standing within 2-3 feet of him. The dugout is 60-90 feet (or more) from the hitter.

Point #2 - The Pros have "everything charted." A couple of games worth of tendencies about a HS hitter are of very little value. Ichiro went 0-22 in spring training recently. If a HS hitter did that he'd have been hitless in 1/3 of his season, so charts of a few games don't mean much.

Point #3 - The Catcher can "see the batter swing" too. The bat crosses within 18-24 inches of our faces. As a result the Catcher has a clear advantage over everyone else. Players and Coaches "see" the swing.......Catchers see it and "feel" it like I can't explain.

Point #4 - There are really only 2 patterns Catchers get "caught up in." The first is when they must call the pitches that a pitcher with poor command will most likely throw for a strike. This is no fun and leads to big innings. The second "pattern" is when the fun really begins. That's the pattern that we use when our pitcher has good stuff AND command. Then the pattern is simply calling the pitches that the hitter won't hit successfully.

Point #5 - It's true that pitches are (most likely) called from the dugout in college. BUT NOT IN PRO BALL. At all levels in pro ball Catchers call the game. What's disappointing is seeing the skill of catchers calling pitches diminished by youth coaches overcoaching. The kids get to HS and haven't a clue what to call.

If you want to call pitches that's certainly your decision and with the lack of training young catchers are getting it's probably a good idea.

 

I coach college kids and only call pitches in certain situations. The catcher is the one who sees EXACTLY what the ball is doing. The pitcher knows EXACTLY how confident he is in a particular pitch. Why would I impose my will on the pitcher? Before every game, the pitcher, catcher and I go over how I want the game pitched. Typically the scouting report has the opponents "tendencies". Between innings, I meet with the catcher then I chat with the pitcher.

My son pitches at the high school level. His coach calls all of the pitches. Do you think the coach ever admits to calling a bad game? I firmly believe that if you empower the players, you get better results - even at the high school level. Of course, a coach's judgement is important. If the team has an inexperienced catcher, the philosophy should be altered. It has been said "plan the work, then work the plan!"

 

I knew I was stepping in it when I replied. I actually went away and then went back for the punishment. I understand what you are saying but still believe the best called games come from the dugout. Please do not compare the average HS catcher with a Pro Catcher. There is a little difference there. Just my opinion but many know more than I do here. I will say that with most pitchers and I am not talking about the top three, if the batter knows the pitch he can hit it. I just hate sitting in the bleachers (side note where I belong) and everyone around knows what the next pitch is going to be by the second inning. As I said earlier though, our catcher does a good job of keeping things mixed up. I understand strong feelings here especially from the catchers point of view. As for taking it from the pitchers, they always have the shack off.

You may be able to sway me a little with the “purity of the game” argument and letting the guys play the game not the coaches. I like tradition!!

Don’t ever bite your tongue with anything I say. I appreciate your opinion.

 

It depends on the catcher and the pitcher:

- If the catcher has command, I would much prefer he call the game. He sees everything that is going on better than anyone. He sees the strike zone of each unpire. He sees the feet of each batter. He can affect the flow of the pitcher. Many times I have witnessed coaches taking too long to get the pitch selection back to the catcher and causing the pitcher to get out of synch.

- Not in every case, but many HS coaches don't want to give up that control. But what happens is a pitcher will not "feel" the pitch and is afraid to shake it off...and then leaves the pitch up in the zone.

- Also, a coach will call the wrong pitch at the wrong time and....bam...the batter went yard and guess who takes the blame? "The pitcher missed the zone"...uhg!!!!

- A catcher must learn how to call a game. How is he going to learn it? In college?....too late baby!

If you have an inexperienced catcher, I believe a coach must call the pitches. BUT...they should be reviewing the thought process and make it into a learning process.

If a catcher falls in love with a pitch, the coach can still take the time to override him and explain later in the dugout. Coaching baseball should always be a teaching experience and the more you teach early to a player, the less you have to teach him later...which allows a coach to go on to another priority

 

Am I the problem??

I am forming my opinion from outside the HS dugout looking in and from working with younger catchers and pitchers. I really like the ideas of this being part of the learning process and if the coach is really communicating with the catcher and pitcher between innings than I am wavering. You also have me double guessing myself. Have I been part of the problem by not letting young catchers learn how to call pitches? I can see that we may be able to have players better prepared for HS. If we know the HS coach is not going to call pitches than it’s our job to help prepare them for that situation. Side note, I have never called a pitch from the dugout that was hammered and not looked at the pitcher to acknowledged it was my call. Got me thinking!!


Nope, I still like pitches called from the dugout but if I ever have the chance to help with the younger guys, I will do what helps them prepare for the HS program. Not what I think is best but what’s best for the HS and player.