Today’s Tip: “11 Reasons to Let the Catcher Call Pitches”
February 13, 2010
The dreaded catcher wrist band.
Here’s another catching tip…
Let me get right to the point…coaches, I realize how attached you’ve become to calling pitches. At the risk of ruffling a few feathers, please allow me to explain why allowing your pitchers and catchers to control this facet of the game might be a more effective option.
1.) The pace of a game is disrupted when coaches call pitches. It takes WAY too long to relay the signal to the catcher, have him look at his wristband, and echo the information to the pitcher. Especially if you understand that pitchers are more effective when they work quickly and offensive teams hate to be rushed. Working quickly is a defensive weapon, get out of the way and use it.
2.) In my opinion, the very best pitch a pitcher can throw in any given instance is the pitch he can throw with his heart…with conviction. Regardless if it’s the “right” call or not. There’s only one person who knows what that pitch is…the guy on the mound, not the coach.
3.) How can the coach possibly see and adjust to the minute adjustments a hitter is making in the box? Only the catcher is close enough to use this information.
4.) Isn’t it the role of the coach to educate players? Coaches, your days of playing are over. Let the kids play. Just like every other aspect of the game, teach them the proper way (or at least what you want) and let em go. When they screw up (and they will) you make corrections.
5.) Teaching a kid how to call a decent game isn’t that hard. Use the fastball. Get ahead. Teach them when to give in and when not to give in. Economy of pitches. Work fast. Don’t fall into patterns. How hard is that? Write down a simple game-plan – a general outline of how you’d like to see the game called (i.e., get ahead with fastball, don’t go soft after you’ve blown heat by someone, etc.). Copy it and give it to your catcher as homework. Test him and make sure he gets it.
6.) I’ve been hammering on the catchers about their responsibility in controlling the tempo of the game. This is impossible if coaches interfere.
7.) You know that groove a pitcher and catcher fall into when it appears like they’re reading each others minds? When the catcher puts down a sign and the pitcher is already in his windup because he was thinking the same thing? Although intangible, when pitcher and catcher work in concert, it’s a very powerful weapon. Cultivate this, and again, get out of the way and use it.
8.) Newsflash! No coach or manager in professional baseball calls games. A pro catcher glancing into the dugout is looking for instructions to control the running game. Period. What service are you doing to your kids if you “graduate” them to the next level without the basic understanding of how to call a game? It’s like a teacher letting a kid go to the next grade without learning to read. I would venture to say that the stakes in pro ball are higher than whatever level you’re coaching, right? And if they’re not calling, why should you?
9.) I can hear you now telling me you’re catcher’s a rock head and can’t get it. Another newsflash! We’re all rock heads. That’s part of the reason we’re back there. I’m not real smart, but I made a lot of house payments because I could call a good game and work well with pitchers. Trust me, you don’t need to be a genius to call a decent game.
10.) Here’s a compromise. When you absolutely, positively need a certain pitch, have a simple signal with the catcher to relay that information. Let your catcher know that you’re always available with your pitch suggestion if he gets confused and looks over. Keep an open line of communication, let him call most of the game, and see what happens.
11.) Let me ease your mind a bit. I’ve sat behind the plate and seen about a billion rockets come off the bat. I’ll can honestly say 95 percent of them had more to do with location than what pitch it was. Allow me to repeat that…it’s almost all about LOCATION. That means you can relax and allow the catcher to call the game knowing that even the “wrong” call in the right location will work. You can’t throw the ball. The guy on the mound is going to have to execute regardless of the call.
I know all of this sounds harsh. Forgive me, it’s a real sore spot. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the coach calling a game has become such a popular trend. Before 1990, it was an anomaly if you saw a coach calling pitches. Now it’s shocking if a Little Leaguer is allowed to call his own game, much less a high school or college player! What happened? Did all the pitchers and catchers in the world get dumb? Or did coaches all the sudden get real smart?
I’m sure I’ll receive a ton of hate mail for saying all this. That’s alright, bring it on. I’ve yet to hear a coach give me a reason that would sway my opinion. Listen coaches, do yourself, the kids, and baseball a favor and give your catcher a chance. A huge part of the catching is being creative and learning how to think clearly under pressure. The good part is, this can be learned and improved upon. They just need a chance to do it and a coach that will support and teach correctly. Just try it. Who knows, the results might not be half bad….maybe even better than you could’ve done?
Till next week, good luck, have fun, and keep your eye on the ball.
Brent,
Loved the article. Might need to publish it Baseball America/College Baseball et al…….Will print it and post in Vancouver clubhouse this season.
Hanging w/ Larry Corrigan this week. Says to say hello.
Rick
It’s not as black & white as you make it out to be. I’ve got three catchers that may get some gametime work this year. My main catcher has a year of playing for me with me calling pitches. That experience has helped him understand pitch calling and learn our main pitchers. I’m working to get him ready for high school ball in another year – so I want him to call the game. He’s ready for it – has the interest, the leadership and understanding of the game to do it. My #2 guy hasn’t played at this level before, but he’s a quick learner. I’ll probably call a couple of games early and then hope to turn it over to him. One of my other back-ups has played for us for two years, but spent only a little time behind the plate. He’s now focusing more on catching where his combination of strong arm and lack of footspeed make him more suited. He is not a student of the game, struggles to understand most concepts and isn’t ready intellectually or experience wise to handle calling a game or an inning. Putting him in charge of calling pitches isn’t the right decision. He’s also further away from high school, so he’s got time to get experience.
I do support the general concept – if they are capable, give control to the players. I’ve been looking forward to making that step this year.
I could not agree more with this post. Its a kids game and let the kids play. On the high school level we are lucky if the pitcher has one good pitch. Throw strikes. A pitching coach calling pitches that says the pitcher “didn’t hit his spots”….he’s a high school kid not a pro…his spot is not 1/8th inch below the knees on the outside corner. We try to trick hitters, fool umpires and slow the game down. I agree with talking with your catcher. Tell him what you want in certain situations and let him work. If he calls the wrong pitch ask him why he called that pitch and tell him what you think he should of called. Coaches who call pitches….sorry guys….are control freaks who want you to think they can control the game. Let the catcher and pitcher call the game.
One word – Amen!
I will take a “average” coach who does not call pitches over a “Good” coach who does call pitches every day of the week!
AMEN!!!!Have been trying to convince my daughter’s fast-pitch coaches of this very thing for several years.
Amen, brother!
Brent- Great stuff. We had a spirited discussion about this on CheckSwing last summer.
http://www.checkswing.com/profiles/blogs/whos-calling-the-pitches
There were very experienced coaches who debated both sides. I’ve always been on your side, that kids need to learn and understand how to work in and out of situations and not have an ego-driven coach attempting to make every move on the field. The coaching needs to take place at practice.
If you have time, please jump into the conversation on CheckSwing and give your opinion. Thanks again for the great insights.
- Bill
Brent, you are spot on on this point. as a former catcher, when a coach calls the game, the rythm of the game is destroyed. it’s no fun for the catcher, the pitcher, especially the fielders, and even the umpire starts to get frustrated waiting for the action. Let it flow, coaches! One addition, though. some catchers (me) could use some coaching on the offensive side. it’s easy as a catcher to get caught up in the pitch calling, and so that “thinking” affects hitting. the catcher has to switch from “pitch call” mode to aggressive hitting mode when the time comes. i could’ve used some help with this aspect.
Mayner- Dead on. Can’t say enough how important it is to get this out there. Always loved watching you call a game with the Giants. It’s something kids will look forward to watching in a big league game when they know they have a chance to do it themselves. Good to hear someone making sense behind the plate again.
Great tip!!! How else are we going to teach our player’s how to appreciate the sport if we don’t give them ownership in what they are doing.
Watched a Big Ten game last year where the coach was calling the game and the catcher had to look at his wristband every time. The poor catcher had to look at his coach and then read the wristband that covered his entire forearm while the rest of the team stood around on their heals, including the pitcher. Worse is the little league coach touching his face 10 times and then holding up a number. Its little league you got the change up and the pitch that is a little faster then the change up. Let em play
As a coach that was a pitcher during my playing days, I couldn’t agree more. Its all about establishing and maintaining a rhythm with your catcher, and coaches often disrupt that rhythm.
Hey Mike Schuett, surprisingly, the offensive and defensive mindsets aren’t that different. Both require thought, and both require no thought. In other words, you need to think (about how the pitcher’s attacking you, game situation, etc.) in between every pitch offensively. Defensively, you do the same thing (how to attack the hitter, pitcher’s strength, game situation, etc.). And here’s the key… in both situations, the mind chatter needs to stop before the action starts. Whether you’re playing offense or defense, you need to figure out the rhythm of doing your thinking in between the gaps in action and then shutting it down and “just doing it” when the pitch is actually thrown.
I like this question…look for a future Tip of the Week on this subject….thanks.
Hey Brent, just to clarify a point. i totally agree with the “thinking/strategy” between calling a game and being a hitter. When you and i played for your dad at OCC, i learned a great deal about strategy as a hitter. What i struggled with was more the psychology of switching between the defensive mode of thinking as a catcher and the mental aggression necessary for hitting. i’ve actually read, although i cannot cite my source, that a catcher whose coach calls the game hits better. and the reason was because the mental ’stress’ was taken off the catcher which i suppose left more brain power for him to focus on hitting. i don’t know if this is true or not, i just know that it is something that i struggled with a great deal. it seems i could be a very good catcher or a very good hitter, but i couldn’t do both at the same time (bummer). i enjoy reading your tips every week. Keep up the work. I hope you’re doing well!
Hey I didn’t realize you were THAT Mike Schuett….I hope all is well. Thanks for writing in and sharing. Glad you’re enjoying the tips.
i do enjoy the tips. i’m starting to coach my 10 year old’s team and putting him in some catching gear!! we’ll see what happens. i’ve even had him watch the athletic posture video. that has helped him with sports across the board – basketball, soccer, etc. talk to you soon!
Brent,
I coach high school. I’ve found that high school kids are in love with the curve ball. It’s more than an fling, it’s an infatuation. I use the wrist band system and the numbers to call pitches. However, I don’t call all the pitches. I know our catchers are capable of calling a strong game. Our problem is, we start using the curve to much. We have some kids whose strengths are using the fastball. It’s hard for us to be consistent with our fastball if we throw to many curves. I usually don’t call pitches until we get to that point.
The other thing we do with the wristbands is call pitch outs, coverages, and pickoffs. We don’t limit calls to this, but it’s a good system for our boys.
I’d love to let my catcher call every pitch, and hopefully we get there, we just aren’t to that point yet.
Drew, thank you for your input. Keep up the good work…at least you’re trying!
[...] of the teams in amateur baseball right now, it’s quite possible that Strasburg has never called his own game before. In other words, he may have no clue on how to attack hitters…much less big league [...]
As a catcher for 13 years in the ’70s and ’80s (PeeWee – high school) I never had a coach call a single pitch. By default, I had the responsibility to call the pitches that had the best chance of getting the hitters out. Because of that I paid close attention to the different players’ tendancies. If I saw the same teams 3 or 4 times, I had a running “book” on most of the hitters that I could exploit.
I think catchers today don’t know how to call a game, because they never had to. Get them started in little league – my son has been calling (location and change-ups) his own game since he was 9. I just spent the time in practice, between innings, and while watching higher level games explaining and quizing him on, “what should the catcher call here?”. Give ‘em a chance. If your catcher doesn’t have the mental capacity to figure it out, you’ve got the wrong kid catching.
[...] had many games where the game calling, the signals between pitcher and catcher, were like butter. I almost didn’t need to put down [...]
I am 16 years old…. and as a catcher I couldn’t agree with you more Brent, I wanted to ask you a couple questions about catching and dealing with managers, I do not stand my manager, but I guess my question would be, how to handle a manager that calls pitches and how to approach him about it?
And my other question would have to be about not starting or catching at all, my team has a freshman catcher that started over me last year, i’ll make a run for it this year but his father is an assistant which makes it tough. how could someone handle that type of situation and maintain a good level without playing everyday?
Hey Joaquin, here’s a past “Art of Catching Tip” I wrote which might help answer your questions…
Part of organized sports is having a coach. Chances are, when it’s all said and done, you’ll have crossed paths with dozens of them. It’s not discussed much, but trust me, it’s in your best interest as a player to know how to deal with them.
Just like a snowflake, every coach is different. They all have different methods, techniques, and styles. And just about all of them think they’re way is the right way. Fair enough. It’s your job to play anyway, not coach. The question is, how do you process the (often conflicting) information of different coaches, while at the same time play “your” game, while at the same time remain “coachable?”
Tough question. It’s a razor’s edge you’re going to have to walk. You don’t want to be the guy who talks back and has all the answers. You want to be the guy who plays hard and listens. That being said, you have to know yourself and know when to stick to your guns.
So here’s my suggestion. Listen respectfully with open ears to the coach…and keep your mouth shut. Maybe he does have a point. Honestly try what he wants in practice. Give it time. Ask yourself if his technique is making you a better or worse athlete. After a while, evaluate and adjust.
The fact is, you’re never gonna find success if you’re flip flopping techniques all the time anyway. Just as seed will never mature if you keep digging it up to see if it’s growing. You’ve got to commit to a direction and honestly evaluate if you’re getting better or worse after a while.
For you, nothing will speak louder than improvement and success – regardless of how you got there. And trust me, no coach is going to mess with success.
Till next week, good luck, have fun, and keep your eye on the ball.
Thanks Brent I appreciate you responding and so quickly too.
What about not having a starting job, or not one at all?
this could be an issue, besides the obvious answer of working hard.
Another thing I wanted to mention was just sort of whats going on right now with my school situation…. I would like to move schools, but living in a city (Charlottesvillle, VA) i’m not allowed to move to a county school, and I cannot go to a private school without losing a year of eligibility (sports) which i just think is absolutely ridiculous. What can I do?
I have been a catcher for seven long years and this is right on the money! The pitcher I have been with for six years is so great at just hitting the location he really just slams it in my mitt. Another pitcher who I recently met has gelled so well with me and he just knows if he gets in trouble I am calling fastball. The coach has never once given signals to me or anyone behind the plate and in turn he and I bonded and I have been with him since I was nine years old. He has been in the championship almost every year and I am coming back when I am all done playing to help him coach.