How Important is Good Blocking Catcher?

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Feb 17, 2014
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Orlando, FL
As to pitch calling I think you will find it polar opposites. Quite common for catcher to call game in TB and unusual in college. Then again they are two totally different dynamics with aside from a stick and ball having very little in common.

Without a doubt the best vantage point to call pitches is from behind the plate. However, that is a moot point. The real question is which approach is more effective, the coach in the dugout with the data or the kid behind the plate? The empirical data suggests that with respect to college this is best handled from the dugout. Keep in mind that there are other benefits that transcend pitch selection when the game is called from the dugout versus in the silo of the battery.
 
Mar 26, 2013
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By the same token, I wonder how many of the "Top level" TB coaches that we perennially see in the top 10 PGF/ASA finals each year let their catchers actually call the game as far as pitches go.
I wonder too, anyone have an educated guess of coach signal calling in travel and/or college softball?
I asked a longtime 18G manager about catchers on top contending teams calling games in PGF Nat bracket games and he said "not very many", which is what I expected from what I've seen.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
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Keep in mind that there are other benefits that transcend pitch selection when the game is called from the dugout versus in the silo of the battery.

Accountability to someone other than a fellow player, I would imagine. Anything else?
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
The accountability aspect is huge, along with enhanced statistical ability, better defensive coordination with the infield/outfield. When the whole team is on the same page as to the pitch and location good things happen.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
The accountability aspect is huge, along with enhanced statistical ability, better defensive coordination with the infield/outfield. When the whole team is on the same page as to the pitch and location good things happen.

That makes a lot of sense....BUT...in MLB, where success and jobs are tied to million dollar salaries and billion dollar franchise values, all of those things you mention (advanced scouting/availability of statistics) come into play to an ever greater extent but catchers also call their own games, right?

What does that say?
 
Last edited:
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
That makes a lot of sense....BUT...in MLB, where success and jobs are tied to million dollar salaries and billion dollar franchise values, all of those things you mention (advanced scouting/availability of statistics) come into play to an ever greater extent but catchers also call their own games, right?

What does that say?

How does what happens in MLB somehow relate to what happens in girls TB or women's college softball? They are worlds apart. However, to your point an MLB catcher has a job where they are paid stupid money for many years to do what they do. A college catcher has a temporary role on a team and is just passing through. If all that a college catcher did was play ball and would be there for the better part of a decade things might be different. As it stands comparing the two is apples to oranges.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
How does what happens in MLB somehow relate to what happens in girls TB or women's college softball? They are worlds apart. However, to your point an MLB catcher has a job where they are paid stupid money for many years to do what they do. A college catcher has a temporary role on a team and is just passing through. If all that a college catcher did was play ball and would be there for the better part of a decade things might be different. As it stands comparing the two is apples to oranges.

That's certainly the answer I'd expect, and I agree with it in many ways, but plenty of things that happen in MLB relate to what happens in girls softball, right?

We teach girls to throw and field and hit using MLB players and actions as models.

College coaches model some of how they work on the MLB dugout and practices - things such as statistical input and advance scouting that you mentioned.

Aren't we trying say the games aren't all that different in a lot of ways, down to Jessica Mendoza being in the baseball booth?

Yet college fastpitch coaches can't train/give up control to catchers to call a game but MLB managers can -- even though as you say the stakes are infinitesimally higher?

I guess what I'm getting at is there seems to be a control issue with college coaches that needs to be loosened. If THEY have so much expertise in calling a game, they can certainly transfer that to the catcher while taking advantage of the catcher's better vantage point and deeper interaction with the pitcher.

Regardless, interesting conversation, tks.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
That's certainly the answer I'd expect, and I agree with it in many ways, but plenty of things that happen in MLB relate to what happens in girls softball, right?

We teach girls to throw and field and hit using MLB players and actions as models.

College coaches model some of how they work on the MLB dugout and practices - things such as statistical input and advance scouting that you mentioned.

Aren't we trying say the games aren't all that different in a lot of ways, down to Jessica Mendoza being in the baseball booth?

Yet college fastpitch coaches can't train/give up control to catchers to call a game but MLB managers can -- even though as you say the stakes are infinitesimally higher?

I guess what I'm getting at is there seems to be a control issue with college coaches that needs to be loosened. If THEY have so much expertise in calling a game, they can certainly transfer that to the catcher while taking advantage of the catcher's better vantage point and deeper interaction with the pitcher.

Regardless, interesting conversation, tks.

Again, it is not a job for the college catcher who is just passing through, so your return on your investment is minimal. Just as in the business world you would spend far less time training and give less responsibility to a seasonal worker versus a full time employee. In one year a full time MLB catcher will catch more innings than a college catcher will in their entire career. If you separate yourself from the emotion and nostalgia of catchers calling games, the cost/benefit analysis shows that a college coaches time is better spent on other endeavors. You are spending a dollar to get a dime.
 

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