Coaches yelling pitch location

In professional baseball, if a catcher sees a hitter glance back to try and decipher pitch location the batter will likely be wearing the next pitch. Maybe the pitcher can catch a bad case of the yips and toss one in the dugout? I kid...kind of. On a somewhat related, embarrasing note, in HS basketball I wasn't "enjoying" the referee in one of our games and a ball just happened to "slip" out of my hands on a pass and nailed the ref in the rear. I would have likely been fine if I didn't then smirk when he turned around. Early shower and a talking to from my old man ensued.

On a serious note, I am not sure if would work tbh. MLB hitters talk about pitchers tipping pitches, and this would be recognized during the motion, so the timeframe would be similar (if not less) than a coach yelling out location right before pitch. Whether or not this actually helps them or not I am not sure. If you ask Yu Darvish he will likely have a definitive answer but who knows. Of course these are MLB hitters and not amateur travel ball hitters so as someone said above it might do more harm then good for the hitters.

It doesn't help. I've specifically told my teammates to keep it to themselves. I don't want to be in the box while some DA at second base is throwing me signs. Knowing the pitch or location is only part of the picture. A good pitcher can tell you whats coming and strike your butt out or force a weak ground ball

It's always a case of a "coach" thinking they're more significant than they really are

riseball said:

She has the exact same grip on a 3 of her pitches!

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This makes me smile.

reagansdaddy said:

I absolutely hate this. It drives me nuts and I hate it even more when other players do it from the dugout. We've seen teams that have their parents to it from behind the fence. If you earn second base, then I'm all for using hand signals if you want even if it might only be of marginal assistance.

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I love it when the runner on second is using hand signals to tell the batter where the catcher is set up. Then they are paying attention to their teammate instead of watching the pitcher and pitch! Usually works out fantastic for us.

gamommax3 said:

I love it when the runner on second is using hand signals to tell the batter where the catcher is set up. Then they are paying attention to their teammate instead of watching the pitcher and pitch! Usually works out fantastic for us.

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We find that our players are generally able to do both things at the same time. Has never hurt us at all.

grcsftbll said:

Besides being annoying and bush league, would this really help a batter at all? I mean, I would think yelling something at a batter just as they're about to have to hit the ball would do more harm than good.

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Our team played in an 18u tournament in Virginia last summer. For some reason DD's change up was working really well that particular day (not sure where that came from...)> Anyway, after getting several hitters out with that pitch, the third base coach started yelling to his hitters "Watch the change up". Whenever he did, our catcher (who called the pitches), typically asked for a riseball inside. Then every once in a while she would change the sign and actually call a change up. The 3rd base coach was muttering to himself the entire game and we were just loving it.

gamommax3 said:

I love it when the runner on second is using hand signals to tell the batter where the catcher is set up. Then they are paying attention to their teammate instead of watching the pitcher and pitch! Usually works out fantastic for us.

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Our base runners do this regularly and it has not been a problem. It works really well when a catcher sets up too early. The runner needs to know when to do it and when not to do it. To be clear, I have no issue with players helping each other like this. I'm just not a fan of coaches getting involved with their antics.

FP26 said:

Our base runners do this regularly and it has not been a problem. It works really well when a catcher sets up too early. The runner needs to know when to do it and when not to do it. To be clear, I have no issue with players helping each other like this. I'm just not a fan of coaches getting involved with their antics.

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I think the key here is catchers setting up too early. Ours does not, and so when the runner on second is telling her pitch location, the pitch is on it's way.

gamommax3 said:

I think the key here is catchers setting up too early. Ours does not, and so when the runner on second is telling her pitch location, the pitch is on it's way.

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Makes sense. In that situation, our runners won't even attempt to forward the location. Unless they were able to pick the catcher's signs. Some don't do a very good job of hiding it.

Good luck to them, where DD actually throws the ball and where the catcher sets up seems to be different things.

One game DD threw 2 pitches, 2 outs. 3rd base coach yelled out to next batter, do not swing make her work. DD is closer to the idiot then batter is. She threw the most beautiful pitch right down the middle, batter was staring daggers at 3rd base coach. Next pitch she threw it a foot outside, suprised she actually got her bat on it, 3 outs.