Coaches Vs. Catchers Calling Pitches

[osagedr]

So I live in Canada and my kid plays local ball here and also plays in a decent US travel ball program. This year she got to play in the Tulsa Elite Invite as well as Top Gun Invitational. I did not see a single catcher in either of those tournaments calling their own pitches - everything was called in by the coaches.

Up here, not a single team does it. Not one. The argument is "Oh, the catchers need to learn how to do it." Why? They probably aren't gonna do it in college. And actually having their coaches do it is probably a good way to learn. It would be great to get catchers to the point where they could do it at the same level as coaches but not sure that's gonna happen in most cases.

Are there many catchers calling pitches in top-level tournaments where you are?

 

[justanotherguy]

This is where, at the 10u/12u level, I fully believe a coach and a catcher should be sitting together, discussing every pitch and what they should call. By the time they hit 14u, catchers should be calling the game. I know that's an easy blanket statement, but that would be my goal.

At 16u, my DD is a very competent pitch caller. She watches everything the batter does and especially what they did last at bat, to develop a strategy. This strategy is also very dependent upon knowing the pitcher and what she can competently throw. She's still rarely ever been given the green light to call a game. IMO, sad.

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

This is where, at the 10u/12u level, I fully believe a coach and a catcher should be sitting together, discussing every pitch and what they should call. By the time they hit 14u, catchers should be calling the game. I know that's an easy blanket statement, but that would be my goal.

At 16u, my DD is a very competent pitch caller. She watches everything the batter does and especially what they did last at bat, to develop a strategy. This strategy is also very dependent upon knowing the pitcher and what she can competently throw. She's still rarely ever been given the green light to call a game. IMO, sad.

Agree. I think it's too bad. The catcher and pitcher (together) have more information than the coach in real time. Period. How often have you seen a pitcher shake off a coach's sign? Or a catcher shake off the coach? Maybe it happens, I just haven't seen it.

 

[Cannonball]

IMO, it should be both. The best way to teach the game is for a coach to teach a catcher/pitcher why they called a certain pitch and then, after some limited time, allow the catcher/pitcher to demonstrate what they have learned. BTW, it doesn't just have to be in games. I've placed a small screen in an area the umpire stands in and have coached catchers during practice where a pitcher gets their work in against our hitters. Note, this is not BP. This is our hitter getting to see live pitching, our pitcher getting to throw to a limited number of hitters and our catcher getting in quality work instead of being wasted squatting behind a hitter.

Once my catchers have progressed, I turn an inning over to them. From there depending upon how well things are going, I turn the game over to the catcher. I have a backup method that I have described here numerous times. My catcher can tap on the top of her head and that tells me that I am to call the next pitch or series of pitches. If I tap on my head, I turn the calling back over to the catcher. The pitcher can also look at me and tap. If that happens, most often, they are really uncomfortable with certain pitches. I call from there until the catcher and pitcher get together to iron things out.

I'll wrap up by saying that the reason a coach does this is to teach the game. IMO, the colleges can do what they want. I want my players to know how to play the game when they leave me.

 

[InsidePitch]

DD's 14U club coach wanted all his players to be students of the game. When not in the field all pitchers and catchers sat around him while he called pitches. Then he'd ask them to call a pitch and explain why. This taught DD to think why she was calling something rather than, "I haven't called this in a while." By the end of 14U she was able to call her own game. Occasionally the coach would call to her and put in a pitch for a situation he saw but mostly it was her. All four years of Varsity SB in HS she called the games.

As for college, they have stats on opposing players that go beyond anything a catcher could remember so that is why they are called from the dugout.

 

[osagedr]

DD's 14U club coach wanted all his players to be students of the game. When not in the field all pitchers and catchers sat around him while he called pitches. Then he'd ask them to call a pitch and explain why. This taught DD to think why she was calling something rather than, "I haven't called this in a while." By the end of 14U she was able to call her own game. Occasionally the coach would call to her and put in a pitch for a situation he saw but mostly it was her. All four years of Varsity SB in HS she called the games.

As for college, they have stats on opposing players that go beyond anything a catcher could remember so that is why they are called from the dugout.

Perfect approach!

 

[Tatonka]

It should be a team effort involving Pitcher, Catcher and Coach. Give the girls back the game. I believe that sentiment is shared many if you care to see it. Also, not every coach approaches this learning process in a positive way nor does every coach know how to do it or has spent the time with the battery to even be effective at it. What Cannonball and InsidePitch described above is definitely NOT the norm from what we've experienced. There are many reasons to engage the actual athletes on the field in this process but that means getting past some control issues and egos first and actually work on developing this skill rather than just going for the W every time.

 

[canyonjoe]

I really think it would be better for the kids if coaches let the kids do more of the pitch calling. The coaches can work with the catchers in between innings but teach them the game. When I used to play little league we had kids coaching the bases and even in High School with only one coach a kid would coach 1st base. Usually it was the older kids who did it, but you would really learn the game better than just being told what to do. I really wish the kids could just go play some pickup games with no coaches once in awhile.

 

[MightyMO]

I'm all for the catcher calling a game if it's the right catcher. I think the approach that @Cannonball outlined is a great one.

DD's team plays high level 16u tournaments and they have a pitching coach who calls almost every pitch. He's a former major leaguer who charts every pitch and has analytics on all of the pitchers. He can tell you things like what the percent chance is that a certain pitch called in a certain count will result in a swing and miss or a ground ball for each of the pitchers. I trust him to call my DD's pitches.

 

[Strike2]

There is no reason why a catcher shouldn't get some experience calling pitches. This is especially true if they've worked with a particular pitcher for an extended period. Much of the time, the coach is guessing anyway. Sure, you can tell some things from a player's stance or swing, but this isn't MLB where you have book on every player you could possibly face. Most of the time, we aren't familiar with the abilities of individual batters.