Pitchers, Their Pitches, and Communication with Team Coach

[Doug Romrell]

A very rough situation for pitchers is when the person calling their pitches doesn't seem to give a fart about WHAT pitches they throw and are comfortable with. Around here, it's usually the head coach calling the pitches. Yes, communication is partly the pitcher's responsibility, but if the team coach is a very closed minded, unapproachable male coach, what is a pitcher to do?

 

[Phathead]

There are many threads on pitching calling. The way my DD handled it was knowledge. I have called her pitches and a couple of other coaches have done very well. When she runs into the guru who is calling FB's down the middle she picks a catcher knee or shoulder etc as an spot. If the coach i lacks that much knowledge then I doubt they can tell the difference between a drop and FB and uses those two for speed pitches. She understands that there can be ramifications for not throwing what's called and that there can be ramifications for blindly following ignorance.

 

[grcsftbll]

I think about this kind of thing often! I'm always torn on what to tell my pitcher. My husband (AC) has told her if a pitch is called and she decides to throw something different, she just better be able to give a good reason for it, and be prepared to deal with the consequences if she's wrong and they end up hitting it out of the park or something. But personally I think first year 10U should be about teaching the pitchers and catchers to work together and learn to call their own pitches. By 2nd year 10U I see no reason coaches should be calling all the pitches if his girls are pretty sharp and have caught on. We work with my dd all the time on the mental part of the game. This girl has a closed stance. Last at bat she hit a dribbler down the first base line. What pitch should you throw? This one is a power hitter, standing right up on the plate. Etc etc. My husband's better at that than I am, I'm learning along with my kid.

Anyway. It's toughest when you've got an egotistical coach you can't approach at all. I'm not sure what the solution is because chances are he's not going to take kindly to being ignored even if the pitcher is right to ignore him.

 

[TorontoCFE]

DD got frustrated by her coach's calls.
They routinely relied on her 3rd best pitch. She spoke to her pitching coach on the best way to explain it to the
coach since they work together all the time.
We explained to the coach that she didn't feel she was at her best following their game plan. That confidence in the calls affected results.
Then we showed what her ERA was following her plan and what it was following theirs.
He agreed to try it and she reeled off a long string of scoreless innings so he bought in.

Later there were problems because he wasn't willing to vary the plan according to what she felt worked on a certain day. She ended
up leaving that team after many years on it. She didn't want to let the team down throwing pitches she didn't have any confidence in.

The first thing her new coach said was that he trusted the pitchers enough to call their own game so she is happy. She owns the results.

There is not much worse than having to throw a pitch that you don't have confidence in or that you know the batter likes to sit on
and a gold medal is on the line.

 

[JAD]

A good coach will work with his pitcher and catcher to determine what is working and what is not. A pitcher can shake off pitches, but if it becomes a habit no one is going to be happy. Encourage the coach to work with your pitching coach to coordinate what your DD is working on during the week. If you have an egotistical coach like others have mentioned it may be best to change teams if your DD is not happy with the pitches that are being called.

 

[quincy]

Good or bad DD’s coaches leave her and the C alone. Maybe she throws too many changeups but it is a game dang it.

The ball has never left the park on her so she is doing something right.

 

[redbirdone]

My favorite is the girl who is way late on the first two pitches and then a change up or other off speed pitch gets crushed on the third pitch.

 

[quincy]

Yep, DD knows better.

 

[FrozenRope]

I coach a 14U team, and yes, I call the pitches. This coming year will be our 3rd year as an organization...and fortunately, I have had the same 4 pitchers on my team since we started...and I still spend some time now and again with them to see how they are progressing as they are all working on pitches year round. If the HC is the one calling the pitches, he/she should be spending a good deal of time getting to know his/her pitchers in practice and should rely on the catchers to provide feedback in games. The catcher is a coach's best source of feedback for what is working well for your pitcher that day.....as well as what is not.

Here's an example of a situation I encountered that may have had her mother posting Doug's original question on here. I had one of my pitchers approach me last spring after she got shelled pretty good in a game and ask me why I never call her change up...that she uses it all the time in Rec and gets a lot of strikeouts with it. I had to very gently and carefully explain to her that I feel she'll be far more successful locating FB and mixing in her curve, both of which she usually commands quite well. I was very honest with her that she needed to talk to her pitching coach to work on her CU and explained to her that she throws her CU about 46 MPH and her FB is 48-49 MPH. On top of that, she usually leaves her change up high in the zone and has very little control of L/R so she often catches too much plate. She did as I asked, and when we started back up in the fall, she had gotten her Change down to about 42-43 MPH and through the fall, it was a VERY effective pitch for her.

So what this long story tells you is, the coach wants to win, so he's typically going to call the pitches he feels that particular pitcher will be most effective with on that given day. If you're not happy, you can talk to him, or have your pitcher talk to him to find out why he's not calling a certain pitch, or relying too heavily on a pitch she's not comfortable with..... it may work well...it may not. Then you have a choice to make.

NOW, might there be a coach that has a DD that pitches that he would intentionally set the others up for failure to make his kid look like the star?? God, I would hope not, but I imagine it can happen.

 

[Doug Romrell]

NOW, might there be a coach that has a DD that pitches that he would intentionally set the others up for failure to make his kid look like the star?? God, I would hope not, but I imagine it can happen.

Oh, it happens!