Poor pitch calling

[Phathead]

Ken while she isn't at that level that is pretty much what I am seeing. I approach every batter with a plan when calling pitches for any pitcher. After the end of the inning I have a quick discussion with the pitcher and catcher explaining what I called and the reasons behind the calls. Much like Ken's story watching a kid being set up to fail is painful. Just wanted to see how others have delt with it. I will let her know she can talk to the coach and mix in sluggers option 2. I guess I will just have to get use to it since high school isn't far enough off.

 

[Greenmonsters]

To solve this let's have the catchers call the pitches. What a mess it is when the coaches get involved. None of these HS or travel coaches' job depend on these pitch calls. It is busy work for them, apparently.

After you explain it to the battery, why not let them have a go at it? I don't get it. Please explain Phat, the need to control the pitch calling.

OILF - we don't often agree, but we're soulmates on this topic. Pitch calling is best done from behind the plate. Is there a coach out there who can honestly state that they themselves couldn't be more effective and call a better game if they were positioned behind the plate than on the bench??? More coaches need to teach a smart catcher and give them experience starting at a young age and then sit back and watch and learn themselves.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I agree that the girls should be taught to call the game, then the pitcher and catcher can work together to figure out how to get batters out. So it begs the question, if most of us agree this is the best way to do it, then why is it so rare that the catchers call the pitches?

 

[JNew0872]

I agree that the girls should be taught to call the game, then the pitcher and catcher can work together to figure out how to get batters out. So it begs the question, if most of us agree this is the best way to do it, then why is it so rare that the catchers call the pitches?

Focus is too much on winning and not enough on developing.

 

[Rocketech1]

While I like the pitcher / catcher battery to call the pitches when feasible, our coaches keep a detailed record of our opponents at bats from previous games as well as in game at bats and this information is invaluable in determining batters tendencies, what they did in previous at bats, and ultimately what pitches would be most effective to call. This information is not readily available to catchers and pitchers during live game situations.

Regarding original post, I feel your frustration. My DD's best pitch is her flip change and rarely do I find a coach who likes to throw it often enough to be an effective pitch. In fact at the 12u level my experience is none of the coaches on any team we play will call the change up more than a few times a game. I just don't get it. Isn't good hitting about timing and the pitchers goal is to disrupt the batters timing? Why not throw off-speed pitches?

 

[Cowdogz]

How many pitches does a 12-year-old actually have? Not how many pitches does she or her dad think she has, how many does she actually have? A 12-year-old, or even a 10-year-old, catcher can start learning to read a hitter's swing and call the next location based on that. That's all you need when the only pitch is a fastball. As the pitcher is learning new pitches, catchers can be learning what they do and how they are used. It's really not that hard. I tell my baseball catchers, starting at age 13 or so, that the players they see now are basically the same players they are going to see all the way through High School, so start learning their tendencies now. Part of the fun of coaching is watching a pair of 14-year-olds figure out how to get a hitter out.

 

[Greenmonsters]

While I like the pitcher / catcher battery to call the pitches when feasible, our coaches keep a detailed record of our opponents at bats from previous games as well as in game at bats and this information is invaluable in determining batters tendencies, what they did in previous at bats, and ultimately what pitches would be most effective to call. This information is not readily available to catchers and pitchers during live game situations.

Regarding original post, I feel your frustration. My DD's best pitch is her flip change and rarely do I find a coach who likes to throw it often enough to be an effective pitch. In fact at the 12u level my experience is none of the coaches on any team we play will call the change up more than a few times a game. I just don't get it. Isn't good hitting about timing and the pitchers goal is to disrupt the batters timing? Why not throw off-speed pitches?

This about sums up what most coaches know about pitch calling - they have detailed records but rarely call your DD's best pitch

 

[Greenmonsters]

I agree that the girls should be taught to call the game, then the pitcher and catcher can work together to figure out how to get batters out. So it begs the question, if most of us agree this is the best way to do it, then why is it so rare that the catchers call the pitches?

I don't think most agree, but in their defense, it is hard to know what you don't know.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

More coaches need to teach a smart catcher.

This is the key. I've had catchers not be able to tell me the location of the pitch that was just thrown. Should I let them call pitches because they may go to the 10% of colleges (if that high) that actually allow catchers to call pitches?

There are some catchers that play catcher because they want to be part of every play but have NO desire to call pitches. They don't want the "responsibility".

There are some catchers that play catcher because they're big girls and that's where they've always played.

DD's catcher right now is one of very few (in ten years of coaching and umpiring) that I can honestly say knows what she's doing when it comes to calling pitches (which also includes determining the umpire's zone).

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Writing kids off at that age is silly. SoCal. Teach them, including teaching responsibility.It is not always them, it is their poor prior coaching. None of my HS catchers ever backed off the responsibility, or they did not play.

I never wrote off anyone...but I also didn't condition their playing time on "my way or the highway"...

you can teach a "leadership" class - but that doesn't mean your graduates are "leaders"...

motivation comes from inside a person, not from someone cracking a whip over them (that - IMHO - is stimulus, not motivation)...probably best saved for a separate discussion...