Proper receiving of pitches off the plate

[marriard]

We picked up a catcher that had been playing pgf I was sitting next to her dad. When we called pitch 2 ball out she set up 2 balls out so she could stick the catch straight in front of her chin and hold it and the ump would ring the batter up almost every time. The dad says it’s unbelievable how many strikes a good catcher can steal by setting up right vs trying to jerk frame or wrist moving after catch. Afterwards I paid close attention to other umpires ringing up batters on pitch over chalk of batters box apparently they are watching catcher not strike zone over plate. It drives me crazy but I saw it with my own eyes. Once our regular catcher came back we never got those calls but she stay behind plate and reach.

Some umpires are not as good as others... and there is a school of umpires that believe (and were taught) that if it is caught like a strike, call it a strike. I am not in this school, but I also acknowledge that a good catcher makes it much easier for me to call strikes - simply because they give me a better vision of the pitch coming in and when they catch a close pitch cleanly, there are far fewer grumbles when I call it a strike. That doesn't mean I won't call a badly caught strike a strike - but I certainly appreciate it when the catcher is doing things which make my life easier. Believe me - I WANT to call strikes - strikes make the game move along.

That said, the movement the catcher needs to setup outside is not large. As a coach, there really is NO reason for a catcher to go set up in a different zip code. If you line up right around mid-chest to the outside edge of the plate - so really a difference in set up of a foot or so, you can easily lean and catch a pitch 2 balls off within your body and make it as good as it can be. And by being slightly over to the outside, you give the umpire a much easier time in seeing the low outside corner which is by far the hardest part of the zone to call from the slot. If a catcher catches an outside pitch a couple of balls off the plate, then there is a reasonable chance it caught a corner when it passed through the actual strike zone.

Which sounds like what the above catcher was doing for the most part.

The worst is the late moving catcher who comes all the way inside on an inside pitch and completely blocks the view of the pitch. Had one a few weeks ago - bigger catcher as well, so she moved late in and also up and there was no way I could see the pitch. Guess what - if you totally block my view and I can't see the ball enter the strike zone it is a ball.

 

[HighStrung]

DD's coach has our catchers set up just a few inches (no more than 6, and sometimes none) off center for outside pitch, tip of glove on the corner if it's supposed to be thrown for a strike, heel of glove on the corner if it's suppose to be thrown for a ball. Glove moves to position about the time pitcher starts her rock back. Our pitchers know what's expected by their positioning, it's subtle but it's enough. Even if they miss a little wider than planned, it's not far enough that our catchers can't make the catch, plus in reality it wasn't going to get called a strike anyway if they missed more than where the glove was. Our pitchers are taught to throw to the glove, not center mass of the catcher. Not saying it's right or wrong, just what they're doing.

DD has had no major problem with it, especially since I've been working corners with her for a long time and never move my bucket when I want her to throw outside. No different for inside just opposite, heel of glove on the corner when wanting a strike, tip of glove when wanting a ball. This is all assuming a righty catcher.