There were a few posts in last night's game thread saying that the Reds bench calls all pitches. If that's the case (and I'm not convinced it is), why do certain pitchers have personal catchers? If that's the case, why do we hear that Hanigan calls a better game than Mes? If that's the case, why is it important to call up Corky just because he has worked with the pitchers who came up through the system?
Yeah, why aren't we talking about coach's ERA?
bigredmechanism (05-17-2013),thatcoolguy_22 (05-18-2013)
I can't find it (just searched for a bit) but I vividly recall an interview with Dusty and he commented on this very thing. He said he DOES call the pitches. But only the initial one. After that, if the pitcher shakes it off, then the rest of the pitches are signaled by the catcher. So seeing initial shake-off's is not an indictment of the catcher. If there are multiple shake-off's...then yes, that's the pitcher and catcher not being on the same page basically.
Now granted, the interview I'm remembering was a couple of years ago. So it may no longer be the case. And it might not be with every catcher/pitcher combination. It would be interesting if somebody could get a clarification.
It may have something to do with how they actually catch the ball. Perhaps Catcher A is better at giving a target or handling shake-offs or framing pitches or 10 other things that catchers do than Catcher B is. A lot of it is probably psychological. If a pitcher feels he will pitch better with Catcher A rather than Catcher B catching him, he probably will pitch better. It's one less thing for him to worry about.Originally Posted by Norm Chortleton
That deserves a high five.
High five!
A possible clue?"Everything was working," Cingrani said. "Mes was calling a great game back there. We mixed our pitches really well. It was two mistake pitches. I left them a little too much over the plate. It's what cost me."
A clue to what?
A pitcher always says he and his catcher were doing well. When there is a "mistake", the pitcher always takes credit for it.
That the catcher and not the bench is calling the pitches. Although I suppose in the pitcher's mind, maybe. if it's coming through the catcher, it's coming from the catcher... Still, it seems to indicate catchers are calling pitches.
Technically, the catcher is calling the pitch. Even if he is getting it from someone else.
The Reds sends the pitch in to the catcher.
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