Pitch Calling: Do's and Don'ts When Calling Pitches

Pitch Calling: Do's and Don'ts When Calling Pitches

Pitch calling has always been a topic of uneasiness for me. When watching a game, announcers both on the television and the radio hypothesize and second guess what pitch was called. Often times arguing against what the data and scouting report has called to do in the current situation. Now that I have researched pitch calling and what to do, it is easier than I thought. If you are a coach that was in the same boat as I was, I hope this post will be helpful to you. 

Before we go into pitch calling, we must decide who should call pitches. At the Little League level the coach should call pitches, because the catcher is new to the position and doesn't have a lot of "baseball IQ." At the Middle School level, the coach should still call the pitches because the field is bigger and what worked on the Little League level, won't necessarily work on the Middle School level. 

At the High School level, this is where the pitch calling responsibility gets interesting. Currently, I see no problem with the catcher calling pitches during the game. The reason being is because the catcher sees the game clearer than the coaching staff does. The coaches are constrained off to the side of the field, whereas the catcher sees the whole field. With that being said, if the catcher feels uneasy by taking on the responsibility of calling pitches, the coach can call the pitches. On the College level, it is commonplace to see the catcher calling pitches. If not at the start of the College career for the catcher, it is because of the comfort level of the catcher and coaching staff. But at the College level,  the amount of extra repetitions and experiences that the catcher has experienced in his career, he should know what works and what doesn't at this point. In summary, it is up to how the catcher feels if he will call pitches or not. Eventually, the catcher will feel comfortable enough to call pitches by himself. 

Let's now talk about the strike zone. The strike zone is important because this is what you want to control if you are a pitcher and catcher. On the other hand, hitters want to control the strike zone as well. Whichever team controls the strike zone the most consistently will win the game. The default pitch location for a pitcher is low in the zone. The reason is because low pitches are the easiest pitches for the catcher to manipulate as he absorbs the force of the pitch. When ahead in the count the pitcher wants to go away from the middle of the plate. When behind in the count the pitcher should attack the zone and go back towards the middle of the plate. A pitcher should not be afraid to pitch towards the middle and attack the zone because the law of averages works in favor of the pitcher and the defense. 

When pitching inside, a good location to pitch  to is on the hands of the hitter. The reason being is because a hitter will pull that pitch foul, and a pitch in on the hands is uncomfortable to the hitter. When pitching up in the zone, a good location to pitch to is up and in the middle. Many Major League hitters will miss this pitch or fly out with this pitch. If the pitch is up and inside, the hitter can dump the barrel and get a cheap hit. When pitching low in the zone, a good location to pitch to is low and away. Low and away and up in the zone-middle are two quality areas to miss the barrel and get a strike out with two strikes. 

Lets now dive into pitch philosophies that both catchers and pitchers want to do to control the strike zone. 

Pitchers: 

For the pitchers, there are four rules they must follow to control the strike zone. The first rule is to throw first pitch strikes. The reason being is according to Major League Baseball data, less than 8% of first pitch strikes are hits. Rule number two is, have the batter out in two to three pitches. If pitchers get ahead in the count early, the better chance that the pitcher will produce soft contact outs. The third rule is to pay attention to 1-1, 2-0, and the 2-1 pitch count. The reason is because the data favors the hitter if the count goes in the hitter's favor. For example, in a 2-1 count, if the count goes to 3-1 or 2-2 there is an 800 point swing in On Base-Plus Slugging either towards the hitter or pitcher. The last rule is make the at bat uncomfortable for the hitter. There are several ways to this. The first way is to throw lots of strikes. It is hard for the hitter to get in a hitter's count, if he can't get ahead. The next way is to throw inside and move the feet of the hitter. This makes the hitter feel timid. Another way is to throw off-speed pitches in fastball counts. A pitcher that can do this will win on the high school level. On the college level, the hitter can win. That is crucial. The last way is up-tempo pitching. Up-tempo pitching allows the pitcher to control the at bat, and makes the hitter uncomfortable.

Catchers:

When the pitcher is warming up in the bullpen, there are a few things the catcher MUST find out before he or the coach calls pitches. The catcher must find out what is the best strike pitch and best location with that pitch. This allows the catcher to understand where to go when the going gets tough in the game. The catcher must know what the swing and miss pitch is and where to locate that pitch during the game. Yet again, when the going gets tough and the pitcher needs a strike out, the catcher needs to know this. The catcher needs to know the ground ball pitch and where to call the pitch. When a pitcher needs a double play, the catcher needs to know what that pitch is and where to locate the pitch. The last pitch the catcher needs to know is the pitch around pitch. This pitch must be the most reliable pitch so that the defense can have the opportunity to get a double play.

In summation, who calls the pitches and what to call is up to the team. Pitch calling is individual as well, and varies from day to day. Every pitcher will have days where some pitches work better than others so the catcher, pitcher, and pitching coach must know what works so they can apply that to the game. In addition to this, if you want immediate feedback, then the team must track the performance of the pitcher and the catcher. In other words, measure what you treasure. The quality of information the team receives, the faster the team will improve, and the better chance of success that the team will have.