Batter remembering pitch calls?

[lancer360]

We just finished our 12u All-Star season. Unfortunately, we got knocked out 15-0 in the third round by a team with an outstanding pitcher. Coach/pitcher were using wrist bands to call pitches. To me it looked like the pitcher had two pitches, fastball and change up, and was most likely working on locating pitches as well. DD was caught looking by a changeup after 5 foul balls on her first at bat. She has a great memory and was listening to the pitch calls against her and watching her team mates at bats. When her 2nd at bat came up she got a call she recognized as a fastball and hit a hard ground ball right up the middle for a single. Turns out it was the only hit on our side of the game. It got me to thinking do teams work on trying to break down the opposing pitch calls? Do teams change wrist bands often to combat this?

 

[Long Baller]

For pitch calling, I see most coaches visually flashing the pitch calls instead of verbally calling them. DD's team still changes their wristband cards at least once a game when calling pitches visually.

 

[justanotherguy]

Your daughter is perceptive and it's going to serve her very well. I can't tell you how many times my DD gets the compliment of "Man, you really know how to wait on that changeup!" No... she's been watching and has memorized the numbers for change of speed pitches the opposing coach is calling. If a team is really serious, they change their cards every inning. I've yet to see a team that serious. Literally never. So by the second time she's facing the same pitcher, she's licking her lips when they call a change up. You can literally see her move forward in the box.

 

[sluggers]

It got me to thinking do teams work on trying to break down the opposing pitch calls?

Yes.

Do teams change wrist bands often to combat this?

It is not really a problem in summer ball...you don't see the same team that often, so its difficult. And, the pitchers are so inconsistent is hard to differentiate between an intentional pitch and a mistake.

But, I'm convinced that Florida State deciphered the pitch calling for Montana Fouts during the CWS.

 

[justanotherguy]

But, I'm convinced that Florida State deciphered the pitch calling for Montana Fouts during the CWS.

I tell people this all the time. I think stealing signals is a huge portion of the game. I got this, straight up, from a camp my daughter did. The JMU coach had the catching portion. She said her entire job during a game is to steal signals. She said she would even go so far as to see the striations on a catcher's arm to see what fingers she was holding up.

I think this was the same discussion a few years back in the CWS. A screwball or inside pitch was called, and you literally saw the batter stride to the outside, because it was obvious she knew an inside pitch was coming.

 

[jsoftballcoach]

DD’s team uses wristbands with 3 digit numbers to call pitches. There are several numbers that are the same pitch, and if they think there is an issue they switch to a different card. I would think that makes it very difficult to crack the code, unless the coach is calling the same numbers over and over.


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[Rolling Hard]

Yes.



It is not really a problem in summer ball...you don't see the same team that often, so its difficult. And, the pitchers are so inconsistent is hard to differentiate between an intentional pitch and a mistake.

But, I'm convinced that Florida State deciphered the pitch calling for Montana Fouts during the CWS.

Or they guessed very well.

 

[JOHNN]

Or they guessed very well.

At that level of play, guessing very well might get a hit or two. FSU rocked her like no other team has even come close to doing so Id say it was more than just guessing very well.

Now for the holier than thou Facebook parents that just cant fathom that a team would have the audacity to pick up signals, yes it was definitely guessing very well haha.

 

[eddieq]

When DD was playing in high school they had a team they hadn’t ever beaten and the pitcher was enjoying a lot of K’s. I was watching the game and noticed a trend with the pitcher. As soon as there were two strikes, the very next pitch was a change in/near the zone. Every time. I was near the dugout and DD was at the end. I strolled over and passed that info along. Soon enough, the two strike hits started flying off the bats. I don’t think they beat them but they got a few baserunners and it changed the amount of fun the team was having. It also got a few of the more serious players to pay more attention to the pitcher and her pitch selections.

 

[Westwind]

I think it’s better to pick the pitcher or catchers tells than pick the signs.

Human behavior isn’t universal but it’s something that can help you make predictions.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.