My article today at Baseball Prospectus is about catchers who get extra strike calls for their pitchers and how they do it.
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Exaggerated glove and body movements are well known to be distracting to umpires. As Brent Mayne wrote in The Art of Catching:
Lucroy and Molina have that technique perfected. Varitek, on the other hand, appears to have lost dozens of strike calls every year because he does not.
I am not aware of any previous finding that the catcher dropping his head to follow a borderline pitch into his glove will cost him a strike call. However, I am convinced that it is an important factor making Doumit one of the worst receiving catchers in the majors. I have rarely, if ever, been able to identify such a striking mechanical difference between major-league players that has correlated so directly to performance differences. For the borderline pitches I reviewed where the catcher had otherwise quiet and stable mechanics, the presence or absence of the catcher head drop predicted the umpire’s strike call 31 of 32 times.
Simply catch the ball firmly. When the pitch and glove meet, that’s where the action should stop. The catcher should have enough strength to stop the momentum of the ball so that strikes don’t turn into balls. Think of a gymnast “sticking” a landing. Just “stick” the ball, hold it for a brief second, then throw it back.
I am not aware of any previous finding that the catcher dropping his head to follow a borderline pitch into his glove will cost him a strike call. However, I am convinced that it is an important factor making Doumit one of the worst receiving catchers in the majors. I have rarely, if ever, been able to identify such a striking mechanical difference between major-league players that has correlated so directly to performance differences. For the borderline pitches I reviewed where the catcher had otherwise quiet and stable mechanics, the presence or absence of the catcher head drop predicted the umpire’s strike call 31 of 32 times.
Catchers appear to have a substantial impact on the success of their pitchers through their ability to gain extra strike calls from the umpire. This is an important factor to consider when valuing the contributions of catchers to a team. We have identified at least two specific techniques that affect catcher performance in this arena. Given the important impact on major-league teams, further research along that line is warranted.
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