Catcher (Reaching and stealing strikes from pitcher???)

[mbrown2097]

I'm assistant coach in my oldest boy's game(12u) last night and he catches.  He was working unusually close to the plate last night and we had to move him back a couple of times. (Never any CI situations.)  Between innings the plate umpire, (who I have grown to respect this season as he has been very good) calls me over and tells me that our catcher is indeed working way to close and  he has stolen a couple of strikes from our pitcher. (huh?) He said something about he can't give the strike when he is in that close.  I didn't bother to persue it as he was clearly trying to help us out and we had already noticed ourselves that he was too close.  At that point, I was more into fixing the issue than worrying with the message that he was communicating.  In hindsight though, what the heck does that mean, my catcher is stealing strikes from my pitcher by working too close?  Any ideas?

[JHSump]

Was your catcher so close that he was catching the ball *before* it passed through the strike zone!?

 

(Just kidding.)

 

I generally want the catcher to be as close to the plate as he can, without causing CI.  That way he will *get* more strikes for his pitcher, generally on low pitches, but also on pitches near the corners.  On the low pitches, if he can catch them before they hit the dirt, that will help.  And, if he can catch them without turning his mitt down (fingers down), that will help.  On a pitch crossing the plate on the corner, by the time the ball reaches him, it will have gone a bit further off the plate generally (and much further on a curve crossing the plate), so the closer to the plate he sets up the better those pitches look.

 

Generally, the closer the catcher is to the plate, the better the close pitches look (to everyone), and the more strikes he will get for his pitcher.  This assumes the pitcher it trying to keep the ball down.

 

Now, if your pitcher was consistently high and lobbing the ball in or throwing high curves, then maybe that would explain the umpire's comment.  If the pitches are near the top of the zone, and the catcher is far enough back, they will look better (to everyone) by the time they are caught.  But this would only be the situation if the pitcher was consistently high, slow, and/or throwing curves up in the zone.

 

I am interested in what others on this forum will say.

[mbrown2097]

Pitcher has exceptional velocity for 12u.  60+ no real ball arc issue that I can see. I was a catcher growing up and I liked to work close too.  He was 12-18 inches too close last night.  He was in danger of CI.

 

The rule of thumb for catchers (which I don't like) is that they should be close enough to touch the batter.  To me that is a little close, but he was a little closer than that.  I actually was worried about CI to the head.

[afaber12]

I hope its not because the umpire thought your catcher was catching the ball over the plate, and thought some pitches that he would have called hadn't crossed all the way through the zone so couldn't be called strikes. But if that was the case, unless the other team's batters never swung their bats I don't know how there wouldn't have been a lot of catcher's interference calls. Assuming that's not the case, I can come up with two possibilities.

 

One would be that the umpire couldn't get as close in behind the catcher as he would normally, because the batter would have been in the way. Though the umpire may have been at close to normal depth from the plate, some pitches that were headed for the low and away corner may have disappeared behind (or maybe that should be 'in front of') the catcher before they got to the plate.

 

The other would be that the umpire was able to adjust to the same position relative to the catcher, but may have had to sit higher (or further inside) to see the zone over the top of him. That different angle might have meant that some pitches - probably the low ones (or outside ones) - that might have been strikes looked like they were too low (or outside) to be called from that higher (wider) position.

[ricka56]

tells me that our catcher is indeed working way to close and  he has stolen a couple of strikes from our pitcher. (huh?) He said something about he can't give the strike when he is in that close. 

 

  Any ideas?

 

I have no idea why he would say that. None of that makes any sense to me.  And I would agree with :

 

JHSump said:

Generally, the closer the catcher is to the plate, the better the close pitches look (to everyone), and the more strikes he will get for his pitcher.

[mstaylor]

I had a pretty good umpire tell a HS catcher that. The coach said he was too close and was losing strikes. Since I am the interpreter he asked me about it. I told him I prefer him to be close as possible without getting hit. I never got the chance to ask the umpire why he said that. The only thing I can figure is he can't see around him on the down and away pitches. 

[noumpere]

maybe hes one of those umpires that needs to see the plate to call the pitches and couldn't see the plate because of your catcher.

 

In any event, Id ignore the comment and just keep teaching your kid.

[MidAmUmp]

It sounds to me like it's an umpire problem more than it is a catcher problem.

 

Unless your catcher is doing something out of the ordinary, there should be no reason he would be "stealing strikes".

 

Personally, I'd ask the umpire the next time you see him to elaborate on what he said.  Perhaps he was trying to say what mstaylor was saying about taking away the down and away pitches, but again, that really is an umpire problem of not making an adjustment.

 

I've heard of umpires telling catchers or coaches that they can't call what they can't see.  Then MOVE!!!!