One thing I got to thinking about was if Trevino starts keeping glove high on heaters, whether that might tip pitches a bit more. Now, catchers have set a target since pitching began, so that's not inherently new. But I wonder if he does a glove drop most of the time but doesn't on high heaters, hitters (or more likely base runners) could pick up on that. Of course, even if you know Cole is throwing a high fastball, good luck hitting it, so it probably doesn't matter.
Yep, you raise a popular question here. Tipping location is one thing, but when you tip a high target, you're also tipping the pitch type (because you wouldn't throw anything but a fastball up there).
My personal opinion: any focus on deking pitch location does more harm than good. It's distracting for a pitcher and all the movement makes it more difficult to get a strike call when you want one.
The only ways a hitter can pick up on a catcher's tipped target are:
(a) peeking back at the catcher - this doesn't really happen. You'd wear a fastball in the thigh for doing it...
(b) a runner at second base relaying it - I really don't think this ever happens either...
(c) I guess someone in the dugout could give some verbal signal - this is cheating and there are a ton of rules to stop it from happening.
So, yes - you got me going on the "target tipping" train. If you're looking for a catcher who conceals his targets well, look no further than Willson Contreras.
I was going to rave again about this week's post even BEFORE I got a shout-out!
Noah this is awesome stuff, as ever.
Something I've been curious about when it relates to the pitch clock this year is that young pitchers have been dealing with this for nearly a decade now coming up through the minors.
To what extent is a tick/foible like Martinez' delivery exploitable in the majors because advance scouting in the lower levels isn't comprehensive enough to condition that out of him? Are teams just concerned about developing major league quality players first and worrying about major league "ready" players after?
Yes to the lack of focus on advance scouting in the minor leagues. Especially at lower levels, the focus is on the "more important" things like executing pitches you throw and developing new ones. There is not a staff full of people breaking down an opposing reliever's pickoff move, or much of anything on the opposing team. To do what you're referencing, you'd need to do some self-scouting. That's definitely a worthy exercise, but smaller staffs make it less common at the minor league level.
Very fun thanks. Watching the in-season adjustments to the momentum lead will be interesting
Great stuff as always.
One thing I got to thinking about was if Trevino starts keeping glove high on heaters, whether that might tip pitches a bit more. Now, catchers have set a target since pitching began, so that's not inherently new. But I wonder if he does a glove drop most of the time but doesn't on high heaters, hitters (or more likely base runners) could pick up on that. Of course, even if you know Cole is throwing a high fastball, good luck hitting it, so it probably doesn't matter.
Yep, you raise a popular question here. Tipping location is one thing, but when you tip a high target, you're also tipping the pitch type (because you wouldn't throw anything but a fastball up there).
My personal opinion: any focus on deking pitch location does more harm than good. It's distracting for a pitcher and all the movement makes it more difficult to get a strike call when you want one.
The only ways a hitter can pick up on a catcher's tipped target are:
(a) peeking back at the catcher - this doesn't really happen. You'd wear a fastball in the thigh for doing it...
(b) a runner at second base relaying it - I really don't think this ever happens either...
(c) I guess someone in the dugout could give some verbal signal - this is cheating and there are a ton of rules to stop it from happening.
So, yes - you got me going on the "target tipping" train. If you're looking for a catcher who conceals his targets well, look no further than Willson Contreras.
I was going to rave again about this week's post even BEFORE I got a shout-out!
Noah this is awesome stuff, as ever.
Something I've been curious about when it relates to the pitch clock this year is that young pitchers have been dealing with this for nearly a decade now coming up through the minors.
To what extent is a tick/foible like Martinez' delivery exploitable in the majors because advance scouting in the lower levels isn't comprehensive enough to condition that out of him? Are teams just concerned about developing major league quality players first and worrying about major league "ready" players after?
Yes to the lack of focus on advance scouting in the minor leagues. Especially at lower levels, the focus is on the "more important" things like executing pitches you throw and developing new ones. There is not a staff full of people breaking down an opposing reliever's pickoff move, or much of anything on the opposing team. To do what you're referencing, you'd need to do some self-scouting. That's definitely a worthy exercise, but smaller staffs make it less common at the minor league level.