Strike Pitch - Do you still call it?

[JRutledge]

It depends on the level I am working.

At the HS level I know the catchers are not going to catch the ball perfectly all the time. I have seen freshman players that knew how to catch the ball properly and have worked with senior catchers that did not know how to stick a pitch right down the middle. So if the pitch is right down the middle I likely going to call the pitch a strike. If the pitch is on the corners or right at the edge of the zone, then that is where they need to catch it. Part of calling pitch is how the ball is caught so you can clearly know where the pitch was and how it got there.

I can tell you the more you move up, more is expected of catchers to catch the ball properly. If they do not catch the ball properly at the college level and above, the coaches are not going to blame you, they will blame the catchers for not doing their job. I had a college game last week where a coach told me to "hit my catcher in the back of the head the next time he pops up." I talk about college because you will get some HS coaches that have college experiences as players and coaches that might make an issue out of a HS catcher not catching the ball perfectly. I just worked a game today with an assistant I knew from working as a coach at a local college and he is very knowledgeable. He says things that the average HS coach never says.

Peace