Baseball Prospectus Interviews Jon Lucroy

[Dollarbill13]

Pretty good read: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10122

[TheCrew07]

DL: Do you go over that with the pitchers prior to the game?

JL: Not extensively. For the most part, they
trust me to do it for them. Pitchers, for the most part, are guys that…
they don’t like to think. They just like to go out there and throw, so
I do their thinking for them. That’s just for the most part. You have
some guys who know what they want to throw before they even get the
ball back. But most guys let me take control and call the game for them.

... and I thought that calling a good game doesn't matter and the pitcher was always in control...

Why I'll agree that when calling a game is the best thing you can say about a catcher the effect is probably overstated, like in Kendell's case who I thought didn't call a very smart game at all, pitch selection and location are still the most dominant factors in game. The fact remains the way the game has played hasn't changed much and the little nuances of the game are actually where the wins and losses take place, regardless of what a study (and I use that term loosely} might say. I still believe Moeller was instrumental in helping Sheets find himself during the 2004 season, I know he couldn't hit but the dude knew how to set up and attack hitters, the Brewers should bring him as a coach to work with the youngsters.

[Pointer1VB]

JL: It depends on the guy. I’ve had guys who love it when I go out there and get on their butt; they love it when I go out there and get into it with them and kind of jack them up. I’ve also had guys where you’ve got to pet them. You have to massage them. You have to go, "Hey buddy, you’re OK. You’re going to be all right." There are a lot of different personalities, so you have to watch and pay attention. You don’t want to go out there and jack up a guy who is kind of a softy.

 

lol wut?

[zurch1818]

I’ll also ask the catchers about what guy’s best pitches are, and also

what kind of guys they are. [Jason] Kendall isn’t there anymore, but

I’ll ask Mike Rivera, who was the backup last year. I’ll ask him.

Does Lucroy know that Rivera is in the Yankees system now? Still good read. He seems like a down to earth kind of guy.

[And That]

The interview was conducted at the end of the Arizona Fall League season. Rivera was still employed by the Brewers at that point.

[sbrylski]

... and I thought that calling a good game doesn't matter and the pitcher was always in control...

 

I think, at least in my opinion, that the effect of a catcher's game calling ability is minimal is because there's a lot of conformity in the "proper" way to call a game. I'm no pitching coach, and if anyone has more insight I'd love to hear it, but I'd imagine you could write out a list of strict rules that dictate the consensus way to call pitches. (For example, after an up-and-in pitch, go down-and-away.) The current way to determine if a catcher is good at calling games is to determine how good he is at following those rules. In the end, you end up with a bunch of catchers doing the exact same thing.

 

This may already be happening, or at least may be beginning to, but until catchers begin to utilize pitchFX data and statistically analyze the effectiveness of pitch sequences, those that do will begin to separate themselves and take their game calling effectiveness to the next level. It is in that transition phase (as eventually they'll all do it), that a catchers ability to call a game will differ enough from the next guy to make it a true asset.

 

Of course I'm ignoring the effects of controlling the emotions of a pitcher, but that's harder to quantify. That would be an interesting study if one were to find a way to quantify a pitchers level of calm (heart rate sensor?) and find it's correlation to pitch effectiveness and pitch selection.

[homer]

As a former catcher I can say that calling a game is important but I think the importance diminishes the further up the food chain you go. Guys in the majors don't get fooled like guys in the minors and calling a perfect game (from a catching perspective) isn't going to matter if a pitcher can't hit spots or change speeds. Not to mention, these guys game plan the opposing lineup - pitchers have an idea how they'll work a guy before they face him.