Madison Bumgarner figured the decision was coming earlier this week, when Major League Baseball approved use of PitchCom transmitters for pitchers. Still, he — like many starting pitchers around the game — met the move with relief.
“I was pretty happy, mainly because it would’ve been another adjustment if they didn’t because we had been using it all spring,” the Diamondbacks veteran said. “I like it. I think, definitely in conjunction with the timer, it’s gonna help a lot.”
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With the transmitters, which were in a trial phase during spring training, pitchers can press buttons to call their own pitch and location. The devices can be on the pitcher’s belt or the back of their glove. They’re available to all pitchers, but are primarily useful for starters, who have more offerings to work through.
In 2022, catchers were able to use transmitters to send pitch calls through an earpiece to pitchers. Now, with the introduction of the pitch clock, pitcher-catcher batteries need to be able to make faster pitch selection decisions.
“Most of the time, a catcher’s gonna be on the same page with you,” Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies said. “But there are times where it’s like, you’re feeling this pitch or you saw this and you want to go with it and the catcher isn’t in your mind so he can’t read it, he doesn’t know exactly what you’re thinking. And it’s sometimes difficult to get to that pitch in 10 seconds.”
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Often, pitchers and catchers are aligned in their thinking, having gone through extensive preparation for each batter in their pregame meeting. But most pitchers, Davies said, step to the rubber with a specific pitch in mind, regardless of the transmitter. That has eased the adjustment to the technology. Now, those pitchers can simply relay their choice to the catcher rather than shaking him off and waiting for a specific sign on the occasions where the two differ.
Pitchers being able to call their own games also provides a small reprieve for the Diamondbacks because of their personnel. With Carson Kelly out with a broken forearm, their starting catcher is Gabriel Moreno, who has less experience with this staff, having arrived via trade from Toronto in the off-season.
Still, there remains a gamecalling role for the catchers. The Diamondbacks’ starting pitchers have given catchers the authority to change the pitch call if they disagree with the initial decision.
“It’s, OK, he saw the hitter react this way on the pitch that I don’t always see and so he’s gonna try and get me that information,” Davies said.
Plus, not all starters will call their own pitches, even with the new technology. Merrill Kelly, the Diamondbacks’ No. 2 starter, is among those who feels more comfortable having the catcher call his pitches. Then, if he doesn’t like the decision, he can relay a different offering back to the catcher.
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“Whatever guys are comfortable with,” Davies said. “Typically, the way that I do it gives me the sense of conviction where it’s like, all right, I’m picking this pitch, I’m not debating, this is it, execute. In the past, I’ve gotten caught sometimes where I’m in between pitches.”
There’s also the wrinkle of youth for the Diamondbacks. While four of their five Opening Day starters are major-league veterans with the full trust of the coaching staff, fifth starter Ryne Nelson only has only made three MLB starts. Inexperienced options like Drey Jameson and Brandon Pfaadt fill out the bulk of the club’s depth behind him, as well.
Manager Torey Lovullo said starters like that would need to get approval from him to use the transmitter. Indeed, Nelson is the only Diamondbacks starter who will not use the technology to start the season. To avoid pitch clock violations, Nelson has had catchers begin sending him pitch calls through their PitchComs before he even steps on the rubber.
“I trust the players, but I know that following a gameplan is very important to this organization,” Lovullo said. “We work hard at gameplanning and I think just taking it off of their plate would be the best thing. Just allow them to go out and perform and get anchored and do their job without having to worry about calling pitches, that’ll be very helpful.”
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