Pitch Comm

[Pelican]

In the course of reading a piece on Johan Rojas, the Phillies’ phenomenal CF, there was mention of him wearing one of five pitch comm devices assigned to the team. What? I thought this device was for the pitcher and catcher, to avoid signals being stolen, and as part of the obsession to speed up the game. Does this mean that three more players get to wear the gear, and to know what the pitch will be? So that, I would guess, there is no need to relay pitch signs to those guys. And they can then relay the info to the fielders without devices.

As the Rojas article points out, it is very helpful for the defense to know what pitch is going to be thrown, and where. They - particularly the OF - can adjust accordingly. Normally, in my experience, pitch signs would be picked up by the middle IF, and then relayed to the OF and to the corner IF. Of course, with men on base, particularly runner on 2B, new signs have to be used. This electronic system would bypass that relay system, at least for the guys with pitch comm devices.

It will be interesting to see if this electronic information improves defensive efficiency. Of course, the pitcher has to throw the pitch as called. And the fielders still have to guess right. But - especially in the OF - a few steps in the right direction can make the difference between an out and a hit, often for extra bases. Of course, all this positioning needs to take place in the shorter intervals between pitches with the clock. So all this electronic wizardry may simply preserve the flow of information to the fielders, by expediting the process to match the quicker pace.

Thankfully, this and other rules changes and innovations do not need to change the game play in OOTP. However, when all is said and done, the statistics - notably SB - for 2023 are going to change significantly from prior years. So we should see the impact in game play in version 25.

[Cod]

Beginning this season (2023), MLB updated the PitchCom rules to state that at any one time, two transmitters and up to five receivers in total can be worn by the defensive team. Of note, the only limitation is that the transmitters may only be worn by the pitcher and catcher.

This article provides some insight into how defensive players use the device: https://www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/anal...com-on-defense

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Pelican

In the course of reading a piece on Johan Rojas, the Phillies’ phenomenal CF, there was mention of him wearing one of five pitch comm devices assigned to the team. What? I thought this device was for the pitcher and catcher, to avoid signals being stolen, and as part of the obsession to speed up the game. Does this mean that three more players get to wear the gear, and to know what the pitch will be? So that, I would guess, there is no need to relay pitch signs to those guys. And they can then relay the info to the fielders without devices.

As the Rojas article points out, it is very helpful for the defense to know what pitch is going to be thrown, and where. They - particularly the OF - can adjust accordingly. Normally, in my experience, pitch signs would be picked up by the middle IF, and then relayed to the OF and to the corner IF. Of course, with men on base, particularly runner on 2B, new signs have to be used. This electronic system would bypass that relay system, at least for the guys with pitch comm devices.

It will be interesting to see if this electronic information improves defensive efficiency. Of course, the pitcher has to throw the pitch as called. And the fielders still have to guess right. But - especially in the OF - a few steps in the right direction can make the difference between an out and a hit, often for extra bases. Of course, all this positioning needs to take place in the shorter intervals between pitches with the clock. So all this electronic wizardry may simply preserve the flow of information to the fielders, by expediting the process to match the quicker pace.

Thankfully, this and other rules changes and innovations do not need to change the game play in OOTP. However, when all is said and done, the statistics - notably SB - for 2023 are going to change significantly from prior years. So we should see the impact in game play in version 25.

I was prepared to be unimpressed with his defensive stats.

Nope. Not unimpressed. A DWar of +1.4 in VERY limited play is exceptional. All of his defensive metrics are as good as I've ever seen.