Teams have been stealing signs since baseball was invented, but Major League Baseball was forced to step in and halt practice after the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal rocked the sport after the 2017 seasons. and 2018. The league is also looking for ways to up the tempo of games, and the introduction of PitchCom this season was meant to help with that while preventing teams from stealing signs for advantages.
However, not everyone is a fan. New York Mets starter Max Scherzer finally tried the tool on Wednesday and later said he shouldn’t be in the game.
“Here’s what I’m going to say about PitchCom: It works,” Scherzer said after leading the Mets to a 3-2 win and sweeping streak over the Yankees. “Does it help? Yeah. But I also think it should be illegal.
What is PitchCom?
PitchCom is an electronic device that allows catchers to transmit pitch signals to pitchers. It was first used last season in the minor leagues and implemented in the major leagues in 2022 after teams tried the device and enjoyed using it during spring training.
Major League Baseball will allow the use of PitchCom, an electronic device that transmits signals from catchers to pitchers, during the 2022 regular season. pic.twitter.com/ZVltDc3UsX
— Baseball Authority (@BsblAuthority) April 6, 2022
The multi-piece device includes a bracelet worn on the receiver’s arm with a set of 12 buttons mapped to terrain types and locations. Once entered, the button sequence transmits a robotic voice to the caster which he hears through a speaker built into his cap. (For example: “Slider low away.”) Receivers also wear a speakerphone to ensure that the buttons they press lead to the correct pitch instructions. Audio cues can come in any language, and teams can also program a cue to tell the pitcher to throw to first base.
However, not all receivers wear their PitchCom device on their wrist.
Using PitchCom but still worried about stealing panels? 😂 pic.twitter.com/6EcLFwAo1U
— Tim and his friends (@timandfriends) April 12, 2022
Does it work?
Basically, yes. Even Scherzer admitted it.
There were issues, like the system not working as intended and sending the wrong pitch and/or location to the pitcher, which caused delays during games. Sometimes catchers and throwers give up and use the traditional hand and finger signs.
There were other times – either due to crowd noise or other factors – that made it difficult for pitchers to hear the signs.
Austin Voth has trouble hearing PitchCom and now basically uses his cap as a phone to try to hear him better. pic.twitter.com/z4mUsVhMD1
— Blake Finney (@FinneyBlake) April 27, 2022
These are the exceptions. For most battery players, PitchCom was a radical device that simplified something that for over 100 years was extremely complicated, especially with runners at second base. When the system is working properly, receivers don’t have to use a set of unique signs for each pitcher that have to be changed from game to game, series to series, or even on a shift. at bat.
In addition to erasing some instances of miscommunication between catchers and pitchers, PitchCom also improves game pacing as the catcher can relay a signal immediately after a pitch has been thrown. Pitchers no longer need to step on the rubber, look into the catcher, and decipher a combination of hand gestures before knowing what to throw.
And, of course, teams can more easily avoid the plague of sign theft through the use of PitchCom. While it’s safe to assume that teams looked for ways to determine upcoming pitches by observing the catcher as he presses buttons or other indicators that most of us couldn’t. to imagine.
That doesn’t mean teams can’t gain an advantage in other ways. Pitchers still tip pitches with tics in their setup or delivery, but it’s more difficult for a runner on second base to pass that information along as a pitch comes in.
So why is Scherzer so grumpy?
The Mets ace, who first tried out the device on his 38th birthday, is decidedly old-school when it comes to sign-stealing.
“Stealing signs is part of the game,” Scherzer said after Wednesday’s game. “For me, I’ve always prided myself on having a complex sign system and having that advantage over other pitchers. So the fact that we’re taking that out of the game and just adding technology, now you can’t steal second position panels. It’s part of baseball, trying to break someone’s signs.
It’s not like making PitchCom available is the only way MLB can fight sign theft. The league has banned the use of video feeds and tablets to transmit information to the dugout, but those rules have taken technology out of the equation and PitchCom is doing the opposite.
It might be boring for a guy who’s managed to do things one way for 15 major league seasons, but Scherzer’s comments indicate he likes to come up with complex game plans with receivers and maybe- even be fooling teams trying to gain an advantage because they think they’ve cracked the code. Scherzer seems to believe he can stay ahead of opposing teams without wearing a speakerphone.
We suckers with an excel sheet wrote an algorithm that repeatedly broke its complex system of signs https://t.co/6wDrqD3TG6 https://t.co/T0IXZ2fDcH
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) July 28, 2022
But some ingenious people at Athleticism could beg to differ.
In the tweet above, Sarris linked to a 2020 story he wrote with C. Trent Rosecrans and Jayson Stark, in which they spoke with catchers and throwers (including Scherzer!) about a sheet calculator they created to try to predict which pitches were coming based on signals from the catchers.
“Codebreaker” was the name used by members of the front office at Astros to refer to the algorithm that broke opponent signs, an algorithm that was eventually misused by players to steal signs electronically. during the match.
“The Codebreaker system, by itself, could have been perfectly legal,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “In other words, it started as an offside effort to decode the signs. A lot of teams do that. It doesn’t violate our rules.
When the Wall Street Journal published quotes from Manfred’s letter that provided details about the program, the report threw a simple question at The Athletic co-founder Adam Hansmann: “Can we do this?”
Turns out it was just an Excel program, run by an intern – at least at first. So Hansmann asked senior data scientist Michael Chiang if he thought he could run a simple Excel program that would predict the signs, and Chiang took some time out of his schedule to produce an Excel sheet that could break even complicated receiver signs before a half inning. was over. Single panels took up even fewer slots.
To Scherzer’s credit, he seemed puzzled after learning that Chiang’s algorithm was able to predict some of his locations. And what he said then sounded a lot like what he said about PitchCom.
“That’s how the game is played,” Scherzer said of the stolen signs with a runner on second base. “I’m okay with that, if that’s how it plays out. It’s just the next level of what you have to do.
Scherzer clearly appreciates the strategy of calling the signs, changing them, and keeping opposing teams’ detectives (or data scientists) at bay. But PitchCom is here to stay. Because even if teams find workarounds to continue stealing signs, MLB is just as interested in reducing the time between pitches.
That’s why many expect the league to implement pitch clocks, which have shortened minor league games by 20 minutes this season. The current system in minors includes a 14-second timer with no one on base and an 18-second timer with runners. There could be a few tweaks to that before MLB introduces it, possibly as early as spring training in 2023, but clocks are likely unavoidable.
PitchCom seems to be quite popular among pitchers, catchers and teams. Well, aside from a certain three-time Cy Young winner. Scherzer may not mind pitching with a clock, but several pitchers will complain as the league focuses on introducing ways to reduce game time, which in 2022 averages three hours and seven minutes and was not less than three. hours since 2011.
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan/USA Today)