(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The catcher is the true leader of any ball club. And I'll tell you something—I was a pitcher in high school and a bit in college, and it seemed like every time I shook off my catcher, I was guaranteed to give up a hit. So I learned quickly to trust my catcher and throw whatever he wanted me to throw.
4. Love it or hate it, this season's stretch of interleague play is upon us, creating a situation where hitters frequently face pitchers they have never seen before.
In baseball the advantage lies with the pitcher, but do the match ups created by interleague play give the pitcher an even greater advantage, or is this actually more helpful to the hitter? What do you think the best strategy is for Tribe hitters when it comes to handling the NL pitchers they will be facing over the course of the next few weeks?
Samantha Bunten: The greatest advantage would seem to go to the pitchers who have played in both leagues or the hitters who have played in both leagues.
The few who have seen what will be an unknown to most others will have the greatest advantage, whether they're the hurler or the batter.
As for the Tribe, there isn't much they can do other than prepare for the unknown as best they can via the obvious methods (film, scouting reports), and make good use of home field advantage when they have it, as home field counts more in interleague than it does during games against other AL teams.
Dale Thomas: Based upon the Tribe's interleague performance thus far, I have to say the advantage is clearly skewed towards the opposition's pitching...and hitting. Conversely, I could say it was a huge disadvantage to Tribe pitching...and hitting.
As for Tribe’s strategy for handling NL pitching, just put the bat on the ball early, as always. After you've seen his stuff, swing freely.
Scott Miles: To me, it seems pretty basic: The pitchers will have the advantage in the NL ballparks, and the hitters will in the AL parks. Especially NL pitchers.
I don't have the numbers to back this up, but I would imagine that the comfort level for an NL pitcher would be enormous at home, where he faces an AL lineup way out of its comfort zone without the DH. Then, conversely, I would imagine he would be at a similar disadvantage in the AL parks where the team can play its normal way.
As for the Tribe hitters, they just need to stick to their plan. I'm typing this while watching the team work Yovani Gallardo to over 60 pitches through two innings. Stay patient, work the count, get into the bullpen—that's their plan and it generally works, so stay with it.
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