Battery Mates: The Curious Relationship Between Pitchers and Catchers

The intimate interplay between a pitcher and catcher is a unique kind of relationship, unmatched by duos in any other sport. Sure, it's important for a quarterback to be in sync with his receivers, and a point guard's acute awareness of teammates on the court can make for exciting no-look passes and alley-oops. But nowhere else is such a profound alignment of mindset between two players so meaningful as that between pitcher and catcher. 

Throughout the entire game, pitchers rely on their appropriately termed "battery mates" to make proper calls behind the plate and develop a coordinated strategy. Both players must have a similar understanding of the situation and come to an unspoken consensus on how to respond: How many runners are on? How many outs are there? What did the hitter do in his last at-bat? What did he do on the last pitch? Who's on deck, and should we pitch around the current batter?

It is mind-boggling to think about just how many different potential approaches to any given situation exist. Sure, pitchers and catchers use signs to coordinate efforts to a degree, but it's more than just this. It's developing the trust to be able to call for a pitch inside and set up on the outside part of the plate to fool the hitter. It's creating a parallel deliberation process. It's years of building a certain rapport that allows the pair to come to a consensus time in and time out. 

Missing that connection can have a adverse consequences as well, beyond the occasional pass ball or wild pitch. In fact, managers will often sacrifice offensive power for a better pitcher-catcher combination. During his years with the Braves in the mid-90s, Greg Maddux never managed to establish a strong bond with Javier Lopez, the team's starting catcher. Though Lopez was much more offensively reliable, Maddux always pitched to Charlie O'Brian, and later Eddie Perez, with whom he was much more comfortable.

More recently, problems between Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett and starting catcher Jorge Posada gave manager Joe Girardi enough incentive to start Jose Molina, his second-string, .217-hitting catcher in last year's postseason. Burnett and Posada consistently had trouble agreeing on pitch selection throughout the season: when Posada caught Burnett, opposing batters hit .270 against him, compared to the .221 mark posted when Molina was behind the plate. It was only the second time Posada did not start a postseason game in the team's eight trips to the playoffs since 2000. The discord between Posada and Burnett was substantial enough for Girardi to prefer maintaining a more effective pitcher-catcher tandem. 

The ability to understand another's thought process and the relationship between pitchers and catchers is an integral and curious aspect of the game. While baseball may lack some of the constant, high-energy pace of other sports, it is this slower, deliberation process that allows for the development of such strategic duos.