How the D-backs Use the PitchCom to Run Their Defense
The Diamondbacks have been ramping up the intensity of their practices for the past three to four days. They've had their pitchers wear PitchCom to simulate the speed of the game and brought in baserunners from minor league camp to challenge the defense. Manager Torey Lovullo has been pleased with their fundamentals in pregame drills, but at the same time acknowledges a couple of areas where they can tighten up their execution.
"We just got to tighten up a couple little tiny things. Pitchers getting the information into their PitchCom while we're dialing up their responsibilities with picks, first and third plays. It's all those little things that are overlooked during a baseball season because we do it very well."
Lovullo is a huge believer in PitchCom, and they use it only not for calling pitches but to run their pick plays. The D-backs use PitchCom for everything, as it simplifies things for them. The dugout relays the sign to the catcher, which will either be a pitch sign or a sequence of their responsibilities on the next pitch. The catcher will then press a button on their transmitter, which will call out the responsibilities for the pitchers and infielders on a pick play or first and third play.
"We really believe in it, we run a lot through the PitchCom. It's not just fastball down and away. We run our pick series, first and third plays off of it."
Last October, this piece from The Athletic notes one such example of a team using the PitchCom to this effect. In Game 2 of the Wild Card Series between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays. With the Twins up 2-0 in the 5th, pitcher Sonny Gray picked off Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who represented the potential tying run. Catcher Ryan Jeffers got a sign from the dugout and tapped the button that relayed "Timing pick to second base" to both Gray and shortstop Carlos Correa. Correa tagged out Guerrero to end what ultimately proved to be the Blue Jays' last real scoring chance of that game and series.
There are pitchers new to the organization getting used to the new system, as they didn't use it all the time with their old team. Despite a couple glitches yesterday, Lovullo has been happy with what he's seen so far.
