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PHILADELPHIA – The Milwaukee Brewers have mostly gone away from button pushing.
To begin the season, most Brewers pitchers were utilizing PitchCom technology, a system devised to improve communication between pitchers and catchers, but during the team’s series this week against the Pirates and Phillies, there has been a noticeable lack of its usage.
The technology, approved by Major League Baseball for the first time this season, allows catchers to call pitch type and location electronically on a wristband. The call gets relayed to the pitcher via a headset placed in his hat.
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“We’re a mixed bag, I guess is the best way to say it,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
Catcher Omar Narváez said before to Saturday’s game that Corbin Burnes, who became the first hurler to use PitchCom in a regular-season MLB game, was the only pitcher still utilizing it regularly.
“It depends on when we want to use it,” Narváez said. “It’s not mandatory yet, so we’re kind of playing with it. … Sometimes it’s too fast for guys, sometimes it’s too slow. We kind of have to feel it out individually who likes it and who doesn’t. Right now we’re in that process of trying to figure it out.”
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PitchCom, in addition to combatting signal-stealing, is devised as a way to speed up the game. But not all of Milwaukee’s arms were comfortable yet with the tempo involved with getting the signal before stepping on the pitching rubber.
“Some guys we have didn’t want the pitch being called until they were on the rubber and looking in and then the catcher was doing all the buttons,” reliever Brent Suter said. “You might as well just call the pitch by signs then.”
It isn’t just the pitchers who have a say in whether to use it or not, either.
Catcher Victor Caratini said it’s a collaborative decision between him, Narváez and each individual pitcher. Narváez noted that he likes to take a few seconds between pitches to mentally process the scouting report for the batter at the plate and how his swing looks against whoever is on the mound.
“I kind of read hitters and then try to call the next pitch and I don’t have the time to think about it,” Narváez said. “We kind of just have to figure out and think about the tempo. I need some time to read the hitter and think about what he looks like with a particular pitch, so having to go fast down to my wrist and call a pitch right away, we don’t have time.”
Some Brewers pitchers also ran into problems with the volume on their headsets while on the mound. On opening day, Burnes noticeably had some difficulties hearing when crowd noise ramped up, and then the team had issues across the board during a game in Baltimore.
“I liked the idea and I really liked it in spring training,” Suter said. “It was a steady volume. I was able to get the pitches before I stepped on the rubber, which MLB OK’d, which was great for me. But for now, with the crowd noise difference, it was challenging.”
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