Dempsey strongly implied last night that he hated Wieters' pitch-calling

[Frobby]

On the post-game show last night, Rick Dempsey was effusive in his praise of Welington Castillo's pitch calling, saying things like "finally we have a catcher who will call something other than a fastball with two strikes and a runner on base!"    He never mentioned Wieters by name, but he gave the distinct impression that he thought Wieters was a lousy pitch-caller and that Castillo is a big improvement.    I was kind of surprised how blunt he was.

I know there are some posters who were critical of Wieters' pitch-calling at times, but it was usually criticism of a specific sequence, rather than a general statement.    I think Dempsey is overstating things, as he always tends to do anyways, but I'm curious what others think.

One difference I have noticed is that Wieters always called a lot of fastballs in the first couple of innings, whereas Castillo seems more inclined to show all the pitches right away.   

[eddie83]

I have noticed this all year, including Palmer. They seem to go out of their way with praising his pitch calling. 

[sportsfan8703]

Good thread. I thought to start it when I heard it but I'm lazy. Haha

Pretty shocking what Dempsey said. "We haven't had a pitcher and catcher work together and get out of innings like that in a long time."

At first I thought MW. Then after thinking I thought maybe he was referring to the maturation and development of Gausman and Bundy.  The slider has been a huge weapon for both of them. 

A catcher can't call pitches if the pitcher can't throw them. I don't think it was an all on attack on MW, but if it was, I like Dempsey even more. Once a Nat, always a Nat. 

[Redskins Rick]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

On the post-game show last night, Rick Dempsey was effusive in his praise of Welington Castillo's pitch calling, saying things like "finally we have a catcher who will call something other than a fastball with two strikes and a runner on base!"    He never mentioned Wieters by name, but he gave the distinct impression that he thought Wieters was a lousy pitch-caller and that Castillo is a big improvement.    I was kind of surprised how blunt he was.

I know there are some posters who were critical of Wieters' pitch-calling at times, but it was usually criticism of a specific sequence, rather than a general statement.    I think Dempsey is overstating things, as he always tends to do anyways, but I'm curious what others think.

One difference I have noticed is that Wieters always called a lot of fastballs in the first couple of innings, whereas Castillo seems more inclined to show all the pitches right away.   

Wait, I thought we had this discussion on OH, back 3 years.

I thought pitch selection was done from the dugout????????????

[weams]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Good thread. I thought to start it when I heard it but I'm lazy. Haha

Pretty shocking what Dempsey said. "We haven't had a pitcher and catcher work together and get out of innings like that in a long time."

At first I thought MW. Then after thinking I thought maybe he was referring to the maturation and development of Gausman and Bundy.  The slider has been a huge weapon for both of them. 

A catcher can't call pitches if the pitcher can't throw them. I don't think it was an all on attack on MW, but if it was, I like Dempsey even more. Once a Nat, always a Nat. 

There is a reason that Dan blocked and closed the door quickly to Matt's return.

[weams]

4 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Wait, I thought we had this discussion on OH, back 3 years.

I thought pitch selection was done from the dugout????????????

No, that was always untrue. 

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, weams said:

No, that was always untrue. 

Ok, so the catcher looking into the dugout before every pitch is what?

[Aristotelian]

Castillo was our MVP last night. Made several nice stops on Zach's repeated sinkers in the dirt with men on base in a one run ballgame. Great footwork and flexibility. 

The game he called in Bundy's first start was absolutely brilliant. 

Hard to quantify, but I feel like he is more creative than Wieters in his targets and communication.

I really like what I see so far. 

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Castillo was our MVP last night. Made several nice stops on Zach's repeated sinkers in the dirt with men on base in a one run ballgame. Great footwork and flexibility. 

The game he called in Bundy's first start was absolutely brilliant. 

Hard to quantify, but I feel like he is more creative than Wieters in his targets and communication.

I really like what I see so far. 

I agree, I do like what I've seen so far!

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Castillo was our MVP last night. Made several nice stops on Zach's repeated sinkers in the dirt with men on base in a one run ballgame. Great footwork and flexibility. 

The game he called in Bundy's first start was absolutely brilliant. 

Hard to quantify, but I feel like he is more creative than Wieters in his targets and communication.

I really like what I see so far. 

Believe me I really want to pile on MW, but it really could have more to do with Bundy and Gausman. Maybe the young guys feel more confident in calling their own game and don't defer to the vet catcher that had been on the team for 8 years. 

[clapdiddy]

15 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Ok, so the catcher looking into the dugout before every pitch is what?

If you notice, that's only when runners are on base.  They look to the dugout for throw-overs to first and other defensive signals, I believe.

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, clapdiddy said:

If you notice, that's only when runners are on base.  They look to the dugout for throw-overs to first and other defensive signals, I believe.

thanks, I will have to pay more attention.

[Redskins Rick]

12 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Believe me I really want to pile on MW, but it really could have more to do with Bundy and Gausman. Maybe the young guys feel more confident in calling their own game and don't defer to the vet catcher that had been on the team for 8 years. 

The other game WC sure looked like MW, coming out of the stance and firing a bullet to Davis at 1st.

 

[Snutchy]

Palmer has made it a point to mention that Castillo has them throwing everything out of the gate.

I like Matt, but Castillo is the superior catcher. 

[Crazysilver03]

46 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

I have noticed this all year, including Palmer. They seem to go out of their way with praising his pitch calling. 

This. I have been surprised how candid they have been about it.