With over 40 years as a major league player, manager and broadcaster, Buck Martinez has experienced baseball from all angles. Now in his role as the Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play announcer, Buck is taking your questions in his weekly blog for sportsnet.ca, Ask Buck Martinez.
Gord asks… Hi Buck, there seems to be a lot of coaches on a team. I am a bit confused about each of their roles is and who really has seniority. Can you review the different coaches and their roles?
Buck: Gord, the roles have changed over the years, but now there are very defined responsibilities that most teams employ.
I believe the most important coach on a staff is the pitching coach as that is the biggest key to success, pitching. The pitching coach has to put together the off-season throwing programs, the spring training schedule for all of his pitchers which may total 25-to-30 players.
During the March camp, the coach will work on areas that need improvement in the individual’s game, construct game plans and serve as a quasi-psychologist dealing with players’ doubts and concerns. During the season, a pitching coach will manage the staff’s work load as best he can to protect the long-term health of the group.
He logs the innings, work days and conditioning. He also has to have a strong relationship with the manager as so much of the game is based on the success or failure of the pitching staff.
It’s a tough job and most are vastly underpaid.
The bullpen coach is the right arm of the pitching coach. He is an "assistant" pitching coach, another set of eyes with possibly a different approach that may work with a pitcher or two.
He also manages the bullpen, monitoring the warm-ups, and how many times a reliever may throw during a game. Communication between the pitching coach and the bullpen coach is critical and they have to have one voice.
The bench coach is an assistant manager in the best of situations.
He generally runs the spring training camp, addresses schedules of workouts, coordinating drills, organizing batting practice and generally maintaining a smooth efficient camp for the manager.
During the season a bench coach will make suggestions and give reminders during the course of the game regarding pitching match-ups and offensive approaches.
The best combos are the ones that have an ongoing dialog during the nine innings.
The hitting coach may have the busiest job as he has 13-to-15 hitters and everybody always has problems.
With the facilities at the modern ballparks, each team has a batting cage that will be in use most of the afternoon before a night game. The players have "appointments" with the coach to work on specific drills or problem areas. They are very much like golfers these days; if they don’t pound hundreds of baseballs, they don’t feel ready for the game.
The hitting coach is also the guy that gives each hitter a scouting report on the opposing pitcher whether it is in pre-game about the starter or in the dugout after a pitching change.
I know most hitting coaches agonize with each of their hitters at-bats game after game. When the coach was a player, he only had one swing to worry about.
As a coach he has the entire team in his head.
The third base coach is the messenger for the manager. He gets the signs from the bench and passes them along to the hitter and the base runners. He also coaches the base runners around the infield, but most of that is done during spring training and pre game practice and the in-game coaching is reliant on the players’ effort and anticipation.
Generally, a third base coach also has a coaching specialty: base running, infield or outfield.
With the Jays’, Brian Butterfield coaches the offensive plays, infield defense, and infield instruction. He has lots of responsibilities.
The first base coach is the assistant messenger for the manager relaying the base running plans and reminding the man at first of the situation at hand and the strengths and weaknesses of the pitcher on the mound as to his abilty to control the running game.
Torey Luvullo for the Jays is also the outfield coach and the outfield defensive coordinator.
Gord, I know I have written a lot here, but the coaches are very important and often times under appreciated. They put in many long days teaching, preparing and encouraging their athletes and the biggest injustice in the game is they are not compensated in line with their impact and importance to the success and failure of the organization.
With the players’ minimum salary over US$400,000 annually, many coaches in the majors leagues make a quarter of that.
Sad but true.
Allan asks… Hey Buck, really enjoy your game-calling and these segments with “Ask Buck.”
I was recently listening to Jays radio as the team played Tampa Bay. Jo-Jo Reyes was on the mound and made a throw to first. Both commentators mentioned how his pick-off attempts were so poor that there wasn’t much need to throw them.
I was wondering: how often do pitchers work on their pick-off? What makes a great pick-off and are there certain drills that pitchers focus on?
As a former catcher, were there pitchers you caught that even fooled you with their pick-offs?
Buck: Allan, I don’t recall the specific situation with Jo-Jo Reyes but he doesn’t have a great move to first.
It is still important that he throws to first to keep the runner as close as possible to the bag and minimize steal attempts. A great pickoff move such as Andy Pettitte’s or Mark Buehrle’s is developed over the years and does take practice.
Jimmy Key and Kenny Rogers also can be put in that category; good moves and an understanding of who will run and when they go. There are ways to cut down on steals without a great pickoff move, as we see with Ricky Romero.
Ricky doesn’t have a great move to first, but he varies his delivery times by holding the ball, using the slide step and mixing up his release times.
As far as pitchers that fooled me when I was catching, it wasn’t a problem as we worked with them every day and had seen all of their tricks.
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Eric asks…
Hi Buck. What do you think of the Washington Nationals’ decision to move Bryce Harper from the catcher position to the outfield?
I believe that while Harper may get in more games in the outfield during the season than at catcher, isn’t he capable of being one of the few catchers that can hit for substantial power and average, thus possibly becoming the best catcher in the majors?
Plus, couldn’t he and Strasburg really become a dominant duo in baseball?
Buck: Eric, I am with you on Bryce Harper.
I would have kept him behind the plate with that dymanic bat. I know exactly what the Nationals are thinking: Harper would take a little longer to develop as a catcher and his arrival in the big leagues would be delayed.
But if he were to stay behind the plate with the potential of 40 home runs and 120 RBI you may have a Hall of Famer.
There are the naysayers who will look at Joe Mauer now and say, “I told you so,” but I don’t know if Mauer was going to be a big-time power hitter that could match up with Mark Teixeira, Ryan Howard or even his teammate, Justin Morneau.
Even Victor Martinez as a first baseman or a DH is just an average, or below average producer, but as a catcher, V-Mart is an all star.
The same is true with Harper in my mind. As for Strasburg, just keep your fingers crossed that he comes back as well as most Tommy John pitchers have because he is a really special young player. I can’t wait to see him healthy again.
I called his second game in the majors against the Cleveland Indians, and he was the real deal.
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Graham asks…Dear Buck, When I was a kid in the early ‘90s, there were two Blue Jays whose swings all the guys in the neighbourhood tried to imitate. There was no question about it: if you were left-handed, you copied John Olerud, and if you were right-handed, or a switch-hitter, you mimicked Tony Fernandez.
What makes a sweet swing, and who on the Blue Jays today, who has one?
Buck:Graham, I think the one key ingredient to a sweet swing is balance.
Olerud and Fernandez both looked very smooth because they were always balanced at the plate, rarely reaching awkwardly to make contact.
They let the ball come to them and didn’t chase much. You don’t often hear the phase sweet swing associated with a right handed hitter, but I will throw out Paul Molitor as one.
Jose Bautista is as balanced as any right-handed hitter and obviously very accomplished, but I don’t think his swing would be in that category.
There are a couple of sweet swings that come to mind in the AL East: Robbie Cano and Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox. Even as good as Ichiro is, his is not a sweet swing.
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Carleen asks… Hi Buck. I was just wondering: when a major league player gets optioned to the minors, what happens to his salary?
For example, let’s say Ricky Romero gets sent down. I know he signed a long-term deal and is due to make millions of dollars each year.
Buck: Carleen, when an established player such as Ricky Romero gets sent down to the minors, he would make the same money as if he were still in The Show. Younger players may have a split contract, that would pay them the major league minimum while in the big leagues and a reduced monthly salary during their time in the minors.
It is a big boost for a young player to get called up in September that first time as he will probably make as much money in the one month as he did all season in triple-A.
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Steve asks… Buck. Firstly, you and Tabby are the best duo in the business.
Your explanations of the inner workings of the game are second to none. One thing that has always confused me though is the catcher position.
When he gives his signals, is that actually the catcher calling pitches and location, or are signals coming from the dugout?
Also, since they always seem to give about 10 different signals, what does it all mean? And what about “one-pitch-wonder” Mariano Rivera?
We know what pitch he is going to throw, so is the catcher just signaling for location?
Buck: Steve, when a catcher gives signals he is calling the type of pitch and the location.
It is the exception for the bench to call pitches for a catcher. How is he supposed to learn if you never give him the freedom to make the calls? He has to understand which pitches go together when attacking a lineup.
From the side (bench) it is impossible to tell where the ball is in on the plate; you can see up and down but you can’t see in and out. You don’t know if the breaking ball broke correctly, or backed up.
As for Mighty Mo, he is a freak!
The only pitcher in the history of the game that throws a pitch and everyone knows what’s coming, a cutter.
His success is totally related to his ability to locate that cutter exactly where he wants it. The late movement is only four or five inches, but the hitter swings and the movement takes the ball off of the barrel of the bat for a squibber or another broken bat.
Maybe the most dominate pitcher of all time considering his role and the number of playoff innings he has logged.
Truly a first ballot Hall of Famer.
