cabbagedad posted:
This is a discussion/debate that comes up fairly often here. As some have pointed out, most HS and college programs have a coach call pitches and there are many valid reasons. Will your HS son catcher actually be up on scouting reports and spray charts of opponents as much as the most qualified coach on staff? Even if he is, will his other responsibilities suffer a bit in order for him to keep track of all this? The catcher has so many responsibilities and things to keep track of without calling pitches. How many HS kids are really equipped to add that and put the team in a better position to win than if that qualified coach was calling? …
Many VALID reasons or many reasons? 
I suppose a lot has to do with what one considers valid reasons.
How many HS teams scout every game and how many actually have access to an opponent’s spray charts? I know our coaches have sometimes scouted teams in tournaments and playoffs when they can, but other than that there isn’t a whole lot of scouting going on. I’ve been doing HSV for a good while now and have never once see a scatter chart for any opponent other than occasionally when we’ve played a team a 2nd or 3rd time, and then its only for the games we’ve played against them.
What does the catcher have to keep track of that the person calling the pitches in the dugout doesn’t have to?
I don’t know for sure what percentage of HS catchers calling pitches would put the team in a better position to win if they were all allowed to call the games themselves, but on the other hand how does anyone know for sure what percentage wouldn’t do at least an equal or better job?
I guess much of how a person feels about it depends on how much s/he feels the game is impacted by the calling of the pitches and I’m sure that varies from pitcher to pitcher, game to game, and situation to situation. Personally, I don’t think the pitches and locations called impact the game nearly as much as the pitcher’s ability to execute the pitch correctly, and I haven’t seen many HS pitchers can do that even half the time. Unfortunately, since there are no do overs there’s no way to test anyone’s philosophy on it. 