Calling pitches -- art or science

Not only is University of South Carolina assistant coach Jerry Meyers one of the finest pitching coaches in college baseball, he also calls nearly every pitch, every game, and in that way has a direct responsibility for the outcome of a game in the same way offensive and defensive coordinators do in football.

There's no arguing his success in this field. Before he left for Old Dominion, USC had gone to three straight College World Series. His first year back, he helped win the second title in as many years and then helped South Carolina to the championship series again in 2012. Given his success at South Carolina, Gamecock Central sat down with Meyers on Tuesday morning to talk about the art of calling pitches. Or is it a science? Or both? Let's ask the man who knows best.

Gamecock Central: First, what was it like coming back to the job of pitching coach with the Gamecocks you had before leaving for Old Dominion?

Jerry Meyers: It was exciting. I'd been gone for six years, and didn't necessarily plan on coming back, but always missed it. I missed everything about it. I missed Columbia, I missed the whole magnitude of the program. I enjoyed what I was doing and found a lot of satisfaction in the position I had and our family liked it in Virginia, but we loved it here.

Coming back, the initial thought was when it popped up that we had to consider it, and it was exciting coming back, especially with the new facilities and even higher expectations for the program than when we left, even though we'd gone to Omaha three years in a row right before I left.

It didn't seem like there was much room to grow when I left, and six years later things had still advanced, grown and was even bigger than when I left. I hoped I'd get a ring, because if we didn't win the first year I came back it'd been my fault, right? But it's a great opportunity and we love it here.

GC: How does the new stadium and facility help you as a pitching coach?

Meyers: It's not a whole lot different. We put in the same amount of time, we get the same amount of work in. But it is nicer to have your weight room here at the facility. That's a little more productive, a little better from a time-management perspective to have our guys here at the facility. A bigger training room means improved recovery and maintenance, all the things that you benefit from being self-contained versus playing at the Sarge, lifting over at the football stadium, offices in the Roundhouse, a small training room there at the spring sports center, those kinds of things. For the athlete, it's more convenient.

GC: Is calling a game an art or a science?:

Meyers: It's a little of both. I've always done it. You create a feel for it. It is a lot of times going with a gut feeling. But at the same time there's a lot that goes into it with scouting reports, getting a feel for watching hitters during batting practice, getting feedback from catchers, and we've had the luxury of very knowledgeable catchers who have some instincts and probably provide the best feedback. Just all those things on down the line. We've had some catchers that are definitely capable of calling a quality game, and it all boils down to executing pitches more so than it does selection, anyway.

A lot goes into it. I have done it pretty much everywhere I've been. There will be some spurts where it's turned over to the catcher. Landon Powell, when I was here before, would probably some games call as much as 50 percent of the game and look for help or feedback from me when he was calling on his own. It's not something we've always been dead-set on, but it does take a little bit of responsibility off of the player. Some people look at it a different way, like is the pitcher or catcher learning to call their own game? I think they are, even if I'm calling it. But I'm taking the heat off of them, and most of the time it's a suggestion rather than a mandatory pitch call. They have some free reign with it.

GC: Like play-calling, can it be where sometimes you get into a groove where everything you call works, while at other times you feel like you can't get anyone out?

Meyers: Yeah. Sometimes it's a momentum thing, or you get in a rut or the pitcher isn't getting the ball where it needs to go so it doesn't matter what I call because they're making too many mistakes or not locating or setting up the pitches. Then we kind of reverse course a bit and try to simplify things or speed it up.

GC: Do you ever kind of quietly celebrate a big strikeout or out after making a good call?

Meyers: It's it it's the very last one of the game, maybe. I don't take credit for it, but you can get locked in. Getting the job done at the end of the day is what it's about. We all have a sense of relief when things work out. During the game you don't have much time to celebrate anything. You have to analyze it, log it and go to the next pitch. A lot happens in between innings, too, as far as making assessments. We'll talk about adjustments we're making, adjustments they're making, and take those into account.

GC: Do you have any games you think of that stand out where you think you really called an amazing game?

Meyers: I really don't look at it that way, because it's the pitcher who is having a great day. I'm just trying to help him, I really am. I think it's important to call pitches at our level, because I'll take the hear when it doesn't go well, and that allows the pitcher to move on.

Not that if he doesn't execute he can put the blame on me, but I'm taking some heat off and giving them an educated guess based off what I've seen on video or a gut feeling or experience. It gives them a crutch to lean on is how I look at calling pitches. If a guy has a great game, I don't look at it as I called a great game. I don't think you should look at it that way. If I wasn't there, he could have done the same thing. I'm just there trying to help him execute, lock him in and give him feedback.

When it's game time, that's all I'm trying to do. I see our guys throw in the bullpen everyday, I see them throw on flat ground, I kind of know what they're capable of, so when I am helping them it's when they're trying to do something that's taking them out of what will allow them to be consistent and successful. So I'll kind of simplify that. Some pitchers want to mix pitches up too much for no reason, so sometimes I don't let them do that. I assist in their development and confidence.

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