Will MLB use the mic’d up pitcher and catcher in the regular season?

Pre-season baseball and the All-Star game are two big mic’d up moments that fans look forward to. And while it is usually a bit of fun and very cool to have the booth commentators asking players questions while they are on the field, the pitcher-catcher mic’d up duo brought a surprising level of added value to the experience, leading lots of people on social media insisting that they would pay a stupid amount of money to have that be a regular feature.

While Alek Manoah was exciting, and Liam Hendriks was an absolute hoot, the real star inning of the experience was watching, and listening to, Nestor Cortes and Jose Trevino discuss strategy pitch-by-pitch. It brought the pitching duel against the MLB’s top batters into sharp relief, and was universally praised as some of the most exciting television coverage of the year.

With fans crystal clear that they would happily part with their hard-earned money to have access to this type of content regularly, there is virtually no chance that MLB will review their anti-technology stance. But why not? I mean, if they are going to allow a voiceless electronic communication between catcher and pitcher next season in the form of Pitch Com, why not explore voice communication?

It would go without saying that the communication would have to be censored for broadcast and completely closed-circuit, with none of annoyance of the commentators butting in. Yes, it may be a crowd-pleasing device, but these are still professional athletes at work.

So could it work? Of course. On a technological side.

Of course, there are problems to be addressed in such a proposal. Most importantly would be the reluctance of catchers to speak when the batter is listening to every word. I used to mumble to myself and then speak to batters, usually chatting about anything other than what was going on in my pitch signs, so it is most definitely a difficult bridge to cross. But it wouldn’t take much imagination to let the chatter happen outside of earshot, and maybe even the pitcher asking for pitches with the catcher shaking it off when necessary, as just one example.

The reluctance to allow anyone off of the team to listen in, and in fact, anyone outside of the bullpen or pitching-catching staff, goes deeper than simply the challenge posed by the batter of the moment. Even if your communications are sacrosanct during the game, by broadcasting these conversations, you give everyone an insight into your thought process, including your opponents. It wouldn’t take too long for other teams to work out what your were likely to throw if they had an entire library of you and your catcher walking them through it step-by-step.

The truth of the matter is that this is not going to be a feature in regular season play any time soon, maybe never. But it would be unwise to simply rule it out all together. Forty years ago, the concept of clocks in baseball was seen as ludicrous, to the point of dismissing the person who brought up the discussion as some sort of mental deficient. Yet, here we are. Instant replay? Never going to happen. And then, all of a sudden, it did. So is it possible that this will work it’s way into our national pastime? Yes, it is possible. I just wouldn’t hold my breath.

Here is the entire inning.