Chris Carpenter ranks his change-up as his fourth pitch. He's almost over-using it if he throws it more than five times a game. It is the needle in Carpenter's pitching haystack, a sliver occasionally dusted off deep in a game or as Plan B if one of his more reliable pitches isn't connecting.So the Cardinals' former Cy Young Award winner thought it a good idea on April 21 to do something different to Arizona Diamondbacks leadoff hitter and current NL home run leader Kelly Johnson, a strong fastball hitter probably expecting a first-pitch fastball in his first at-bat.
The idea is so novel that Carpenter expected it would come as a surprise to catcher Yadier Molina, even though Molina knows Carpenter like the back of his Gold Glove.
"I'm standing on the mound and I've already got a change-up in my hand. You know how many change-ups I throw — not a lot. It's my fourth pitch. In this situation, there is absolutely no way Yadi is going to call a change-up. I've already prepared to shake to get to what I want to throw."
Except rather than put down one or two fingers, Molina wiggles four.
He's asking for a change-up.
More than one pitch, Carpenter's memory goes to a crucial nuance of Molina's game. Blessed with the game's most intimidating catching arm, Molina lugs an encyclopedia to his position complete with hitters' tendencies, his pitchers' preferences and an innate creativity that goes beyond caught stealing percentages.
Or, as Carpenter explains it, "Anybody can go out there and put fingers down. But to go out there and put them down together at the right time in the right sequences make him super special."
"Not enough is said or written about what his knowledge brings to our pitching staff," insists Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. "It's a gift that not everybody has. It goes beyond the obvious. It's a very real asset."
"Knowing my pitchers and calling a game is an important part of what I do. It's something I take pride in," Molina said last week. "They should know I'm there to help them. It's not just catching and throwing the ball. It's working with them to control the game."
Kyle Lohse is in his 10th major-league season. He has only 10 fewer career starts than Carpenter and almost three times as many as Adam Wainwright. He has pitched in both leagues and spent the last five seasons with three NL teams. At 31, he is entitled to a strong opinion about how to shape his game.
By his own count, Lohse has shaken off Molina only once this season, the same as rookie lefthander Jaime Garcia.
"Yadi knows what each of us do well. He knows the hitters. He really cares. He and Dunc have a plan, and he works off of that. He's not back there guessing," Lohse said.
Molina reached St. Louis as the 2004 understudy to four-time Gold Glove winner Mike Matheny. Like Matheny, Molina believes his offensive game subordinate to helping his pitchers. The trait was instilled in a home that included catching brothers Jose and Bengie. Asked when he became confident handling a major-league staff, Molina responds unflinchingly: "2004."
Like Matheny, Molina takes pitch-calling personally. If the shifting, receiving and throwing represent the mechanics of his craft, handling a pitcher is its art.
"His creativity and his instincts are off the charts," manager Tony La Russa said. "Whatever credit he gets, it's not enough."
Molina's résumé features two consecutive Gold Gloves, 33 pick-offs since 2005 (more than twice the next most prolific catcher) and a 41.5 percent success rate against opposing base-stealers.
The rookie Garcia entered this weekend's series against the Pittsburgh Pirates third in the NL with a 1.13 ERA and only 33 runners allowed in 32 innings. Just as noticeable, he has outgrown a reputation as a fractious talent frequently bothered by what he can't control.
"I trust him," Garcia said. "He's special. You know he has a reason for what he puts down. It's a combination. I trust myself. I trust my stuff. I trust him."
Brad Penny carried a reputation to St. Louis of a powerful but inefficient talent who last season used 100 or more pitches in less than six innings six times. So far this season Penny is averaging 92 pitches and 6 2/3 innings per start. After previously averaging one walk every 3 1/3 innings in his career, Penny has averaged one walk every five innings this season.
The demands Duncan places on catchers are significant. He expects them to become familiar with his intricate charts and the video libraries compiled on rival hitters.
Molina represents an extension of Duncan's scheming. But he is also adept at using his own creativity to sculpt what his pitcher is doing best during a game. Duncan makes available data on whether a hitter prefers to swing early in the count, whether he changes tendencies in run-scoring situations or late in games and how he is vulnerable. The catcher enhances the plan by altering sequences, reading hitters' swings and knowing when to discard pitches that may not be effective on a given day. And he is to process all of it within a matter of seconds to keep his pitcher in rhythm.
Duncan tells Molina to look to the dugout if he is ever "stuck" for a pitch. Molina has yet to glance over for help this season.
Not once.
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