PORT ST. LUCIE — During a recent spring start, Clay Holmes took the mound and looked toward his catcher for a pitch call. In turn, Luis Torrens looked toward the dugout. Torrens received signals from coaches for the pitch they believed should come next.
This process went on for “almost every pitch,” Holmes said, “just to kind of see what it was like.”
This is an extreme example — the frequency is not expected to carry over into the season — but the Mets are experimenting with what was considered major league sacrilege as recently as a couple of years ago.
The Mets were among the teams this spring to try out calling pitches from the dugout, although the coaches are relaying “suggestions,” Carlos Mendoza said, rather than dictating the exact pitch call.
