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Two fingers! That usually means slider or curve.What must be remembered is that a catcher's signals to his pitcher can't be seen by the batter nor his teammates. So even if 70,000 fans are in the stands and 40 million more are watching on TV, the batter can only guess which pitch is about to be thrown.
That allows for a rather basic system. When a catcher places down one finger, he is calling for a fastball. The other signals are most often based a particular pitcher's repertoire. Two fingers down can be a slider or curveball. Three fingers down is quite possibly a split-fingered or four-seam fastball. Four fingers down might mean a change-up.
The pitcher always knows the sequence because he has studied it with his catcher throughout the season. His job on the mound is to nod his head, thereby accepting a cather's call, or shake off a pitch he doesn't want to throw and force the catcher to call another one. -
Things get quite a bit more complicated when there is a runner on second base because that runner can see the catcher's signs and can relay a signal to the batter, who would then know what pitch to expect.
Every team has a system that switches the signals around. For instance, a "plus two" system would mean that if the catcher puts down one finger for a fastball, the pitcher adds two to it. That would make it a three-finger call, which would translate into whatever that pitch is in the team's system.
Most often, however, the shift in signals with a runner on second base is more complex than that. Suffice it to say that pitchers must have a grasp on elementary arithmatic to understand what pitch he is supposed to throw. But the system is so ingrained in the pitchers and catchers, particularly at the major-league level, that it becomes second nature. -
OK, the signal has been called. Now set up that target!!The catcher doesn't just signal what pitch he wants thrown. He also lets the pitcher know where he wants it located.
He will wiggle his index finger to one side or the other. If he wiggleit toward his left thigh, that means he wants the ball pitched inside to a right-handed batter or outside to a left-handed batter. If he wiggles it toward his left thigh, it indicates the opposite.
It is the catcher's job to then set up a bit to the left or to the right and provide a target with the mitt just where he wants the ball pitched. And it is the umpire's job to understand that the pitch is a ball or strike based on where it crosses the plate, not where the catcher is set up.
