My son, also a catcher but 2023, was in similar spot as your son last summer, but with not as good measurables as your son. He had a mid-major show serious interest beginning of last summer that ended up ghosting him and went with a different 2023 catcher. The mid-major he ended up committing to saw him play at Jupiter last fall. The common thread with all the schools that showed interest was they saw him play behind the plate. His metrics and recommendations from his coaches may have put him on their list to look at. But it's seeing him play behind the plate that ultimately generated the interest. The 2 schools that showed the most interest didn't even have him on their list, they just saw him play in one of the games they happen to be watching.
My son also changed travel team after last summer and it was absolutely the best decision he made. He's been with the same group since 7 yrs old. That group of boys transitioned as a team to an high-level academy after 12u. We love the coaching staff and the team. Unlike your son, my son gets a lot of playing time behind the plate as one of the main catchers. The coaching staff loves him and tried to get his name to their college contacts. But for whatever reason, nothing was working out. We don't understand why also (your title for this thread resonated with me as I've asked this same question lots of time). It could be that the colleges the coaches have contact with is not a good match for my son.
My son moved to another team his senior year as half of his HS varsity teammates plays on this travel team, and their practices are at his HS field (a lot closer to our house). We have a good relationship with this coach. It so happens that his new travel coach has a different set of college coach contacts, and mostly mid major type coaches (while his previous travel team has more contacts with P5 schools). Even then, the mid major that ended up recruiting my son wasn't even contacted by his travel coach. He just happened to watch the game in Jupiter when my son was catching. What did make a big difference is that his travel coach hit it off with the college coach, and they chatted a full hour, not just about my son but about life and faith. They traded lots of text messages and calls after that.
So to sum it up:
- As a catcher, he needs to play, not just DH. I can't tell you how many catchers we know that have amazing measurables, but doesn't help their team win with their play behind the plate.
- Maybe find a different travel team to address the playing time issue, and to find another coaching staff with a different set of contacts in the college coaching world (maybe geared more towards mid major, D2, and/or Juco.
- Yes, transfer portal and extra covid year absolutely has an impact. It's not too late yet. He may get more interested end of summer or fall.
One concern from your post is this: "He has some awkwardness to his movements behind the plate and his muscular frame draws some concern regarding long term mobility". Maybe get a very realistic assessment of your son's future behind the plate? If there's legit concern, maybe market him as a first baseman or even OF? I think he plays these positions based on what I saw in his PG profile.