Originally Posted by excoach1:
I have to disagree on some of the comments....I think the first thing a catcher needs to do is to make sure the pitchers have confidence in the catcher's ability, especially blocking balls in the dirt -change-ups, curves, etc for a third strike....
excoach,
First, congrats on your son's recruiting success.
Next, I did see your post before you changed it... you featured my post as the one you disagreed with. No problem, but I would have to disagree back. The OP's question was specifically regarding HS. My answer was specifically regarding HS. I did take the liberty of assuming HS varsity.
We have had catchers in our system who were technically very strong when it came to receiving, could block balls in the dirt all day and frame very nicely. But sub-par arm strength and accuracy and slow reaction and/or footwork meant that most teams could run on them a lot. They couldn't prevent runners from advancing and thus the team could not be successful with them behind the dish against a competitive team. At the varsity level, yes, some runners will steal off pitchers but most varsity P's are at least adequate with varying looks, pick moves and slide steps to the point where a catcher with a sub-2 POP like your son's could control the running game reasonably well. I'm sorry your son's HS did not have that with their pitchers. I have seen a wide range of size and competitive levels of varsity HS and I haven't seen much of that except for the very weakest programs.
You said "Most high school mangers (right or wrong) will put their top 9 or 10 hitters in the line-up and make due on the defensive side." In several years of coaching HS ball, that has certainly not been the norm from my observations as it pertains to the catcher position. Maybe it's just a regional thing... just like refering to HS coaches as managers.