I've noticed much of the same with catcher recruiting, but I'd add that part of the country you live in is a huge challenge for D1 level catcher recruiting. In the NW, there are very few D1 schools compared to other parts of the country, so many catcher recruits from the NW that end up going to the D1 schools in the NW end up either being a bullpen guy, switching to another position if they were recruited for speed/bat, or not seeing significant playtime until junior year. Those that are recruited to start as freshmen, like at OSU-Adley Rutschman, start for the entire time they are there. So, OSU didn't need a starting catcher from the class of 2016-2018. (Don't forget these NW D1 schools also recruit nationally.) To get to a D1 school as a NW kid, you either need to be pretty special to begin with, have connections that can help you get recruited somewhere, or go JUCO. (Did I mention the D2, D3 options are also not plentiful?) As if the local D1 schools aren't competitive enough, try competing for a spot as a catcher on a D1 school in some West coast D1, say in California where there's more D1 options........I assume you can see the problems with that scenario.