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At a certain point, does a guy get too tall to be a catcher? If so, how tall about is that? I would think that eventually you would get so tall that you wouldn't be able to get low enough to allow the umpire a good view.

I am 6 ft, and the doctor says I haven't had my growth spurt yet, and I am supposed to get between 4 and 6 inches, and I kind of hope I don't get much taller so I don't get too tall.
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You ask an interesting question, Adam. When height is discussed, players are almost always worried about not being tall enough. You're potentially playing a position where being too tall can be a disadvantage. My son was worried about not being tall enough, and was talking about it with a friend who played MLB baseball. The friend told my son that he was already as tall as Mike Lieberthal, Paul LoDuca, Brad Ausmus and several others. He then said that he needed to worry about being as good as them, not as tall as them. If you look at it from your perspective, you'll see that you will likely be as tall as Sandy Alomar, Benito Santiago, Mike Matheny, and several more as tall as them. Just like my son, worry about being as good as them, not about being as tall as them.
From all I have read and heard I figure it is less how tall you are and more how tall you get. If your 6'6" and stand straight up to throw down then yes, this could be an issue. If you stay low and have good mechanics, then look at it as a blessing.

Think of it this way. If you call an intentional walk, you will be able to get the ball out far enough so that someone like Cabrera wont drive a run in with it.

Good luck,

Tim
Last edited by deaconspoint
I'm 5-11, and I'm the short one in the family. I have 2 older brothers. One is 22, he's 6'2. The other is 19, he's 6'3. My little brother is 13, he's 5'5, we expect him to be about 6'4. I don't complain about my height, because I'm a catcher. Although Javy Lopez is 6'3. I'm pretty well built, so I'm very happy, I still wrestle with my older brothers, and win sometimes. Being on wrestling for a winter did help, though.
Here's some catcher's stats. Varitek, 6'3", Alomar was 6'5" and Fisk was listed at 6'2" but stood next to 6'2" Rice and easily had 2 to 3 inches on him. There are many other 6'2" to 6'5" catchers that play and have played. Pudge is like 5'9" and Yogi was an exagerated 5'8". Size really doesn't matter, but talent sure does.
I was 6'5" and was able to play 5 years professionally with the Red Sox and Devil Rays. The only thing that held me back from getting to the bigs and playing every day was hitting that da** slider. Smile Defensively, it was an asset my pitchers loved because they had a huge target to throw to and it was easier on my body wear and tear wise because I had more size and didn't get tired as easy...not to mention helping out in the collisions at the plate.

I will tell you that you will have to work twice as hard on keeping your foot speed as quick as the smaller guys, but if you are wanting to climb that ladder as far as you can go, you aren't afraid of a little hard work.

You would be surprised how many "big" (6'2+) catchers there are now a days in Division I and professional baseball. Just work at all the small things and you will be fine.
At 5-8 I blame Johnny Bench for the demise of the small catcher....just kidding...baseball players as a whole are bigger, stronger and faster than "them old days." I was just trying to come up as the Big Red Machine was in its heyday...I was told a hundred times if once...your too small...we are moving to bigger catchers...I do enjoy watching guys like Santiago and Pudge! They give hope to some of us ---Little People. I agree with above....if you have the talent, heart and willingness to work hard at your trade...no one but you can stand in your way.
I'm in the same boat as you in this.I'm around 6' tall and am expected to get about 4 inches taller.The only problem it has given me to be tall is at the plate.If nething, being tall has made catching easier for me.It makes me bigger when blocking, and often makes baserunners more afraid to steal against me.Just learn to use your heigth to your advantage and it will do nothing but help you.

I will be the dissenting voice here. Mauer was mentioned, but no one mentioned how he stopped catching years ago due to Concussions(non height related), bi-lateral leg weakness(??), and knees(possible size issue).

I think once you get over 6'3" you better make sure that you have a secondary position, and can hit the ball. It's hard enough on the knees when you are 6'0", 195 lbs. Can't imagine getting up and down when you are 6'5", 235, thousands(ten thousands?) of times per year.

While you might have a cannon of an arm, it has to take longer for a tall person to get his feet and arm in throwing position after bending down to dig a throw out of the dirt.

 I have nowhere near the experience in Baseball that Coach A has, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I'm old, back when 6'1" was considered a good size- I was switched over to pitching from catching at 16. Even then, I remember how bad my knees felt from July on. I do know that pitching coaches LOVE any kid 6'4" and over.

  Apropos of nothing, we have this wonderful local catcher who will be playing for TCU this spring. He says he's 5'8", but as my height challenged elder son said, "Dad, he's 5'6"!" Kid is a freak though. Switch hitter with power, fast, and a great arm. 

Maybe the lesson is that don't let your size hinder you.

 

One other thing. Catchers like Bench, Parrish and Carter used their size in collisions at home, but those collisions don't happen any more, at any level. I used to love them, but I was a hockey player when I wasn't playing ball, so it seemed pretty old hat, and kind of tame, to me. 

Last edited by 57special
CTbballDad posted:

1.77-1.80 pop time?  That’s better than MLB quality, I thought 2.00 was good?

Keep you eye open for Alec Thomas, he was popping solid 1.9 in high school and 

(Ohio PBR) and with serious conditioning cut it drastically!! 2.0 is good, 2.2 is good if your hitting the bags, but, then there is real fast, hes a solid 190 lbs and a freshman at Wilmington College.

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Last edited by Madmax8541
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

The best catcher in the world was recruited to a D3?

Last edited by RJM
RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

Like I said, hopefully by the grace of God he stays the course, goes without injury and makes it to that level. But if your being sarcastic or doubt it? That's fine, but I would recomend reaching out to some of the college scouts/PBR agents and enquire about some of the pops getting recorded these days. Like I said man, remember the name and maybe one day  if blessed to that dream and your a good agent he will consider your offer, if not? He would have had 4 great years of college ball and hopefully become a great attorney. I may add? Sir, if you took the time to view that video? And that was a warm up..he throws lazers man!! The topic was tall catchers and the concern, my answer is, your mind is your limit! Oh! His first college fall debut at bats were back to back home runs!!  Clinton Massie high school creates smart strong athletes. The school in the middle of nowhere. I have a few better videos that I'm certain would convince you more that I'll try and transfer from the video camera to this format. Also, another incredibly fast catcher from the area who to look for Zade Richardson! Cincinnati ohio has some of the best youth baseball programs around man...please dont use the flames coach incident as a benchmark...lol

Last edited by Madmax8541
RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

The best catcher in the world was recruited to a D3?

It's where he wanted to go sport. I dont need to convince you of anything, like I said, keep an eye out.

RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

The best catcher in the world was recruited to a D3?

"Best catcher in the world" ?? Maybe some day, but, if you think speed alone makes you the best? I question your knowledge of the position. Tell me? What's wrong with a Div 3 school? Tony Vittorio took the head coach position and is rebuilding it from the ground up! And has made a difference with the schools program that is immediately noticed. Once upon a time Wilmington had a very strong program and was just dropped. Not now!! Its on it's way back and fast.

CatcherDadNY posted:

Too many coaches at all levels have lost their minds over the eye candy of physically large players at all positions..to their detriment...and that of a lot of better players of averave size..hope they regain their sanity and get over this teenage crush like behavior

Our strongest hitter while with JB Yeager was 5'6, lead the team in HR and one of the best SS I've seen at his age!!! And could fly!!

Madmax8541 posted:
RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

The best catcher in the world was recruited to a D3?

"Best catcher in the world" ?? Maybe some day, but, if you think speed alone makes you the best? I question your knowledge of the position. Tell me? What's wrong with a Div 3 school? Tony Vittorio took the head coach position and is rebuilding it from the ground up! And has made a difference with the schools program that is immediately noticed. Once upon a time Wilmington had a very strong program and was just dropped. Not now!! Its on it's way back and fast.

You either have a reading comprehension problem or you’re the master of the misdirect. Your son has a better pop time than every MLB catcher? BS! This isn’t a board of gullible LL dads.

Last edited by RJM
RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:
RJM posted:
Madmax8541 posted:

It's all about continous conditioning and agility for speed and accuracy. My son his senior year stood 6'3, popped consistent 1.77 - 1.80, catcher velocity was at 79 mph, the day of the short fat kid behind the plate has long since died..lol, stay strong and fast! NO LIFTING FOR STRENGTH! NO PITCHING! ...become an agile brick wall...

Can I be your son’s agent? He has a better pop time than every MLB catcher. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/poptime

The best catcher in the world was recruited to a D3?

"Best catcher in the world" ?? Maybe some day, but, if you think speed alone makes you the best? I question your knowledge of the position. Tell me? What's wrong with a Div 3 school? Tony Vittorio took the head coach position and is rebuilding it from the ground up! And has made a difference with the schools program that is immediately noticed. Once upon a time Wilmington had a very strong program and was just dropped. Not now!! Its on it's way back and fast.

You either have a reading comprehension problem or you’re the master of the misdirect. Your son has a better pop time than every MLB catcher? BS! This isn’t a board of gullible LL dads.

If coaches come to me with these times, recorded them, listed them, should I say your all liars? And for you to be so naive to think I would have any reason misrepresent what I'm told? O.k? A few years back I could have told your dumb a** a kid from Cuba is throwing 105 mph and lemme guess, because NO ONE IN THE MLB DOES IT IT CANT EXIST? WELL IT DOES NOW FOOL! AND TELL ME AGAIN WHAT DIV SCHOOL HE ATTENDED? 

CTbballDad posted:

Does look good.  One thing I would say though is he’s getting out of his crouch early.  That’s a typical issue when evaluating catchers without a batter in the box.  

PBR performs their measurements in a bullpen, without a batter.  Having said that, your son has good form and measurables, good luck to him!

He has worked on exactly that, his mind would work a million times faster than his body responded, he was also stepping to the side a lot giving some of his throws a right whip, he is still young and has a lot to learn. For being a taller kid, which is why I even replied to this thread, from his primary he can literally sit on his but and get super low, which is where stretching and conditioning has helped him with being so tall.

CatsPop posted:

Yo MADMAX8541, chill.  You joined today, congrats you found a great place.  I understand pride in one's son, I have three of them.  Come on board, learn, share, provide comic relief but please don't poke the bears.

I am very chilled? The topic is catcher and if height is a concern? I gave input and pretty much get called a liar by the new gold standard of baseball catchers?? And all over recorded pop times, which I may add we are talking about between 1 and 3 tenths of "seconds" , proud? Absolutely! And will also encourage all kids to never let any size restrict them! Or ever be held back by negatives or coaches who say "no way" those are the idiots you run from. 

 

I would recommend naysayers to pay an easy visit to YouTube, search some new high school prospects and showcase videos/catcher pop times, Because YOU have never seen it doesnt mean these beast dont exist. And fyi, how many of you old folks like myself get faster with age? It makes sense for a kid who will be adding muscle mass to slow down at the MLB/older age, what makes them so impressive is they are still able to maintain that speed. 

Adam Carlton posted:
At a certain point, does a guy get too tall to be a catcher? If so, how tall about is that? I would think that eventually you would get so tall that you wouldn't be able to get low enough to allow the umpire a good view.

I am 6 ft, and the doctor says I haven't had my growth spurt yet, and I am supposed to get between 4 and 6 inches, and I kind of hope I don't get much taller so I don't get too tall.

If asked, I would say the ideal catcher size is 5-10, 180 to 6-1, 200.  Can he be bigger or smaller?  Sure.  But, I just think it's easier, at the highest level, for guys this size.  Split the difference and say 6 feet, 190.  Basically, Jason Kendall.  One of only 5 men in baseball history to catch 2,000+ games.

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