60 Time

Its always a plus to have speed. Its more important at that posistion to be a great reciever thrower and hitter but speed never hurts it only helps. As far as the average 60 time it would depend on what level you are talking about. The better you hit the less important the speed factor is.

Also what would be a good pop time for varsity.

Allstar it would depend more on your grade year than varisty or jv. From my experience a good pop time is what you can throw accurate to the bag after recieveing the baseball properly.

Freshman- 2.3 2.4
Soph- 2.2 2.3
Jr- 2.1 2.2
Sr- 2.0 2.1

These would be considered good pop times from my experience working with HS catchers over the years.

Speed is always a plus, but most cathers with plus speed are moved from behind the plate at some point in their careers. Let's hope that happens to you as it will most likely mean you will be playing pro ball.

In general Allstar, 7 seconds is kind of the measuring stick.....above 7 seconds is average to fair to poor......below 7 seconds is above average to good to excellent......

AllStar- We had a catcher from our program that ran a 7.4 or so this year and went in the 7th round. I think we've had 8 catchers play pro ball. I would venture to say that not one broke 7.0 EVER. The facts are that the 60 is not number one in criteria for a great catcher.

On a sidenote, I see all these "experts" trying to "help" these kids with safe information but what they are really doing is trying to sell themselves or their company. Just answer the questions and stop worrying about if you answered it in a way that will promote your business. Be yourself and you'll be more successful.

Allstar, I was told by a scout that when a catcher's tools are rated, speed is not even factored in. As Coach May says, speed will always be a plus but the lack of speed will not limit a catcher's future. However, pop time, (arm strength) is very important. 2.0 is the magical number here. You don't have to throw a 2.0 to be sucessful in high school but that 2.0 seems to be a benchmark for big time college baseball and/or the pros.

quote:

Originally posted by ncball:
AllStar- We had a catcher from our program that ran a 7.4 or so this year and went in the 7th round. I think we've had 8 catchers play pro ball. I would venture to say that not one broke 7.0 EVER. The facts are that the 60 is not number one in criteria for a great catcher.

On a sidenote, I see all these "experts" trying to "help" these kids with safe information but what they are really doing is trying to sell themselves or their company. Just answer the questions and stop worrying about if you answered it in a way that will promote your business. Be yourself and you'll be more successful.

I should have clarified in my post that those generalized times I gave were for ANY position, not just catcher.

NCBall...I don't know if your post was directed at me in any way, but I'd like to state:

1- I am definitely not an expert. I coached college baseball for 7 years and have trained numerous athletes in all sports, but I admit I don't have all the answers.

2- Safe information is sometimes the only info you can give over the internet when you don't have enough quality info to evaluate an athlete and give them the most beneficial advice.

3- I am not trying to sell myself or my company. I host a website where everything is free--free info and free forum, designed to give people information that can point them in the right direction to be more successful. I am more than happy to give any info I can to "help" someone out. I do offer personal training services, but not once have I ever promoted that, because I only do it locally.

4- I am already successful, and I don't appreciate people lecturing others when they don't have all the facts!


On another note....at one particular D3 college I coached at, we used a rating system for our players. We rated them in hitting, fielding, arm strength, and speed on the following scale:

1=no college potential
2=college jv player
3=college starter/backup potential with work
4=college starter
5=ability to play at another level

Now, in my 4 years there, we never had a player drafted, though we did have many kids go on and play in the Northern League, and we played teams in our conference who had numerous players drafted and now playing in MLB.

I didn't save any of the rating sheets for our players to see how we rated a particular range of 60 times. However, I did save some results: our fastest 3 times in one particular year were 7.03, 7.06, 7.09......and only one of those 3 kids were starters. In 4 years, I believe we only had 1 kid test under 7.

I wasn't specifically talking about anybody. Just alot of people in general. Your last post just gave some good info. That's what people are looking for.

My coach clocked me and told me I was constantly getting a 1.95 pop time and accurate. I'm also only a sophomore. So is there stuff i can help yo get my pop time faster.

There are certainly things you can do to improve your pop time.

1. First and foremost work on the speciifc skill of receiving a pitch, transfering the ball and getting it to second base. The more efficient you can do this the better your pop time will and the more consistant your throws will be. Try to make the situation as game like as possible.

2. Foot work. Work on this often as well. A speed ladder can help here tremendously.

3. Arm strength. The benefits of this are obvious.

A 1.95 pop time is very good as a soph. Keep up the good work!

Here is some info passed along to me from a person who played college and pro ball, coached in the midwest(jayhawk)for 4 years, and now runs an athletic training center and a baseball academy.


The premise behind the use of the 60 yard dash is that it is the distance to score from second base. The average MLB outfielder can (from contact) get the ball to home plate in 7 seconds, therefore, if you cannot score in that time, you will usually be out at the plate.


Here is the 8 point system some organizations use:

Exceptional
Well Above Avg.
Above Avg.
Average
Below Avg.
Well Below Avg.
Poor


60 Yard time:

Exceptional - 6.4 Less
Well Above Avg. - 6.60 - 6.51
Above Avg. - 6.80 - 6.61
Average - 7.00 - 6.81
Below Avg. - 7.30 - 7.01
Well Below Avg. - 7.50 - 7.31
Poor - 7.70 - 7.51


Home to 1b left handed batter

Exceptional - 3.9
Well Above Avg. - 4.0
Above Avg.- 4.1
Average - 4.2
Below Avg. - 4.3
Well Below Avg. - 4.4
Poor - 4.5



home to 1b right handed batter

Exceptional - 4.0
Well Above Avg. - 4.1
Above Avg. - 4.2
Average - 4.3
Below Avg. - 4.4
Well Below Avg. - 4.5
Poor - 4.6



Steal of second base

Exceptional - 3.00 Less
Well Above Avg. - 3.10 - 3.01
Above Avg. - 3.15 - 3.11
Average - 3.25 - 3.16
Below Avg. - 3.30 - 3.24
Well Below Avg. - 3.40 - 3.29
Poor - 3.60 - 3.48

MAXX, I speak with JHawk on other boards and I have visited his website. I referred him here a while ago when the big SPARQ debate was going on, but I don't think he ever posted. I'm just wondering how he came up with these numbers and where he hides this chart, because I haven't seen it anywhere.

I have no idea if it is the same person, but this is what he posted on my website....just thought I'd share. I think the 60 time ratings are accurate, but I never really looked closely at any of the other numbers because I've never tested those particular items....

The listed times are for pros, not high school or college. Just thought I'd clarify for a high school kid who thinks their 7.1 isn't very good. I've been to college camps where very few ran sub-7.0.

Also, the pop times are generally controlled and not with game situations. Many catchers learn to "cheat" the pop times for camps.

A true 1.9 for a soph. would be great.

Hey Max I always like the info you put out for everyone on this site. Maybe for the 60 however they should have a 52 or 53 yard time the real distance for a runner on 2b going to home if you throw in a basic 12-15 foot lead and a nice secondary lead on the pitch.

However, you would then have to time it with a 90 degree turn. Even with a lead-off, a 7.0 second to home is good considering the turn.

Is it even humanly possible for someone to steal 2B in less than 3 seconds with a standard lead?

PGSTAFF:
Not sure but great question, seems impossible, but I have been amazed b4

Interesting questions about the lead from the base. I never really considered it, because, like I said, I've only tested 60 yard dash, and it was a straight ahead test, not an "on the basepaths" test. I'll check my source and see what he says about these times...

My source tells me that those times are with a lead, but he did not indicate how big of a lead!

This is from Fox Sports back during the summer:

Reyes: Fastest since Deion?
After Jose Reyes hit an inside-the-park home run Thursday night, Mets pitcher Tom Glavine likened the shortstop's speed to Deion Sanders'. Astros second baseman Craig Biggio made the same comparison earlier in the week, but believe it or not, Reyes might not be the fastest player in the majors.


Jose Reyes' inside-the-park homer against the Dodgers certainly showed the Mets speedster is in the running for the title of MLB's fastest man. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)


The Royals' Joey Gathright is the fastest from home to first, consistently clocking 3.85 seconds, according to one scout. The Devil Rays' Carl Crawford is in the 3.9 range, while Reyes is 3.9-3.95. Another scout says that the Mariners' Ichiro can hit 3.85 "when he cares," noting that Ichiro's play of late on a losing club has been less than enthusiastic.

Going first-to-third, perhaps no player is faster than Crawford. Astros third baseman Aubrey Huff, Crawford's former teammate with the Devil Rays, says that there are times when Crawford nearly falls down rounding second; his body can't catch up with his legs.

Reyes is unique as well.

"When we were in New York, he attempted a steal and it looked like he had a terrible jump," Astros shortstop Adam Everett says. "The next thing I knew, he was right on top of me. He has unbelievable closing speed."

we have a transfer catcher on this year's team that ran a 6.67 60 and recorded a 1.85 for a pop time... just figured i'd throw that out there because he is a rarity...

Cool Quote:

"One time he (Cool Papa Bell) hit a line drive right past my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit his *** sliding into second."

-Satchel Paige

great quotes!