Blocking Percentages

quote:

Originally posted by IEBSBL:
For the first time at our school I have multiple players that can contend for the starting position from behind the plate and I am looking for ways to evaluate them and one thing that I want to look at is blocking balls in the dirt. Can someone tell me what they think would be a percentage of Dirt Balls that should be blocked by a Varsity catcher?

Depends on what you mean by percentage of Dirt Balls that should be blocked.

I can tell you how many balls hit the dirt in our last 8 games of the season last year, and the number since. That was something I hooked up and got working late last season.

Here’s how I track it. If a pitch hits the dirt and is a ball, I count it as a BID. If it’s a swinging strike I count it as SID. I don’t break it down as a WP in the dirt when a runner moves up. It’ll show up as only a WP. The assumption is the ball couldn’t be caught with ordinary effort, and since the vast majority are BIDs, I don’t bother to break them down. Also, I can’t tell whether a pitch in the dirt came with runners on. I prolly could if I wanted to, but I don’t see the purpose.

In those 8 games there were 102 total pitches in the dirt out of 2,026 pitches, and there were 16 WPs.

I’m not sure what you’re looking for because I don’t know your definition of “blocked”. It could be that there’s a runner on, a pitch was in the dirt, and the runner didn’t advance on a WP, or it could be that there were no runners on, there was a pitch in the dirt, and the ball didn’t get past the catcher.

But to be honest, there are pitches in the dirt and there are pitches in the dirt. As an ex-catcher I can tell you a FB in the dirt behind the plate can be a piece of cake to block compared to a breaking ball in the same place. Pitches in the dirt before the plate are a real tossup, and some couldn’t be blocked by Johnny Bench on his best day.

I could put a BID location as the 5th location choice on the chart program. Then checking the location of the runners on the next pitch would tell if it was a WP. That way you could track blocks. Or I could even pit BID and SID as a pitch result.

I see what you mean. You program is great I am playing with it and trying to compose a list of questions so that I do continue to bombard you. I will send the questions either tomorrow or Monday.

I think it would be better to just over the course of the games played to observe weather or not the catcher blocks well. Balls in the dirt have way too many variables to fairly keep track of counts.

Glad you’re having fun with it! Now we just have to figger out if its worth the time and trouble. LOL!

Don’t worry about the questions. Just ask ‘em and we’ll deal with them as best we can.

Ninthmanout,

Observation is always the best way to evaluate what’s going on, but the problem is, unless there is some kind of tracking going on, memory can and will play tricks on the observer.

90 or better, not distinguishing between wild pitches and passed balls. I'm basing this, unscientifically, on how many balls my son has to chase down. If it is in the dirt and the pitcher has thrown the pitch called for, a varsity pitcher should be able to read it and stop it, assuming it is within a couple of feet of the plate.

Also matters how quickly a catcher can get up after blocking. Some seem to fall on it and take longer to get the ball and make a throw. A varsity catcher should be able to throw out a runner who takes off on a blocked ball.

IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by IEBSBL:
For the first time at our school I have multiple players that can contend for the starting position from behind the plate and I am looking for ways to evaluate them and one thing that I want to look at is blocking balls in the dirt. Can someone tell me what they think would be a percentage of Dirt Balls that should be blocked by a Varsity catcher?

A top level HS catcher will typically receive or block >95% of all balls in a 100 pitch game. Usually the wild FB's that are wide of the plate will be the pitches that a very good catcher may not get to.

Agree statistics are nice if you can track them.....however, lateral blocking of breaking balls and errant FB's is a great gauge of the top level vs. average blocking catcher. Also, watch how many easy wild FB's in the dirt directly in front of your catchers do not get thru their 5-hole as a guage of who has great anticipatory blocking skills.

I agree with Dad re lateral blocking, and would add lateral movement in general. The better catchers will move laterally and catch or block balls that others won't.