Can A Catcher That Doesn't Block Make It As A College Catcher

As the dad of 2 pitchers, I hope not....

If he can mash and has great grades and test scores my son’s D3 coach would recruit him, but he would never play catcher.

Never mind college, he'd never squat behind a high school home plate around here if he couldn't block a ball with runners on.  Catching is (arguably) the most important position on a baseball field.

Possibly he could be a college catching project (or any fielding position)  if his bat is truly elite.

JMO

The non-catcher will call only fast balls or "pitch outs" to survive.

Bob

@fenwaysouth posted:

Never mind college, he'd never squat behind a high school home plate around here if he couldn't block a ball with runners on.  Catching is (arguably) the most important position on a baseball field.

Possibly he could be a college catching project (or any fielding position)  if his bat is truly elite.

JMO

All true.  The problem with that approach is that if you're a C (or whatever) you probably only have to beat out one or two other guys to get in the lineup. If you're a DH, you have to beat out every non-starter on the team.

Maybe I'm inferring too much from the OP, but the question is - why is dad pushing this? Over the years I've seen parents find many ways to sabotage their son's baseball prospects, and insisting that they be a catcher or an infielder is definitely one of the most damaging -- and stupidest -- ones.

@JCG posted:

All true.  The problem with that approach is that if you're a C (or whatever) you probably only have to beat out one or two other guys to get in the lineup. If you're a DH, you have to beat out every non-starter on the team.

Maybe I'm inferring too much from the OP, but the question is - why is dad pushing this? Over the years I've seen parents find many ways to sabotage their son's baseball prospects, and insisting that they be a catcher or an infielder is definitely one of the most damaging -- and stupidest -- ones.

No clue why he’s pushing C. Kid has corner IF written all over him. One of the issues I also see is I don’t even think you can teach him to block, at least not at this age. He turns his head when he tries to pick.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

No clue why he’s pushing C. Kid has corner IF written all over him. One of the issues I also see is I don’t even think you can teach him to block, at least not at this age. He turns his head when he tries to pick.

Ooof.  He might get hurt if  he plays 3B.

@JCG posted:

All true.  The problem with that approach is that if you're a C (or whatever) you probably only have to beat out one or two other guys to get in the lineup. If you're a DH, you have to beat out every non-starter on the team.

Maybe I'm inferring too much from the OP, but the question is - why is dad pushing this? Over the years I've seen parents find many ways to sabotage their son's baseball prospects, and insisting that they be a catcher or an infielder is definitely one of the most damaging -- and stupidest -- ones.

Dad is pushing this because he doesn't know any better and he lacks objectivity.   Hopefully, Mom or an Uncle/Aunt knows something about baseball and can help Dad see the light.....

Maybe he can wear the mask at 3b? Is his catcher's mitt a Wilson or Rawlings?

Bob

As a pitcher mom this post turned my stomach.  Almost as bad as the catchers that won’t let a pitcher throw all his pitches because they are too hard to catch🙄

@Consultant posted:

Maybe he can wear the mask at 3b? Is his catcher's mitt a Wilson or Rawlings?

Bob

No idea what this kid uses, but my son loves his HoH Rawlings. So much so that we bought an extra of the same model so when we have to retire his current mitt he has one ready to go.

If it is a Wilson the catcher will catch 2 handed,

if it a Rawlings or Mizuno the catcher will catch one handed and not shift on low pitches.

He will "stab" because the mitt is "broken in" like a 1st base mitt.

Bob

IN a word... no

Gary Sanchez made it as a pro with big issues with passed balls, but that was before he forgot how to hit.....But as others have said he could be used in a different spot.  Also, I feel lousy lefty's pain too. 

Doesnt matter what dad thinks, its up to a coach who may be considering him. There is a ton of work that goes into working and developing college catchers.  And in some programs you have guys playing one position, or DH but can also catch if needed. You also have a lot of guys that are recruited as catchers but realize when they get there someone is in front of them and they dont want to wait, instead of realizing that they may have a better opportunity at another position.

I am a big believer in worrying about our own players and let someone else worry about theirs.

I can tell you this... the higher level he goes the more difficult it is to block.  Better pitchers have more velocity, movement and spin.  It's brutal and difficult for a really good HS catcher to adjust to effectively blocking good college pitchers.   And by effectively, I mean not only blocking the ball but maintaining control and keeping the runners in check.  This takes a lot of work to get to this level.  With that kid's attitude, he has no chance.

What Smitty said.

@Consultant posted:

If it is a Wilson the catcher will catch 2 handed,

if it a Rawlings or Mizuno the catcher will catch one handed and not shift on low pitches.

He will "stab" because the mitt is "broken in" like a 1st base mitt.

Bob

@Consultant Interesting Bob. Would you mind explaining that? I’m a bit curious.

As to the OP the answer is no. But you already knew that before you asked the question,

Pretty much Adbono. But there are a lot of people here who have seen more and know a lot more about HS and college ball than I ever will. I was surprised to see a player like this catching a HS game and also playing C for a strong travel program. I don’t know how much he catches for the travel team, but the dad says he splits time.

2025:

Several years ago we were preparing our teams for travel to Korea and Japan. During the workout one of our Coaches [now a MLB Catching Coach] mentioned to me when the players were playing catch.

He said "that catcher will is a "one handed" catcher!! "I said how do you know"?

He is using a Mizuno mitt and "broke it in" like a 1st baseman mitt. He cathes one handed and does not shift to the ball. A Wilson mitt does not allow a folded "break in", because is is "rounded" and produces "framing" and shifting to the thrown ball.

Bob

He might get recruited if he can throw and hit because a coach thinks he can teach him blocking.

But a guy that let's balls roll to the backstop is not playing.

A catcher simply can't hit enough to compensate for passed balls. A passed ball is worth probably about a run and a top hitter is probably worth like 0.3 runs above average.

Blocking is not valued so Highly because the difference between good and bad players is not that high in mlb so 5 more or less PBs over 162 is not a run but a guy that would allow one extra PB per game would be unplayable even if he hit like babe Ruth. In mlb that doesn't happen however, the PB leaders every year are around 15 or so which is one every 10 games or so.

One big impact I noticed with PB's is how pitcher's rhythm can be thrown off, even with no runners on. My son's team has a stud P that likes to work fast and you can see it in his face when the adrenaline starts going. He was facing a very good lineup and throwing a lot of curves in the dirt for swing and misses on any count. My son was C and was blocking everything and getting the ball back quick and seemed like the kid was already in his windup as the ball was hitting his glove. I thought, what if he wasn't blocking these and they had to wait for the on-deck batter to run over and fetch the ball and for the ump to throw a new ball in. Now that pitcher is sitting there waiting instead of attacking with his tempo.

My son's team had their first games today (D3) and the only Freshman starter was the catcher.  He beat out three others for the spot due to his catching skill, and from what I saw he was excellent behind the plate. Blocked everything in the dirt, controlled the game...Had to watch it on video as there were no fans allowed.   You can see why the coach decided to start him, he's a great catcher.  Oh in game two he went opposite field for a 2 run HR too.....

Sounds like a potential candidate for the crowded catch-all bucket that is the corner OF mix.

@Consultant posted:

2025:

Several years ago we were preparing our teams for travel to Korea and Japan. During the workout one of our Coaches [now a MLB Catching Coach] mentioned to me when the players were playing catch.

He said "that catcher will is a "one handed" catcher!! "I said how do you know"?

He is using a Mizuno mitt and "broke it in" like a 1st baseman mitt. He cathes one handed and does not shift to the ball. A Wilson mitt does not allow a folded "break in", because is is "rounded" and produces "framing" and shifting to the thrown ball.

Bob

Bob, I had to go back and unlike your previous post! I misunderstood it!  ;-)

Mizuno mitts, in my opinion, perform best at "framing" because they have the most pronounced "square" pocket. Perhaps All-Star mitts would be #2 in this regard and then a toss-up between Rawlings or Wilson. I noticed this WAY back. Kids learning the catching position performed MUCH better using a "square" pocket than did the kids using the "taco" fold. We called those kids terrible receivers when in reality their gloves probably just plain sucked.

May only look like a subtle difference but in my experience, this glove tends to break in more like a "taco".

Absorber;

The new Mizuno catcher's mitt is result of research with the Mizuno engineers and MLB catchers. "Canti" is a Japanese word for constant improvement.

Bob

@Dominik85 posted:

He might get recruited if he can throw and hit because a coach thinks he can teach him blocking.

But a guy that let's balls roll to the backstop is not playing.

A catcher simply can't hit enough to compensate for passed balls. A passed ball is worth probably about a run and a top hitter is probably worth like 0.3 runs above average.

Blocking is not valued so Highly because the difference between good and bad players is not that high in mlb so 5 more or less PBs over 162 is not a run but a guy that would allow one extra PB per game would be unplayable even if he hit like babe Ruth. In mlb that doesn't happen however, the PB leaders every year are around 15 or so which is one every 10 games or so.

I won't challenge your stats, but any ball that hits the dirt and gets past the catcher is a wild pitch, not a passed ball.