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I watched a showcase this past weekend with the mindset of deciding if I should let my 2018 do one yet or wait until next year.  The biggest thing I noticed was how much the catchers were cheating to get a better time.  I honestly saw a sub 2 second listedbut he would have been hit by the batter during a game because he was moving to catch the ball almost in front of the plate.

My question is how does that equate into a catcher's score?  If a kid can do a sub 2 second pop with as much cheating on the pitchout, then how does a kid that keeps a pitch looking like a strike and has a 2.07 pop time rank?  I know that other factors are considered in the grade but wondered if my son work on trying to cheat as much as we witnessed or continue to work on correct form.  I know personally I would want the catcher with the best mechanics but know that a sub 2.0 gets some attention.
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Originally Posted by a catcher's dad:
I watched a showcase this past weekend with the mindset of deciding if I should let my 2018 do one yet or wait until next year.  The biggest thing I noticed was how much the catchers were cheating to get a better time.  I honestly saw a sub 2 second listedbut he would have been hit by the batter during a game because he was moving to catch the ball almost in front of the plate.

My question is how does that equate into a catcher's score?  If a kid can do a sub 2 second pop with as much cheating on the pitchout, then how does a kid that keeps a pitch looking like a strike and has a 2.07 pop time rank?  I know that other factors are considered in the grade but wondered if my son work on trying to cheat as much as we witnessed or continue to work on correct form.  I know personally I would want the catcher with the best mechanics but know that a sub 2.0 gets some attention.

This is a great question.  I used to think that sub 2.0 pop was the holy grail for a catcher, but then I'd see this type of cheating on PG videos and thought "there's no way anyone knowledgeable doesn't see what's happening here".  I've come to the conclusion that cheating is noticed and it does matter.  I say this because I notice a low correlation between pop time and rating on PG profiles.  When the video shows good technique and a clean <2.0 pop time, the comments are usually very complimentary and the rating is usually high (unless he can't hit).  When a video shows cheating and a <2.0 pop time the comments are not nearly as complimentary and rating not as high as the pop time could suggest.  Not a scientific analysis, but enough to convince me to keep my kid focused on doing it the right way.

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