Catcher's Priorities

Developmental priorities for catchers.
1. Catch
2. Block
3. Throw
4. Game management

JW

Jerry Weinstein's list from another thread.

Can't argue with either of those.

Crudy, you obviously want a coach on the field and really want to look for leadership qualities in your catcher. Jerry's listing of game management at 4 makes sense as many college coaches take alot of that away from the catcher.

I've always looked at the catcher and SS's hustle factor hard as I believe the play at those two positions does help set a tone or attitude for the team.

Catch and throw!

Catch, block, throw and game management say it all. Nowadays a catcher should also be able to hit, but if you're good enough defensively, they'll take any hitting you can provide as a bonus. Two examples. 1st is Dwight Childs, who played part of one summer on our Connie Mack team. He's the Arizona Wildcats catcher now, and Baseball America just described him something along the lines of "Arizona will happily take any offense they can get from their catcher, who happens to be one of the countries top defensive cathers." 2nd example is a friend of the family, who just turned twenty years old. He's from Australia, and was signed by an MLB club when he was 16, solely because of his defensive skills. Baseball America named him as his organizations top defensive catcher in their minor league system last year. He hit about .215-.220 last season. I got a call from him on the 14th, to give the kids his new cell phone number. When I asked what he was doing calling so soon, since he should still be in Australia, he replied "Because I got invited to big league camp, mate."

Neither of these guys got to where they are by their hitting. They're very good guys at catching, blocking, throwing (Childs throwing is incredible)and GAME MANAGEMENT. Both are completely capable of calling their own games, something too few catchers can do well in this day and age of coaches thinking for them.

IF you can do all these defensive things well, you can play for a very long time.

If a catcher cannot block (runners advance and runs score) you can throw everything else out the window.


IMHO,

drill

One cue we always used was being able to "control the Pitched Ball". Doesn't matter whether he just catches it, has to block it or whatever. Game management starts with controlling the pitched ball or Catching it.

Drill, you make a good point, but as most of these types of arguments go, you can't assume he has none of everything else. Obviously he has some blocking skills...

I would have to agree with you about have to have other stuff along with blocking skills.

I have just seen to many games get away with pitchers who throw wild with men on base and the catcher cannot keep the ball in front of him. Good catchers remind the pitcher to come in and where to put his glove when the catcher throws the ball from the back stop. I have seen to many pitcher compounds a mistake they made with frustration and forgetting to cover home plated and leaves the catcher stranded after a wild pitch.

drill

hi, i know this is an old thread but wanted to voice my opinion, what you will think i dont know but its what i feel...

i belive that the priorities of a cather is dependant on the teams style of play, the ability and traits of his team mates, and the coaching staff.

by style of play i mean a team who are offensively based may want their catcher to have higher offensive ability rather than his blocking ability. if his team is based around defence and their pitching staff blocking ability and game mangement would be top priority.

the ability of his team mates i primarily mean pitchers. if a pitcher has good command but below average pitch selection coaches may want a leader type role and his game calling ability. if the pitcher has below average mental toughness then it would be someone who inspires confidence and can focus a pitcher. if he has poor command than blocking and receiving bility would be top priority.

in regards to the coaching staff the way in which someone runs a team may mean a priority is on a certain area for catchers. by this i mean, more laid back coaches may want there catcher to be leader, take control of the team and have a ahnds on approach. coaches who hve a hands on approach may want there catcher to be a leader but by example. it has been said already in regrds to hustle etc.

that is my personal opinion on the matter. as a catcher myself i will list the priorities which I place upon MYSELF. and for the record i am 17

1) leadership- this is due to the fact i am the teams captain as well as the catcher. i try to not only lead by example ( hustle, technique etc) but through taking control of the team and being ble to communicate with the whole team

2) blocking ability and receiving ability- some people may class this as seperate things but for me i put them together. this si because my tems pitches command is average and therefore i have to block pitches, as well as 'keep strikes strikes' and be able to frame pitches.

3)throwing ability- as i have said commnd is average and therefore there are baserunners lot of the time. if they steal i must throw them out

4) game management- for me persoanally this not only refes to calling pitches but organising the defence and their positioning. many of my team do not have indepth knowledge of the game and how to position themselves in regards to the situation and therefore i must do this. also calling which base the ball is to go to as some of my team become flustered and make mental errors during games...

if it can be called a priority one thing that i hold above anything else is the desire to be the best to your ability and to do the things neccassary to achieve this (some want to be the best but not willing to put the work and effort in) i did not put that in my list above as this is a priority for all not just catchers

well thats my thoughts and persoanal priorities. any further thoughts or comments on mine? it would be appreciated..

further info: like i said im 17, been plying baseball for 6 years, played for great britain in 3 tournments and i was the starting catcher. i also played outfield and have played 1B

it depends on who you are and what level.
if your a coach you need a guy that can lead a team, recieve and block most and than throw hopefully who cares about hitting.
if your a catcher in HS looking to move on to pro ball nothing but arm strength and hitting matters, theyll teach you the rest
if youre gona play college you need to be able to recieve block throw and hitting is a plus
catchings a difficult position because you can never have enough attention for one apecific aspect and youll never be able to completely focus on one at a time. its hard to talk about pitching for the next inning when your on deck trying to scout the pitcher so you haev a better chance of hitting

From an umpire's prespective:

1. Protect the umpire. There is nothing we like better than a catcher who blocks pitches in the dirt with no one on. That's the way to initiate a great relationship.

2. Make the borderline pitch look like a strike. This is especially important on the pitch at the hollow of the knee. Take a baseball and hold it so the top of the ball is at the hollow of the knee below the kneecap. Notice how low that is. That's a strike. Now, consider that the batter has probably dug a hole to stand in, and the strike zone gets even lower. Catch that pitch with the fingers down and a bent elbow, and it's in the dirt. You won't get it that way. Catch the pitch with the fingers up and as close to the plate as you can and hold it there. Don't move the glove (We just tracked a 2.86 inch baseball moving at 85 mph into your glove and saw it the whole way. You better believe we can see a 14" glove move an inch in slo-mo.) Make that pitch look like a strike and we will be more than happy to ring it up for you.

3. Give us a good look at the zone. Most umpires work in the "slot" between the catcher and batter. If the catcher sets up way inside and blocks the slot, we move up to see the zone. We will NEVER move to the other side of the catcher. If the catcher sets up inside and high (ala J. Varitek), we can't see anything. You will lose strikes that way. If you want to set up inside, stay down.

4. A minor annoyance - If your coach asks you where a particular pitch was, don't tell him it was a strike. In or out usually works best (he can't see that).

Help us help you. We didn't go to school to call balls and safes.