How Important is Hitting to Catcher's?

My take: for playing at the college level, hitting is extremely important.

Other than arm strength, the catching defensive skills can be taught. My guess is there is a lot more variability in hitting ability than there is in defensive catching skill, very good hitters will always be at a premium.

The "catch and throw" guy might have a spot on the team, but the hitter will be in the lineup a lot more. College baseball is a hitters sport.

On the other hand, if you're good enough defensively, they'll take less offense. Univ of Arizona has a catcher, their starter, who never generated much offense, but he is so good defensively that they're taking anything he can provide at the plate due to his outstanding ability to shut down the running game. I haven't seen his offensive stats lately, but he's always been the consummate 'catch and throw' guy and started as a freshman because of it.

I wish more coaches would have patience with catchers as hitters.They dont realize how beat up they are in some games,where after a few blocked balls,hitting isnt the easiest thing in the world.

Not to mention,at practice,you get twice as worn out as anyone else from bullpens,blocking drills.Then once you hit you dont have as much energy as others sometimes do.I think as long as a catcher works well with pitchers,and does his job behind the dish,hitting should be second. .250 and great D is something I would even call acceptable

I copied this from a previous post from Jerry Weinstein.

Athlete
2. Passion for the game
3. Student
4. Offensive potential
5. Catch & throw potential
6. Can he play?

Being a catching guy, it's hard for me to put offense above defense in this position but I always felt if we had an athlete with character we could develop his defensive skills.It was much more difficult to take a guy who had limited offensive skills & develop him into an above average offensive player.IMO the college game,especially with metal bats, is based on offense & pitching. There is little room in the lineup for a non offensive player. Certainly that is contingent upon the skills & abilities of the players who surround you.There are exceptions. But when you recruit in college baseball or scout for professional baseball, you have a role profile & if you make exceptions,you end up with a lot of mismatched parts.

We primarily found players at showcases.We got a lot of follows as the result of e-mails that were followed up by phone calls to coaches & local professional scouts.Once we had our list based on our needs, then we would see the players in games that meant something.We also saw lots of players in our camps. We always encouraged players who were interested in our school to attend camp so that we could have an extended look at them 7 have a hands on experience.

I have little experience, but I did have a conversation with the head scout/recruiter for a competitive collegiate ball club last week. I asked what he looks for in catchers for his program and he said: primarily defense--we consider catchers to be part of the pitching staff and they are invited to all meetings for pitching and coaches. Looking for athleticism, arm power, shiftiness behind the plate, smart/quick decisions, and ability impart confidence in pitcher, sticking the ball, accuracy. A good bat & good speed are gravy. Did say he'd rather have an athletic quick kid over a big slow kid behind the plate.

One guy, one program, but that's what he told me.

College level - hitting is top priority at the vast majority of the schools. Look over the sticks first, then pick the best defense.

As a general answer, hitting's very important, even in a catcher .

But like everything else, it will depend on the program and the coach which kind of catcher is chosen. How much offense does he have on the rest of the team? What's the pitching like --- a catcher who can't block up for some staffs could mean a merry-go-round on the bases, for example. Is it a small ball, running conference or an arm-and-hammer one?

I remember some years back when the Astros brought back Ausmus after a bout with a "power catcher"...they finally figured out their young pitching staff was going south fast without the support of a quality D guy.

It's hard for me not to be a bit bitter on this question. My son is the type of catcher that makes the pitching staff better and will shut down the running game. So he's playing behind a hitter who can 'catch'. And watching his career go down the tubes while seeing runs score on PBs and two-hoppers to second....well, other than the ones that sail into the OF. Where's Leo Durocher when we need him --- 'don't like them guys who drive in two runs and let in three'.

Taking a guy who can hit and developing his defensive skills is a nice idea and may even work with some guys. But catchers are a different breed. They have to have the desire to be beaten up back there and have the instincts to read the batters and baserunners. Then there's the technical observation, patience, and psychological skills to handle pitchers. Not all of what makes a quality catcher comes from reps.

Futurecatcher is right, coaches don't have any idea how demanding the job is.

This is an extremely debated topic/question. Akin to "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" Anyway, my son is also a C (only in HS). He has always been a good hitter ever since he was little. And he has always wanted to catch, ever since his first year in T-Ball. While hitting is key to him (he currently hits in the 3 or 4 spot and leads the team in hits and rbis), I think more important to him are his pitchers and taking care of them and making sure he calls the best game he can (yes, his HS coach allows him to call many of his own games), and blocks everything that goes awry, throws out all the runners he can, etc. He has had (and played with) major bruises all over his body, jammed fingers, etc. - everything that goes with the job. He has a wide body, and so... He knows that good pitching will beat good hitting, always, and feels that he is key in this contribution. He is smart and works the psychological portion of the game well - I cannot recall ever seeing him really rattled, he is very calm as a general rule behind the dish (of course if he gets a big hit, like driving in the game winning run, then he goes nuts!) He also knows that catchers take a lot of the heat when things go wrong and get very little of the glory, and he's ok with that.

I sort of think that he thinks of hitting as the "more relaxed" portion (if that is the right way to put it) of his job, but he knows that without good defense, his team might lose more games than win - others on the team can hit, only he does the catching and is the ultimate last stop for runs coming across the plate.

I also believe that catching tools generally go in this order (and I think my son's tools fall into line this way, because he has always been a catcher and knows to work on his tools in this order)

1. arm strength (we are lucky, this is also my son's top tool)
2. fielding (again, lucky, probably his second best tool)
3. hit for power or average (he currently hits more for average, but can also hit for power)
4. foot speed (my son is ok fast, not the fastest, not the slowest)

Does this make any sense?

Alot has to do with the make up of the team---if you have enough offense then a catcher who is a great defensive player with a average bat will be fine

If the team is not that strong offensively they will be looking for a catcher who can hit


Personally I like a catcher who can handle pitchers, be solid behind the plate and hit well

Some good comments about catchers hitting against good D.
We often relate all things baseball to the MLB level. At that level a team needs a quality receiver to catch the staff and give confidence to the pitchers. Historically, good mlb hitting catchers have been fewer than good D catchers.
That being said, those catchers were probably great hitters before they got to the top level.
On a youth team you need someone who can catch, and so on to every level, From a coaches perspective.
On an individual perspective, will you get looked at if you can't hit? Probably Not.

Coachric ..

quote:

On an individual perspective, will you get looked at if you can't hit? Probably Not.

Great observation.


Orlando ...

I like a catcher who can handle a slider that is breaking sharply, and if he can hit the ball to help the team win, all the better.

Let us take this one step further

Watching Joba last nite in the Indians Yanks game he was shaking off Molina like I have never seen a pitcher do---what if Posada was behind the plate?--I don't think he would be shaking Jorge off

I think the one thing we overlook all the time is how well a catcher and the pitching staff relate---last nite showed it with the Yankees


Perhaps it also tells us what is wrong with the pitching to date on the Yankees


Good catchers are tough to come by

Agree, all-around good catchers are very tough to come by. It is such a difficult position because there are so many things to know and do well throughout a game. I too think that pitching and hitting are the major factors of the game, and a catcher is half of the "pitching" team, as well as an infielder, and his pitchers must have confidence in him behind the plate. The pitching-catching connection is huge. We all know that great catchers are able to obtain many more strikes than a pitcher really throws. As for hitting, of course, he should probably be able to hit the ball too, and perhaps even steal a base or two when he gets on. I believe it is the most difficult position to play well all-around, and the least recognized. I am sure that others have their own perspectives on other positions.

Hey, I am well aware of the difficulties of catcher and being a catcher myself I know how hard it is to get blocking to be your second nature and all. But, honestly, I don't see it harder than a position player. I see some of the bad hops some infielders take, and I get to wear a mask...Maybe I'm just used to everything at catcher, I don't know.

Also, to note about hitting and catching- my coach thought I was good defensively but he thought my hitting was horrible. He told me my job is to work behind the plate and only to care about hitting when I'm in the box. He said my hitting will not affect my playing time as long as I do my job behind the dish. I never knew why he felt so badly about my hitting, but I never let it affect me. As the season started, I did get off to a slow start, but soon after, I moved the 5 spot, a few games at 3 and then the rest of the season at 4 spot.

No11 makes some interesting comments that I completely agree with. I've always felt that catcher is the hardest defensive position to play well. I also think it is the most important one, with all due respect to shortstops. Your catcher is in on nearly every play in a game, and has more responsibilities than any other position on the field. Many people, including coaches at lower levels, don't realize how truly important having a quality catcher is to the success of a team.

Ever wonder why so many managers in pro ball are former catchers? They learned and understand the game better than most position players. Don't even bring pitchers into that discussion.

06: absolutely agree. I was talking with a coach, who quite correctly was extolling the demands of SS over CF by commenting on how many more opportunities to field/misplay a ball for SS than CF. I agree, but he neglected to consider the C. I believe the C must be and is involved in every single play on the field. After all, consider his vantage point for the game - he is the only player who sees the entire field for the entire game - he faces out to the field, all others face in to him. The CF is the major of the OF, the SS is the major of the IF, but the C is the 5 star general of it all, and receives far more balls than any other position, SS included.

And, I believe that any good hitting C can become a good defensive C, and a good defensive C can become a better hitter. Just takes work ethic.

no11

It is not that easy to become a good defensive catcher---a lot of it is instinct and reactions are involved---many players cannot make the adjustment to catcher---to me catching is like hitting --you are either born with the ability to do it or not-- you cannot make a 200 hitter into a 300 hitter--it won't happen


A work ethic does not always make it happen--if the instincts and talent are not there no amount of work can make it happen


By the way my Dad caught and so did I

Yes, that's true. But I believe that a player who can do one thing better (ie, either hit or catch)would probably have the instincts and talent to learn the other well enough.

Catching is one of the most important jobs on the field. How many young hs pitchers have been made to look good by a talented catcher?

Yep.