Pitcher or catcher?

Is he a good hitter?

_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

adm4415.....big kid for a sophomore!!. There is no right or wrong for your son. It depends on his ability. My son is doing both right now(6' 2" 225) and we have another member on this site whose son is doing both at Auburn-very well. My one suggestion is for him not to catch the day before he pitches or the day after(if he will be a starter). If he loves to do both,
he should, it will also give him more leverage in choices for
college or professional. I'm a firm believer that the more one throws the stronger the arm becomes. Please be careful, though, after he pitches to allow arm to recover sufficiently before catching.

Moc1

adm4415

You are in the midst of a dilemma but a very positive dilemma.

Wouldnt we all like to have this dilemma !!!!!

At his height, and he will surely get bigger and better considering his age, think pitching, first base and DH if he can hit--- he can always be a an emergency catcher if needed but right now I suggest to staying on the mound with 1B and DH as the alternate positions--stay away from catching becuase of the wear and tear

We have a player with us who has a similar situation-- if you want to chat about it plese feel free to call me

Tom Rizzi
www.collegeselect.org
800-782-3672

TRhit

moc

I agree about the throwing-- NOT PITCHING-- just playing catch!!!!

Even if you throw and catch an "incrediball" off a building wall !!!!

KIDS____ GO PLAY CATCH !!!!!

TRhit

TRHIT and MrandMrsbaseball, He is .250 to .300 hitter who is still perfecting his swing and mental approach to hitting. His big strength is he is very agile and is a varsity starter @ 3 sports which is a similar dilemma since all three sports (s****r, Basketball and baseball) what him to "concentrate" on thier sport.

BOTTOM LINE

The young man is a HS athlete in a program that needs athletes for each of the programs--not unusual in your area.

Again I say, if you want to chat call me

TRhit

One thing to be careful of;

Watch his arm slot when he pitches. If it starts to look like a catcher is throwing off the mound, let him know. Serious arm problems could develop if he continues to throw like a catcher off of a mound. It is not healthy to throw as hard as you can every pitch from behind your ear.

adm4415,

Just curious. Does he hit left handed, or is he a righty?

Fungo , where are you??

Darn, I was going to ask the same question!

Pitch or catch...maybe do both? There are a lot of variables (of course). What does HE want to do? What does his coach want him to do? Like TR said a good problem to have. What do you think is his best position? Being a catcher has some real pluses. He gets to bat. He can have a bad day and still get the start the next day. Good catchers are hard to find. Pitchers can be heros or zeros.... Depends on how good he is. Here's the way my son (with my help) handled the situation. We felt he could go to the next level either pitching or catching. Coming out of high school he let everyone know his primary position was catching but he would pitch if he was needed. During the high school years he migrated more to pitching because of the team's needs. He was drafted out of high school as a catcher and signed with Auburn as a catcher but has pitched an inning here and there. His coached asked if he would pitch more and he agreed. Last Sunday he got his first SEC start on the mound and has been told he will get the start next Sunday at Tennessee. I will caution you to monitor the pitch counts during high school and stay in tune with your son's arm. There is an exposure for arm abuse if he decides to do both.
Not to confuse the situation but playing first base in addition to catching and pitching allows the player another method to recover and get his arm back into pitching shape quicker.
Good Luck,
Fungo

NVR1 and fungo
He is a right handed hitter. He is equally good @ catcher and 1b. He likes catcher the best. We keep getting advice to go towards pitching because of his size and strength favoring pitching and working against him as a catcher.
(6'-5")

I am very interested in the responses on this thread. My 8th grader(14 years old, 5'11, 136 lbs)is the jr. high #1 catcher. The high school coach considers him to be the #2 pitcher on his team. This is a new development because the coaches had said he was developing towards being the varsity catcher next year. Yesterday the coaches began working with him on the mound. I am glad to see most responses here say a player can do both provided the coaches don't abuse the arm. I am confident our coaches won't.
Someone mentioned hitting. My son is not hitting well at this point in the season, but the coach is working on that area, too.
If the choice came down to pitch or catch, he would choose catching. He loves being behind the plate. It is that quarterback mentality, I think.

At 6'5" and a sophomore, I would say your son has been through some big growing spurts. Taller kids with this history will notoriously have a good deal of knee problems from my experience. I would stay away from catching and focus on P/1st. That kind of size can open doors for him, but keep his legs healthy.

AgentDad makes a great point regarding the knees

That growth spurt (11" in less than 2 yrs., age 10-12) was what started sons osgood slaughters.
He had to give up catching (and basketball) due to pain.
Since he's always pitched, too, it has worked out fine.

Thanks to everybody for your advice. Once again I have learned something from these message boards.