I am a high school catcher and wanted to know what I need to get my pop too for college. My goal is to go mid d1 or D2. Right now, my in game pop is 2.05-2.2. How much should do I have to drop this by in order to play in college.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I suggest going to PBR and look up the top 5 catchers in your state for the 2023 class. See where they are commited and their respective pop times and velo.
Your required pop time is inversely related to your ability to hit the baseball.
If that's your in-game pop time, you are fine.
Most college coaches that I know are fine with a 2.0 IF IT IS ON THE BAG. Like so many other measurables the element of accuracy tends to be ignored by young players and parents. Sporting a low pop time doesn’t mean anything if the throw isn’t accurate.
Adbono;
you are correct. Also with a LH hitter or a tall pitcher. {Game Conditions true measure].
Bob
I would list catching tools in this order:
1. Receiving
2. Blocking
3. Throwing accuracy
4. Hitting
5. Arm strength
6. Athleticism
7. Catcher IQ
Pop-time doesn't matter if you have the tools listed above. Pop-time is directly related to all above except hitting! Certainly arm strength and athleticism affect everything else.
Most college pitchers will be able to tell you who the best catcher on the team is--and it has absolutely nothing to do with pop-time.
Receiving and blocking are definitely more important than pop time, and are both two things I do very well.
I saw a bunch of people mention hitting.
This season I hit .340 with 17 hits in 47 ABs. This was in a very competitive league with almost every team having 4-5 guys throwing 80+. Hardest we faced was a kid sitting 86 with over 15 interests and I lined out off of him.
