Pop times (General)

Not sure about 14 year olds but my son had a 1.93 at a Perfect Game event as a H.S.Sr. and I was told that was good.

Game POP times
As a 14 year old my son was 2.15.
As a 15 year old freshman he was 2.1 to 2.05
As a 16 year old Soph he was 2.00 to 2.05
As a 17 year old Jr he was 1.95 to 2.0
As a 18 year old Sr he was 1.91 to 1.95

He can throw in the 1.85 1.88 range in practice and between innings. But his game pops are in the 1.95 to 1.98 range.

His pop at a PG event after his freshman year in HS was 2.06 and 76 mph.
His pop at the PG national before his Jr year in HS was 1.91 and 80 mph.

I throw out these numbers just to give you an idea of how you can improve over a period of time. My sons gains in arm strength really helped him. And his quickness behind the plate really improved over the years due to alot of hard work. Good Luck

I coach a pretty solid 15U team. Last year, as 14U, my catchers were:

Catcher A - 2.07 - 2.24
Catcher B - 2.12 - 2.2

These were our game timed. Catcher B is my son and they were both timed by a friend/Braves scout. They are in line with my times throughout the year.

I believe the POP numbers from my son's 14U team were 2.25 +/- .1 The starter was 2.15-2.25 and second was 2.25-2.35.

Those are very good pop times for 14 year old players.

Coach May,

Where does your son play?

He is a freshman at UNC.

With times like that I figured he was in a respectable place. Congrats and best of luck.

I just ran a catchers camp and tryouts for a local team here in Maryland and most of the 14 and 15 year olds were throwing 2.1 - 2.3, with only a few being very accurate.
Good Luck!
Fletch

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
Those are very good pop times for 14 year old players.

Coach,

My catchers are pretty good. Both have a chance to start as frosh.

Results at a recent U13 tryout.

Best Pop time 2.44 at 64 mph.(13 years old, 8th grader) 160 lbs. 5'7" tall

Second best 2.53 at 58 mph (12 years old, 7th grader)
94 lbs. 5' tall

One was pretty accurate and one was not as on target.

We watched the U16 tryouts and best times were all well below 2.3. Best was right around 2.00 and accurate.

Very nice discussion and progression of pops.
16U seems time to see those change for the better.
Son has 1.95 with 75-78mph, as 16 now. Down from 2.15 as 15.
Keep up the long toss and get the accuracy and good things will follow.

Ok thanks I run about anywhere from a 2.51 on stuff in the dirt to a 2.34 on a good pitch, mostly hiting low 2.4ish accuratly. So I guess it looks like I'm a little bit high. I have a friend that I play long toss with after school and I try to do Throwers 10 every other day. Hopefully by the end of Freshman year I can hit 2.1 Thats my goal.

Well get your self a stop watch and if you have a recordable dvr on your tv, time the pro's when they steal.

Best time was 1.9 - 2.0 secs that I timed which surprized me (i thought it would be faster) but what interested me was a segment about pitchers and there times should be about 1.2-1.5 during there pitching release. Add that up and figure how fast it takes a base runner to run to second or third and you will see it takes more than pop time to get a runner out.


drill

If you have a dvr you don't need a stop watch. Just play it back in frame by frame and count the frames. If it is digital, 60 frames per second. If not, then 30.

I've done this for countless MLB throw downs, and they are all right around 2.0.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:
If you have a dvr you don't need a stop watch. Just play it back in frame by frame and count the frames. If it is digital, 60 frames per second. If not, then 30.

I've done this for countless MLB throw downs, and they are all right around 2.0.

happy to know that I can count frames on the dvr, now i will really drive my wife crazy.


drill

just remember all we can do is get it and get rid of it. I know plenty of guys that were 2.0 guys or more and still made it to the big leagues. Ha one is in the world series!

And if don't throw someone out its never our fault.... Its the non athletes fault (pitchers)

I have a son that is 14u right now. I took him to a 60/90 field and had his pop time checked and hes was in the 2.1 range at 13. I have not timed him lately but I would think he is faster now. He will start workouts for school ball very soon so maybe we can get another time soon.

I took my son to a 60/90 field at 13 and had him timed and his pop time was in the 2.1 range consistantly with accuracy. I hope to see him playing in college someday.

I took my son to a high school field when he was 13 and has his pop time checked. He was consistantly in the 2.1 range with pretty good accuracy. He will be starting school ball workouts soon so maybe we can get his time checked again once his arm is ready. I hope to see him playing for a college someday like some of your kids.

If you will just keep posting this here, the pop time will get cut down to 1.87 in now time.

Kinda the same way Dorothy got home.

hahahahahaha

ha ha I think he may just be trying to get rid of his new member status

Obviously, with that time at such a young age, he needs to be on the bump, not behind the dish.

What would be an average pop time, average pitcher release time and average steal time for high school players.

bassboy1,
Welcome to the HSBBW. Sounds as if your son has a very strong arm. My son was much the same as your son at that age. With the arm strength he has I'm surprised he isn't pitching. He velocity should be in the upper 80's with a 2.1 pop time. Have you had his velocity checked. I might caution you ahead of time that if he is a catcher with exceptional velocity he will be asked to pitch at some point and over uses will become an issue. Again welcome to the High School Baseball web. Ignore the initial criticism from those of us that know all the bells and whistles of how to make posts and what buttons to push --- and when to push them. Hang in there it gets better.
Fungo

quote:

He velocity should be in the upper 80's with a 2.1 pop time.

Fungo - do you mean upper 70's? I'm not sure I have ever seen or heard of a catcher with an upper 80's velocity.

hsplayer: the average varsity HS catcher pop time is probably around 2.25. But who wants to be average? Try to get your release time to .7 and your velocity to 75, and that translates into a 2.0 pop time.

Agree.

... and I would add, work as often as possible on your footwork (jumping rope is a great exercise for catchers too). Those are things you can do at home, or really just about anywhere. (Unless you are Pudge Rodriguez), you can never get to the proper throwing position quick enough. Also, delivering the ball off balance means MUCH less velocity and more chance that things can go wrong.

For college bound players, it is more important to have good grades/SATs than a good pop time. Take it from someone who's son has a very good pop time. Not to mention blocking and handling pitchers.

Excellence in the capability to C&T will get you
looked at by many colleges. Without great grades, eliminate any consideration for Ivy Conference.
If average grades, can't anybody get into Florida State?

And if able to hit, C&T with excellence, look
to get drafted (and then seek a clause in the pro contract to pay for education!)

I am a freshman and I'm 2.25-2.3

Yeah . I'm a freshman and i got my pop timed yesterday. I had a 2.06 once as my quickest and it being dead on.That was my fastest one i have ever did though. I'm 5'8, 190, but its because i have quick feet and a pretty good arm why mine is low. Like Ole Ball Coach said, its about footwork and release.

Guys---pop times look great in the profile but you still need to thorw out would be base stealers---are you doing that?

TR and Eneagles,
Your both right on about being accurate. I've seen a lot kids with great "pop times" that the throw was way off base or over the head of 2b or ss.
A drill we used with my son and others was to take a ball bucket and lay it on the 1st base side of 2b and had the catchers throw it in the bucket with out hitting the dirt. The pop times were a slight bit longer but they got more accurate the more they did the drill. Now my son can put it in the bucket 7 of 10 times with a low 2 pop time.

Mgbaseball that is an excellent time for a freshman. What are the pop times of the catchers that are ahead of you in your program?

He has like a 2.1. People say I'm the better defensive catcher, but he is the better hitter ( which he is) and our offence needs more work then our D, plus he is a sophomore , so yeah.

My son pop's at around 2.3-2.4 14 years old. He is accurate, all he has to do is get stronger and eat right now. But if the pitcher isn't around 1.5 it doesn't make any difference. Pop time is a good gauge that everyone uses but some know how to figure the variables in better than others.

IMHO,

drill

I've never measured my sons pop time. He just works on his foot work, does long toss and throw guys out. stays up till 11:00 doing home work some nights and has a 3.6 GPA not bad for a sophmore starting catcher on the high school varsity.

POP time usually reveals good mechanics and arm strength. Both are great to have but neither has much to do with being a great catcher. Good evaluators look deeper.