It's not the size of the man in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the man.
You are tall enough. You will get heavier. Get out there and play your game, and show them what you are made of!
My son is a catcher in a very very good JUCO program. He is about 5'9" and 190 lbs.
When he was being recruited by this JUCO, I asked the coach what his ideal size would be for a catcher. he answered " at least six foot, 200 lbs". Keep in mind he had watched my son in person on numerous occasions and visited with him in the dugout.
I then told the coach my son's height. He looked kind of puzzled and then said, "well, he plays like he's ten foot tall and bullet proof."
Play hard, play with passion, eat lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you will get noticed.
When he was being recruited by this JUCO, I asked the coach what his ideal size would be for a catcher. he answered " at least six foot, 200 lbs". Keep in mind he had watched my son in person on numerous occasions and visited with him in the dugout.
I then told the coach my son's height. He looked kind of puzzled and then said, "well, he plays like he's ten foot tall and bullet proof."
Play hard, play with passion, eat lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you will get noticed.
I went through the 2010 Who's Who in Baseball issue player by player and there were 16 different catchers in the ML who are listed as under six feet tall including two Molina's, Ivan Rodriguez, Greg Zaun, and Russell Martin. There were twelve more listed as exactly six feet tall and as there's been plenty of discussion about the exaggerations in height already, you can make your own conclusions on those.
For my son it was more of a weight issue then a height issue, he 5'11" but was 148 coming out of high school. Was looked at by a number of d-1 but no one would pull trigger on him and the ones that did talk seriosly often talked about a red shirt. They all would talk about durability with him, after talking about this with a area scout he really pushed us towards a great juco for a couple of reasons, playing time to develope into a better player instead of riding the pine behind a more physicaly developed catcher and he said getting a red shirt is much tougher on player then you would think. Down side to this is you have to go through the recruitment again but if you are not good enough coming out of juco, you were probably going to have problems at a bigger school. Now 6 months later 6' tall and a 170 pounds and this all came from the teams lifting program and now he is finaly putting on his man body. Players bodys mature at different ages so dont get dicouraged.
I have been a Nick Swisher fan ever since he stopped by my son's baseball practice just to talk to the kids. He told them that he was always told that he was too small or too slow or something else was wrong. He told the kids that every time somebody told him he couldn't do something, he would take it and would build a fire in his mind with it and would work that much harder. He said by the time he got to the majors the fire was the size of the infield.
NEVER let anybody tell you that you can't do something. If they do, build your own fire!!!
Also, Dusty Baker talked with the kids. He said the same thing... NEVER let anybody tell you that you can't do something!!! If you want it, go after it.
NEVER let anybody tell you that you can't do something. If they do, build your own fire!!!
Also, Dusty Baker talked with the kids. He said the same thing... NEVER let anybody tell you that you can't do something!!! If you want it, go after it.
From three Schools in the area - Roster according to School Web Site - ALL CATCHERS:
U of Illinois
SO 6-1 180
FR 5-11 185
FR 5-11 175
JR 6-0 205
FR 6-1 185
Univ of MO
JR 5-8 179
FR 6-0 203
FR 5-11 175
JR 6-0 190
FR 6-4 220
Univ of Louisville
Fr 5-9 188
SR 6-1 173
SO 5-9 252
FR 6-0 202
A 5-8, (2) 5-9's and (3) 5-11's... IMO - I think weight (bulk strength) will play more of a role vs height in your situation.
Weight rooms can't alter your height...
U of Illinois
SO 6-1 180
FR 5-11 185
FR 5-11 175
JR 6-0 205
FR 6-1 185
Univ of MO
JR 5-8 179
FR 6-0 203
FR 5-11 175
JR 6-0 190
FR 6-4 220
Univ of Louisville
Fr 5-9 188
SR 6-1 173
SO 5-9 252
FR 6-0 202
A 5-8, (2) 5-9's and (3) 5-11's... IMO - I think weight (bulk strength) will play more of a role vs height in your situation.
Weight rooms can't alter your height...
Thank you everyone.
Since I created this post I have gain around 5 lbs. I am working hard in the weightroom and definitely will not let height get in my way.
Since I created this post I have gain around 5 lbs. I am working hard in the weightroom and definitely will not let height get in my way.
Good luck to you 2013 and keep working hard with the weights. You can cut back on your weights during the season but don't quit all the way!
Here is my thoughts based on my experience so far and any suggestions will be appreciated. When you go to camps and where coaches give talks about being recruited you hear the same story about how the coach found this 6'4" kid that was not on top of his game but had all the tools that they recruited and turned him into this amazing player. I have yet to hear a story about a 5'9" kid. So I always thought my son has a big disadvantage at 5' 9". He is a junior in HS now so time will tell. He has gotten the attention of a few colleges, one D1 and has done all the right things so far to get noticed. He has been starting varsity catcher since a freshman and batted mid 300's each of the last 2 years. He had the highest batting average on his fall showcase team but is not a big power hitter (even though he has hit some HRs). He is also not fast on the bases but a very smart runner. His HS coach never lets him run the bases. He is only about 150lbs. He actually lost 10 lbs last spring season. He is on a weight program and we have been trying to bulk up. His pop times are consistently 1.9-2.1 range. He is very quick and threw out 22 of 39 last year and picks off alot. He is also a great blocker, framer, reads the batter well to call pitches and works well with the pitchers.
Here is how I see him. He doesn't stand out in a crowd. I feel like college coaches look at him and thing "man that kid can play, but he has reached his potential and may never get to the college level"
What do you guys think?
Here is my thoughts based on my experience so far and any suggestions will be appreciated. When you go to camps and where coaches give talks about being recruited you hear the same story about how the coach found this 6'4" kid that was not on top of his game but had all the tools that they recruited and turned him into this amazing player. I have yet to hear a story about a 5'9" kid. So I always thought my son has a big disadvantage at 5' 9". He is a junior in HS now so time will tell. He has gotten the attention of a few colleges, one D1 and has done all the right things so far to get noticed. He has been starting varsity catcher since a freshman and batted mid 300's each of the last 2 years. He had the highest batting average on his fall showcase team but is not a big power hitter (even though he has hit some HRs). He is also not fast on the bases but a very smart runner. His HS coach never lets him run the bases. He is only about 150lbs. He actually lost 10 lbs last spring season. He is on a weight program and we have been trying to bulk up. His pop times are consistently 1.9-2.1 range. He is very quick and threw out 22 of 39 last year and picks off alot. He is also a great blocker, framer, reads the batter well to call pitches and works well with the pitchers.
Here is how I see him. He doesn't stand out in a crowd. I feel like college coaches look at him and thing "man that kid can play, but he has reached his potential and may never get to the college level"
What do you guys think?
Brawnko- that is my fear as well, that college coaches will not see my skill equating into college, because of my size disadvantage.
Does anyone know if when I give my height to coaches, should I give them my barefoote heigh, or height in cleats?
Does anyone know if when I give my height to coaches, should I give them my barefoote heigh, or height in cleats?
It probably should be barefoot but it wouldn't hurt to measure with tennis shoes on :-) But not cleats.
Good luck. Just keep working on getting better, stronger and hit, hit, hit with proper coaching. A good hitting coach that teaches how to hit like the pro's is worth the $ imo. Go to the college catcher camps where the catching coach is working with the catchers on skills! Coach Ox at UR gave my son some great things to work on!
Good luck. Just keep working on getting better, stronger and hit, hit, hit with proper coaching. A good hitting coach that teaches how to hit like the pro's is worth the $ imo. Go to the college catcher camps where the catching coach is working with the catchers on skills! Coach Ox at UR gave my son some great things to work on!
2013catcher,
I talk to coaches everyday about this or that they are looking for and all tell me the same thing. They want a good defensive catcher who can work the batter, ump, and pitcher. The position you are playing is a hard one to play as you are the eyes on the field to see where everyone on your team is:
1: ready,
2: holding runners,
3: remembering what the count is,
4: knowing your pitcher and how to get the most out of him,
5: knowing how to block
6: when to throw down or eat a ball,
7: don’t be lazy,
8: work the ump,
The list can go on and on but you understand what I am saying here I hope. As to your height, yes all coaches want a guy over 6’ tall 200+ pds as intimidating as can be. If your pop time is 1.9 – 2.0 seconds they will watch you but that is about average for most junior colleges around me in Florida. More than one college coach has said to me that they want a very defensive catcher with pop. Meaning: you have to block any and every thing that comes to you and have a very good arm to throw out the runners trying to steal. None of these coaches have ever said oh by the way the height cutoff for all of this is 6’0. I know of 6 catchers right now playing college baseball who are below 5’11 around 150 pds. Three of these catchers pop times are 1.8-1.9 and what got them signed besides their pop time were their defense and their ability to call a game. I may have missed your pop time in reading through your post but can tell you your height is checked barefoot with a straight back and weighed at the same time. Hope this helps you and if your real good and can do the things listed I know of some colleges who would give you a look down south. Now I cannot say they will sign you or make an offer as I have not seen you play but down here a catcher had better be good.
I talk to coaches everyday about this or that they are looking for and all tell me the same thing. They want a good defensive catcher who can work the batter, ump, and pitcher. The position you are playing is a hard one to play as you are the eyes on the field to see where everyone on your team is:
1: ready,
2: holding runners,
3: remembering what the count is,
4: knowing your pitcher and how to get the most out of him,
5: knowing how to block
6: when to throw down or eat a ball,
7: don’t be lazy,
8: work the ump,
The list can go on and on but you understand what I am saying here I hope. As to your height, yes all coaches want a guy over 6’ tall 200+ pds as intimidating as can be. If your pop time is 1.9 – 2.0 seconds they will watch you but that is about average for most junior colleges around me in Florida. More than one college coach has said to me that they want a very defensive catcher with pop. Meaning: you have to block any and every thing that comes to you and have a very good arm to throw out the runners trying to steal. None of these coaches have ever said oh by the way the height cutoff for all of this is 6’0. I know of 6 catchers right now playing college baseball who are below 5’11 around 150 pds. Three of these catchers pop times are 1.8-1.9 and what got them signed besides their pop time were their defense and their ability to call a game. I may have missed your pop time in reading through your post but can tell you your height is checked barefoot with a straight back and weighed at the same time. Hope this helps you and if your real good and can do the things listed I know of some colleges who would give you a look down south. Now I cannot say they will sign you or make an offer as I have not seen you play but down here a catcher had better be good.
Thanks Pony.
I have always been told that I am a great student of the game and very rarely make a mental error. Last year on JV I earned the right to effectively call pitches. My pop time has not been timed yet, but my instructor told me I have quick feet and an above average arm, and I am always working on defense.
I would appreciate any help contacting coaches you could offer when I get a little farther down the road in recruiting.
I have always been told that I am a great student of the game and very rarely make a mental error. Last year on JV I earned the right to effectively call pitches. My pop time has not been timed yet, but my instructor told me I have quick feet and an above average arm, and I am always working on defense.
I would appreciate any help contacting coaches you could offer when I get a little farther down the road in recruiting.
My understanding of this site is this is what all of this is about. But feel free to contact me if I can help and you’re more than welcome.
But when you check your pop time it is as soon as it hits your glove to the time it hits who ever is covering 2nd. That is you will be in a catching mode and go from there.
Now at games I check a catcher in action to get their real time as the play develops and what pitch the pitcher is throwing. Sure I want to know your raw time of a throw down but I like the time of battle to know how a catcher handles what is in front of them with the throw down. The why being is that this shows how you move your feet, arms, rotate of body and all that good stuff plus your composer to what is going on as well. Some fans/parents and some high school coaches just do not understand what it takes to play at the college level or if you’re good enough to make it to the next level of play.
But when you check your pop time it is as soon as it hits your glove to the time it hits who ever is covering 2nd. That is you will be in a catching mode and go from there.
Now at games I check a catcher in action to get their real time as the play develops and what pitch the pitcher is throwing. Sure I want to know your raw time of a throw down but I like the time of battle to know how a catcher handles what is in front of them with the throw down. The why being is that this shows how you move your feet, arms, rotate of body and all that good stuff plus your composer to what is going on as well. Some fans/parents and some high school coaches just do not understand what it takes to play at the college level or if you’re good enough to make it to the next level of play.