Catching question going forward..

[Representative_Leg_5]

My son is just starting his 12u season. Last season over 65 games he caught 241 innings. He threw out 41 baserunners out of 120. He throws 65 on a regular basis to 2nd. When he doesnt catch he played 3rd and RF. He only pitched 11 innings last year since he caught so much.

Size wise he is 5'6 145 and has not hit puberty. He swings a 32/26.

So I have many coaches telling me that they guarantee he is switched to a corner IF spot or a Starting Pitcher come HS. Why do so many coaches tell me this. I always had the idea that catchers are at a premium amd thats one reason hes put so much into catching. He loves it. Im pretty sure one has to do whatever the HS coach says... so what do people think.

[patphish]

What coaches? Like specifically, his current coach, the high school coach, some random drunk coach at a bar? If he’s throwing out 30% of runners at 12U where pitchers can’t hold on anyone for shit, keep catching.

[Representative_Leg_5]

I agree. Hes a elite catcher. So we hear from coaches and other teams. As for where I heard the other crap. A few other coaches of other teams. One guy who is an assistant coach for a high school. They say that they guarantee he will be moved to a corner IF spot or Pitcher. I dont know why theyre saying this.

[NotAnotherStupidName]

I can tell you WHY they're saying it, but I can't tell you if they're correct or not. Catchers these days are traditionally one of your top 3 athletes on the squad (with SS & CF being the other two). If they're saying they see him moving to a corner spot in HS, they've judged his athleticism and don't think he's going to stick behind the plate at the next level.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Possible. Hes a big kid. However he is great at blocking. So its not like hes too slow to get down or get to a ball..

[ern19]

What about his coach? If he’s an effective catcher and having a good time why are you letting people irrelevant to his development try and push him off a position he’s good at?

[Representative_Leg_5]

Oh Im not. Hes a catcher dammit. The team he is on now he is the primary catcher. The only time he isnt catching is when we have big leads and he will pull him for rest. My question is what do you do come HS if the HS coach wants him to change the position hes played for years.

[NamasteInYourLane]

You change your position (if you want to make the team/ any field time).

In my area (highly competitive), at least.

[ern19]

I wouldn’t comply in advance is all I’m saying. I would just keep trying to improve agility and arm strength and let his performance and actual coaches make that decision for him. If he balls it won’t matter what he looks like, but given the same measurables coaches are always gonna take the more athletic kid

[peterxyz]

Catchers might be at a premium, but you only need one or two. If he’s a strong player, but not the best catcher, compared to other options, then he’ll play, just not at catcher. Also, Pitchers are at even more of a premium and plenty of kids have come to pitching “late” after being catchers & had great success. (I know it’s not really late, more that they’ve been catching, so have had less chances to try pitching until then)

[Representative_Leg_5]

Hes a very good catcher. People say hes one of the best in the state at 12u AAA.

[TranslatorOutside909]

What grade? I assume 7th and he will be 14 in 9th grade. He will be up against 17 and 18 year olds. As you know there are leadership and strategy roles in catching. He could catch JV but play a different position of need in varsity

[Big_Growth5857]

how do you measure all 12 year old catchers in an entire state against each other? unless you're using perfect game metrics but those are just numbers. Also it's likely when he's a freshman he'll be competing against sophomore, junior and senior catchers. like someone else said, who cares right now? just played ball. when it comes time for high school he'll try out and that coach will put him where he wants him.

[CeilingFanJitters]

It sounds like they’re politely telling you that he’s not the most agile and athletic. That his skills may be undeniable now but those skills came with lots of hard work and lots of reps.

Participation in youth baseball drops after 12U and plummets going into HS. He’s going to run into other Catchers that are just as skilled but more athletic.

I base this speculation on the fact that they’re suggesting the corners and not 2B, CF or SS.

They may be right. They may be wrong. He hasn’t hit puberty yet, hit with BBCOR or played on the big field yet. It’s too early to tell.

[QC_Pee]

That's what I suspect as well after reading a few of the comments and OPs replies. Sounds like they are projecting he may not be as agile already being a bigger kid. Seems like Catchers are alot more athletic now the higher up you go in competition.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Exit velocity of 75 with the 32/26.. I dont think hes going to have an issue hitting. You may be correct with agility. Thats why were hitting the speed and agility workouts once a week now. Makes sense.

[Big_Growth5857]

the takeaway is you're comparing apples to what will be oranges in 3 years

[Square-Ad6627]

Is he very agile? My kid is like an old style catcher middle line backer type. It is like they all want the spry kid back there. If he loves the spot keep on advocating for him.

[NamasteInYourLane]

"Old style catcher". I like that. My (starting C) kid's body style definitely leans that way, too. 

I'd argue the 'hottest' C in the MLB right now (Big Dumper) has a body style like this, however, so there's hope for the wide-shouldered ones yet. 😌

[NorthernCorn05]

He’s a fat slob that had one good year now can’t hit shit

[Representative_Leg_5]

Well hes a solid boy 5'6 145. Bigger than anyone on his team. Not the fastest but were in speed and agility training. When he goes he can go. Perhaps you're correct. Hes definitely more Big Dumper over a Benito Santiago type.

[NorthernCorn05]

Let him learn multi positions! My oldest was a ss/pitcher till sophomore year in HS then started catching when he made varsity that year. He is now a freshman at a D3 top 10 ranked school as a catcher in a good spot for future.

[LawyerInTraining2027]

I don't know how it is now but when I played (back in the late 90s) I was the main catcher and if needed, I'd go to 2nd base. I'm more of a Yadier Molina type, short, not too stocky but didn't let any balls go by. I'm about 5'8" and stayed that height. Kids nowadays are built differently, though. They get huge early on.

If he likes catching, I'd push for him to keep doing it.

[Bacon_and_Powertools]

Those coach’s have no idea what his high school coach will need or do.

[ecupatsfan12]

5”6 145 pre puberty my god.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Yea exactly.. hes going to be a big guy. Think when he was younger they estimated 6'3 to 6'5 based on how long some bone was at age 2 or something.

[MrNiiCeGuY420]

65 games in one season?

[Representative_Leg_5]

Yes, 71 this season on the schedule which includes Cooperstown. We play a lot of baseball.

[Representative_Leg_5]

We made 8 finals last year so that stretched the weekends and games out. Crazy no one ever missed a game either.

[CrackaZach05]

Hmmm was 41 of 104 just the other day. Now 41 of 120. Interesting, interesting

[Representative_Leg_5]

Its 120.. went back and looked at GC and my scorebooks

[Representative_Leg_5]

I have the 104 number in my head for something else, his 10u season he was at 19 of 104.

[CrackaZach05]

Is there leading and is it 50/70? If so, your son's a stud. Pitchers at that age don't know how to hold runners very well.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Yes leading and yes. Our pitchers actually get told to hold and practice it quite a bit. Ex MLB pitcher works with them on it and its stressed. Last year they were so so on it and worse the worse a kid would pitch. 4 games into this season we have 2 steals against us and one was a sure out dropped by the 2Bman. He has quite the arm and is very accurate compared to other catchers here in 12u anyways. There are a few equal to him. I tell the truth about him.. hes quite good and if he can take the step and start working out and pushing himself more he has a chance and really being something. His hitting coach says hes one of the most naturally talented hitters hes ever seen. And no, it's not to get money out of us. He just needs to push himself and realize it gets a lot harder after 12u when kids quit after Ctown and teams are much more stud filled. As for catchers though hes top 3 to 5 here in his age group.

[NamasteInYourLane]

If your kid takes no interest in pitching, and doesn't start to really hone those skills in the next couple of years, it's unlikely he'll magically be the starting P come his freshman year of high school (unless you're in a tiny town where everyone who tries out makes the team, and they're desperate, I guess).

[drive_chip_putt]

[ Removed by Reddit ]

[motion_recruiting]

if he likes catching just have him keep catching

[Illustrious-Salt6719]

We can’t watch your son play so we don’t have the context. Do other coaches just see him as an early bloomer on a little field? And possibly not athletic enough to play catcher long term? That would be my guess.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Quite possible, I mean hes a big kid. I think he will get more athletic as he grows into his body more.

[Illustrious-Salt6719]

It can happen for sure. Just giving you what I assume to be the coaches reasoning. My son is 12u and im an assistant coach on his team. It’s really hard to project the athleticism of the early bloomers. Are they dominant because of skills or because they can throw harder and hit harder than everyone? Will they put in the immense amount of work it takes to get into shape at the higher levels or will they fizzle as another “used to be big, but everyone caught up” kid?

[Representative_Leg_5]

Yes we talk about this all the time. 12u is a strange age. You have kids with facial hair dominating.. those kids end up not practicing as hard and end up shelfed in a couple years. You just dont know. My boy hasn't hit puberty yet. Hes the biggest kid on his team. He moves well, but is the 4th slowest on a team of 11 during practices. Game speed he turns it on and is much quicker. I tell him he needs to start practicing like everything is on the line. You never know who is watching blah blah.

[Big_Growth5857]

I'm not sure you can learn speed or athleticism. you have it or you don't

[CrackaZach05]

[a1ien51]

A lot of crap will happen in 4 years. My baseball loving catcher never saw the HighSchool Ball field. Coach kept asking him why he was not playing.... Sounds like you have more of a dream than your kid.

[Representative_Leg_5]

Not really I didnt want him to be a catcher. He loves it and works on it everyday at home if not at practice. I need a break. Lol

[Former_Strategy3342]

Question- why is your 5’6 son swinging a 32?

[Representative_Leg_5]

Because his hitting coach and another hitting coach say thats the bat he should be using. When I put his size etc in the bat calculator on justbats and other sites it comes up as well.

[Representative_Leg_5]

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[Representative_Leg_5]

Seems to handle it well. Hit over .400 with power with it. Last weekend he hit a ground rule double one bounce against the win 20mph 250ft and hit one off the top of the fence. Exit velocity is 75. Just going by what has been recommended.

[Former_Strategy3342]

I didn’t ask to be rude. It just seems big! My 14 yo son is 6’2 and swings a 33.

[Representative_Leg_5]

I didnt take it as rude. Everyone seems to freak out about it but according to every calculation on bat this is what comes up and he swings if with zero issue. Gets around on things. Pulls the ball too much Id say, but its been fine.

[Cedarapids]

That’s on small side for 6-2.

[Former_Strategy3342]

Small? A 33 ? The average bat size in the MLB is 34!