What a D1 Catcher looks like in high school!

Hey, how you doing, Alex here. Thanks for joining me. In today's episode, we are talking about what a Division 1 catcher looks like in high school. You could also reframe it as what a Division 1 commit looks like. We're going to be talking about those attributes. We're also going to be viewing it as well. I have some video of a current Division 1 commit right now who's a junior. And the reason why I'm doing this is to help you work on the things that you need need to work on. Because what these coaches look for, right, we're going to be talking about really what these college coaches are looking for. And this is not only for Division one. This is Division two, Division three, juco, naia. All of these things translate over across all of the levels of what these college coaches are looking at. And especially if you're a sophomore or junior or even earlier right now, these are the things that you need to be locking in. Because between sophomore year and junior year, that is the thing of the college recruiting process, of getting on radars of schools, especially as we're going into the spring and summer. It's an exciting time. So let's hop right into it. If you get anything from this upload, please smash that like button. If you're on YouTube and subscribe. And if you're just listening to this on the podcast, make sure you subscribe so you can get my episodes each and every week. So with that said, let's go on and dive into what does a Division 1 catcher look like? All right, so they receive very, very well and can handle velocity and movement. I want you to think about this is receiving doesn't get enough credit. It's not sexy, but it's an art. Okay? And you have to think of the name of the position is catcher, right? You have to be able to catch the ball, but also be able to catch it really, really well to make the pitches even look better than what they really are to the guy behind you, right? The umpire and pitchers, you for this. If you can catch the ball really, really well and make that guy right, make the pitcher look great and look honestly better than what he is, they are going to love you. The best compliment a catcher can have is a pitcher going, I want to throw to that guy. That is the best compliment a catcher can have. But be able to handle velocity and movement because that's what you're going to get at the next level. Not only D1, but across all the levels, got to be able to block well, right? This is the Second most thing that you do as a catcher, first one is rece catch a lot of balls. As far as the number of pitches in the game, you're going to be catching those block balls. You might have a good day in the sense of it's only a couple balls you have to block or it could be a rough day where you're blocking a lot. You have to be able to block the ball well and you have to be trusted from the pitcher and the coaching staff and the pitching staff, they have to be able to trust you. With a guy on third base in the bottom of the seventh to throw a breaking ball over one two in the dirt, swing and strike, you block it, you're able to throw it to first base. So confidence and having that mental you're a wall and that you're not going to let anything behind you goes a long way. You don't have to be the most technical blocker. You just have to have the great mindset for that. Throws well. Absolutely. Got to be able to throw well, got to have good feet, good transfer, accurate around the back, quick actions is what they're going to be looking for and what I used to look for. And this is near and dear to my heart. I'm a former catcher, so this is definitely near and dear to my heart. But good feet, good transfer as well, and good carry to the back and accurate. Guys like you throw in a 19 or 18 or these crazy numbers in these showcases these days, but they're up here or they're over here. That turns into like a 232425 I rather a two zero right on the bag where the guy just catches it and tags. That is, that is what we're looking for. That's what the shortstops are looking for, the second basemans are looking for. That's what the, the college coaches are looking for. Then hitting, yeah, hitting for average is pretty much a must, meaning you got to be able to hit some. Now, defense comes first, but when we're talking From a Division 1 level, you got to be able to hit a little bit. All right? You got to be able to hit a little bit. And if you have power, man, that is just a plus of there. So commands the field. There's a leader. You have some presence on the field. You don't have to be a rah rah guy, but you just have some presence about you. You're able to control the, the pitching staff, you're able to walk out there, understand certain personalities, get them through what they need. To get through, you're the coach on the field. You got to be able to think ahead. You got to know who's on deck, you got to know who's coming up, what they did last time, what you threw to them, what was the success, what wasn't. OK? You got to know what pitchers, their first best pitches, their second best pitch, their third best pitch, etc. Coachable is trying to improve. Coaches obviously love this and cares about winning. You got to again be that leader. If you're nonchalant about the games and nonchalant, that's not going to go a long way. Everybody, you're the only position that everybody's looking at you. So you got to have some presence. Now let's talk a little bit about pop time. So I know that a lot of catchers talk about this and it is important to a certain extent. We have to be able to get rid of the ball and get it down there. But it's not as crazy numbers as you think. And let me talk a little bit about physicality. So catchers are physical at the next level. You got to be physical because you got to be able to hold up and demand all of the games that you have to catch. It's a lot of games. It's four to five games a week and obviously you're not seven innings or nine innings and everything's up. Right? The speed of the game is up. The intensity of the game, all the players around you are higher levels. So it's more demanding from that side. Now let's talk about pop times. Okay? Leave the showcases pop times because most of these showcases and I did it, so I get it. But these pop times honestly are crazy. And what you think you have to have. And we really should focus on what your in game pop time is because you know, the average pop time of an MLB catcher in game is around a 192 to 195. Right around the there. Okay. That's in game. So all these like you got to be below 191.817. No, you don't have to. But on average having about a round of 197 on average is a good place to be because we want the realistic pop times, right? The realistic of what you do in the game. So 197 is an average. So there's going to be guys above that. There's going to be guys around two zero. That's where I kind of hovered at at division one level. I called it the division one level. I hovered right around two. Zero. Okay. And of course there's definitely some guys, there's exceptions that are below that. Definitely below that. D2s around that 205 being again, I rather a guy that's 205 right on the back every single time. Division 3, 2, 1ish. Again, just good, accurate. You don't have to have the strongest arm in the world. Just got to get rid of it. Right. And then work on your arm as you go. But your footwork and your transfer can have a lot of help through this process, especially if you don't have the strongest arm. So let's take a look at a Division 1 catcher who is committed to Houston and he is a guy that kind of embodies what these averages that we were looked at as a catcher. So I want to take a look at this. So first thing we're going to look at a 60. The good thing is as a catcher, you don't have to have the world's best 60. I certainly certainly didn't. Very average here is around 7.5from a 60 standpoint and the high school average is around there. Of course you want to continue to get better from hitting. He's definitely physical, which is what we look for from a hitting standpoint. He is strong, he has good bat speed and he's got some pop. So this is a really good as far as what we like to see as a hitter standpoint, he's got some pop there. Again, what you're looking for is simplicity, speed, bat speed and some power. Now catching, he's not cheating too much. Super accurate here. Right. He's man like again, he's not trying to. He's not setting up crazy. And he is around the bag again, the ball flight is good, his feet are good. His. His transfer is really good. And honestly, he could clean up some of that. He comes and gets the ball there. But overall, that is what you're looking for for from a high school catcher that's going to play at the next level. That's going to garner interest from these college coaches. Obviously did with Houston. They went out and offered him and he's committed there now. And that is what you want from there. So take a look at this and focus on obviously you're receiving, you're blocking and you're throwing. And honestly, in that order, you throw every day, so you'll always work on that. But don't neglect your receiving, don't neglect your blocking. Of course, continue to hit. That's a bonus. Hopefully you got something from this episode. If you did. Please smash that, like, button that thumbs up and I will see you in the next episode.