Guest Post: Helpful Advice For Baseball Players Who Catch And Pitch

Jeff Moree, a senior high school pitcher at Carmel Catholic, in Illinois, submitted this article on catching and pitching. Good advice! As always, I encourage you to submit your articles, details here.

For as far back as I can remember I played both catcher and pitcher. I never really thought anything of it until I became a sophomore in high school. It was at this time that I was moved up to the Varsity level as a pitcher. The coaches decided it would be better for me in the long run if I give up catching.

The catcher and pitcher are the positions that require the most throwing. It was not uncommon for me to pitch the first game in a double header, and then catch the second game. Doing the math, that is well over 200 throws in a day…not exactly good for your arm. When I was moved up to Varsity, I became a pitcher-only player. This was a huge change for me, as I was so used to playing nearly every inning. I was now playing once every 3 or 4 games, sometimes seeing only 3 innings in that game.

I came to the realization that this was to be my future in baseball, and I must accept it for what it is. I told myself that what I was doing was the best decision for my arm’s health, and it would allow me to focus on my talent for pitching. By sacrificing catching, I was able to devote a lot more time on my pitching mechanics, pickoffs, learning a fourth pitch, etc.

From this situation, I have learned that baseball is full of curveballs, and if you don’t learn to hit the junk thrown at you, it will be difficult to succeed. I was thrown a curveball which forced me to give up catching as a second position. However, I saw it as an opportunity and ended up becoming a more successful pitcher.

If you do choose to play both positions, always be sure you are getting enough rest. Never pitch and catch on the same day, and don’t catch the day after you pitch several innings. If you over throw, you will eventually run into arm problems, which will yield you unusable in both positions.

Comments

[expressbaseball]

Great advice Jeff. I have a son who's a senior in high school, and like you his sophomore year on the varsity team he had to choose between pitching and another position. At his high school pitchers only pitch and are not allowed to play other positions. He was upset at first like you were, but also like you he realized later that it made him a much better pitcher. Hats off to you guys for accepting the hand that your delt and moving forward with focus and determination. With this kind of attitude, you will always be sucessful not only as a pitcher, but in all aspects of life!