Why can't catchers be lefties?
-
This has been irritating me as well.
-
Why do you have to spam the same topic that you created a couple days ago?
https://forums.theshow.com/topic/68128/why-can-t-catchers-be-lefties/2?_=1711595093578
-
@leitnerdog Probably because there hasn't been a single left-handed throwing catcher who has played in the MLB since 1989.
The fact that you can play as a lefty-catcher at a youth level has no bearing on its feasibility in the pros.
-
Wow. "Discrimination." Yikes.
There's no real reason why lefties can't be catchers, but to be fair there is a very good reason why lefties shouldn't be middle infielders. Even if we tell kids they can be anything they want if they work hard.
On the flip side of the coin, left-handed pitchers have an easier path to the majors than righties. If you are a lefty who throws strikes and can touch about 95, you're going to be ok.
-
I think it has something to do with the mechanics of being a catcher... I played youth in the 80s/90s and every now and then we had a lefty behind the plate but he tried to catch with a first base mitt which went alright but ended up having to use the catcher 's mitt, and he'd grab the ball with his right hand from the mitt, drop the mitt and then throw with his left hand... again I think it's something with the mechanics of the position hence why First Base was routinely a left handed position but then more and more righties started to learn how to play it.
-
@romeischillin said in Why can't catchers be lefties?:
I think it has something to do with the mechanics of being a catcher... I played youth in the 80s/90s and every now and then we had a lefty behind the plate but he tried to catch with a first base mitt which went alright but ended up having to use the catcher 's mitt, and he'd grab the ball with his right hand from the mitt, drop the mitt and then throw with his left hand... again I think it's something with the mechanics of the position hence why First Base was routinely a left handed position but then more and more righties started to learn how to play it.
I was a catcher through HS (and a bench warming C through college), and there is only one play I can see being advantageous for a righty, and that's receiving a throw from right field for a play at the plate. I think a common misconception is that it's somehow harder to throw out runners for a lefty catcher when a righty is at the plate. That's insane. RH catchers throw out runners with a lefty in the box all the time. And being a lefty would actually be beneficial when trying to pick a runner off first since you're better set up for that throw. I don't see how sign stealing could be affected by which hand the catcher throws with (actually a LH C would have the advantage here again, as he could use his right glove hand on the ground to block runners on first base from getting a view of a poorly placed sign, but everyone is using PitchComm now anyway).
Ultimately I think it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy. There historically haven't been many lefty catchers, so there aren't many lefty gloves, so there are even fewer lefty catchers, so there are even fewer gloves which leads to fewer catchers etc. And so on and so forth.
-
its just this thing where they don't do leftey catchers in the MLB because it makes it harder to tag out base runners or smth. and most 2bmen or SS are rights, and it makes it even harder for them or smth.
I'm in highschool, and I'm a leftey backup catcher, but I primarily play 1B
-
@DaboiNoah said in Why can't catchers be lefties?:
its just this thing where they don't do leftey catchers in the MLB because it makes it harder to tag out base runners or smth. and most 2bmen or SS are rights, and it makes it even harder for them or smth.
I'm in highschool, and I'm a leftey backup catcher, but I primarily play 1B
The righties-only tradition for middle infielders makes very good sense. If you think about how a right-handed second baseman's body is positioned when fielding a ground ball, he can basically just turn his head and he's primed for a throw to 1B. If he were a lefty, he would have to turn his body completely around, and that takes too much time. SS is similar but (imo) not quite as egregious, but you're very unlikely to see a LH SS anytime soon.
I stand by there being no good reason for lefty catchers.
-
@SchnauzerFace ya, that's what I meant, but my body was going off 4 hours of sleep and I couldn't think of the words lol
-
I'm not sure if it was you that posted that video, but it was very insightful. After watching, I came off thinking the lefty catcher issue occurred because lefties with strong arms were needed on the mound because of rarity and necessity. It makes perfect sense with why baseball is so great. You always end up where you're needed and the best get the job.
-
The more I look into it, the more it looks like a mechanics issue. First, there are more right-handed batters. Second, it makes throwing to 3rd easier. And, finally receiving the catch from an outfielder or cutoff player is easier to make the a tag on an incoming runner. This is most likely why there have not been any lefthanded catchers since Benny Distefano, who caught 3 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989.
