SkillShow All-Century Team: Best High School Catcher Since 2000

November 3, 2025

Not every great catcher was supposed to be a catcher. Some of the most legendary prep players of the century weren't traditional backstops at all — they were multi-sport stars, position-switchers, or even pitchers who just happened to strap on the gear and dominate.


For the All-Century Team, we wanted to highlight not just the numbers, but the stories.  And behind the plate, the stories are anything but ordinary.

J.T. Realmuto: The Quarterback Behind the Plate

Most kids spend the spring focused on baseball. J.T. Realmuto was juggling entire playbooks.


At Carl Albert High in Oklahoma, he wasn't just a catcher, he was also the school's star quarterback, passing for nearly 2,000 yards and rushing for over 1,400 with 25 touchdowns his senior year. And then, when baseball season came around, he casually hit .595 with 28 home runs and a national-record 119 RBI in just 42 games.


Realmuto was the definition of an unorthodox catcher: a multi-sport phenom whose athleticism carried him fields and courts before making him a cornerstone in Major League Baseball.

Bryce Harper: The Catcher Who Became a Superstar Outfielder

When you picture Bryce Harper today, you think of moonshot home runs from the outfield. But in high school? He was the most electrifying catcher in the nation.


At just 16 years old, Harper posted numbers that don't seem real: a .626 average, 14 home runs, 55 RBI, and 36 stolen bases. Baseball America named him the only underclassman on their All-America team, and scouts were already talking about him like he was a future MVP.


He didn't stay at catcher — eventually moving to the outfield and even playing some first base in the pros — but the legend of Harper the teenage catcher is one of the great "what-ifs” in baseball history.

Buster Posey: The Ace Who Became the Gold Standard

While Realmuto was a quarterback and Harper an outfielder-in-waiting, Buster Posey was dominating as both a catcher and a pitcher.


At Lee County High in Georgia, Posey wasn't just calling pitches — he was throwing them. His senior year, he hit .462 with 14 home runs while going 12-0 on the mound with a 1.06 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Scouts compared his bat to Albert Pujols and coaches swore he "negated the running game” every time he put on the gear.


Posey brought the rare combination of polished hitting, elite defense, and mound dominance. He went on to fulfill every ounce of that promise: three World Series titles, and MVP award, a Gold Glove, and a legacy as the era's premier catcher.

Why This Trio Defines the Position

Realmuto. Harper. Posey. Three very different paths — a quarterback, a catcher-turned-outfielder, and a pitcher. None of them were traditional. All of them left a mark.


And in the end, Posey's balance of offense, defense, and leadership makes him our pick to anchor catcher on the All-Century Team.

⚾ What do you think?

Does Posey deserver the nod, or do Harper's video-game numbers as a teen tip the scale? Could Realmuto's all-around athleticism make him the real choice? Join the debate and stay tuned — second basemen are up next.


Manny Machado batting in high school

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