Norristown Catcher Finds Himself In Special Company

Chris Harvey doesn’t fit the standard definition of a catcher. He never has. He’s a singular talent wrapped in a body that doesn’t traditionally fit where he is on a baseball field. It’s almost as if Harvey has to unfold himself and fold back each time he settles behind the plate.

Usually, the position of catcher is reserved for short, squatty types. Think of the Phillies’ Carlos Ruiz, and you get the picture—the prototype, right?

Not Harvey. He’s a long, sinewy 6-foot-5, and weighs a healthy 215 pounds. What’s more, Harvey, a Norristown resident who is entering his senior year at Germantown Academy, is among the country’s top high school catchers—tall, angular frame and all. He’s already committed to Vanderbilt on a baseball scholarship next fall, but Harvey may not make it to Tennessee.

Sure, he’s unusually large for a catcher. But what major league scouts see is a potential Joe Mauer, from the Minnesota Twins, or the Baltimore Orioles’ Matt Wieters, two of the game’s taller, larger and stellar backstops. What they see in Harvey is a future major leaguer.

Harvey is making sure of that this summer, playing on the elite showcase circuit in the Area Code Games in Long Beach, CA, from Aug. 5 to 10, followed by the Aflac All-American Baseball Classic from Aug. 12 to 14.

Harvey is bound to attract the attention of more major league scouts. Always tall for his age, he’s not exactly the plump kid that a Little League coach stuck behind the plate who blossomed into the player he is today. No, being a catcher is something Harvey always wanted.

“It’s the one one position I wanted to play from Little League,” Harvey said. “I played shortstop, pitched a little bit, but since I was around 13, I always caught. I like being involved all of the time, whereas other positions, you might be able to get away with taking a pitch off. I wanted to be involved all the time with the game. I had that attitude even at a younger age. It’s where all the action is.”

Harvey made large leaps the summer of his eighth-grade year, just before he entered Germantown Academy. He played up for his age that summer, against high schoolers, a boy against young men. Still, Harvey held up.

“It did open my eyes to the quality of baseball I was capable of playing, and it opened my eyes to the commitment that I had to make in order to play at the level that I wanted,” Harvey said. “I did OK, but more than anything, I learned. I went to the summer showcases, against some of the premier kids in the country. That kind of let me know what I can do.”

Jeff Randazzo, a local baseball adviser with interest in Harvey, feels that he could go in the first two rounds of next June’s major league amateur draft. Harvey has a plus-arm, can hit for power and average, and possesses strong technique behind the plate.

“Chris has a magnetic, super personality,” Randazzo said. “He’s finding he has the ability to play at a high, high level. There’s no doubt Chris will be drafted, and there’s no question in my mind he’ll be taken in the first two rounds, he’s that good. He’s built like Mauer, Wieters and Ben Davis. Chris is really in a win-win situation, going to a great school, or deciding to sign a major league contract. As long as he keeps developing and keeps his work ethic, he’ll be fine whatever path he takes.”

Presently, Harvey is treading a worn path back and forth across the country from all the traveling to summer showcases and tournaments. He admits he’s not taken up too much with the possibility of being drafted, just keeping his sights set on what’s in front of him right now.

“That’s the focus, to keep playing, playing hard, and playing the game right,” Harvey said. “Keeping the scouts interested in you is motivation to keep getting better. I hear the talk about the possibility of being drafted, but I try not to put too much stock into it. I still have quite a bit ahead of me.”

And it looks very bright from a high perch behind the plate that not many have.