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The Catching-22 is this ... catchers only play 80% (or less), of the time.  The beating the body takes behind the plate wears on them, so typically they see their offensive contributions swoon as the season goes on.  They (more than any other position), have to play thru the bruises from foul tips, or catching 95 mph fastball all night.
So ... if you get a catcher EARLY, who shows major hitting chops, you MOVE him.  History is rife with guys that began as catchers, showed they could really, really hit, and were summarily moved to 1B or more demanding positions, (moving them BEFORE the rigors of catching start destroying the body).  Dale Murphy began his career as a catcher.  But, it is rare in the extreme to ALLOW your 1000 OPS threat to only play 80% of the time, (while increasing injury risk, and likely causing production swoons).
Guys like Piazza are incredibly rare, because most clubs won't even consider leaving a truly great hitter at catcher.  Typically, you have to be almost overwhelmed with talent elsewhere to leave a good hitting catcher catching.
But ... you've gotta have a catcher, (actually, you've gotta have two).  So, you can't move EVERY good hitting catcher prospect elsewhere.  So, typically, your catcher hitter types tend to be one-dimensional.  They bring EITHER average, (Jason Kendall), or power, but typically are 2nd tier hitters --- 25 HR power, not 40.  Oddly, very few catchers seem to have exceptional eye ratios.  Most are loathe to take a walk, (maybe they think taking walks on offense will hurt their pitcher on the other side - who knows?)
Anyway, even in the minors, you've gotta carry extra catchers.  So, to a degree, you've got a minor overload in the minors.  More bodies ALL attempting to improve enough to get the call.  Additionally, the catcher position, more prone to injuries, affords more emergency call-ups than other positions.  If you've got a couple of OFs on the bench, and an OF hits the DL for two weeks, you might call up an extra bullpen arm.  If a catcher hits the DL, you WILL bring up another catcher, (unless you're already carrying three).
You also have the added issue that catchers burn out faster than other position players, (shorter careers), meaning AGAIN, you've got more opportunities.  Basically, the opportunity and supply trees for catchers vs. other positions just don't match up.  So, lots of time, it's a case of forced adaptation.  You've got a decent catcher, then wham, he breaks a shin, and you have to bring up the 31-year-old journeyman to backup your backup.  But, your backup isn't any good, and the guy who has been sitting in AAA for most of a decade finally gets a chance, and works his buns off to make the most of it. 
Of course, there is the case that the defensive demands make catcher a much more COMPLEX position to play competently.  So, lots of your young phenoms spend much more time EARLY working on the refining of the defensive stuff.  So, compared to simpler positions, they also don't get as much early hitting instruction.  So, AFTER the defense is solid, (after all, their primary value is as emergency backup), suddenly the get taught that one thing that was preventing them from being a really good hitter -- and wham, you're Paul Lo Duca.