SomeBaseballDad posted:So I'll bite.
The kid has pitched since he started playing but with him it was always the hit tool. 8,9,10,11 he saw pitching coaches. Mostly 8,9,10 as we were seeing a guy who liked him and did hour long lessons for $25. Results were mixed. One day pretty good another horrendous. At 11 his prowess at the plate landed him on a pretty good team. We were playing Super NIT majors. Needing pitchers he would help with pool play. His coach was the first one, even though it was still hot/cold, that said he just might be a pitcher. His HS coach, who had pitched in collage, was the next one. We had a conversation the kids freshman year about his hitting during which he said there was something about the kid. He looked liked he belonged on the mound. How he reached that conclusion as the kid walked batter after batter IDK. Actually I do. The kid did look the part, minus the control. Freshman year not good. Sophomore year better but.... lead the team with lowest OBA and highest ERA, if that tells you anything. Jr year marked improvement. Sr year he was almost unhittable, by HS strike zone standards. But it was a matter of called pitch would be high and inside and the pitch might be low and outside. A strike but not where it was suppose to be. That and generous zones by the umps. That said he was pretty dam good.
I'll add this here. The pitching coach at 8,9,10 taught the kids a change-up and the curve. A lot of the kids struggled to control them and didn't throw then often, especially the change-up. The kid, not being to concerned about pitching, didn't care about the results and continued to throw them. And you know what, he became pretty dam good with them. Really dam good actually. Also, he hasn't seen a true PC in five years. He took "pitching lessons" as part of a hitting/pitching/fielding workout he's done over the winter the last few years but they were bullpen sessions with a little guidance at most.
Now here's where it gets interesting. The kids hitting got him noticed by DI schools. He signed with one for his hitting although they knew he could pitch. Now they have a pretty good team. In a power five conference and won the regular season title last year. So into fall practice I'm talking to him and of course ask how things are going. He says hitting pretty good, pitching really good. Like I mean really good. Like I'm embarrassing people in practice he says. Awesome you'd think. Well not so much. Not for a kid who doesn't in any way, shape, or form want to be a PO. They're still playing him in the field but won't let him throw. Like he'll catch the ball in the outfield and go to throw it in and the coaches will have a cow. "No throwing". So here I am. With a kid at a pretty darn good DI program. Doing well both on the mound and at the plate and stressing about it. Granted only because the mound is going better than at the plate, but still....
A good problem to have! Just make sure he's drafted by a National League team so he at least gets to hit every fifth day!