High School Pitching Velocity

15 yrs- 65-70
16 yrs- 70-75
17 yrs- 80
18 yrs- mid 80's

That would be the average IMO. Now the studs would be 5-10 mph more probably.

Not to sound rude, but in my opinion, Bustamove is way off. I would think it would be more like..

15 yrs-70
16 yrs-74
17 yrs-77
18 yrs-80

I know you're going to look at this and say you can't give one exact number but just give or take a couple mph and that's average or maybe slightly above average.

nd, If I'm way off then how come our numbers are almost similar?

quote:

Originally posted by PoteetHSbaseballfan:
I need some feedback here. What would be considered a good average fastball for a 15 year old to throw? I am not talking the phenom studs, I am talking about the good serviceable pitchers. The 2nd and 3rd guys in the rotation. Not only the 15s but also the 16s 17s and 18s.

A good one would be one that the hitters swing and miss at.

Those are the best kind. IMO.

ND, I have nothing to base this on, but I'd agree with your assessment.

Mid 80s is probably a bit swift. There are plenty of guys doing it, but IMO there are more throwing in the lower 80s.

high school average id say is like 75-78 for varsity. 65-75 for jv and 60-75 for frosh soph

Bustamove, I agree, you're not way off. Sorry, my mistake. I think your velocity for an 18 year old is way off though. 85 is not average, more like 80. I'm 16 and throw mid 70's, although I don't pitch anymore. This was considered average/slightly above average. I've seen varsity games where the pitcher was clocked in the low 80's and he seemed to be throwing with above average velocity compared to other kids I've seen.

Maybe our high school league is a strong league, however, we have three pitcherson our high school team who throw mid 80's to low 90's. We also have a number of other pitchers in our league who throw mid 80's and above. These readings are by college and pro scouts.

I believe you. Some leagues are stronger than others, though. You may be in a 6-A league, others in single A.

Peak MPH's on our team last spring ran top to bottom as follows:

1. 92-So.
2. 85-Jr.
3. 83-So./lefty
4. 80-Jr.
5. 78-Fr./lefty

We had another 87-88 guy, junior last year, but he transferred. Next spring we'll have to face him. At other schools, we regularly see one guy who hits 91, another who hits 89, another who hits 88. But once you get past each team's top guy, it drops off quite a bit. You'll see lots of guys who top out around 82, and others who throw junk junk and more junk and couldn't care less about the RADAR guns! So overall, I think Busta's numbers are about right for what we see.

Its great to see an occasional "blazer" out on the mound in high school. But they are usually few and far between.

I tend to watch how fast the ball comes back the other way when evaluating the effectiveness of a pitcher.

It is impressive when you see a high school kid hit 90 mph - unless of course - the ball leaves the park at 110 mph.

Guys gotta remember its not what league your in..it's the average. Our league is also way above average. We have guys hitting 90 and plenty in the 80's.

I think where you are plays a HUGE role in pitching velocity. My school's not in a great league, but it's not a bad one either. All 3 starting pitchers were around 80, give or take a couple mph. There were a couple kids I saw play that threw a little harder, but not much. There were also kids that didn't throw as hard.

quote:

Not to sound rude, but in my opinion, Bustamove is way off. I would think it would be more like..

15 yrs-70
16 yrs-74
17 yrs-77
18 yrs-80

That IS about right... maybe even high This topic comes up all the time. Everyone forgets the huge numbers of awful baseball programs and small rural or private schools. I've seen high 50s in freshmen games and upper 60s in varsity, even at large succesful programs. The upper 60s guy was VERY effective, btw.

Many pitchers are slow, but they tend to pitch less often than the 80+ mph guys. So are you talking about the average top out speed a batter will face, or the top out speed of all the pitchers including those rotting on the bench?

Mid-80s. No way. Most teams we see have NO ONE who can hit 85. And it seems that just about every team has one fairly worthless fastballer who can't throw strikes.

I should add that I've seen some pretty speedy pitchers who show their max speed only a few times in a game, relying instead on movement and deception.

I just scoped some 14YOs on a travel team and they maxed at 64mph.

For the last few years we have been the second best small school (1A) in Maryland. Last year we had a senior throwing upper 80's a Junior throwing mid 80's a two Seniors throwing mid 80's and two Juniors throwing upper 70's maybe 80.

I am going to be a Junior this year and I top out around 75 and I am one of the slower ones.

quote:

15 yrs-70
16 yrs-74
17 yrs-77
18 yrs-80

I'll throw in my estimates:
15 yrs-68
16 yrs-73
17 yrs-77
18 yrs-79

Perfect Game insists that most kids nearly top out around age 17 with very little speed increase afterward.

Some of the increase is due to slower kids dropping out of the sport,

And some of the best pitchers may lose speed their senior year due to wear and tear of pitching 50+ innings.

here is my sons velocity from age 10 (he was above avg)


10-56mph
11-63mph
12-68mph
13-74mph
14-80mph
15-84mph frosh
16-87mph soph
his goal is to hit 90 as a jr.
we are a 3a school no one else on the team can break 80 most schools around here the top pitchers throw mid to low 80s at best everone else upper 70s.

ghoti, ur son is right around what i throw, I am 16 (rising JR) and I throw 86, I went to a local showcase for some of the small schools in the area and most kids were around 79-80 and they were rising seniors (17 yrs old) and the coach said there were 2 or 3 kids throwing 85+ and it was only JRs and SRs at the showcase.

ghoti, thats some very interesting numbers you post there. I say that because I just turned 15 a month ago, and while I haven't been able to get clocked since I turned 15 (also a football player and I've been preparing for season), my numbers from 10-14 pretty much match your son's. While on occasion I hit a little higher (83-84 a few times), for example 80-81 is where I usually topped out (although I would obviously break 80 a few times) in most workouts when I was 14. When I was 13, while I dont remember the exact number, I was throwing in the low-mid 70s. And when I was 12 I was throwing just slightely slower than your son (I seem to remember 65). So I wonder if that means that your son and I will end up throwing with simular velocities?