Reply to "John Smoltz's HOF speech on specialization"

Here are my thoughts. My 2015 RHP was just dropped off at his SEC school to play baseball. It has been a long journey filled with ups and downs. As a  parent of a child who only plays baseball and YES it is a sport that requires 12 months of dedication, I feel compelled to tell our recent story. My son threw 90 HS innings his junior year (2014) keep in mind this is up form his all time high of 30 innings in a calendar year. Going into his important summer before his senior year we joined a very high end baseball organization. The upper end of select 17U baseball. All players were D1 and many drafted. My son was expected to be the ace but really struggled with velocity. He was simply tired and needed a break BUT the demands of the summer circuit kept him out there. He only pitched in a few summer events of 2014 because I made the decision to shut him down. Keep in mind no medical issues just his arm felt heavy and he was struggling with velocity. He never said it but I knew it and took action. What hurt us was the select coaches being mad at him and telling scouts he was not good etc. They never asked what might be happening to him or even cared. They wanted that horse on the mound no matter the consequences. The organization's leader went on to tell pro scouts terrible things about him and he only had three opportunities to ever watch him pitch. Long story short I shut my son down, focused on weight training and getting into good shape. His last event was the Area Code games in CA and then he did not pick up a baseball until November. All he did was train daily and got into wonderful shape. He did not pitch in the BIG Fall tourney in Florida that thousands of scouts were attending. This hurt him with pro scouts and I heard it from everybody including his representation that skipping that event was stupid. This is the stuff that is killing kids arms. Event after event is expected for the pros to gain a comfort level with you. These kids are training for velocity and not training to be great pitchers. It is all about who throws the hardest. Fast forward to his senior year of 2015. he had a great year and his last outing he sat 92-95 and was awesome. He could barely break 90 last summer. I believe these kids need period of non throwing and focus on their body and minds. Parents, shut them down and go to the gym. You do not have to play multiple sports BUT stop throwing for an extended period and work your body. This will help.