Coaches know that no pitcher is at top velo in January. But when evaluating a pitcher there is much more to consider than velo progression. Other things that can be evaluated at any time of the year are mental makeup, throwing mechanics, quality of secondary pitches, command of pitches (or lack thereof), body type, projection for growth, body language, work ethic, character (or lack thereof), overall athletic ability, coachability, academic standing, etc. However, all of those other things can’t be hyped up into a sales package and peddled on Twitter. So instead we get “velo dr” scam artists that have kids doing max effort pull downs into a net (with radar gun measurements) in the dead of winter. All so they can post online how many kids are artificially hitting 90 (while they are being put at risk of injury). It’s all about these pretenders trying to build their brand on the back of unsuspecting HS players and naive parents who fall for it because they believe that velo trumps everything. And it doesn’t. Velo will open a door for you. But you don’t get to walk thru the doorway if you can’t stay healthy, throw strikes, and get outs. There is so much more to pitching than being able to throw hard. And I know this from personal experience. I was an exceptionally hard throwing RHP when I played. But at top velocity I couldn’t command my FB. I was completely ineffective until I learned how pitch. For me that meant figuring out how to command the FB at 90 (instead of max velo), developing a plus change up, and being able to throw any of my 3 pitches for a strike in any count. I didn’t put all of that together until the summer before my senior year in college. Players today don’t get the luxury of being given time to develop (unless they play D3) so you would think people would see the importance of overall development over just chasing velo numbers. But most don’t.