CollegebaseballInsights posted:Buckeye 2015 posted:3and2Fastball posted:A few takeaways:
1) don't try to pitch through an injury
2) if you lose your commitment, don't go to the press to talk about it. That just isn't a good look. If the press contacts you, just say "no comment". And by all means Daddy shouldn't be commenting on the situation in the press, that's just really not a good look.
3) a good reminder that nothing is official until the NLI is signed
4) don't try to pitch, or play, through injury.
Number 2.....Agree....100%.....and especially....don't do this:
His dad hopes his son might still land in the Pac-12. That would give him extra incentive when he faced UA.
Number 3....also agree 100%
#1 and #4.....agree somewhat as not all situations are the same.....BUT....in this kids case, it seems like someone, anyone....should have told the kid and the parents....don't risk it...get it fixed or rest it and be ready to head to AZ
Do you think Arizona would have signed him with no NLI? Or should he have held off the High School season and wait for summer ball to show what he had in the tank?
I don't understand the question? There's no way to know....did throwing thru the injury make any difference? Would he have gotten back to 92-95 if he had stopped? Who knows....injuries happen. Some guys come back as good as they were before. Some don't. You can't "sign someone without an NLI". The NLI is the "signing". They offered him a chance as a walk on, so it seems like they at least were still interested enough to see if he could make it back. If he shows up at AZ next fall and is back to 92-94, the fact he is a walk on wouldn't have mattered....he'd have been throwing. He says "he felt better this summer"...but was at 86. Will another year get him back to 95? Again, who knows. If it does, he'll have plenty of opportunites. You have to wonder what, if any communication he had with AZ all summer? This is part of the problem with signing early. You get your heart set on a school and then something happens, in this case an injury. He is throwing 86 now.....AZ doesn't sign guys throwing 86 so he's not getting signed. It's a sucky situation but if he hadn't committed and waited until this summer....he would still be getting limited looks because of the 86. It's nobody's fault....AZ liked what they saw when he was in the low-mid 90's. They don't like it at 86.....as would be the case with most other P5 programs. Again, I'm not blaming either side....it happens.