Reply to "Velocity"

I'm sure that I have used the phrase "Velocity is King" at some point.  As usual I change my mind a lot.

What hasn't changed is the fact that the fastball is king.  However, over the past decade or two, something has changed.  There are a very large number of high velocity guys these days.   Hitters have the biggest problem with unusual pitches.  So the unusual velocity these days is upper 90s to 100 or more.

When there is an over abundance of low 90s type pitchers you need something to separate them.  Most often that is movement, command or deception. So all 92 mph fastballs are far from the same.  Same goes for all fastballs, some 87 mph fastballs are much better than others. In fact, some 87 mph fastballs are better than some 90 mph fastballs. 

Still, velocity does draw interest.  Just for the record, I don't think young pitchers should ever ignore working on control just to gain velocity.  It takes both and often the same things that help improve velocity will also help improve control.  I do think all young pitchers should work on developing a good fastball, before all other pitches. 

The age old debate about when to first start throwing breaking pitches really is a mute point IMO.  But when I see 12-13 year old kids throwing 50% or more curve balls it makes me wonder if they will ever develop a good enough fastball.  We all know the curve can win lots of games, especially at the younger ages.  But does it also get in the way of developing the fastball?  And for the vast majority of highest level pitchers... The "Fastball is King" Not just velocity, but what it does and how a pitcher commands it is also important.

I would never get too caught up in what kids are throwing at a young age, 16 or under, because we have seen too many cases of big increases after those ages. Trevor Rosenthal is a very hard throwing pitcher for the St Louis Cardinals. He topped out at 85 mph for us as a junior in high school in 2007. We have seen low to mid 80s turn into low to mid 90s too many times to just ignore it. Sometimes you can actually see it might be in there when they were younger and sometimes it's a total surprise.