Skip to main content

Replies sorted oldest to newest

I believe it was more the physical early bloomers than pitchers or hitters. In our USSSA region there was a particular pitcher and particular hitter that stood out over all the rest. The pitcher was hitting low 80’s with command relative to 13u. The hitter hit a ball off my team that must still in in orbit thirteen years later. I think Direct TV rents space on it for transmission. 

Both kids were physically developed 13yos. Neither kid grew beyond 5’9”. They had better than average high school baseball careers. 

Not all early physically early bloomers are flameouts. I know a kid who was a competent 15u pitcher at thirteen. He became a 6’5” ACC pitcher throwing mid 90’s. If people remember Robert Stock he was hitting 90 at fourteen. 

The early bloomers flame out is a myth anyway. Sure most of them will "flame out" (as in not playing past HS) but then again most players "flame out" after HS.

People just remember the 12u stud flaming out more because he was good back then, and they also remember the late bloomer growing 4 inches late and becoming a stud. What they don't remember is all the little guys staying little and not improving and if an early bloomer like Harper becomes great nobody is that impressed since he hit balls 450 feet since he was 15.

I don't think early bloomers flame out any more often than late bloomers, you just notice it more.

 

Last edited by Dominik85

The hitters look like they're running in ankle depth water on the base paths at 13u. The game just looked and played S L O W. As others have said, the early bloomers have the clear advantage!

Thankfully, my son played up on a 14u team, mainly because they needed a defensive catcher and he was the only lefty hitter on the team. He was not going to throw anyone out that year, but blocking a dozen in the dirt per game save far more runs.

Last edited by Batty67
Dominik85 posted:

The early bloomers flame out is a myth anyway. Sure most of them will "flame out" (as in not playing past HS) but then again most players "flame out" after HS.

People just remember the 12u stud flaming out more because he was good back then, and they also remember the late bloomer growing 4 inches late and becoming a stud. What they don't remember is all the little guys staying little and not improving and if an early bloomer like Harper becomes great nobody is that impressed since he hit balls 450 feet since he was 15.

I don't think early bloomers flame out any more often than late bloomers, you just notice it more.

 

The early bloomers who flame out are memorable. The reason is a lot of people ooohing and ahhhhing over their accomplishments. Meanwhile, baseball people can see they lack baseball skills and are just outmuscling the field. 

When my son was in LL in two consecutive years the all star team went the same successful distance. One year it was a roster full of future college baseball players. The next year it was only four kids who played high school and college ball along with a bunch of big, strong, fast future high school athletes in other sports. These kids outmuscled and outran the small field. Yet on the small field these two sets of small field baseball players achieved the same level of success.

Most late bloomers didn’t come out of nowhere. They were talented smaller players you noticed. Then they grew and became dominant. 

Last edited by RJM

I notice the kids who are full grown when they are 12/13u have an advantage freshman year in high school. Then, thinks can change. My son grew late. He was fairly small all thru LL. A middle of the pack kid. He sat on the bench a lot and was cut from All Stars at 12. But he kept working on his pitching mechanics. Today he's 6'3" 200lbs, and pitches on varsity as a soph in the WCAL. (He grew between freshman and soph year.) I always told him when he was younger, don't worry - you don't want to peak at 12 It all worked out fine for him because he kept working on his technique along the way.

I'm not sure. Either way you're going to see a lot of terrible baseball over the next year and a half as this is arguably the worst time to be a baseball parent. Unless you are playing stud baseball with a good team it can be ugly as the local baseball usually has a pretty big learning curve. Smaller middle infielders who were solid will struggle with the throw. Formerly fast players will take forever to get to first. Slower guys will look like they're running with ankle weights on. And pitchers have a really hard time throwing strikes. When they're not, they're still throwing the same speed with significantly more reaction time for the hitter. So expect a lot of throwing errors, walks, and balls put in play that don't really go anywhere. I think outfielders and corner IFs do alright, for the most part a lot struggle. 

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×