And Hello 2019 Summer Ball Recruiting

p.s. Just lost a pitcher last night- a freshman that was expected to be a weekday starter has is new coaches thinking now he may be their number 1 guy, so his innings will take him out of summer ball.     The risk of signing high quality arms...

I didn't realize a college coach would pull a kid from summer due to innings.  How many IP would a kid have once a coach starts to think he's hit a limit?

Most college coaches will have an inning limit on their guys for summer ball.  It seems early to pull a kid already when they obviously haven't pitched next spring yet    My son's summer team had one kid that came in with a 16 inning limit, most were in the 30-40 range and a few who hadn't thrown much in the Spring were not really limited

CT therein lies the conundrum.

A kid who is maxed out during the college season as a FR (and every year thereafter) may never see innings in summer ball. (Maxed out is whatever the college coach thinks it is.)

That means that guy will not be seen pitching in a woodbat league against the best players; he will be seen pitching against teams which collectively have less concentrated talent and hitting with metal. 

Ironic isn't it that the FR pitching stud will not have the same opportunity as a seldom used FR?(Good summer leagues are swarmed by scouts who appreciate watching players use the same equipment as the pros. For example, the pitcher whose college coach didn't like pitching inside is loved when he breaks bats with inside fastballs during the summer.)

A blessing and a curse it is to become a stud FR pitcher.

A freshman that is a stud likely already is "known"....and if he's not, but ends up starting at a D1 as their #1 starter, he'll be known soon enough.  Sure the summer league would be nice, but he'll have plenty of chances to be seen by the right people.  My son played in what is regarded as a pretty good summer league, not the Cape by any means, but not every team is "loaded".....in fact, some of the teams wouldn't have won more than 10-15 games played a Mid-Major D1 schedule

Once a college starting pitcher gets over 40-45 innings, summer shutdown or an innings limit is likely. BUT,we have had pitchers that threw 50 plus innings sent out for the summer because the coach wanted them to get more exposure. There may be an innings limit of course. I have seen some D III coaches send starters out with no limits, just asking for common sense. A good D-1 pitcher with 45-50 innings will likely be shut down or very limited but D 2 and 3 coaches are more willing so their pitchers can get exposure.    The "perfect" summer arm is a very talented freshman that is red-shirted because the staff is already loaded (think something like U. of Florida).   We had a pitcher from Florida one summer that was the league's best by  season's end. Had only thrown 10 innings for UF. He went back to UF the next season and only threw about 10 innings as a junior...and was drafted in the 20th round by the Dodgers.

Makes me realize my son pitched was too much this year.  Was always careful every year and off-season, but because of recruiting he topped 100 IP by August.  Never imagined 50 innings in college is the threshold.

Bumping this up just because now is the beginning of the time of year where injuries happen, pitchers' innings look to be piling up early, grades are lurking in the weeds, and some summer ball commitments get shakey. We have 2-3 pitchers that we suspect won't be coming because of high innings, and 3-4 other players that look very likely to get drafted, and have what appear to be sincere reasonable signing requirements ($$$$).     Our roster is currently over the league limit now as many teams "over-sign" a few for just these types of things, BUT if you are looking for a summer spot, especially if you are a pitcher, it's a good time of year to make contact with teams/leagues for which you'd like to play, as teams that have filled their rosters, with no "safety" spots, will be looking for replacements over the next couple months. The last 2 weeks of May are the hottest time when every summer team seems to lose 5-6 players.  ("What, my coach didn't tell you?"....)  

What about seniors in high school....it should be about pitch count not innings right? Had a kid pitch 80 in 4 innings, gave up 7 runs....0 earned. 

CTbballDad posted:

Makes me realize my son pitched was too much this year.  Was always careful every year and off-season, but because of recruiting he topped 100 IP by August.  Never imagined 50 innings in college is the threshold.

I was watching a college game this weekend where this point was brought up.  A Freshman was on the mound and he threw 65 innings or so in high school and the announcer said he threw that over an 8-9 week period when the Sophomore that was just pulled threw around 50 innings over a 5 month period the previous year.   

My son has accepted an assistant coaching job this summer.  He played with the team the past 3 summers and is the "local guy".  Will be interesting to see how it goes.  He's graduating in May with a marketing degree.....but I've always thought he'd make a really good coach.  I'm thinking that the prospect of getting a job that involves sitting in an office all day is starting to hit home lol.  He really hasn't had a break for 4 years, so we figured letting him have a month and a half off before having to get a "real job" wasn't too big of a deal.  He's really looking forward to it

Just bumping this back up. It is all still accurate and true to form, my GM (and younger son) has filled our roster, except some "TBD" slots where certain schools will designate some pitchers for us in the spring.

hokieone posted:

Just bumping this back up. It is all still accurate and true to form, my GM (and younger son) has filled our roster, except some "TBD" slots where certain schools will designate some pitchers for us in the spring.

 

 

 

Wow, next summer (2020) contracts already and roster filled?  Valley League right?

My son got his contract yesterday for collegiate league summer ball 2019.