Facing Blake Beaven

Ask for his forgiveness if you happen to foul one off. Maybe he will not throw you that nasty slider. Blake is a good one; one of the best I've seen in the last 10 years. Hope you and Blake do well this season.

Pray

Don't be intimidated!
Just focus on the ball & hit it!
You "own the plate & outfield" when you're at bat!
Go for it! You'll be fine

HSP, Just hope he leaves one up in the zone. If you happen to make contact it will go a long way.

HSP- Maybe we can take a page out of the Oregon State book. Before facing Andrew Miller, they took regular BP speed throwing from the left side a lot closer than usual (I want to say 20 or less ft. away). Can't say it really worked for them that game. BB is amazing, but he's still a high school player, he makes mistakes... so when he does, hope that you can ground out to the second baseman.

Things I've heard that can help:
Foot down early
short, compact swing
let him supply the power
hit early in the count
look fastball, pray you don't see a slider.
Or just look slider/offspeed.

Also, must be eligible to face him... there's a unique strategy.

Hitting may be 75% mechanics, but it is 95% confidence.

A lot of kids in SA had that same question last season about Kendall Volz. Lay off the breaking stuff and look for the fastball. Just hope he has to bring it and you hit it flush.

"Hitting may be 75% mechanics, but it is 95% confidence."

Great Line Texan. Great Line.

Well....just ask SL Carroll how to hit the ball off BB. They did it pretty well.

SWAC...stop kissing b u t t ...the kid will be gone and you never thought too much of him anyway until he goes in the draft. Then he will become your BEST FRIEND. Right??

Great advice BaseballMom...I love your message.

Sadly, last year in the playoffs against a good team I did not believe they would touch CG (better than BB IMO). This team handled and beat him so have the confidence and you will have sucess. To those of you that know the team I am referring to.....REVENGE IS COMING SOON.

My son has actually had some (limited) success against Blake, but has yet to figure out Green. I think he's 0 for his lifetime against Green and he is just happy when he fouls one off against him.

Thanks for the support kyle! NOT
You know that I'm gunna be eligible.
But another thing that I was wondering if there are any actual tactics that you try and use against him. Such as crowding the plate or try and stay low.
Everyone has said that you need to stay off the offspeed but that is easier said than done. I think (probably wrong) but you have .87 seconds to decide on swinging or watching the ball when its coming in at 94(maybe?). So saying that would you have to guess on when your gunna swing.
I don't know,you tell me.

hsp, you have a PM.

HSP Maybe you should just sit that game out!!! It sounds as if your scared to death! If your that scared you will most likely not be playing at the next level. I would encourage every player to get excited about facing good pitchers

If you make it to college about every pitcher you face at the top JUCO`S and D1 are just as good are better than the pitcher you refer to. So have fun and take your hacks you might SURPRISE yourself.

My .02 cents, on a power pitcher that throws 90+ crowding the plate is not a good idea. He will come inside, and if he doesn't bean you; he'll back you off the plate. Then, he's got you.

Good hitters are like good pitchers, they like challenges and against power pitchers you know they want to bring the hard stuff. Look for it, and take your cuts.

If you don't think you can....you can't.





Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
Hitting may be 75% mechanics, but it is 95% confidence.

I agree 100%.

Amazing ain't it Texan?

I happen to agree with just about everything people have been saying in this forum. To quote the great mastermind of baseball, Yogi Berra, "You can't think and hit at the same time." My strategy is to get in there and rip the first fastball I see, get the barrel to the ball on Beaven and it will go along way.

IMO

Great attitude & approach, jbb.

Part of your bat speed comes with repetition. If you alter your stance or your swing to face a higher MPH guy, you are half dead already.

Understand that your average against better pitchers won't be as good as against lesser pitchers. That's just the definition of who's better and who's lesser. If you're used to hitting .400, that's probably not going to happen in your AB's against guys like Beavan. But you can still take an approach that leads to respectable results.

The one thing I can tell you is, there is a natural human tendency to try to swing harder -- muscle your swing -- when you face a harder thrower, esp. if he comes letter high or higher. The combination of loss of your customary swing and the loss of speed from arm tension will work against you.

Get comfortable, take a deep breath, see the ball and put the barrell on it. Let your swing go just as you always do. Don't think about how fast it is, just see it and hit it. The harder you push it, the worse you'll do, so the key is to fight back the tension and use the same confident approach you normally do.

quote:

If you make it to college about every pitcher you face at the top JUCO`S and D1 are just as good are better than the pitcher you refer to.

highheat60,

You don't really believe that... Do you? It's hard to believe that nearly every Juco and DI pitcher is a first round candidate. All pitchers are not the same at any level. And the pitcher we're discussing here has more ability than 99% of those in DI or high level Juco ball.

The pitcher mentioned would be considered among the very elite of all DI or Juco pitchers. Those that have first round potential!

All the above said... The best hitters usually enjoy the confrontation with the best pitchers. Enjoy that battle! It should be a highlight in a baseball players career.

quote:

Those that have first round potential!

Sorry PGStaff.....I have seen better recently that did not go in the first round as you experts call it.

I see him at best a 3-5 rounder depending if some things change. It all starts with attitide! A 92-93 FB is MEAT.

I am not here to argue with you PG experts...Just MO. You all do a great job in your business.

I guess the Cubans don't like meat

jesuitbaseball
your not going to get a fastball because you have played with you and he knows that you can hit a fastball but not the offspeed.
And to everyone else I am looking forward to facing BB since he is the #2 highschool recruit in the nation, I could be wrong.
I was actually excited when we came into the district knowing that he was in the district. But no I', not scared to death of him and I have seen him pitch once or twice. But still of what I can collect from what everyone has said is just to look for the fastball?

quote:

your not going to get a fastball because you have played with you

correction: your not going to get a fastball because you have played with him.

And another thing is that you get lessons from the same people.

texan you have a PM

I'd like to cover for HSP in that the comment reffered to me is a joke referring to a movie that has come out recently.

I am quite excited to face BB. I faced him for the first time when he was 16, and I 15. I ripped a.... change-up. If he remembers, he won't be giving me that again.

After much discussion on a plain with a head scout for a major league organization, he said that facing top guys like BB, or any other big time prospect, can tell alot about the hitter. Coaches can be impressed with hitters even if they look stupid facing them. Approach, battle, how you "see" pitches (I took this about how you look on your takes). It's quite interesting. Obviously in HS, the idea is to win and I'm not trying to start a controversy here, but even if you can't hit him, there are personal gains that can be made. Just being able to face him makes you (as a hitter) better against everyone else. And like I said previously, all the things previously mentioned (and more I'm sure) are things that one can do to "win" small battles.

Sit fastball!!!

If you don't take away his fastball, you are doomed. That is what SLC did to him.

Remember, hitting is timing, pitching is upsetting a hitter's timing.

Have the fastball timed when you are in the on deck circle. Other wise, take until you see a fastball (That is an old Ted Williams trick which I loved to use when I played).

I'd run his pitch count up. He can be a little wild at times like any HS pitcher. But, if he ain't the best around here he is a very close 2nd.

Posted by "Train"

quote:

Sorry PGStaff.....I have seen better recently that did not go in the first round as you experts call it.

I see him at best a 3-5 rounder depending if some things change. It all starts with attitide! A 92-93 FB is MEAT.

I am not here to argue with you PG experts...Just MO. You all do a great job in your business.

Train,

No need to apologize. Your opinion is just as important as mine. I'm kind of alergic to the term "expert"! Thanks for the compliment, though! (If you really meant it)

IMO and many others, Blake is a first round candidate at this time. But even if you are correct and he's only a 3rd to fifth round pick... It still makes him better than 99% of all DI and Juco pitchers.

I actually believe that 92-93 mph fastball should be a "steady" mid 90s maybe better thie spring if he is healthy. And the slider might be his best pitch. This is one exceptionally talented kid and yes, there are others.

Yawn......this discussion is making me tired. I wish everyone would tap the brakes a bit on the "first-round pick" talk -- we've had a half-dozen "first-round picks" in this area lately, eh? -- oops, none of which went in the 1st round. There are 30 first-round picks and it seems routine to throw 120 kids into that category. In my opinion, the college kids are better candidates (see Jake Arrieta).

Congratulations to Jake on being named a 1st team Preseason All-American.

hsp, didn't get your PM.

I dont want to start a correction frenzy with HSP, but I have never in my life faced BB nor played with him. So I really dont know how he knows what to throw me and what not to.

Since I'm tired of watching Vanderjagt miss field goals (I'm sure your loving that jbb), I'll say that it's not a big mystery what to throw you (joking). In all seriousness, in HS ball I got the impression the BB doesn't change his approach to many hitters. 1) He probably doesn't need to and 2) The overall quality of a HS team USUALLY isn't as high as summer ball. I'm not saying HS teams aren't good, nonono, I'm saying that usually, in a really good HS lineup, you have 3-4 solid hitters. Meaning with some luck, they will get themselves out.

kyle-

have i ever told you how funny you are?

how bout them cowboys?

How 'bout them Cowboys?