Freshman Pitching

I am pretty new to the High school baseball scene, so all I can do is relate to you what I have seen so far at our school of about 3000. At the freshman level we have six kids throwing between 62 and 71 (Jugs Gun). Some can throw harder, but need to slow down to put it over the plate consistently. The coaches are looking for over 60% strikes with the ability to mix in change ups. They don't seem to concerned about curveballs at this point.

Hope this Helps.

To be honest with you we dont have kids try out for any posistion. We evaluate them as a ball player and then take it from there. No one is just a pitcher or catcher or ss etc. We evaluate arm strength foot speed fielding ability ability to catch and throw and hitting ability. We put them in the outfield and watch them for awhile and we put them at ss and watch them for awhile. We see them swing the bat and evaluate them there. The only posistion we ask if anyone plays is catcher. That is the only posistion that we do not make a kid work out at. They have to want to go behind the dish. Now after a couple of days we have seen who has the better throwing mechanics and we then take them to the pen with our pitching coach. He works on them a little and sees them throw. We are not concerned as much about velocity but we are looking at the ability to throw with proper mechanics and learn. Most of the guys that are brought to the pen have a better than average arm over the other guys there. But that is probaly because they have better mechanics at least most of the time. Avg Freshman this year was 65-72 on the hill.

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At the freshman level we have six kids throwing between 62 and 71 (Jugs Gun)

DG, My God! A realistic statement about freshman pitching for a change. Few freshman throw in the 70s. Slow speed will get a kid on all but the most elite teams... if he can throw strikes about 60% of the time.

Shocked though that a freshman team guns kids at all. But nice to give players a baseline for future years. Also nice to give hothead kids (and especially Dads) a realistic appraisal of their 14-year old Randy Johnson.

Wonder how many kids thought the gun was broken?
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We have a cheap gun that tends to read about 2 or 3 mph slower than a Jugs gun so it is fairly accurate when you are close enough. We call it the ego buster.

Everyone's numbers for freshman pitchers seem to be on the mark. Usually if a kid can cruise low to mid 70s and can pitch a bit they'll be moved up to JV.

Our kids go from facing anywhere from low 60s to high 70s in Pony at 54' to seeing a max of low 70s at 60' in freshman ball.

Thanks for all the great comments. Makes me feel like he will be in the ball park velocity wise. Is the 60% ball/strike ratio mentioned seem about average for this age group?

In the games I do, I would love to see 60% strikes. I usually do not. I would imagine 50% being more appropriate. Now to be clear I am talking about pitches in the strike zone and not pitches that swung at out of the zone.

From Freshman pitchers the ability to throw consistant strikes is a prized commodity. I agree that velocity from Freshman pitchers can be a wide swing from low 60's to 70's. Any higher than that, they usually turn up on JV.

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In the games I do, I would love to see 60% strikes. I usually do not. I would imagine 50% being more appropriate.

Our HS coaches want pitchers to aim for the corners in tryouts... maybe not the freshman, but JV and above. As I recall, they don't ask any pitchers bring on the full heat. (don't want 85 mph varsity throws bouncing around the crowded gym)

Two thoughts:

1) I'd think that many overly-enthusiastic 14 year old arms are pretty tired from practice by the first day of tryouts! If only kids did their homework as well as they prepare for that magic event

2) kids will throw a bit faster on mounds than on a flat gym floor which offers little traction. I'm assuming most pitchers tryout indoors due to the weather now. (we have snow today)

I helped with the freshmen 2 years ago - best pitcher was moved up to JV, leaving us with 3 [plus a couple pretenders that quickly came to reality on their own]. We had 2-3 games/week - quickly figured that our best bet was to have them go 3-2-2 each, alternating their starts and opportunity to go 3 instead of 2. Lefty was a bit wild [isn't that redundant??!!] but did a nice job, #2 was small, wild, junky curve that ocassionally worked, #3 was slow, but threw consistent strikes. By the end of the year they were all decent control-wise.

Fast forward to their junior yr: Lefty will be #3-4 starter, made good strides, #2 pitched poorly on JV last year, will probably get cut this year [5-6 guys ahead of him on V, JV coach doesn't want his baggage, and doesn't want him taking innings from the sophs], #3 was cut last year, he was still slow, could still throw it over the plate, but didn't get any better. The frosh that pitched JV that year led the varsity in most pitching categories last year [except wins and K's] - he probably throws slower than the other 4 pitchers on the staff, but has the best command and can throw his slider and changeup for strikes consistently on any count.

I think what coaches are looking for from frosh is: some mound presence, an idea of what they are doing, the ability to throw strikes, or at least be around the plate, some velocity [or at least the projection for velocity, given body type and delivery] and a small variety of pitches. They don't have to be Bob Gibson to make the frosh team, but they better have a huge upside or make improvements btwn frosh-soph year, because they start to get a bit more choosy. Sooner or later they have to be able to PITCH. The guys with the juice will get the best looks, but the guys that know how to pitch, will make an impact.

If I had to give one bit of advice to a freshmen pitcher: Act like a pitcher!! Dress properly, warmup like you mean business, have some composure on the practice mound, act in command, and listen to the coach.

My freshman son is trying out for JV, primarily as a catcher, but hopes to get a look as a pitcher.

He has no clue about mechanics (and hasn't asked for help, so we've offered none) and his throwing motion is about as ugly as you can get.

But, he is a pretty big kid (5-11, 195, huge hands and size 14 feet). And, as my college sophomore son said, he throws a lot faster than it looks. He's been banging the weights pretty hard this winter and running quite a bit.

My son guessed he cruises in the high 60s and tops out maybe a tick over 70.

I would think that a coach wants a kid who throws strikes, but will never turn down a big untrained arm.

I'm guessing that it's easiest to make a HS team as a pitcher. But you gotta look like one on the mound. Mighty late to start with mechanics. My son throws 10,000 tosses a year. He looked like a tiny major leaguer when he was 10. Even if he wasn't fast, he looked like he knew what he was doing. LOL

Your son needs to find a full-length mirror and start practicing ASAP!