High School Junior (Velocity Max)

Absolutely! I gained my most velocity my Junior year in college and then again following my first full season in the Cubs organization.

Keep working hard!

Some gain more, some don't. Keep working, and see if you can be in the gain category.

If you keep working, you're ahead of most of the others right off the bat. So don't worry about what happens with most guys.

Besides which, you already have some pretty decent numbers. If you get another 2-4 mph going you'll be drawing a lot of attention by this summer. It is not at all unusual for growth and conditioning to build you up as you continue maturing, and usually you won't peak until you hit warm weather.

Whoever told you you max out as a tenth grader is untrue. I have had many players leave me and go to college and their fastball picked up more velocity. Think about this. Right now in a 3 hour practice you have to do hitting, fielding, baserunning, and pitching. Go to college as a pitcher and in a 3 hour practice you do 2 things. 1) Get better at pitching and 2)shag. I am sure the increase in velocity has to do with the first one.

Post-8th Grade Summer: 68
Post-Freshman Summer: 76
Post-Sophomore Summer: 80
Post-Junior Summer: 85
Right Now (mid-year college FY): 88 and has hit 90 several times.

I'm guessing there's still a bit more as he's a 'young' freshman and still not anywhere near a 'manhood' body. He has, however, put on 15 pounds since September, almost all of it in his legs, hips, and glutes from the workouts they've been doing.

Some guys probably do taper and stabilize around soph year of HS. There are some PG evaluations you'll see where the player threw, say, 84 as a freshman and stayed right around there thru soph and junior years. MANY, though -- those 'late-bloomer' types, can see velo increases well into the early 20s.

Way to go, T!

The research I did showed the average gain between the sophomore and junior seasons to be about 3.5. between junior and senior seasons 1-2.

Bum Jr's, as measured each Fall/Winter..

Rising Freshman: 68
Rising Sophomore: 76
Rising Junior: 81
Rising Senior: 88
Right Now: 90, works 87-89

You never know when or if that jump will occur. I think a lot of pitchers hit their max 82-84 based on poor mechanics. Then 86-87 based on genetics. If you have good genetics and good mechanics, 90 is possible. But only if.

Dang, Bum, I never knew the boys were mirroring each other so closely! Must have been something in the water at Irvine that summer.

T-bone is absolutely delighted to be IN the States finally, and with his pitching coach, and sounds like he's making some tremendous strides -- all the stuff that 'dad' could never get through to him!

Looking forward to following our guys......soon! (but not soon enough!!)

Krak, when I saw your numbers for "T" my jaw dropped. I was also amazed at how close they were at the same ages. I am so proud of BOTH of them. Good luck next year to "T".

quote:

I have heard that you pretty much max out around your Sophomore year and you might gain 2-3 MPH by your Senior Year.

Kids physically mature at different rates. One sophomore might have the body of a freshman. Another might have the body of a man. This will affect potential upside. I know of a kid who went into college as a D3 pitcher throwing 80. He graduated as a MLB draft choice throwing 88.

My advice is don't worry about it. Believe me, as a pitcher myself, I totally understand that in a sense, "velocity is king." And it's very tough not to be concerned with the velocity of your every pitch, but looking at your numbers it seems like they're pretty good and above the curve for most guys your age. What I mean when I say "don't worry about it" is this...what exactly can you do to affect the numbers on the gun? You can work as hard as you possibly can to get yourself in the best shape possible to increase that velocity. That is all you can control. If you do that and you gain more velocity, awesome (most likely you will..how much? there's too many variables to accurately say yes or no) but if you stay where you're at (not likely considering your age), well then you can't control that either. By conscienciously or subconscienciously putting your focus on velocity, other critical aspects of your pitching will inevitably suffer...that's just how it works. Focus on hard work and getting better at something everyday..and most likely velocity will come. But you are developing a work ethic that will always serve you well down the baseball road, especially with your mental confidence.

Kids blossom at different times...My college roommate topped at 88 in high school at Hoover High in Al. His development blossomed in college, where he ended up topping at 95 and got drafted in the 4th round. Who can explain why he blossomed at what seems a later age than most? I can't

quote:

Originally posted by pro97:
Kids blossom at different times...My college roommate topped at 88 in high school at Hoover High in Al. His development blossomed in college, where he ended up topping at 95 and got drafted in the 4th round. Who can explain why he blossomed at what seems a later age than most? I can't

There's nothing surprising about a kid throwing harder in college than he did in high school. Most MLB draft picks out of college are throwing harder than when they were 16 or 17 years old, thanks to general maturing, improved mechanics and strength, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Steven Ellis:

quote:

Originally posted by pro97:
Kids blossom at different times...My college roommate topped at 88 in high school at Hoover High in Al. His development blossomed in college, where he ended up topping at 95 and got drafted in the 4th round. Who can explain why he blossomed at what seems a later age than most? I can't

There's nothing surprising about a kid throwing harder in college than he did in high school. Most MLB draft picks out of college are throwing harder than when they were 16 or 17 years old, thanks to general maturing, improved mechanics and strength, etc.

Naturally most throw harder when they are 22 than when they were 16...but you missed the point. Normally when a guy is drafted in a round as high as the fourth, he's usually on the radar out of high school and signs with a better D1 program. And as for most of the kids who make that jump in velocity that's "not surprising" between 16-23... it's usually a jump from low 80's to upper 80's...a jump from 88 to 95 isn't typical and I'd say that's surprising.
Good discussion though.

There may be only 25-30 guys on the planet that can throw consistently 95 so it is obvious that most velocity gains are from the low '80's to the high '80's (as opposed to 88 to 95).

But look at it another way.

How many kids in high school throw 88? (Not what their daddy says.. I mean really throw 88 on a good old-fashioned Stalker.) Well, far far fewer than 82!

If any kid has a chance of hitting 95 I would bet it were the kid throwing 88 out of high school, not the kid throwing 82, right?

I would love to have Steve Ellis weigh in on his opinion of typical (or even atypical) velocity gains in college. I always find these discussions interesting.

I've never done any research on this, but I've been told that Billy Wagner was a soft-tosser in high school (83-84) and didn't develop his upper 90's fastball until he got to college (Ferrum). Also heard he was a true righty when he was young but injuries forced him to switch over to being a lefty.