high school pitchers

I don't have the anwer to this, but I have a suggestion for you.

Go to the following website and read the reports and watch the videos of Pitcher's who were drafted out straight out of High School in this years (2007) draft, it should give you some ideas.

MLB Draft Tracker 2007

Doc,

A HS pitcher need's a scout to believe in them and there potential to project as a pro pitcher.

EH

RHP -- May get drafted upper-80's
LHP -- May get drafted mid-to-upper 80's
RHP -- Will get drafted low-90's
LHP -- Will get drafted upper-80's to low-90's
RHP -- Pick an agent mid-90's
LHP -- Pick an agent low-90's

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
RHP -- Pick an agent advisor mid-90's
LHP -- Pick an agent advisor low-90's

Just a minor clarification. You don't want to throw away any options too soon.

Pick an agent who calls himself an advisor for legal purposes might be the way it works. I'm not sure what, if anything, happens if an advisor for a player later turns into an agent for that player.

You will know how good he is when the scouts beginning showing up and calling the house

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
RHP -- Will get drafted low-90's
RHP -- Pick an agent mid-90's

I know for a fact that what you've stated here simply is not true. There is much more that factors into a draft pick than simple velocity.

From the mechanical perspective...

What other pitches are in the arsenal?
What command of the strike zone, up and down, side to side?
What kind of movement on pitches?
How do batters react?

From the signability perspective...

How smart is the player and what colleges does the draft have to compete with to lure the player away?

Is the player mature enough to handle the rigors of pro ball?

Is the player inclined to play pro now or will it take a monumental offer?

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
You will know how good he is when the scouts beginning showing up and calling the house

Not really, you will only know how good or how much lack of regard a scouts perception is, not how good they really are...an example, Billy Beane

If scouts were that good, every first rounder would be a big leaguer and 47th rounders would never ever make it

I was only addressing velocity. All of the other stuff you indicated is valid as well but it is absolutely true that without velocity there is little chance. And I find it hard to believe that any RHP in the mid-90's and LHP in the low-90's would not be drafted even if they didn't have all the other stuff. But don't drag me into a he-doesn't-believe-command-is-not-important argument because I agree it is.

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
I'm not sure what, if anything, happens if an advisor for a player later turns into an agent for that player.

nothing.

Bum,
94 would be mid 90's...on a scouts stalker gun 5/10/07 at the Brewers Miller Park in Milwaukee in a HS league game...yet he went undrafted. He had/has command and two other pitches.

"When he committed to the Military Academy, we just stopped following him because we figured it would cost us too much to get him." A direct quote from a scout.

I saw a Phillies scout at one of my sons games. He was there to look at the other pitcher. My son topped 91 that day on the scouts gun in early April, struck out 12 over 6 innings with 0 ER. The scout never even wrote down my sons name.

I agree, it's not a command argument. My point is, there is a lot more than just a single or even a couple issues in play.

This thread has had some very interesting and educational posts. What I find amazing when I watch baseball games on tv, is that the commentators usually bring up how this guy can't run, that guy shouldn't throw for velocity because he has no command. This other guy doesn't have very good range, another lays out at ss a lot with no results. This guy can't hit, that guy really doesn't have an arm. On and on, I know how a lot of you feel about the commentators, but even if a little of what they say is true, no one is perfect in the major leagues, but some how they are there.
There must be more to the equation.

Of course there are exceptions, but I would suspect 95% of all MLB pitchers had near-average to plus-average velocity while scouted, regardless of the "other" factors. Once in the system, all the other factors (command, movement, location, mound presence, mental makeup, etc.) takes precendence.

It is like this. When my boy was on his official visit to a D1 school, his "team buddy" confided at lunch that the pitching coach told him that velocity was only #4 on a list which included location, movement, and deception. I remember being surprised by this, and asked him, "Are you sure?" The next day--at breakfast and with the pitching coach present--the "team buddy" reiterated what he said:

"Hey coach, I told him that velocity was only only #4 on the list (of factors) like you said."

The coach looked at him with amazement and responded: "Do you know why velocity is only #4 on the list?" The "team buddy" did not know.

"Because by the time you get here, you're expected to already have it."

Great anecdote Bum.