As I said it is a calculated risk.
There is a soph on my son's college team who hits 97-98mph and is close to stting a HR recor5d. He is at 11 now and has hit 3 in one game. College coach has nothing to lose. He never sits. Ifr you can throw and hit like that you will play both ways.
These guys are few and far between.
For us as a travel team we don't allow pitchers to hit for a couple of reasons:
01---we want the pitchers concentrating on their job on the mound
02-- it allows us to get another player in the lineup for the coaches to see in actiom
03-- when we play where we can use the DH and the EH we have nearly 50% of our players in the game
Different scene than the pros but still there are reasons
01---we want the pitchers concentrating on their job on the mound
02-- it allows us to get another player in the lineup for the coaches to see in actiom
03-- when we play where we can use the DH and the EH we have nearly 50% of our players in the game
Different scene than the pros but still there are reasons
The title reminds me of a conversation I heard between Mantle and Seaver. Maybe 1965?
I understand how a travel ball/showcase team doesn't let pitchers hit. That is what I did for my summer/ fall team because I know I am there to be seen as a pitcher and my friends need to be seen batting and playing a position. I had 10 at bats since last May and last weekend played in a 18-U tourney against good teams. I went 11-13 with 3 walks, Hr, 3 Db, pitched 6, 13K. But I know that is high school and at the next level I will be a pitcher only. I will miss it but I know its coming so I m going to enjoy my senior year playing the field and batting!!
.... because their coach won't let 'em! 
GED10DaD
Hey Play9, enjoy that senior season and hitthe crud out of the ball!
For the same reason that ice cream doesn't have bones. 
I have a sophomore, likes to hit and play the field. Coach ( young and stupid) told him he was a pitcher only, he kept asking, and telling them he could help the team ....they gave him a shot, he went 3-3 and drove in 3 runs, now he plays the field and hits and hits for himself when he is pitching......next year at varsity might be a different deal, might not be either....
STOP PIGEON HOLING PITCHERS !
STOP PIGEON HOLING PITCHERS !
My son hit a few bombs during his Senior year in HS...played 3B when not pitching.
I watched him try to bunt the other day and I had to hide...lol.
I watched him try to bunt the other day and I had to hide...lol.
When a kid is starting to specialize or work on pitching, is it not just before the time where poor hitting mechanics start becoming exposed. Perhaps a number of them had long swings that worked up until 14 or so and wont do them any good when they hit 16 or 17.
I agree with the guys who talk about specialization. Son spent five months of pretty intensive hitting training in 2009/2010 prior to 14U. Is pretty well 12 months a year at 2-3 days a week as a pitcher. He is one of the better hitters in his city rep league. Still he runs an 8.5 60... maybe that gets to 7.5 someday - it's still not enough to justify working on hitting. For fun we go out and I pitch him a few buckets behind the L-screen. He will still dominate at the plate this year but, it's his last year of decent position play (15U). I lament it but, he embraces it.
He will continue to play HS ball as a position player but, HS ball is relatively weak where we are (he will be a varsity starter as a freshman). Part of the reason it is weak is that the travel programs here dont want pitchers wasting themselves on three weeks of low level high school ball. The pitchers are all tied up in weekend double headers as the travel elites face each other prior to leaving for the south in the summer. Thus, you dont see decent pitching at High School level.
At this point, we have a 15U that is in the 90 percentile as a hitter and go hard at it until September. From 2012 forward, he will probably have 15 At-Bats each spring. It's not hard to see how things will deteriorate as pitchers get better and better...
I agree with the guys who talk about specialization. Son spent five months of pretty intensive hitting training in 2009/2010 prior to 14U. Is pretty well 12 months a year at 2-3 days a week as a pitcher. He is one of the better hitters in his city rep league. Still he runs an 8.5 60... maybe that gets to 7.5 someday - it's still not enough to justify working on hitting. For fun we go out and I pitch him a few buckets behind the L-screen. He will still dominate at the plate this year but, it's his last year of decent position play (15U). I lament it but, he embraces it.
He will continue to play HS ball as a position player but, HS ball is relatively weak where we are (he will be a varsity starter as a freshman). Part of the reason it is weak is that the travel programs here dont want pitchers wasting themselves on three weeks of low level high school ball. The pitchers are all tied up in weekend double headers as the travel elites face each other prior to leaving for the south in the summer. Thus, you dont see decent pitching at High School level.
At this point, we have a 15U that is in the 90 percentile as a hitter and go hard at it until September. From 2012 forward, he will probably have 15 At-Bats each spring. It's not hard to see how things will deteriorate as pitchers get better and better...
quote:STOP PIGEON HOLING PITCHERS !
Agreed! Pitchers can hit. My son never hit for himself in high school. Always a DH. When he asked his coach why, he was told that he'd never touch a bat in college so he might as well get used to it. His team had advanced as far as they could in the state playoffs and were being pounded by a better team. Of course, my son was keeping pitcher's stats on the bench. Begging for a chance to hit because it was the last game, coach gave in and he came to bat. Of course everyone in the stands was clapping and cheering. The pitcher quickly got out ahead 1-2. The next pitch was a linedrive off the left center field wall for a double. The assistant coach, who had never seen him hit in a game turned to the coach and said, "And this is the guy we've been DHing for all year?"
Later I asked my son about the at bat. He said when he got in the batters box he turned to the catcher and asked him to take it easy on him. When the count got to 1-2 he told him, don't you dare throw me a curveball. The catcher straight out asked him what he wanted and where. Fastball right down the middle please?
Yep, pitchers sure can hit!
quote:Originally posted by Corky9999:
For the same reason that ice cream doesn't have bones.
I've been thinking about this quote for almost a year and a half and I still have no idea what it means!
I think most of us older guys much prefer baseball without the DH. It's a purer game if everyone plays both defense and offense!
For you HS Dads that love your son's playing both ways, just understand that the "higher level" game isn't played that way. Exceptional high school athletes can "stick to their guns" and help the team in both capacities. You can try to "swim up stream" all you want beyond high school, but likely Jr. will have to choose his preferred path. But, he will soon need to begin making many of his life decisions.
For you HS Dads that love your son's playing both ways, just understand that the "higher level" game isn't played that way. Exceptional high school athletes can "stick to their guns" and help the team in both capacities. You can try to "swim up stream" all you want beyond high school, but likely Jr. will have to choose his preferred path. But, he will soon need to begin making many of his life decisions.
At least on the major league level, I can understand when pitchers can't hit.
Hitting and pitching are two completely different things (obviously), so to be able to have the skill set to perform both at an elite level is hard to do. The pitchers that can hit at the major league level are amazing to me.
Stu
Hitting and pitching are two completely different things (obviously), so to be able to have the skill set to perform both at an elite level is hard to do. The pitchers that can hit at the major league level are amazing to me.
Stu
I think the dads should just coach the HS teams. Then they could simply do what they want to do.
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That would involve a couch and a remote control.
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That would involve a couch and a remote control.
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quote:Originally posted by biggerpapi:quote:Originally posted by Corky9999:
For the same reason that ice cream doesn't have bones.
I've been thinking about this quote for almost a year and a half and I still have no idea what it means!
Me,neither, but I like it. Maybe I could use that sometime when a coach asks why "starting and stopping" is a balk.
What's more frustrating is for a position player to be DH'ed for. It's a can't win situation. You're expected to make all the plays. If you make an error you can't redemem yourself at the plate. My son got DH'ed for five games his soph year. He said if he's not perfect in the field he's failed that game.