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31 replies

how to protect a young prospect

Frank MartinFrank Martin1,000+ posts
This has happen recently. A ball player only 13, just finished 7th grade. Attended a few baseball camps and out performed most players of high school age 17-18 years. The player is already hitting the ball out of high school fields with wood and many MLG scouts and MLB players who seen him think he right now could play and do well in high school ball.

The problem is every high school and travel league team wants him to play for them. I expect it gonna get way worse once he starts high school.

What the best way to protect him from all this attention that gonna get much worse.
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T thepainguy1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by TRhit:
The best way is for you to stop making stories up---no way a 13 year old (7th grader) is better than the good HS player at 17/18 years of age


I could buy it.

My son is currently playing against a 12U team that has a pitcher who is probably biologically 15 or 16, even though his birth certificate says he's just 12 (IOW he's an early maturer). He's at least 6 inches taller than everyone else, weighs 25+ pounds more, and throws his fastball in the high 60s or low 70s.
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
quote:
PG,
If I remember correctly Delmon Young was supposed to be better than most HS players at 13. Is that true based on what you saw of him at that age?


Yes and so was Justin Upton at that age. So was Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Maybin, and many others. Some continued to get better while others stayed about the same. There as a 13 year old in Texas we saw throwing 92 mph. Four years later he was topping out at 91 mph.
CM Coach May1,000+ posts
I had a kid on my 12u AAU team that was consistently in the 74 mph range from 50'. The kid was 6'0 at 12 and was just about unhittable. He never had any arm problems and continued to play through HS. He topped out at 82 his sr year was 6'4 and 195 lbs. He walked on with a small college program. I also has a kid that was upper 70's as a freshman and was low 90's as a sr and was drafted in the third round in 03. Sometimes they keep getting better and sometimes they peak early. You have to just wait and see.
itsinthegameitsinthegame5,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Frank Martin:


What the best way to protect him from all this attention that gonna get much worse.



Attention?

Good attention is - well - good IMO.

Bad attention - thats the one you have to watch for.

Remind him to hit the ball real hard - catch them all - run real fast - and strike them all out. That usually solves the bad attention problem. IMO.
Last edited by itsinthegame
All-starshortstop3All-starshortstop3100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by PGStaff:
quote:
PG,
If I remember correctly Delmon Young was supposed to be better than most HS players at 13. Is that true based on what you saw of him at that age?


Yes and so was Justin Upton at that age. So was Ryan Sweeney, Cameron Maybin, and many others. Some continued to get better while others stayed about the same. There as a 13 year old in Texas we saw throwing 92 mph. Four years later he was topping out at 91 mph.


Wow that reminds me of the movie ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. To be throwing that hard at 13.
C Coachric1,000+ posts
We'll never know what the ceiling is for a given individual. I had a 5'11" 175 L.L. who threw 77 and was clocked at 80 at the all-star game. Hit .733 with 16 homers. Some opposing parents wanted him out of the league and didn't believe he was 12. When he hit high school he was throwing mid 80's. Then he didn't have the grades for 2 years. Went back as a jr and was throwing 83-84, grew 2 inches, wasn't hitting, didn't make the varsity team. Then he walked away. Apparently a low ceiling or just lost his desire. Even a phenom must work to stay on top of his game.
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
Yes please do go on and list the top 10 or top 20 in each category and see how many were LHH.

Batting average - 8 of the top 10 and 14 of the top 20 career leaders were lefties.

Home Runs - 9 LH, 9 RH, 2 SW.

Let's face it there are more RHP out there than LHP and it is easier for a LHH to hit off a RHP and for a RHH to hit off a LHP so that gives an advantage to the LHH. The advantage is probably even more obvious for batting average simply because lefties are closer to 1b.
Last edited by CADad

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