17. Houston Astros: RHP Forrest Whitley, Alamo Heights (Texas) HS
Callis: In four years of high school, Whitley went from a sub-6-footer with a mid-70s fastball to 6-foot-7 and throwing in the mid 90s. He did a great job of improving his conditioning heading into his senior season and it paid off with improved stuff, including a power curveball and a promising changeup to go with that heat.
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Speaking as a parent of a 14u I think it is clear that you won't know if your kid can REALLY pitch with high velo until their Junior year. Looking around at my area there are kids who are throwing 60's in 9th grade who then threw 90's in 12th grade, and kids that threw high 70's in 9th grade to throw mid 80's in 12th grade. I don't know how to describe it other than something either clicks or it doesn't.
There is a young man from my son's high school, a 2016, that in 9th grade (14u) was clocked by PG throwing 68, not bad for a LHP. An old school pitching coach saw him, told him he was fighting against his natural arm slot (which turned out to be a HIGH three quarter slot) and worked with him for one week and poof he's clocked in an event 2 weeks later at 77! 4 Months later 82, a full year from when the pitching coach got a hold of him 85! A full two years later with MUCH hard work he hit 90.
I wonder how many pitchers at 14u are fighting their natural slot because their coaches are trying to turn them into a one size fits all training.
A lot of time is wasted wondering what other people think.
Interesting tidbit from the 14U summer team my son played for...
Of the 6 kids that pitched most of the innings, 5 have gone on to be the #1 pitcher at 5 different high schools. The 6th will close for one of those 5 if he decides to play in the spring.
Scary thing is if they hadn't decided to transfer out, 5 of the 6 would have been on the same HS roster.
CaCO3Girl posted:Speaking as a parent of a 14u I think it is clear that you won't know if your kid can REALLY pitch with high velo until their Junior year. Looking around at my area there are kids who are throwing 60's in 9th grade who then threw 90's in 12th grade, and kids that threw high 70's in 9th grade to throw mid 80's in 12th grade. I don't know how to describe it other than something either clicks or it doesn't.
There is a young man from my son's high school, a 2016, that in 9th grade (14u) was clocked by PG throwing 68, not bad for a LHP. An old school pitching coach saw him, told him he was fighting against his natural arm slot (which turned out to be a HIGH three quarter slot) and worked with him for one week and poof he's clocked in an event 2 weeks later at 77! 4 Months later 82, a full year from when the pitching coach got a hold of him 85! A full two years later with MUCH hard work he hit 90.
I wonder how many pitchers at 14u are fighting their natural slot because their coaches are trying to turn them into a one size fits all training.
The best way to find their natural arm slot is to put them at short or OF & hit them some balls & have them air it out. No thoughts about pitching or mechanics. Observe the arm action & try to carry that on to the mound.
Steve A. posted:CaCO3Girl posted:Speaking as a parent of a 14u I think it is clear that you won't know if your kid can REALLY pitch with high velo until their Junior year. Looking around at my area there are kids who are throwing 60's in 9th grade who then threw 90's in 12th grade, and kids that threw high 70's in 9th grade to throw mid 80's in 12th grade. I don't know how to describe it other than something either clicks or it doesn't.
There is a young man from my son's high school, a 2016, that in 9th grade (14u) was clocked by PG throwing 68, not bad for a LHP. An old school pitching coach saw him, told him he was fighting against his natural arm slot (which turned out to be a HIGH three quarter slot) and worked with him for one week and poof he's clocked in an event 2 weeks later at 77! 4 Months later 82, a full year from when the pitching coach got a hold of him 85! A full two years later with MUCH hard work he hit 90.
I wonder how many pitchers at 14u are fighting their natural slot because their coaches are trying to turn them into a one size fits all training.
The best way to find their natural arm slot is to put them at short or OF & hit them some balls & have them air it out. No thoughts about pitching or mechanics. Observe the arm action & try to carry that on to the mound.
Makes sense...in my sons second pitching lesson (ever) his instructor brought him outside and did what I thought was a long toss session, maybe he was looking at arm slot...humm...learned something new AGAIN!
My son was the starting SS and a RHP in HS. He got to college last fall and didn't take any balls in the IF at all. His pitching was a disaster. By the end of the fall his velocity had gone from 90 to about 84. He looked completely confused....and couldn't throw a strike if his life depended on it. He called me one day and said "dad, send me some video of me playing SS". Sure enough, he showed it to the pitching coach, then watched video of him throwing the day before and he had completely changed his delivery....thru nobody's fault but the fact that he was no longer throwing from SS every day. Within a week he had it fixed.....control was better and velo was up to 90 again this spring. Funny, that over the years, I could see subtle changes in his motion...but that was when I was seeing him daily....and we could easily correct it. Last fall when I didn't get to see him for a couple weeks at a time it wasn't nearly as noticeable. Glad he came up with the solution.
I had a big LH youth kid with a great arm on our team. In the field he very rarely made a bad throw. He had taken instruction on the mound & they slowed him way down. Pause, balance point, over the top etc etc. Basically they took away all of his athleticism. He was a mess. Not nearly the same velocity, all over the place with command, trying to steer it in there.
We put him on the mound & I told him to forget about pitching. Get in the set & act like you are at 1st base & you are throwing out a runner coming home. Instant results. Athletic delivery, explosive. He just turned 14 & is low 80s, no joke. (he is about 6'2" 160)
Speaking from experience, very personal experience, velo gets you to the party but accuracy and repeatability keeps you there. I also witnessed it more than once this year across many pitchers with power arms. Our 3 starters were 80-88 sometimes 90 and threw strikes.
P.S. I love kids who increase their velo, work hard and get better, just wanted to add a nugget of the cold hard truth that i was told and then experienced this season with my son.
Shoveit4Ks posted:Speaking from experience, very personal experience, velo gets you to the party but accuracy and repeatability keeps you there. I also witnessed it more than once this year across many pitchers with power arms. Our 3 starters were 80-88 sometimes 90 and threw strikes.
P.S. I love kids who increase their velo, work hard and get better, just wanted to add a nugget of the cold hard truth that i was told and then experienced this season with my son.
Unless you're 6'7", left handed and throw in the 90's. The 6th pick in the draft was 2-3 and had trouble going five innings for a top ranked team.
RJM posted:Shoveit4Ks posted:Speaking from experience, very personal experience, velo gets you to the party but accuracy and repeatability keeps you there. I also witnessed it more than once this year across many pitchers with power arms. Our 3 starters were 80-88 sometimes 90 and threw strikes.
P.S. I love kids who increase their velo, work hard and get better, just wanted to add a nugget of the cold hard truth that i was told and then experienced this season with my son.
Unless you're 6'7", left handed and throw in the 90's. The 6th pick in the draft was 2-3 and had trouble going five innings for a top ranked team.
Saw Sully talk about him, and he said that he's not close to what his full potential can be... I believe that... Pure upside...
Bolts-Coach-PR posted:RJM posted:Shoveit4Ks posted:Speaking from experience, very personal experience, velo gets you to the party but accuracy and repeatability keeps you there. I also witnessed it more than once this year across many pitchers with power arms. Our 3 starters were 80-88 sometimes 90 and threw strikes.
P.S. I love kids who increase their velo, work hard and get better, just wanted to add a nugget of the cold hard truth that i was told and then experienced this season with my son.
Unless you're 6'7", left handed and throw in the 90's. The 6th pick in the draft was 2-3 and had trouble going five innings for a top ranked team.
Saw Sully talk about him, and he said that he's not close to what his full potential can be... I believe that... Pure upside...
The huge upside potential is definitely there. He has the tools. I'm guessing he needs a bump in emotional maturity and focus. He had no business going 2-3 and struggling to go five innings.
