How important is it to be a multiposition player when it comes to playing in college. Is being "just" a pitcher enough?
Thanks
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If he is a good one it is !!!
The answer to your question is yes, being a pitcher is enough. Pitchers are sought after and recruited first before any other position.
Most pitchers, you will find, at one time most likely played every position and were very good at it. That was the case of my player, but somewhere between 9th and 10th grade he began to grow leaps and bounds, and became very slow at baserunning. At that time it became apparent that his strength was in pitching and although he did continue to play occasionally at first base , and as a DH (they always replaced him when he made it to first
) in HS, being a pitcher for him was enough. He still complains about not being able to be in the game everyday, tries to convince coach he can still hit, but for him worked out well for opening lots of opportunities.
As far as position players, I think it enhances a position players possibilities if he can play multiple positions more than if a pitcher can. And most likely if you are recruited for one position, you might end up playing at another. That ss looks pretty good to a college coach if he can play second base or outfield as well.
Most pitchers, you will find, at one time most likely played every position and were very good at it. That was the case of my player, but somewhere between 9th and 10th grade he began to grow leaps and bounds, and became very slow at baserunning. At that time it became apparent that his strength was in pitching and although he did continue to play occasionally at first base , and as a DH (they always replaced him when he made it to first
) in HS, being a pitcher for him was enough. He still complains about not being able to be in the game everyday, tries to convince coach he can still hit, but for him worked out well for opening lots of opportunities.As far as position players, I think it enhances a position players possibilities if he can play multiple positions more than if a pitcher can. And most likely if you are recruited for one position, you might end up playing at another. That ss looks pretty good to a college coach if he can play second base or outfield as well.
Spoken like the mother of a pitcher !!!
Mom,
My son sounds a lot like yours.
He is 6'5" (and still growing). He is not a fast runner either and not a great hitter. He is, however, a sudent of the game and he has been improving as a pitcher as he grows to the point where he led his summer league team in ERA, Ks/Inning, etc. We are hoping that he will continue to progress the next two years so he has a chance to play in college.
CV
My son sounds a lot like yours.
He is 6'5" (and still growing). He is not a fast runner either and not a great hitter. He is, however, a sudent of the game and he has been improving as a pitcher as he grows to the point where he led his summer league team in ERA, Ks/Inning, etc. We are hoping that he will continue to progress the next two years so he has a chance to play in college.
CV
CV,
Your profile indicates you have two daughters, no mention of son, did you forget about him.
Good luck to your pitcher!
Your profile indicates you have two daughters, no mention of son, did you forget about him.
Good luck to your pitcher!
Thanks Mom,
Thought I had fixed that.
CV
Thought I had fixed that.
CV
Coach V, You've received excellent advice from TPM and TR of course!
I will share my son's story with you to simply illustrate the possibilities for a pitcher vs a position player. My son was a top CF defensively and offensively in our area in HS. His senior year, he returned to the mound pitching as a dual kid and attending two local showcases for pitching. Half the schools that recruited him actually did so for pitching! That wouldn't happen with a position player just beginning to play a position.... or it would be very rare! Pitchers are in very high demand and like has been said, if he can pitch, he'll have a place. Especially with the grades and size your son has!
Also, in college there are some coaches that want two way players, but most prefer pitchers only pitch in our experience. I've changed my tune a bit no this subject as I've come to realize how difficult it is to be both.... the time commitment is that of the pitchers and the position player! Very, very difficult and something will probably suffer. JMO
I will share my son's story with you to simply illustrate the possibilities for a pitcher vs a position player. My son was a top CF defensively and offensively in our area in HS. His senior year, he returned to the mound pitching as a dual kid and attending two local showcases for pitching. Half the schools that recruited him actually did so for pitching! That wouldn't happen with a position player just beginning to play a position.... or it would be very rare! Pitchers are in very high demand and like has been said, if he can pitch, he'll have a place. Especially with the grades and size your son has!
Also, in college there are some coaches that want two way players, but most prefer pitchers only pitch in our experience. I've changed my tune a bit no this subject as I've come to realize how difficult it is to be both.... the time commitment is that of the pitchers and the position player! Very, very difficult and something will probably suffer. JMO
Thanks lafmom,
I, and my son, are encouraged by what we've read so far. He really loves to play so I hope he gets the opportunity to continue in college.
Thanks again,
CV
I, and my son, are encouraged by what we've read so far. He really loves to play so I hope he gets the opportunity to continue in college.
Thanks again,
CV
CV, thanks for asking this question. We're in the same boat. It has become very apparent, at our last two showcases, that son simply is NOT going on to the next level as a position player. His primary has always been RHP, but he wants to do it all and I've told him it's time to focus in on pitching alone as far as looking forward. I, too, was concerned about the two-way player issue, and the replies here have eased my mind!
Half the roster are pitchers only. Usually only half of those are better than average. There are not enough good ones to go around.
As others have said, being a pitcher is enough, as long as you're good enough.
My son is in a similar position, trying to keep it going as a hitter/corner infielder and pitching as well. He has heard it from 90% of the coaches and other judges of talent that he will most likely have his best shot as a pitcher. He is 17, 6'4" and a solid 205 lbs; throws hard some days (clocked at 90 two weeks ago) and not so hard on others. Just a week or 10 days after touching 90, he barely hit 80 at a scout team tryout with college coaches and their radar guns in attendance. He had spent about 7 hours taking swings, ground balls at first, and standing around in 90 degree weather before taking the mound, but so had most of the other kids who got on the hill.
He has worked hard on all parts of his game, and especially his hitting. He works more on his hitting than any other part of his game, but also takes hundreds of ground balls every other day, lifts weights, and plays tennis for conditioning. However, he has not spent much time working on the boring grunt work necessary to become a good pitcher. He hasn't played enough hard catch, religiously, to develop the stamina needed to go out and throw 7 innings without his arm hurting for 3-4 days afterwards. He has plenty of resources, reference books, and has worked with 3-4 different pitching coaches, all of them good. He still hasn't approached pitching real seriously, despite the fact that he is a smart kid and knows better.
Besides playing this fall for a scout team in Southern Calif., he is also playing on Saturdays for his HS fall ball team. Today they played three games, and by game 3 the team had run out of pitchers. He had thrown yesterday (3 innings), and yesterday was one of his "on" days. He was excited about how hard he had thrown, and his arm felt okay when he went to bed last night. Today he was at shortstop, and by game 3 was obviously hurting, struggling to get the ball on a line to first base. He didn't let on, and the fall ball coach didn't notice or didn't care and asked him to close the last game with two innings. He went out and tried to throw through the discomfort, and somehow got through the innings, but the lack of conditioning was obvious. It is hard enough to throw back to back days when your arm is in shape, but trying to do too much in the field, at the plate, and on the mound is going to lead to injury. All those ground balls and practice swings aren't going to help him if his arm falls off.
He has worked hard on all parts of his game, and especially his hitting. He works more on his hitting than any other part of his game, but also takes hundreds of ground balls every other day, lifts weights, and plays tennis for conditioning. However, he has not spent much time working on the boring grunt work necessary to become a good pitcher. He hasn't played enough hard catch, religiously, to develop the stamina needed to go out and throw 7 innings without his arm hurting for 3-4 days afterwards. He has plenty of resources, reference books, and has worked with 3-4 different pitching coaches, all of them good. He still hasn't approached pitching real seriously, despite the fact that he is a smart kid and knows better.
Besides playing this fall for a scout team in Southern Calif., he is also playing on Saturdays for his HS fall ball team. Today they played three games, and by game 3 the team had run out of pitchers. He had thrown yesterday (3 innings), and yesterday was one of his "on" days. He was excited about how hard he had thrown, and his arm felt okay when he went to bed last night. Today he was at shortstop, and by game 3 was obviously hurting, struggling to get the ball on a line to first base. He didn't let on, and the fall ball coach didn't notice or didn't care and asked him to close the last game with two innings. He went out and tried to throw through the discomfort, and somehow got through the innings, but the lack of conditioning was obvious. It is hard enough to throw back to back days when your arm is in shape, but trying to do too much in the field, at the plate, and on the mound is going to lead to injury. All those ground balls and practice swings aren't going to help him if his arm falls off.
Is being a pitcher enough? YES!!! You can look at many college rosters and see the large number of pitchers. Most of these pitchers are “pitchers only” so it is easy to see that there are MANY that make it as pitchers only. Players are selected to a college roster, NOT on how many positions they can play, but because of their ability to impact the W column of the baseball team. Good pitching impacts the team’s ability to win more than any other position and coaches are ALWAYS looking to sign good pitchers. My son was a two-way player all through high school and his first two years of college. As I look back I tend to look at his ability to play two-ways as more of a burden than an asset. Doing both didn’t take that much more time, it was simply hard for him to stay mentally focus on hitting and pitching at the same time.
I think a more appropriate way to approach this “position selection process” is to evaluate your son’s talent and make a determination as to what position he would have the best chance of making the college roster and focus more on developing that talent. If it is pitching then get him pitching lessons and start him on a “pitching” program to improve his pitching. “Hone” his pitching talent. Of course he will continue swinging the bat and taking ground balls just don’t over do it. Doing this won’t negatively impact his ability to pitch.
I hesitate in saying this but we still need to be realistic. For a player to pitch at the college level he needs to have the ability to pitch at the college level. Just because a player struggles at the plate in high school doesn’t means he is a good candidate to be a college pitcher.
Fungo
I think a more appropriate way to approach this “position selection process” is to evaluate your son’s talent and make a determination as to what position he would have the best chance of making the college roster and focus more on developing that talent. If it is pitching then get him pitching lessons and start him on a “pitching” program to improve his pitching. “Hone” his pitching talent. Of course he will continue swinging the bat and taking ground balls just don’t over do it. Doing this won’t negatively impact his ability to pitch.
I hesitate in saying this but we still need to be realistic. For a player to pitch at the college level he needs to have the ability to pitch at the college level. Just because a player struggles at the plate in high school doesn’t means he is a good candidate to be a college pitcher.
Fungo
Thanks Fungo (and everyone else),
I thing the net of this thread is that my son and I should not be discouraged/worried that he plays 90% pitcher on his HS team and only occasionally as a DH or corner infielder. Rather than work on improving his hitting to the point he could play the field every day, it seems he should concentrate on pitching 100%.
Thanks again,
CV
I thing the net of this thread is that my son and I should not be discouraged/worried that he plays 90% pitcher on his HS team and only occasionally as a DH or corner infielder. Rather than work on improving his hitting to the point he could play the field every day, it seems he should concentrate on pitching 100%.
Thanks again,
CV
With a player 6'5" and still growing, I would , if it were mine to do all over again, definetly work on those pitching skills!
The nice part about it, in HS, pitchers can still take batting practice with the team, and still make a differnce in the field. But if he goes onto the next level, those days are over.
It is so very hard for a pitcher who can hit to adjust. When home a few weeks ago, I found mine swinging something as if to hit a ball, it never leaves them, but they do accept, eventually, that they have more opportunities and as a pitcher.
The nice part about it, in HS, pitchers can still take batting practice with the team, and still make a differnce in the field. But if he goes onto the next level, those days are over.
It is so very hard for a pitcher who can hit to adjust. When home a few weeks ago, I found mine swinging something as if to hit a ball, it never leaves them, but they do accept, eventually, that they have more opportunities and as a pitcher.
CoachV ...
First off, let me congratulate your son for being in a position to even ponder this. That is a very good thing, yes?
Secondly, when our son was being recruited for college ball, he talked with most of the recruiters about the same thing. Save one coach in particular, they all had big grins on their faces and told him that if he could do it, they were always looking for players who could help in anyway possible.
The coach that eventually because his college coach, however, qualified his comment by saying that he had had several players in his career (which was a very long college coaching career) who tried both their first year but found out that it was too difficult at that level because they were actually trying to fill TWO FULL TIME JOBS, which he felt could not really be done successfully.
Some players do quite well at both ... continuing to perform at a high level in college and even into the pro game. The Diamondbacks' AAA player Micah Owings is a good example of a pitcher who pitches very well and can really hit. But even tho he played on the field when not pitching in college, as a pro, he isn't a utility player when not on the mound, he is "a pitcher who can hit and help himself"
First off, let me congratulate your son for being in a position to even ponder this. That is a very good thing, yes?
Secondly, when our son was being recruited for college ball, he talked with most of the recruiters about the same thing. Save one coach in particular, they all had big grins on their faces and told him that if he could do it, they were always looking for players who could help in anyway possible.
The coach that eventually because his college coach, however, qualified his comment by saying that he had had several players in his career (which was a very long college coaching career) who tried both their first year but found out that it was too difficult at that level because they were actually trying to fill TWO FULL TIME JOBS, which he felt could not really be done successfully.
Some players do quite well at both ... continuing to perform at a high level in college and even into the pro game. The Diamondbacks' AAA player Micah Owings is a good example of a pitcher who pitches very well and can really hit. But even tho he played on the field when not pitching in college, as a pro, he isn't a utility player when not on the mound, he is "a pitcher who can hit and help himself"
My son was the only pitcher on his college team who was allowed to take BP in his first 2 years. He got a handful of at-bats each year and also batted in 2 or 3 games this summer (local wood bat league). He has made the decision for himself that he will not take BP at college this year. All of the work he wants to put into his pitching just takes too much time to do both, and he believes he can help his team more as a pitcher.