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I throw 2 pitches as a freshmen.  Fastball, and a Changeup.  Most of my friends are throwing curveballs now but I heard they hurt your arm at a young age?  What is a safe pitch I could throw and get some movement on? 

 

Also, who is a Major League Pitcher that would  be a good pitcher to model yourself after, mechanics wise?  I've heard Verlander, or John Smoltz.  You guys agree?

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I would suggest you don't try to model yourself after any particular person, but stay with your own style/mechanics/bio-mechanical-signature.  However, look closely at many successful pitchers (or several like those you mentioned) and see what it is they have in common regardless of their style and work on and do THOSE things.

Many pitchers have made great careers out of the one-two punch of a fastball and chage-up. It is all about location. Work on hitting spots when you throw bullpen. Master those two pitches (throw either one 75% of the time to your spot for a strike) and you will have a solid high school career. Once you master those two, maybe start working on a slider. It is great to get righties (if you're a right handed pitcher) to chase out of the zone. It's not nearly as rough on your arm as curves.

Young_baller,

 

As others have suggested, master the two pitches you currently throw.  Try to learn to  throw them from the same release point, and learn to control them.  In addition, work on increasing your velocity and how to best take care of your arm.  My oldest son did not learn to throw a curve ball until he was 16 (done growing at that point) under the advisement of his pitching coach.  It turned out to be golden advice for him.   

 

When and if you learn to throw a third pitch (breaking pitch) make certain that you are throwing it correctly.  In addition there is a pitching forum on the site.  Feel free to ask questions there too.  Good luck.

 

I agree with Truman.   Everybody mechanics are unique.   Stick with what is comfortable and effective for you.   What you can model yourself after is their approach and methods to get hitters out.

I assume when you say fastball that you are referring to a 4-seam.  If that's correct, you should try throwing a 2-seam and see what kind of movement you get.  You can also alter your grip on the change-up to produce a different spin, possibly fooling some batters.  Right there you'll have 4 pitches.

 

I'm with fenwaysouth regarding his comments.  I've told my son, when you can consistently put the ball where you want it, then you can learn a curve.  From the way he threw in his first game last week that will take another couple of years.  LOL.  Good thing he can swing the stick.  

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