Program for under-used pitcher

Time to link up with a summer/fall travel team that values him more fully.

quote:

Originally posted by Seeler:
Unfortunately, his coach views his value as a shortstop to be greater and only manages to pitch him an inning or two at a time, usually no more than once a week.

At this age, we would hate to see him ignore his pitching potential. As such, I was wondering if there is a program we could do with him "off-field" that would allow him to further develop his pitching abilities and improve his velocity without over-extending him physically. As part of his normal warm-up for practice/games he does throw some long toss about 2-3 times per week. His team's schedule is fairly consistent at 2-4 games on weekends, 1 game usually on Wednesdays and the odd practice in between.

It sounds like your nephew has a lot of potential and is really in the perfect spot for him given his age. He's pitching enough to develop his skills but not so much that he'll injure himself.

Many pros didn't pitch at all until college or even later.

If your nephew starts to pitch more, he's more likely to injure himself.

I would relax.

Thats interesting advice.

Get proper pitching advice and training if it is available. Do lots of long toss' bull pens and proper weight training. This is a crucial age to develope as a pitcher.

If you play the game worried about injury you better quit the game---the best players never think of injury--if it happens it happens !!!

Would like to get him down to us so we can see him

Tom Rizzi
College Select Baseball
TRhit@msn.com

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy:
If your nephew starts to pitch more, he's more likely to injure himself.

TPG, can you provide a rationale for that statement?


MD gives some great advice. Get him on a summer and fall team where he will pitch. Then you won't have to worry about pitching for his HS.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
If you play the game worried about injury you better quit the game---the best players never think of injury--if it happens it happens !!!

This is horribly fatalistic thinking.

There ARE things that you can do to reduce the likelihood that a player will injure himself.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy:
If your nephew starts to pitch more, he's more likely to injure himself.

TPG, can you provide a rationale for that statement?

More pitching = More stress on the arm = Greater potential for injury.

This is accentuated by the fact that he's 16 and his growth plates may still be open.

If I had a 16 year-old who could hit 83-84 and had a good curveball and change-up, I'd be doing everything I could to protect him and ensure that he's still able to to throw by the time he hits draft age.

Well, more throwing = more stress on the arm = greater potential for injury.

Maybe he shouldn't play ball at all, then, following your logic.

Provided he is observing pitch count limits and rest periods, there is quite a bit of empirical evidence that he won't be doing any damage to his arm. And he could build some valuable experience.

There is the potential to be hit by a car everytime I cross the street but I still cross the street--If I worried about it I would never leave the house

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
Provided he is observing pitch count limits and rest periods, there is quite a bit of empirical evidence that he won't be doing any damage to his arm. And he could build some valuable experience.

By his uncle's admission, his team is playing 3-5 games per week. If he starts pitching in all of those games, then he will very quickly start to have a problem.

Why would anyone assume that he would start pitching in EVERY game?

And what would that have to do with pitching on a summer and fall team?

Thanks everyone.

Fortunately, at this point it looks like he will get an opportunity to pitch more on his Fall team. In the meantime, we may slightly increase his long toss to accommodate his lack of pitching. Any suggestions as to when, duration, rest/recovery time, etc., taking into consideration his current schedule?

Also, one recruiter mentioned that if he "finished" a little better, he could gain an additional 2-3 mph on his fastball. Does that sound legit? Mechanically speaking, how does one finish better?

TRhit:

I believe my nephew's parents have already been in contact with somebody from your organization as well as others. I think they have plans to go to at least one showcase this year, not sure which one though.

I suggest you get a copy of "The Complete Book of Pitching " by Louisville Slugger " the best pitching book for guys who are serious. Great illustrations and deals with every aspect of pitching. My son takes it everywhere he goes.

Seeler

Drop me an email so I know who the player is

Thanx
TRhit@msn.com

I'm sure someone may come along and tell you definitively what "finish" is.

I have seen folks refer to follow through as finish (e.g., upper body). I have also seen people refer to the hip coming around as finish. Both are important.

Impossible to say without seeing him.

Seeler,
Sounds like you're being reasonable about this. You don't want to avoid pitching simply to avoid injury because to some degree the pitching and/or long toss can help build up the arm to handle the stresses his arm will see as his velocity hopefully increases.

On the other hand you don't want to take a "if it happens, it happens" approach to arm injuries. A pitcher needs to learn their own arm and to understand when they're feeling pain or soreness. If they're feeling pain they need to do something about it. On the other hand some soreness is not unusual and they just need to back off a bit to keep it from turning into pain. Everyone is different but the ideal is to find out what is enough throwing/pitching to develop the arm without injuring it.

I was listening to a Jays game the other night. They had a guest annoncer who pitched in the magors and was an announcer for many years. They were talking about injuries to the Jays pitchers and why young pitchers have so many injuries. I didn't catch thye guys name but he felt it was because young ball players don't throw enough in their developing years. I am not sure I agree from my own experience but it is a thought.
My sons training was as good as it gets and the pitchers on his Elite teams threw almost every day.
You have to throw almost every day and injury is a part of the game. You can oly minimize the risk. There should never be pain only a tired arm. Pain is a message that there is something wrong.
My son is playing in a senior Elite team with ages from 20 to 43 yo. The average is about 26- 27 yo and several of the pitchers had arm injury during their college and minor league days. My son and the other college players train much harder than most of them.
I agree you have to know what your limits are, know your body and be ready to shut it down when you are approaching your limits. You also have to be able to push your limits safely.