Wow, I'm a little shocked at all this. I'm reading through the last 10 or 15 posts about velocity at PG events and I was thinking, no way averages are that low. Then I went and looked at my son's events and overall velocity for the class of 2012 (when he graduated from HS) and yeah, the velocities are that "low". My son's best PG velocity was 87 and that was between his junior and senior year. The blue bar deal shows he was in the 85th percentile for the class of 2012 and the average for that class was 81. I'm surprised. I really thought it would have been higher.
Originally Posted by bballman:
Wow, I'm a little shocked at all this. I'm reading through the last 10 or 15 posts about velocity at PG events and I was thinking, no way averages are that low. Then I went and looked at my son's events and overall velocity for the class of 2012 (when he graduated from HS) and yeah, the velocities are that "low". My son's best PG velocity was 87 and that was between his junior and senior year. The blue bar deal shows he was in the 85th percentile for the class of 2012 and the average for that class was 81. I'm surprised. I really thought it would have been higher.
I commend you for having the stones to show how your perceptions and memories differed from reality. Most people would try to rationalize why what really happened wasn’t what they expected.
PG just posted the velocities for our team from the 16u WWBA. Range was from 77-88 as the top FBs for all of our pitchers (10 boys on a very solid well known team). Interestingly, the percentile given in that blue box does NOT separate LHP from RHP. It was a little disconcerting to see my LHP with a pretty average percentile -- but if they showed just LHP, we think he would be much much higher.
Originally Posted by bballman:
Wow, I'm a little shocked at all this. I'm reading through the last 10 or 15 posts about velocity at PG events and I was thinking, no way averages are that low. Then I went and looked at my son's events and overall velocity for the class of 2012 (when he graduated from HS) and yeah, the velocities are that "low". My son's best PG velocity was 87 and that was between his junior and senior year. The blue bar deal shows he was in the 85th percentile for the class of 2012 and the average for that class was 81. I'm surprised. I really thought it would have been higher.
After I bought my radar gun two years ago I wouldn't have believed it either. Throwing 80+ is more rare than we think.
Originally Posted by bballman:
Wow, I'm a little shocked at all this. I'm reading through the last 10 or 15 posts about velocity at PG events and I was thinking, no way averages are that low. Then I went and looked at my son's events and overall velocity for the class of 2012 (when he graduated from HS) and yeah, the velocities are that "low". My son's best PG velocity was 87 and that was between his junior and senior year. The blue bar deal shows he was in the 85th percentile for the class of 2012 and the average for that class was 81. I'm surprised. I really thought it would have been higher.
You should take a look at catcher throw down velocities...they seem downright slow with all the talk of 90+ from the mound. The average for the catchers that attended a PG showcase for 2016 is 73 mph, with a 77mph being in the 76th percentile, and 86mph being the best. So, I guess the moral of the story is, if you have a decent arm but can't hit 90 from the mound try throwing 80 from behind the plate and you will be a valuable catcher!!!
Originally Posted by lionbaseball:
After I bought my radar gun two years ago I wouldn't have believed it either. Throwing 80+ is more rare than we think.
Especially considering that it is usually the better kids and those that have aspirations to play at the next level that are the ones going to the PG events.
Same thing holds true for the showcases my son went to. In 2009 he went to an Underclass Showcase in East Cobb. Average FB velocity was 79. In 2010, he went to the National Underclass Showcase - Main Event in Ft. Meyers and the average FB velocity was 80.
Stats is right, looking back, sometimes you remember things differently than they actually happened. My eyes are opened.
By the way. It's kind of cool going back and looking at the videos of my son during those events. It's amazing that PG keeps those up and available to view - For Free!! Brings back some nice memories...
thanks you all for laying this out in such clear terms... This is exactly the reason why i wanted to query the database. To get real data on what heights this group of pitchers really reaches as a function of age.
Watching Syndergaard throwing 99 into the 8th inning last night mentally set the bar in my son's head at a Superman level where it is impossible to avoid failure...
Lets dial it back a bit and compare ourselves to kids his age 
At the 15u PG World Series about a week ago, I don't think my son's team saw 1 pitcher at 75 or below. I would say at least 90% of the pitchers topped out between low to high 80's. I know some in the tournament were in the 90's. A lefty or two was probably high 70's, with a lethal slider. Nothing crazy on the velocity end from any of them, but they could all spot the ball very well. Rare to see a mistake down the middle. Yes, some cruised high 70's to low/mid 80's, but those kids could really spot the ball also.
It depends on the tournament and how many teams are playing. In the WWBA some of those pitchers throw less than HS average. There it all thins out as the playoffs move on.
It depends on the tournament and how many teams are playing. In the WWBA some of those pitchers throw less than HS average. There it all thins out as the playoffs move on.
cluelessDad2019,
Here’s the world’s population clock.
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
If guys throwing in triple digits or even the high ninety’s was at all common, don’t you think MLB would have figgered out how to find a lot more than we see in the ML out of the more than 7.3 billion people in the world? 
couldn't agree more... trying to manage the imagination of a 14 year old perfectionist
Originally Posted by NYdad2017:
At the 15u PG World Series about a week ago, I don't think my son's team saw 1 pitcher at 75 or below. I would say at least 90% of the pitchers topped out between low to high 80's. I know some in the tournament were in the 90's. A lefty or two was probably high 70's, with a lethal slider. Nothing crazy on the velocity end from any of them, but they could all spot the ball very well. Rare to see a mistake down the middle. Yes, some cruised high 70's to low/mid 80's, but those kids could really spot the ball also.
It depends on the tournament and how many teams are playing. In the WWBA some of those pitchers throw less than HS average. There it all thins out as the playoffs move on.
It depends on the tournament and how many teams are playing. In the WWBA some of those pitchers throw less than HS average. There it all thins out as the playoffs move on.
To be fair though, the world series is not the typical tournament. That's the top 20 teams with every mercenary pitcher they can recruit in for the week.
Originally Posted by Rob T:
To be fair though, the world series is not the typical tournament. That's the top 20 teams with every mercenary pitcher they can recruit in for the week.
Absolutely. My response was aimed at those that may not believe that there are 15 and 16 year old pitchers that throw above 75. It all depends on the tournament.