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Originally posted by TPM:
But you don't want that process to begin now, trust me, he needs to go to school and mature both physically and mentally.
Thanks for the welcome.
I am on board with you regarding the pros. With where he is at now, he does not seem to have the physical or mental maturity to handle life in the minors regardless of his "projectibility".
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I am not sure what you have done to help your son to find a program to play at, if this is what he wants to do. You have to be proactive, you can't wait for anyone to come knocking on your door, especailly the large D1 programs in FL.
I have not done much being more old school. It seemed crazy to me to spend thousands of dollars to travel and send him to showcases and tourneys last year as a junior. Now after all the information I've been gathering it seems that is the only way to go unless your kid is a can't miss mature stud. I just assumed since he has pitched since he was very young and everyone felt he had a future, he would have been on someones radar. I guess it does not work like that anymore. Live and learn I guess. I just hope it is not too late for this coming year.
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He now should be seriously working on conditioning, a good long toss program and perhaps some qualified instruction on mechanics, his 2 seam, 4 seam FB, CB and CU (forget the slider, that should come after he develops the other 3, he doesn't need that now). This is a process like everything else, one step at a time. And yes, he needs to be playing varsity ball.
I had a top D1 pitching coach(well known former pro) work with him for a few hours this summer. He pointed out his physical deficiencies such as core, back, and leg weakness. However he loved his mechanics and said he would be definitely be pitching for a program in college. The only question is going to be what program will take him now knowing he is at least a year or two away before he can contribute. He said the top universities do not have that luxury, and it is either win or your job is in jeopardy. Sadly it sounds like that is true at every level with winning
now being put above the kids future, and it being just like a business.
BTW - I do have him working with a personal trainer once a week when he is not practicing with the cross country team, and he does long toss 3-4 times a week.
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I am suggesting that you look into the showcases that Perfect Game does during the winter in FL, for evaluation
I was going to start a thread asking what were the two or three best things I could do this fall and winter to get him exposed and hope someone will see his potential. Since there is plenty of info about him in this thread, that might help other posters to give the best suggestion/s.
I am looking at PG website, but it is not easy to navigate, and I do not see any figures on how much things cost. It also looks like some tourneys are coming, but I have no clue how to find a team that will be participating in them.
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You have not indicated where he would like to attend school (inside or outside of FL). Again, don't wait for the largr FL D1 programs to come knocking at the door, it's not going to happen.
He gave me a list of colleges, and it is the who's who of top 25 D1 programs. Needless to say it will have to be revised. He is open to leaving Florida, and would consider either coast. He'd prefer a college that has good weather because coming from Fl it would be tough to deal with snow.
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Originally posted by fanofgame:
Unles I missed it I didnt see what your son was doing for training to get stronger.I think this is the key for many players.A good workout /nutrition program can do a ton for a player like this.
He is running cross country to build up his legs more, and he hits the weights whenever he has time. The personal trainer gets with him several times a month to show him new things to work on. Starting this coming week the HS trainer will have the baseball team working out 3 times a week. He eats like most other kids, but he is also supplementing with protein shakes twice a day.
I am always open to suggestions.
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Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:
Colleges haven't shown any interest because he has had no useful exposure. No tournament exposure, apparently (looks like you edited your post, but earlier it implied this is his first year on varsity) no high school exposure, and an average 84mph fastball is not very special in a showcase setting. Also, 190 lbs is typical for a 17 year old 6' 4" boy. Sure, we can reasonably expect that he'll get bigger and stronger, but so will a lot of other boys, some of whom throw quite a bit harder now.
I just edited the post now to show he played varsity last year. You are not the only one to be confused by the way I worded it, so I cleared it up. Sometimes I am not putting my thoughts into the keyboard correctly.
He has been pitching for 10 years and has been successful at every level while playing up a year or two. His coaches and I have always emphasized control or velo, and it looks now like maybe we made a mistake. I know some kids his age who are throwers, not pitchers, yet they hit 90+ and are signed already. I guess my old school control over velo philosophy might not have been the way to go. Then again I'm not sure how much harder he could throw at this age being physically immature.
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He may have mound presence and is mentally tough, but who has seen it? Put another way, what pressure packed situations has he done well in--and been seen doing it?
You're right, and that is something I need to remedy. Any time he has joined a travel team he is the #1 guy, pitched in the championship game if they made it, and done very well. However it has typically been just local competition so I doubt many college scouts have attended. I was having him play more for fun during the summers/fall, but I am coming to the realization I should have had him on teams that go to places the scouts are at.
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Getting recruited to college has some aspects of a campaign, especially for players who have college potential, but aren't studs. His campaign is behind the typical schedule.
That is the reason I came to this forum so I can hopefully catch up while there is still time.
Thanks to all who are helping me out. I will be back later to read and respond when I have some time.