Velocity

There's going to be a range of velocity...a guy like Taillon will probably go top 5 overall and I've read reports of him touching 99. There will be other pitchers who are more likely so sit in the low 90's and occasionally throw up a 94 or 95. As you get into later rounds, you will even see guys with lower velocities (say sitting 87-88 touching 91) who teams will take a flyer on because of their projections. Most of those guys will probably end up in college to take the chance that they add a few ticks of velocity over the next three years and can really improve their draft status.

Being a lefty is an advantage, because left handed pitching is a more scarce resource, but I'm not sure I would say its a huge advantage, at least at the top of the draft. That will generally mean that a LHP can afford to throw a little slower than a RHP to get a comparable grade.

To answer your final question, no a team can't hold a player's rights through college. There is a deadline around August 15 for all players that aren't college seniors (I believe) to sign or teams lose their rights (and, in fact, the draftee must consent to allow that team to redraft them in the future should they fail to sign). This is somewhat new...until a few years ago the rule was that a team lost the rights to sign a high school player either the day he attended a college class (if at a four year university) or one week before the following year's draft (if a junior college player).

The top HS guys top out in the upper 90s and can work up around middle 90s. Looking at the PG stuff almost all the top HS pitchers in the draft ranking this year are RHP. The top lefty doesn't throw all that hard topping out around 91 but is very projectable. There are a lot of RHP ahead of him in the rankings. Generally speaking lefties can throw a couple mph less than righties of similar pitchability and still have a chance of being drafted.

The rights to a player in almost every case go away sometime in August if they haven't been signed. They used to be able to hold on to a player's rights up until almost the next draft or they attended fall classes. That was the basis for the draft and follow.

A RHP they have down close to 500th among HS players is shown topping out at 88. I'd guess he's thrown a bit harder since or has some big time pitchability. The closest LHP in the rankings is also shown as topping out at 88.

My guess is that neither of these last two pitchers is all that likely to be drafted. All in all it doesn't look like the HS pitching is that deep this year.

I bet those two pitchers ranked around 500 and topping out at 88 are being recruited by some good colleges if they already haven't signed with one though!!

Thanks guys! That's great info. It's amazing to think that there are high school players that are throwing mid to upper 90's. Hopefully they know where it's going. My son is a junior lefty and tops off at 88-89 with great control, and good command of 3 pitches. He has already committed to a D-1 college with a full scholarship. He is 6ft and 180, so he still hopefully has room to grow. I was just curious on what it takes to put a uni on that you get paid for. By the sounds it certainly takes a lot. Thanks guys.

Both of those have committed to good schools. I'll have to tell my son to make sure he touches 88 on a couple setup pitches tomorrow.

It also all depends on how a team drafts. Some teams have guidelines on what type of pitchers they draft. Some teams will only draft pitchers that are 6'-6'5, nothing less nothing more.

Velocity isn't everything as well. It's all about arm action, consistancy and projectability. If you have good arm action, a good body, and are 86-90 with your FB, you may have a chance. It all depends on who sees you. You may have 10 teams see you, 9 dont like you, 1 does. Like they say,"it only takes one team"

It also depends on how hitters react to your pitches, movement, how you change speeds, what you throw in different counts.

Perfect example, A high school pitcher who consistantly throws 84-88, but throws his CB 75,76 maybe 77 MPH, may be able to throw 90,91,92 someday.

HS guys who throw 90 plus consistantly with good stuff are generally going to have a good chance.

Nothing is a guarentee though, the draft is a funny thing.