Velocity vs. accuracy for young pitchers.

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Bishop

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Originally posted by TPM:
I agree.

Stats,
There was a question asked by BishopsLeftyDad for reason he stated, his son would like to play beyond college. I think the answers given about the importance of velocity were appropriate for anyone who is interested in playing beyond HS either in college or pro.

If a player has no interest in playing beyond HS, it's not going to be important. As Josh suggests, you can be a great HS pitcher, throw off speed after off speed with a slower FB and get everyone out, but the reality is, as stated, that is as far as you will get.

If you look at this forum you see lots of questions asked regarding velocity.

It is important and from what I gather, most everyone here is interested in seeing their kids get to play past HS.

Maybe you need to go back and read the OP again, because that’s what I was basing my responses on. And again, you characterize pitchers with a “slower FB” as throwing “off speed after off speed”, with what proof? Just because a kid tops out at less than 85 doesn’t mean he doesn’t base everything off his FB. In fact, I’ve personally seen very few HS pitchers who throw that way, even with FBs lower than 75. The other pitches work because of the deception and differences in movement and velocity, no matter how had the FB is thrown. Given all other things are equal, will they work better with a higher velocity FB? Of course, but that doesn’t mean they won’t work.

So what if “most everyone here is interested in seeing their kids get to play past HS”? Does that mean people like myself who aren’t or who don’t have kids in the game any longer should be ridiculed or not allowed to post?

Stats- I'm not really following the basis for your argument. The question was about a young pitcher's focus on velocity vs. accuracy. It didn't ask if a pitcher can be effective at the high school level with a lack of velocity.

No one is arguing with you about anything. Of course there are many high school pitchers that are extremely successful with low levels of velocity. And yes, the truth is that those kids will probably not get a look at the next level due to that velocity.

What point are you trying to make in relation to the OP?

All phases of pitching are important. It's fun to watch a slower velocity good pitcher carve up a good hitting lineup. Have seen it any times. Often referred to as pitching below hitting speed. There's no debating the fact that winning games can be accomplished without great velocity.

There are opinions and there is proof. No matter what I might think, the proof is provided by studying the draft and recruiting at the top college level. That shows us what is most important. It doesn't mean the others don't count. It doesn't mean they are not highly skilled. It just proves what the higher levels want. What they think it takes to help their team.

Also, all things other than velocity are very important considerations. That is why we see pitchers capable of throwing 90+ actually pitching at lower velocities. It's because they are able to add movement, accuracy, deception, etc., by subtracting velocity. Even at that, it's not always the guy who touches the highest velocity that gets drafted first. Good at 93 can be better than bad at 96.

The highest velocity pitchers we have ever recorded at PG events were not the first HS pitcher drafted. Few years ago, there was a HS pitcher that touched 101. Not talking about Colt Griffin. This kid went in the second round, after some 15-20 pitchers were selected. All pitchers before him threw at least low 90s or better. If it were velocity alone, things like this wouldn't happen. It proves the other stuff is very important and it also proves a certain amount of velocity is almost mandatory when it comes to decision makers at a high level. Obviously things are different when it comes to being a successful pitcher in youth baseball or even high school or even lower levels of college baseball.

Now it's always possible that some would debate that these decision makers are wrong. But there's no question about how they operate. A little research can give us the answer to that. Maybe that will change someday, but for now... It is what it is! Speed counts... Running speed, bat speed, hand speed, fastball speed, even breaking ball speed. And when someone has the ability to throw upper 80 sliders or 80+ curve balls they're not going to pick the guy with a low 80s fastball?

Is there more to baseball than the higher levels? Absolutely! And it's all great! Should young kids hope and dream? Absolutely! Should they understand how it works? I think they should because they're going to find out at some point. Knowing what it takes and trying to get there can prove to be very valuable even if things don't work out. It's the only way to reach anything near your potential. When that happens it's a great accomplishment no matter how things turn out.

PGStaff--your org's databases contain the kind of data that could be woven into the narrative of a profoundly useful and insightful book, if you wanted to do it.

There's more to this than just numbers--it's how the numbers, expectations, trends, and hopes all fit together to tell one part of the always-evolving story of baseball.

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Originally posted by J H:
…What point are you trying to make in relation to the OP?

I sure thought the OP was asking specifically about young players. It said his son had not focused on velocity, but rather “accuracy and throwing strikes”, and that now the boy was playing in college. But as soon as velocity creeps into a thread, the next thing that takes place is, everyone begins talking about scouts and ML contracts.

All I’m saying is, that kind of thinking does nothing for the enjoyment of the vast majority of players who don’t have the capacity to be in the top couple of percent as far as velocity goes, and it does nothing to help teams play or win ball who don’t have the velocity studs.

Stats,
I think that you are making more of this thasn actually there is.

There is no argument that a good HS pitcher doesn't have to have high velocity. And for sure not everyone has it.

What I got out of the OP's post was what was more important advice to give to a young pitcher, do you work on developing accuracy or work on developing speed and of course you work on both. And of course it isn't just about having a FB, but secondary stuff as well. My opinion is, in order to have really good secondary stuff, you have to have a good FB to work off of. Therefore, my advice is and has always been work on that pitch and learn about the importance of throwing it hard, even if all you ever do is pitch in HS.

This board isn't all about just making the HS team anymore.

I understand that you had a pitcher that was very good in HS but did not make it beyond, for various reasons. What were they? Maybe he wasn't interested?

You can't tell me if you interviewed a pre HS or HS travel team you won't get anyone telling you that they are not interested in playing beyond HS.

FWIW, the cardinals just protected 4 pitchers in their system for the 40 man roster out of possibly many that even held better ERA's and w-l.

What would you suppose the reason was? It could be the same reason a college coach recruits a pitcher with higher velocity over one that relies more on his breaking stuff to get people out.

JMO.

TPM,

It seems you just can’t help yourself, slipping back into the velocity above all mindset, but believe me I do understand. FYI, my son pitched in college, and did very well there too, thank you. The main reason he didn’t go beyond was, he never fully recovered from shoulder surgery. And FWIW, he pitched the same way in college he did in HS, relying on control, command, and using his FB only as a setup pitch, not an out pitch. In his final year in HS he was clocked as high as 89, which for a 5/9”/135# 17YO isn’t really all that bad.

But back to my original point, what about the 95% of players who never get to throw a 90+ FB? What are the chances that if they got the same number of opportunities that the 5% got, some would eventually prove to be just as effective? And that’s all I’m saying. I really don’t understand why so many people seem so afraid of simply giving opportunities to those pitchers who get batters out without all the hoopla a high K rate, especially when they are the norm.

We didn’t have even 1 pitcher on our roster this past season who could touch more than 84mp, but we came within a game of a section championship, so its not as though what I’m suggesting isn’t possible. It has only to do with maximizing the chances to win at the current level, without having stud pitchers.

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
FYI, my son pitched in college, and did very well there too, thank you. The main reason he didn’t go beyond was, he never fully recovered from shoulder surgery.

So you are saying that if he had not had shoulder surgery that he would have been drafted?

Where did he go and what was his record in college?
Share. He pitched 4 years in college?

Just curious. Why do you suppose he had shoulder surgery, overused? Too many cbs too young?

I am going to refer to the pro mindset, I get lots of questions asked about it, especially in how hard did your son throw and how many pitches did he have, etc.

You know what, I had no clue in HS what his velocity was until he hit 90. And I will always tell those that ask to not get caught up in the numbers thing, but rather just keep developing as a pitcher using your FB.

So you really don't know anything much about me at all, other than my philosophy but not anything as to how much importance I feel development is, not necessarily the W.

Again ask parents (why they spend) and players who attend big tournies, camps and showcases why they spend lots of $$ if there is no desire to play past HS or college.

Why a team that can't hit over 84 almost won a section championship to me doesn't necessarily mean that they were better pitchers than others who pitch faster and harder. The question asked had nothing to do with having studs on the team or not. We all understand you do not have to be accurate to be good and you don't have to throw hard to be good either in HS, or perhaps college.

This discussion was, I thought, about reaching the pro level. Therefore, I concur with Bum and others.

Part of the problem here is that I don't believe it was ever stated what level a youth pitcher wants to attain. The OP stated that he is the dad of a college pitcher and often has parents of younger players that ask him if they should be focusing on accuracy or velocity. There is no question, you want to make it to MiLB or MLB, you need to be hitting 90 - at least. It is the majic number. So, what I see this has become is a matter of - if you want to be a successful HS pitcher, what do you need to do vs. if you want to be a successful college pitcher, what do you need to do vs. if you want to make it beyond college, what do you need to do? And there are obviously 3 different answers to those three questions.

I think different people have made valid points for each one of those categories, so I'm not going to go through all of them again. My son is a college pitcher who has yet to hit 90. I often tell him to keep working hard because if you want to go beyond college, you will need to hit at least 90.

Of a more general nature in answer to the question is the philosophical debate of whether high velocities can be attained by hard work and mechanics, or if there is a certain degree of genetics involved. There is also the question of how do you know if you have the genetics, unless you nuture your talent and do everything you can to attain that max velocity that is in your genes.

One more question is how young should a pitcher try throwing as hard as they can in order to throw with maximum velocity. I think if you start too young, you risk injury due to immature musculature, tendons and bones. So, if what I think is true, do you start with working on accuracy? And if so, what age does it become safe to focus primarily on velocity? Is it at 12yrs old, freshman in HS, or junior in HS? To be honest with you, I'm not sure. I know if your goal is to play pro ball or major DI, it needs to be sometime before junior year in HS. Or if I'm wrong, do you start at 7 years old trying to just throw as hard as you can?

I think bottom line is a balance of the two. As I stated in my first post, work on accuracy and mechanics, but don't forget that velocity is important. I will add that - at a certain point in your development, depending on your goal - velocity becomes paramount and that must be worked on HARD, or you will not reach the pinnacle - MLB.

That's my ramble and JMHO.

Good post with good points bballman.

I can't see telling young players throw as hard as you can, but rather concentrating more on the FB and mechanics at that age rather than other pitches.

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Like most others, your assumption is that everything is centered around the scouts, and you couldn’t be more wrong. A couple years back we had a kid drafted 113th. When he threw the scouts were coming out of the woodwork, but when he wasn’t pitching, there weren’t any scouts there. Does that me those games meant nothing and should have been cancelled? As it turns out, he was 5-4 that year and we lost more games with him pitching than anyone else. For him it meant nothing since he got drafted anyway, but because all those other innings thrown by kids you would characterize as no good, we had a winning season and almost won the section title.
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Did he pitch the toughest games against the best teams? Probably. In high school some of the best pitchers are also key position players. Was he? In other words, when he pitched was the defense weakened? And please be honest with yourself. Thank goodness college coaches and scouts don't care about high school wins and losses, because often they don't men poop. In high school, I have seen average pitchers with extremely good eras and W-L record, but they didn't play a team with a record over .500. Comparing pitchers based on HS stats and W-L record is like comparing apples and oranges. Coaches and scouts know what they are looking for, and there is a reason they do it and not us.
________

In my mind this velocity vs accuracy debate is actually a continuum. You can't look at someone and not help but observe what he has. Good at one and you'll probably get a little leeway with the other. But it goes without saying there needs to be at least some hint of velocity to come.

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Originally posted by TPM:
So you are saying that if he had not had shoulder surgery that he would have been drafted?

I’ll never know if he’d have been drafted or not, but there are other pro venues besides the MLB.

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Where did he go and what was his record in college?

Why should I share that? All you’d do is pick at it trying to make me look foolish and him bad.

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Share. He pitched 4 years in college?

No.

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Just curious. Why do you suppose he had shoulder surgery, overused? Too many cbs too young?

We have a pretty good idea why he needed surgery, and throwing too many cbs had little or nothing to do with it.

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I am going to refer to the pro mindset, I get lots of questions asked about it, especially in how hard did your son throw and how many pitches did he have, etc.

You know what, I had no clue in HS what his velocity was until he hit 90. And I will always tell those that ask to not get caught up in the numbers thing, but rather just keep developing as a pitcher using your FB.

So you really don't know anything much about me at all, other than my philosophy but not anything as to how much importance I feel development is, not necessarily the W.

You can say anything you want to people, but even those parents with the lowest expectations huddle around a radar gun when their son is being “shot”. That’s why I seriously doubt you had “no clue” until he hit 90.

You’d be surprised at how much I know about you, and to tell the truth, since you want to know what my boy’s record was in college, that pretty much tells everyone how much importance you put on a “W”.

quote:

Again ask parents (why they spend) and players who attend big tournies, camps and showcases why they spend lots of $$ if there is no desire to play past HS or college.

What percentage of players do you believe attend big tournaments, camps, and showcases? 0

quote:

Why a team that can't hit over 84 almost won a section championship to me doesn't necessarily mean that they were better pitchers than others who pitch faster and harder. The question asked had nothing to do with having studs on the team or not. We all understand you do not have to be accurate to be good and you don't have to throw hard to be good either in HS, or perhaps college.

That’s correct. But it also doesn’t mean they weren’t better pitchers either.

[/QUOTE]This discussion was, I thought, about reaching the pro level. Therefore, I concur with Bum and others.[/QUOTE]

And there it is. You thought it was about reaching the pro level, and I thought it was about what was most important to teach youngsters. So because we had different understandings of what the discussion was about, of course you’re always right and I’m always wrong.

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Originally posted by smalltownmom:
Did he pitch the toughest games against the best teams? Probably.

You couldn’t be more wrong. We won only one game with him on the mound against any team playing better than .500 ball, and of his 4 losses, all were against teams playing sub .500 ball.

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In high school some of the best pitchers are also key position players. Was he? In other words, when he pitched was the defense weakened? And please be honest with yourself.

I am honest with myself because I have no kid on the team to sway my thinkin gone way or the other. In fact, when he was playing 3rd, the defense was weaker than when his FR replacement was in there.

quote:

Thank goodness college coaches and scouts don't care about high school wins and losses, because often they don't men poop. In high school, I have seen average pitchers with extremely good eras and W-L record, but they didn't play a team with a record over .500. Comparing pitchers based on HS stats and W-L record is like comparing apples and oranges. Coaches and scouts know what they are looking for, and there is a reason they do it and not us.

As I said, I have no reason not to be honest with myself, and can say with all certainty that while you are likely correct in the majority of cases, in this particular case you couldn’t be more wrong.

quote:

In my mind this velocity vs accuracy debate is actually a continuum. You can't look at someone and not help but observe what he has. Good at one and you'll probably get a little leeway with the other. But it goes without saying there needs to be at least some hint of velocity to come.

Again, if you’re speaking in general terms, I’ll certainly agree. But blanket statements do no cover all players in all situations.

quote:

Again, if you’re speaking in general terms, I’ll certainly agree. But blanket statements do no cover all players in all situations.

___________

You're right. I guess this was one of those exceptions. But I would still maintain there is a hint of at least an average level of velocity to come from most of the kids that are more identified by accuracy or an off speed pitch.

Stats,

Actually a few people filled me in on info on your son. I guess it helps to understand a lot about why you do post the way you do.

What other pro venues besides MLB could have drafted him?

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
Actually a few people filled me in on info on your son. I guess it helps to understand a lot about why you do post the way you do.

What other pro venues besides MLB could have drafted him?

Since “a few other people” know so much about me and my son, why don’t you ask them? Just a hint. Don’t always trust what “a few other people” have to say about someone or something like this.

quote:

Originally posted by smalltownmom:
You're right. I guess this was one of those exceptions. But I would still maintain there is a hint of at least an average level of velocity to come from most of the kids that are more identified by accuracy or an off speed pitch.

Here’s what people more often than not seem to forget. In order for any off-speed pitch to be successful, it has to be measured relative to what the “speed” is that defines it. IOW, when you say off-speed, its only relative to what “on-speed” is. So in that sense, the FB is still the main basis of success, no matter what velocity it is.

The top pitchers in h.s. in our area generally were also hard throwers. Bum, Jr. focused on velocity, definitely, but also had a superb curveball. 125 k's in 59 innings in h.s.

The fastball becomes more important as you move up. Not because of velocity because at the higher levels they ALL have velocity. But because if you've never learned to compete with the fastball, learned how to command it, it will be pounded.

The top varsity pitchers around here, and I presume it is the same nationwide, all throw in the low to mid 80's with the elite throwers all in the upper 80's and low 90's. All of them whom I have seen who would ckassify as good or elite varsity pitchers, have at minimum, decent control coupled wirh at least one or more above average offspeed pitches. So I am a little unsure what exacly is being debated. For to be good in varsity ball one must have all three attributes to succeed regardless of their ambitions after high school. Good velocity, decent control, and at least one offspeed pitch. THOSE THREE ATTRIBUTES MUST OF COURSE BE WORKED ON before they get to HS varsiry ball. Whats most important? They are all coupled together and should be evenly applied getting to and through varsity hs ball. All good varsity pitchers can play beyond high school, it just depends mostly at tgat point your own ambition and talent kevel.

Every year around here I see kids who are upper 80's throwers who go to jc or other smaller levels of ball because either they lack control, grades, or basic ambition to go higher out of hs. I saw one kid in particular who thought for sure he woyld get drafted but lacked the control, emotions, etc. that would have got him there. He instead went to a small college.

wWe all know, as has been posted already, that velocity is a key factor in different options after high school. But, other factors do play a big role also as I have seen. Guys with lower velocities going to better college baseball programs becauae of their higher ability to control their pitches and better grades, etc.

The OP concerned youth pitchers, pre HS I assume. I tell my young pitchers that all pitches have three things...1 - Velocity, 2 - Location and 3 - Movement and that to be complete pitchers they need to work on all 3 of these with their FBs, CUs and eventually their CBs. I don't understand how you could/would develop youth pitchers without focus on all of the above, regardless of their natural velocity,control or movement at any given age or starting point.

At some point in youth age baseball, pitchers need to focus on certain aspects of their game. one of those aspects is velocity. I have seen a few pitchers who never focused on velocity and ended up being pitchers in hs who dont get the nod on the bump because they just dont throw hard enough. That all stemmed from never focusing on that aspect at the youth level. Whether you have genetics or not, velocity must be cultivated and grown. Some just have more natural abiliry to add more than others with the same amount of work. Varsity pitchers who cant at least hover at a minimum 80Mph will never be good hs pitchers.

quote:

Originally posted by HayBull:
The OP concerned youth pitchers, pre HS I assume. I tell my young pitchers that all pitches have three things...1 - Velocity, 2 - Location and 3 - Movement and that to be complete pitchers they need to work on all 3 of these with their FBs, CUs and eventually their CBs. I don't understand how you could/would develop youth pitchers without focus on all of the above, regardless of their natural velocity,control or movement at any given age or starting point.

HayBull,

You seem to be one of the few who can do the mental gymnastics that allow you to separate the different levels of the game in your perspective. For many, the lure of Pro ball or large D1 ball is all consuming, and they can’t envision anything other than what it takes to get there.

Since it started playing V baseball, our school is 123-54, and of those, 11 wins and 5 losses have been thrown by a pitcher who can even touch 90. That leaves a heck of a lot of room other kids not nearly as gifted have to make up for. Now for sure in some schools there are more players who can hit that magic number, but for the most part, having to learn how to win without a kid who can do that is pretty commonplace. Since its so common, even in HS, why not just accept it and make sure the other facets of pitching are as strong as can be?

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Since it started playing V baseball, our school is 123-54,

Nice point Stats. Let me guess.... 1. You have a high quality coach. 2. Your pitchers keep the ball down and change speeds. 3. You have solid defense. 4. You put the ball in play.

If you do that you are going to win more games (a lot)than you lose in HS.

Skylark,

I've actually seen HS pitchers that have been very successful throwing below 80 mph. In fact, there have been college pitchers that have been successful throwing around 80.

A while back I was at a AAA game and watched Jay Tessmer pitch. He was a closer that led the league in saves (google him). He topped out that day at 81 mph. Tessmer pitched in college at national power Miami and pitched briefly in the Big Leagues for the Yankees.

Truth is, anything is possible. There are always exceptions to the rule. Tessmer was a submariner, he threw a frisbee type slider as his main pitch. It was a very unusual pitch.

I agree that all things that help a pitcher should be worked on. Velocity, accuracy, movement, deception, etc. are all important. Often these things go hand and hand. From a mechanical standpoint, velocity and accuracy work together.

Every pitcher has a ceiling. This ceiling is based on natural ability and how much work is put in. Every pitcher should strive to reach his ceiling, whatever that might be.

The ability to throw harder than the next guy is important. The ability to throw with control is important. Everything is important! Sometimes position players with great arms and weak bat are converted to pitchers. Sometimes pitchers with great arms and lacking control are converted to position players.

So when it comes to velocity and accuracy... Why work on one when both are needed? We always hear people say, he is just a thrower, when describing someone with a great arm. Well, "throwing" is what pitchers do and they do it more than anyone. If you have the 5 best arms and I have 5 accurate soft throwers... I might win more games now, but as these pitchers develop, you will dominate.

So when you wonder why the pitcher who has more velocity and wins less games gets drafted or offered the big scholarship. It's all about the potential against a much higher caliber of competition.

Not everyone has the potential to throw with great velocity. But there is always a place for those pitchers who get the job done without good velocity. Be as good as you can be, that is what counts.

any good hitter will tell you they prefer to hit against heat rather than junk

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
You seem to be one of the few who can do the mental gymnastics that allow you to separate the different levels of the game in your perspective. For many, the lure of Pro ball or large D1 ball is all consuming, and they can’t envision anything other than what it takes to get there.

Gnats, are you saying anyone who doesn't agree with you doesn't have the mental capacity? Don't take yourself so seriously.

For those of us who are fortunate to have players in D1 or pro ball I can tell you high school baseball was just as consuming, just as serious, as now. I can remember fretful nights worrying whether Bum, Jr. would make the high school team. Going back further, I can remember wondering if he'd ever find a good travel team.

This is the father of a kid who was dismissed at each level along the way.

High school baseball is not diminished by the thoughtful input of those of us who have gone through this gauntlet. High school baseball is an important test, a turning point in a young player's life (or career), and while I understand you having reservations about those of us who have seen our sons go beyond high school baseball don't think for a minute we are not so grounded as to remember how important those formulative years were.

I remember. I remember each game, the conversations, and even the box scores.

These high school players, nearly to a man, are on the field to prove themselves worthy of going to the next level. Such is life. Fluid. Proud of the accomplishments of today but always thinking about tommorow and what might come. Because when you stop thinking about tommorow you fail to dream and in the end baseball--and life itself--is all about the dream.

The dream is always the next level. Having not achieved that level is not nearly as important as whether you tried.

Bum,

AWESOME!

Bum- Unbelievable post.

Baseball isn't easy. It never has been and it never will be.

Great post BUM.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
Gnats, are you saying anyone who doesn't agree with you doesn't have the mental capacity? Don't take yourself so seriously.

You asked a question, then before getting an answer, automatically made the ASSUMPTION you knew exactly what I was saying. And of course, when trying to guess what someone has in their mind, as usual you’d be wrong.

quote:

High school baseball is not diminished by the thoughtful input of those of us who have gone through this gauntlet.

Then why diminish what I have to say? If you’re saying I put no thought into what I say, I can understand, but I assure you, I seldom do that.

In the end, all I’ve said is that there is no reason to get obsessive about velocity, because there are many other ways to combine pitching skills to be successful.

As for remembering box scores, I have to admit you’re a better man than I. I kept score and did the stats for every single game my son played that I attended, from LL Minors through college, and I couldn’t remember a box score of any game even if a gun was held to my head. Maybe that’s because I don’t look at any individual performance as being indicative of anything, but rather look at them as they fit into the broader mosaic of relativity to show improvement or the lack thereof.

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:
Nice point Stats. Let me guess.... 1. You have a high quality coach. 2. Your pitchers keep the ball down and change speeds. 3. You have solid defense. 4. You put the ball in play.

If you do that you are going to win more games (a lot)than you lose in HS.

LOL! There isn’t really any secret to it, is there?

I don't think there is any doubt whatsoever that a pitcher can be successful without the high velocity numbers. Even PG piped in and gave some good examples of low velocity guys that have been successful even up to the AAA level. Shoot, look at Jamie Moyer. He tops out at 83 or 84 and is successful in the MLB.

The problem becomes that the higher up the ladder you want to go, the more the people who make the decisions want guys who are high velocity. Whether that is right or wrong makes no difference. You can be 20-0 with an ERA under 1 in college, but if you are throwing 82, you will not make it to MLB. Is that pitcher successful? Oh yeah. Will he make it to the MLB? Pretty definetely not.

You can be a very successful pitcher without throwing 90. The problem is, you will not make it to the pinnacle. It has nothing to do with whether you can pitch or not. It has everything to do with the mindset of the people who make those decisions. Period.

quote:

Originally posted by bballman:
…You can be a very successful pitcher without throwing 90. The problem is, you will not make it to the pinnacle. It has nothing to do with whether you can pitch or not. It has everything to do with the mindset of the people who make those decisions. Period.

I’ve never disagreed with that, other than to say, nothing is absolute. But it has nothing at all to do with what a young pitcher(lower than HS), should be concentrating on, or what you do with all the kids past that who pitch but can’t hit those magic numbers. The amateur game isn’t supposed to be all about finding the next ML pitcher. Its supposed to be about opportunity and development for players.

No doubt that velocity is very important and creates more opportunities to succeed at every level but there are a few that make it to the big leagues. Although it takes longer with more outstanding results along the way.

The Phillies brought up a pitcher, Tyler Cloyd, late in the year. He had to get to 15-1 with a 2.30 era in the minors in order to be called up. In a year when the Phils pitching was injured and not very good. The reason...he tops out at about 88mph. IMO the Phils didn't trust a guy throwing 85-90 could succeed at the major league level. Never any glowing remarks from Phils brass about him. (every Sunday a local paper reviews the minor league teams). If he threw 94-96 he would have been brought up long before the end of August.

He went 2-2 with the Phils with a 4.91 era in 6 starts. There is no talk of him making the rotation next year.

My point is that slower throwers do make it occasionally but need to prove themselves more and are on a much shorter leash.

Every once in awhile, something is written that seems musical. Seems like it should be a "Title" rather than simply part of a sentence. "Stats" came up with one in his post.

"The broader mosaic of relativity"

That is a good one!

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
…My point is that slower throwers do make it occasionally but need to prove themselves more and are on a much shorter leash.

And what does that have to do with young pitchers and what they need to do to experience success at the game?

It really amazes me that no matter how much I agree with what everyone says, because I hold the belief that the path BishopLeftiesDad took with his young son was a good one, I’m some kind of nut.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
"The broader mosaic of relativity"
That is a good one!

Or, as John Steinbeck might have said, "all the other stuff we don't understand".

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
"The broader mosaic of relativity"
That is a good one!

Or, as John Steinbeck might have said, "all the other stuff we don't understand".

Another good post Bum!

I get the feeling, TPM, that no matter what we say there has to be a response. Contrarianism is so annoying.

But just to egg it on: VELOCITY!

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
I get the feeling, TPM, that no matter what we say there has to be a response. Contrarianism is so annoying. …

Its truly amazing that someone can be described as being contrary to everything when he agrees with everything, but has the temerity to have his/her own thoughts as well. How does it feel to be a sheep, bleating the same kind of thing over and over with no thoughts of your own?

isit just me or is it heating up in here?