How hard does he throw? No really?

It seems that every year it gets worse and worse. Have you seen that kid from _________ he is hitting 90! Look out for them they have a kid that is upper 80's low 90's! On and on it goes and where it stops no body knows. I have had the pleasure to reunite with alot of the same scouts this year watching Luck that came to see Matt Harrison. Every time we get together the conversation ends up being about the kid they went to see that someone told them was bringing it to " Coach the kid was topping out at 83"! There is nothing wrong with topping out at 83 unless someone has spent their entire day traveling to see them throw 93. The other night I was asked how hard one of our pitchers threw by a long time friend who's son was playing for our opponent. "Coach I heard ______ was bringing it around 90 now"! I said "No he is around 84-85 but he can bump it up there around 87 at times". "Oh I hate to hear that I heard he was hitting 90". I just wish people would be honest and either say "I have no idea" which they dont most of the time - to "I saw the stalker and he was pitching in the 83-84 range". And if your kid is truly bringing it then get him to a showcase or ID camp and let someone verify it. But for goodness sake enough of the "He throws 90 and probaly could throw harder". Look Runion throws 90 and he is one of the top ranked 07 pitchers in the nation. If your kid throws 90 you dont have to talk about him others will do that for you.

 

Wishing for 90

Wished mine threw 90, with him being a lefty, I might retire and be his entourage. Let him pay for daddy for awhile, instead of the other way around.

Tell me something Coach, when your son hits a pitch coming in at 90, how fast is it when it is leaving his bat. That is what is scary.......

 

You just made a great point whether you realized it or not. Many times, when coaches are using radar guns, this is the reading that they are getting. So if a kid is throwing the baseball 83 mph, it is very possible for it to come off the bat at 90 MPH. Therefore, the coach runs to college coaches and scouts telling them that they have a guy in the 90's.

 

Great Post!

Coach 27 - thanks for such a great post. I have a kid that throws consistently low 80s and has hit 86 on a Stalker at an ID camp (he's a junior). But, the info you speak of is so disconcerting that I never discuss him, his pitching, and definitely no his velocity with anyone as the first reply is "Well, he needs to hit 90 like ______ by his senior year in order to play for ______ (insert major D 1 school here)." When I know good and well, as you state, that _____ ain't hitting 90 consistently, because, if he was and can pitch, he'd be on the draft board. I've seen 90, batted against 90, so I know 90 and I've not seen it but from a few kids (all at showcases). These are special talents (those throwing 90) that are few and far between. Example of what you are talking about was a kid last year that everyone around said was bringing it, "He's throwing in the 90s", but the reality was that he was consistently between 83 and 86, which is good, and he could pitch, not just throw, and is at a mid-level D1 doing well in his freshman year. So, you might need 90 to sign a MLB contract out of high school, but you can be throwing 84 to 88 and go to a decent college and continue to play. Heck, you can throw low 80s and pitch and get a good education at a D2 school.

Regardless, thanks for the post. Problem is those that need to see it won't!

 

the "MAGIC" number

For a righty it is 90 mph... right or wrong, good or bad, that number will open doors previously closed. Us dads wish for it so our sons can reach the goals they are striving for. Sometimes that wishing leads to "truth stretching". The reality is not many of us have really seen a 90+ pitcher. Therefore when you see mid to upper 80's, after seeing mostly upper 70's and low 80's, it's real impressive... but it ain't 90+! The radar gun, preferably more than one and more than just one time, tells the truth.
There are folks that are worse than "baseball dads" about embelishing the truth about pitch velocity and that's "softball dads". My daughter plays fastpitch and I call my radar gun the "anti-bull$#&% machine". It's kinda fun to listen before a game to some dad spouting off about his daughter pitching in the upper 50's and then pulling out the gun and getting mid 40's readings. I never call them a liar... I just say they have a nice change-up!

 

It happens on this board and it really upsets the college coaches. They don't know who the posters are, but they'll read so and so is hitting 90 and they happen to catch one of his games; the kid is throwing 83-84 and they think something is wrong with him (arm problems).

The other point that gets them chuckling is when they read a kid is 83-84, but should be throwing low 90's by his senior year. Their attitude then is, "ok...call me when he does that".

There is always room at the college level for "pitchers"...at any speed. But you are doing the player a disservice by "bumping" his actual velocity.

 

How fast it's traveling when it leaves the bat is due mainly to bat speed, not the speed of the pitch.

 

The speed of the bat and the speed of the pitch determines how fast the ball comes off the bat. If bat speed is the same, a pitch at 90 will travel farther that a pitch at 80.

 

Sure it will, but I said, "mainly" due to bat speed, not entirely. Increasing batspeed 10mph vs. increasing the pitch speed 10mph yields much different results.

 

2nd Inning On

I also see kids throw a lot harder in the 1st Inning then they do the rest of the game. When I bring my gun I sometimes don't even turn it on until the 2nd Inning.