Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

Since I started this thread here's my .02 worth.

As usual all you guy's thoughts and opinions are right in line with my own. While I can admire a kid's dedication to excell when others disagree with him, I can't imagine a knowledgeable parent not seeing the possible(probable) road blocks in his playing future. Although there is no written law or rule that a catcher can't be left handed, baseball tradition alone is quite a hurdle to jump. This particular kid has already transfered from one school because the coach is reported to have said he wouldn't have a LH catcher. On the other hand, he is a blessing to the coach of his new school, who had no catcher to speak of and no prospects to boot.

As far as throwing is concerned, I watched him throw out 1 runner at 2nd(over a right handed batter) and another at 3rd(behind a right hand batter) and the ball was there waiting for them both times. Obviously the pick off move to first is an easier move for a lefty and he executed it to perfection. I watched him throw down to 2nd before each inning and there was no tail in his throws. Which brings me to this point; all catchers should strive to throw with no tail. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. It doesn't matter if the throw has a tail or is a rainbow, a straight throw of the same velosity is faster. This can be accomplished by the right grip(4 seam) and good mechanics in the throw. The 4 seam grip will help in getting good reverse rotation and causes the ball to ride up.

Since my son is a catcher I naturally have an affection for all catchers. I truly believe that in order to be a good catcher one has to love it. It is to me the most difficult position on the field to master and requires absolute dedication to do so. The physical demands alone are enough to drive most kids from it at an early age and if not, one time behind the dish with a pitcher throwing 80-90 mph fastballs 58' usually will. I have to say that i admire and respect any kid that dons " the suit of fools ".

As I said, I watch a lot of catchers and this kid is as good as any freshman catcher I've seen regardless of which hand he throws with. BUT... if he was my kid, he'd be on the hill in front of the plate not behind it.

 

great post rc

The kid sounds like a great player. Keep us posted on his progress. Hopefully, he will the the exception that proves the rule. But baseball people are hard-headed. The riskiest thing for a scout to do is to "take a gamble". A college coach can afford to take one, but, may not want to gamble a scholarship-spot on it.

I just hope the kid hits as well as he catches ... That may end up being the deciding factor down the road.

His arm sounds great....he needs to pitch

 

After seeing the ease of getting left haded pitchers money to go to college, if he can find the strike zone, make him a pitcher. Left handed pitchers are rare, while there are plenty of good and even some great catchers out there.

 

QUESTION: How many pitches should a high school pitcher be limited to on opening day?

14 years old, 55 - 65 degree weather, opening day, just curious as to how many pitches he should be limited to? What's your opinion?

 

Tough question, I'm going to assume you mean JV @ the age of 14

Too many issues in this one to give a single answer, but a lot of factors have to be taken into consideration.

1. How long has he been throwing this year? Did he pick up a baseball just before tryouts?

2. How big is he, how strong?

3. How hard does he throw?

4. How many pitches is he throwing in bull pens at school? How often?

5. How athletic is he?

You notice that all of the questions concern the needs & abilities of the player, not the needs of the team. If you have youngster, in good shape who came into tryouts in good throwing condition, 1st outing of the year @ age 14 , 60 seems right to me. Age 16 up, 'bout 75.

We can argue about this one all day long...... There is a guideline that was published that I saw posted over on the HS Baseball Web.... I'm going to paste this here, but it's the counts for the MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER...

Suggested Pitch Counts By Age, Max. Pitches/game, Max. games/week

AGE . .... PC ...G/W
08-10 ... 052 ... 2
11-12 ... 068 ... 2
13-14 ... 076 ... 2
15-16 ... 091 ... 2
17-18 ... 106 ... 2

For early in the year, these are WAY too high in my opinion and HS starters, with a tues/fri game sched should pitch once/week max.

 

Good catch, NC

It's real important that any age pitcher build his pitch count gradually for about a month before the season. That's why pitchers and catchers start so early.:xyzthumbs

 

Great replies :xyzthumbs:

 

Yes, a JV pitcher, he was at 70 after 5 innings, a hard thrower, very athletic, I thought that was enough (or maybe slightly too much for this early in the year),

The opposing pitcher, a smallish guy, threw 96 pitches in 6 innings.

 

I hate to say this, but I don't think a LOT of schools have good JV coaches. Some are in that program because they were willing to do the job, not because they have any qualifications. Some are there from the prestige of being a "coach".

If you have an issue with a coach concerning pitch counts, discuss it before the season, if possible. NEVER do it at a game, make an appointment and have a rational discussion with him.

I don't want to make any judgements about a situation that I know so few details about.

 

We saw a West Meck JV pitcher go for 5 innings but had thrown more than 100 according to our "sideline" statistician. We were the opponent and felt so badly for the kid!