Has anybody else noticed??????

For the past few years I have been watching some college baseball games on television. Many of the pitchers coming out of HS were recruited for their 88-90's fastball. But watching the pitchers for Miami, UNC, Ga. Tech, Clemson and others it is rare to see those type FBs thrown. Most of the pitchers were throwing 82-84 FBs mixed in with a lot of offspeed pitches.

At first I thought they were using some kind of alien radar guns strictly for television, but then I noticed that they had Daniel Bard clocked at 92-93, so they must be pretty accurate. I remember watching a Miami pitcher in the playoffs last year being clocked at 80.

My question is this: are HS pitchers losing that much speed when they get to college? Of the 20 games or so that I have watched, the majority of the pitchers were around mid 80's....or are the majority of the overpowering pitchers attend schools that don't play on TV?

 

It seems........

to me Braves as is the case with the Pro's as well that velocity is THE KEY to making it TO the next or each level yet once they are signed drafted etc theyy realize that they do not necessarily have to throw that hard anymore unless the coaching pitching staff "is hawking" and stalking them about it?!?!?! The essence of PITCHING really takes on new meaning where they realize as they step up another level thet their 90 mph stuff gets the cover knocked off VERY easily unlike that being the case at the HS level! They really have to relearn if not actually LEARN to pitch and to deceive hitters... Look at the radar guns of MANY pitcherws in the Big Leagues! They are they because they have LEARNED to pitch and to pitch to their strengths and to the hitters weanesses. The importance of scouting charts on hitters cannot be underestimated! I DON T CARE how hard you throw it (although a 95 mph FB is ) I just want you to be able to CONSISTENTLY throw strikes and ultimately hopefully get people OOUT!

 

I couldn't agree with you more Coach. It just amazes me though that college scouts look for the guys that throw gas...and then the guys that throw gas go to college and no longer do that. It would seem to me that if I was a college scout, I would look for pitchers instead of throwers from the beginning.

 

That's a fact!

As an astute eye in which I have for talent I look for pitchers with solid mechanics, presence, quality variety of pitches, fine control, aggressive, and so on... doesn t matter to me if they can t break a window pane!

 

Moving this to the baseball forum to see if I can get more feedback

 

At what level are you scouting?

 

Braves,

I went to the Clemson / Virginia game on Sunday...both teams had pitchers throwing mid 80's only. They all we able to spot the ball well and keep the batters of stride with off speed and breaking balls.

We talked to Clemson's pitching coach after the game and as "The O" said, they mainly look for "mound presence, mechanics, aggressiveness and command of the strike zone"....and yes, they are still interested in the kid that can bring 90+ heat.

 

Braves I have noticed the same thing. Many of these pitchers are recruited because they can throw gas but then they learn they can't make a living off it. I wonder also if the longer grind of the college season takes a toll on the guys just out of high school? I went to the Miami/ UNC game this weekend , all of the pitchers were very hittable as the scores will tell. The pitchers in Sundays game seemed low-eightys to upper eightys. I am sure all of these guys have good movement on their pitches but there wasn't any Nolan Ryan's out there.

 

Heres my take on this. I too was at the UNC Miami game Saturday night and I sat behind a Padres scout. Bards fastest pitch was 92. He either was told to not challenge anyone or couldn't throw a fb for a strike. The most effective pitcher of the night was a little lhp for Miami (5'8 160) if he was lucky. This guy was 80-81 fb and everything else was mid 70's. He changed speeds and located pretty well and did a good job. The starting pitcher for Miami was nibbling as well and he was 87 tops on his fb. The bottom line is changing speeds and locating the baseball. In HS if you are facing an avg team you can get up there and just gas them. If you are facing a quality team you will get rocked if you dont pitch. To me college programs that are sucessfull get guys that have velocity and can locate as well as change speeds. You can be sucessfull at the College level with avg to below avg velocity if you can locate and change speeds effectively. Velocity without location and the ability to effectively change speeds will get you crushed. I think that some of these HS gun readings are bogus. I think that cruising speed and top end speed get mixed up alot. Some kids can throw 92 but can not sustain it and they can not locate at their top end speed. Pitchers that can cruise in the upper 80's to mid 80's and can locate three pitches will be way more effective than the guy that can run it up there 94 but can not locate or throw his off speed stuff for strikes. The ability to pitch far outweighs how hard a kid can throw. Now that last statement may sound like a no brainer to many of you. But if you listen to some people talk all they seem to care about is how hard a kid throws. Location - ability to effectively change speeds - then velocity is what makes a quality pitcher. Velocity will get you noticed but in itself will not win you games.

 

But what if your can throw hard AND LOCATE. There's an idea. Lots of that soft stuff got hammered in Chapel Hill this weekend. For the record, I agree probably too much emphasis is put on velocity . . . but I never heard of a college coach/scout say "tell me about all your guys that throw 78."