top pitchers

It is difficult to project a HS pitcher and his success at the next level. But coaches jobs are on the line and they are looking for the player that fits a mold " Height, velocity, various pitches...etc" They also don't have an opportunity to see a player pitch 10-12 a year like many of us do. They have to make a decision based on minimal observations and what they have "heard" from people whose judgement they respect.

The concern I have is how many people think they are D1 pitchers. Well, maybe they are, but how much fun is it to ride the pine at UNC or Clemson for 3 years. I have seen some quality pitchers go to major D1 schools and get to pitch 3-8 innings a year. How much fun can that be? I am only talking about baseball...not about the education they receive.

Then, you hear all the time about a kid that throws 90+. How this will guarantee him success at the next level. Man, college players light up sitting on that kind of fastball...you better have a lot more in your arsenal. If you look closely, you don't see that many consistent 90+ pitchers at the D1 level anyway. It's the pitchers that can throw a FB, CU, CB or another pitch for a strike anywhere in the count. Those are the pitchers that will be successful...and most of those throw a mid 80's FB. Robert Woodard is a great example.

That's why I like a Mac Read, Jerrod Moore and others like them, who don't possess a devastating FB, but they have many pitches in their arsenal, throw them for strikes and will battle you all game.

Hitters will always tell you, "that guy has nothing" when returning to the dugout after yet another groundball out or pop up. But, in college, those hitters will be riding the bench if they don't learn to discipline themselves batting against those type of pitchers...and those type of pitchers are the majority in college.

 

Our exerience

My son fits the mold of "pitcher" not hard thrower to a tee. And yes I will admit that it hurt badly last fall when the scouts were packing up and leaving the Cubs games after they clocked one or two pitches. But he kept getting people out and slowly word got around and now he is signed to pitch Division 1 baseball. The local college (D2 Pembroke State) never so much as spoke to Mac or me the last three years while he was winning 20 games as they didn't think he threw hard enough. The point is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and every coach doesn't appreciate the same things. Hang in there and keep getting outs. There are alot of college programs out there and they all need pitchers to get outs.

 

Shelby-I think that was a question for you...where do you play? I haven't seen an answer yet.

 

I'd rather not say....

I strongly agree with you on the fact that the guys who have the off speed pitches and the guys that know how to pitch are the ones that are successful on the next level. Sure having the good fastball helps, but at the D1 level you begin to learn that everybody can hit a fastball. Thats why all the hitters learn to go back up the middle, and all the pitchers learn to work spots, change speeds and eye levels. I'll give you an example, are two top pitching recruits this past year have had a pretty hard time adjusting. Both where guys that threw hard, had draft consideration, and have always looked pretty impressive. Together I think they have combined about 10 innings so far. On the other hand two other freshman have became our weekend starters. One of them tops out about 86 while the other one is lucky to hit in the low 80s. But they have known all along that they didn't have the fastball to throw by people so they are way ahead of the other guys because they have already learned to pitch.

 

I also understand the position that most coaches are put in. It is just about as hard to strike it big in the new lottery as it is to recruit a great player to your school. As good as one player might be in high school, I have never seen anybody whos a sure thing(other than freak of nature Maybin). I'm not saying that the entire system is messed up and should be completely changed, I just think that the coaches should open there eyes a little more and look at the big picture a little more. It might not make a difference but a lot of coaches at smaller D1 or D2 schools have built programs on taking a chance on the guys that are to short, to fat, not enough on the fastballs, but that get the job done.

 

Questions

Shelby - We're still waiting on your answer.... you know that simple little question, what team are you currently on????

 

I will make it easy on Shelby, all he has to say is yes or no, are teams initials GW and is Shelby's initials JD. If i am wrong it won' be the 1st time.

 

I see a loss Friday night. Could this be what set off the sour grapes barrage? Having a 7+ ERA and .268 BA in college is quite different than high school indeed.

 

Shelby- your last two posts are good examples of what an informative post looks like. You got some good points across without having to mention names of players struggling or one's that you don't have a high opinion of.

I truly believe that your intentions were not to belittle anybody you have batted against, but that's the way it came across. You mentioned that certain type pitchers give you little difficulty...but to other hitters they may. You mentioned certain type pitchers were a little more difficult for you...to others they may not be. That's how it is for every hitter. Heck, even I can remember a time when my team faced this guy who was awesome...but for some reason I could always pick up the ball well off of him..other times, I faced a pitcher who was very hittable, but dang, if I took up a tennis racquet, I wasn't going to hit it.

 

Josh Drewery went to Burns, not Shelby....but then again maybe we aren't talking about Josh, I just knew Josh went to Gardner-Webb and well to state the obvious-his initials are JD.