Pitching Questions?

I am a new member to hsbaseballweb. I would like to offer any information to parents, high school and college students interested in honing pitching skills.

I am available to answer any questions in this forum.

About Me:

In 1981, I was drafted by the Kansas City Royals (out of high school) which I turned down and accepted a full baseball scholarship to attend the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

In 1984, I was drafted by the New York Mets where I embarked on a lengthy MLB career from 1990 through 2003. As a left hand pitcher for 8 Major League Baseball teams including the SF Giants from 97-99, I was able to build relationships with many baseball personnel, players, coaches, media, front office…etc. Since retiring in 2003, I began consulting, recruiting and marketing new talent in baseball on the west coast. I have kept in continuous contact with those most influential in the sport to this day. Feel free to check out my professional bios on ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated.com.


If you are interested in my feedback, contact me via forum or private messaging.

= Edited by moderator =

Aside from the color..my wife shot the vid...
I appeaciate any comments on this pitcher..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go_QZqnv7FE

quote:

Originally posted by MLBVeteran:
Pitching Questions?


Please note that although some pitching coaches may have "professional" experience, I am currently the only pitching coach with reputable and lengthy Major League Baseball experience, along with statistics and biographies.

It is great that you want to use your experience to help younger athletes but whenever I see a quote from someone who is marketing themselves mention other "pitching coaches" I see a red flag.

Not to mention I dont see how your statement can even have a thread of truth to it. I'm pretty sure there are pitching coaches out there with "lengthy Major League Baseball experience."

I have also found that coaching has little to do with what the coach has actually done, and alot to do with how they instruct and relay sound ideas to the student.

If it was all about what You have done then the greatest players would be the greatest coaches and that just doesn't hold water.

This doesn't mean you are not a great coach btw. Its just MO that when marketing yourself stay away from the temptation of bring up how you are above the other's in the same profession.

Although I don't have any personal experience with his coaching, he was the pitching coach at one of our local high schools a few years back and the accounts I've heard were positive. The league has been fortunate enough to have had several different ex-mlb pitchers and an ex-mlb pitching coach at one time or another.

My son is 9 years old and he has a decent fast ball at 46 mph and a nice change up at 33 mph.

one coach we worked with call him a "finesse" pitcher, as opposed to a power pitcher. he is only 52 lbs dripping wet, so he can't throw any harder until he hits a growth spurt. He locates very well, usually throwing 75% for strikes and walking no more than 3 batters per game. He has 3 complete games and one no-hitter.

Lots of kids are throwing harder, a few 9 year olds are throwing 52.

Is there a magic number my son should be throwing at each year in order to be competitive? I think he will grow, but will be a late bloomer. Should we give up pitching and just work on position play only. He loves to pitch, but I wonder if we are on the right track, or if there is anything else we could/should do. We do lots of core work, a little heavy ball work and long toss when we can.

Gameth I had the same thoughts. So far I haven't seen him help anyone on the site even when asked for help.

Gameth and Bobblehead-
I have answered questions via private mesenging, including analyzing videos and in depth drafting inquiries. It seems to me on this thread, the tone is quite different and I would like to address your comments.

When giving pitching instruction, one must know what it feels like to pitch successfully at all levels, therefore, I am able to relate to all levels. I am not being condescending in my bio, however, take for example a teacher with an undergraduate degree teaching a subject and another teacher with a phD in the subject teaching the same subject. My feelings are although they both may be great teachers, one has more to offer than the other. During my baseball journey, I have run into thousands of coaches, some good, some bad, whose egos were bigger than their knowledge. They just didn't want to let it go, that "they did not make it." If I had a dime for every time I heard one of these coaches give their reason for not making it to another level, I could have retired a lot sooner. Most excuses are laffable and you and your sons, will experience what I am talking about first hand if you have not already. Having said that, there are coaches who have been humbled by this game that actually have "kids learning baseball" in their best interest. That is why I recommend and find it is imperative to research coaches and their credentials...Former MLB players with lengthy careers have been humbled by this game many, many times... that humbling enables a better understanding of the game in its purest form.I have and will continue to coach by keeping baseball fun and sharing my experiences and knowledge of the sport. At the end of the day, every parent wants the right answer and not what someone thinks is the right answer. My baseball journey started in little league at 8 years old and ended at 40 in the major leagues. All I am saying is that I have encountered just about every scenario possible...good and bad. I feel that I am qualified to answer just about any question. I make no apologies for my career. It was because of hard work and dedication and a lot of humbled coaches along the way. Feel free to ask me any questions on the board or in private messaging. I wish you all the luck in seeking your answers.

CADad-
Thank you for your kind words. I truly enjoyed coaching the players. Did you know that Jason Breckley is in the college world series at Fresno State? and Brett Hunter is on the collegiate olympic team? We should all be proud of those guys!

Rich

Rajun Cajun-
Here's my take on your question. Most pitchers in the major leagues have no idea how hard they threw at 9 years of age. At 9 years of age, we are still growing. The most important thing for your son is to develop the proper mechanics. He will eventually grow into those mechanics. By 14 years of age, you will get somewhat of an idea of his potential, but keep in mind, there are late bloomers.
As to the magic number, there are kids who do not throw very hard at a young age and develop into a hard throwing pitcher and vice versa.

The most important thing for your son is to have fun throwing the ball around. I could give you the advice I would give to a 15-16 year old, but we both know that wouldn't be appropriate for his young age. Keep in mind there are no scouts or college coaches at these games, so there is plenty of time for him to work on his mechanics and develop into the player he will become. This may sound too simple, but this is the purest advice I can give. Proper pitching mechanics will enable him to become a better pitcher; the factors of "throwing hard" is a combination of technique and god given talent. We can only control one of them, so let's concentrate on that.

Rich

MLBVeteran,
Your response shows that you are indeed a professional! Regardless of your coaching ability (because we don't know), in my opinion you have identified yourself, where others come to give advice and never do. So for many of us, that makes you credible.
Great posts by the way.

The above comments about you were completely uncalled for.

Just my opinion.

TPM as usual you have to but in.

I was not questioning his credentials.
I was questioning his motives and statements. My son has been coached by guys with as much or more credentials.
His posts seemed more like self promotion. The site is for info and I always thought self promotion was frowned upon. I actually waited to see if he helped anyone but saw no advice in any of his posts until he was questioned.
Pitching is not rocket science even though many try to sell the secrets of pitching to the guppies of this world..

Rajun Cajun,

I thought Rich Rodriguez gave you a very reasonable answer to your question; however, I would go a little further on the subject of your concerns about a 9 yo pitcher's velocity.

The ASMI (American Sports Medicine Institute) has published several compelling studies of youth pitcher injury--their primary conclusion is very clear: Overuse is the biggest risk factor for arm injury to youth pitchers. And, the single pitch type that best correlates to arm injuries among youth pitchers? No, it is not the curveball or slider--it is the fastball.

Shocking? Hardly. "Johnny Stud", who can throw strikes in the low 50's at 9 yo, is going to be used more than any other pitcher on his team. The glory of being "team ace" will undoubtedly last for several years. Johnny Stud's father will likely support his son's chronic overuse, because he gets to bask in his little boy's reflected glory, as long as Johnny is going good and winning games.

If you have no idea what an immature growth plate is, and what the stresses of high pitching loads can do to immature growth plates, you should educate yourself.

Youth pitching at LL level should mostly be about developing kids' throwing mechanics and their physical condition for throwing/pitching so they will have fun when they are on the mound. "Johnny Stud" will be much better off, in my opinion, if he is on teams from 9 - 12 yo where at least 3/4 of his teammates share the pitching load.

Of course, "Johnny" and his dad will have to defer some accumulation of glory but, honestly, there is probably not much long-term satisfaction to be gained from 9 yo glory on the mound anyway.

I thought I asked a respectful reasonable question...I was interested to know if you had any comments in regard to this pitcher...well see my previous post on this thread.

JDfromFla-
Hey Jd, I apologize for the skip over,yes,a very resonable question.

I feel after watching the above video, the tempo is a little too fast. By being too quick, this does not give enough time to load up. What happens when one is too quick, the player tends to drift forward too quickly making the arm come through the slot with a short arm tendencey. As for the landing, I find it acceptable. Please keep an eye on the glove in the video, it tends to drop. Remember to keep that left arm balanced and turn in the glove either toward the chest or hip, whatever feels comfortable.
Think of it as a push pull theory.

Many Thanks.

I did look at our stat book and I did find that he pitched the most out of any of our pitchers. I hadn't noticed it because I hadn't really looked for that. I wish all of our kids knew how to pitch. We only seem to have about 3 consistent strike throwers, and 3 inconsistent ones. Not nearly enough to get through a tournament.

Sometimes dads need to slow down, or be forced to slow down and not be drawn into all hype about going for more and trying to increase the numbers on the radar gun.

I will definitely slow down and make sure my boy doesn't get over-worked and do too much pitching, or do too many hard throwing drills. I know he will be a late bloomer physically and I do feel he has two things going for him right now: excellent control from sound mechanics, and a controlled mental approach that he seemed to find all by himself.

We won't be throwing much after his next two tournaments as our season will be ending in mid July. After that he will be doing gymnastics and working on his leg muscles and core muscles. We will throw about 30 pitches a week (20 fast balls and 10 change ups) to keep the dust off, but we won't do more than that. I do like the concept of periodization, at least at this young age.

Thanks!

jdfromfla,

IMO… Your son might want to try to keep his foot more parallel to the rubber.

I think everyone is rooting for Jason to do well in the CWS now that he's getting healthy again and for Brett to be able to strike a good deal with Oakland. None of them were there yet when those guys were playing but they know about them.

Thanks Rich..PG, good feedback! I appreciate the input. I don't mind saying that TPM caught the glove action also
I'll drop another soon and show you how/if hes adjusted.

LAF I have argued for years that the FB is the most dangerous pitch for young pitchers.