My Son is a Junior who weighs about 160 and is 5'11. He appears to me that he will be as large as myself or larger, his hands and feet are larger, I am about 6'1 and when I was in good shape probably weighed in at about 195-200. My Son currently throws in the low 80's, 81-84. He never tries to "air it out" so I don't know what he is truely capable of. He has very good control with a 2 seam and a curve. His primary position is 3rd, then SS then Left Field. Since it's Fall Ball he is again getting the opportunity to Pitch and to me and those around me he looks really good...but it is Fall all...Anyway would anyone out there have any idea as to projecting future velocity with 20 pounds of muscle and an inch or two of height? His mechanics are smooth, he used to recieve pitching instruction when he was 12-14. Lately all we work on is hitting.
Posts: 859 | Location: Sunshine State | Registered: January 03, 2006
Originally posted by floridafan: My Son is a Junior who weighs about 160 and is 5'11. He appears to me that he will be as large as myself or larger, his hands and feet are larger, I am about 6'1 and when I was in good shape probably weighed in at about 195-200. My Son currently throws in the low 80's, 81-84. He never tries to "air it out" so I don't know what he is truely capable of. He has very good control with a 2 seam and a curve. His primary position is 3rd, then SS then Left Field. Since it's Fall Ball he is again getting the opportunity to Pitch and to me and those around me he looks really good...but it is Fall all...Anyway would anyone out there have any idea as to projecting future velocity with 20 pounds of muscle and an inch or two of height? His mechanics are smooth, he used to recieve pitching instruction when he was 12-14. Lately all we work on is hitting.
Given his current size, velocity, and the positions he plays (e.g. 3B, SS, and OF), it sounds reasonable that he could hit 90 when he's fully matured. He's already very close and I have worked with several position players who have picked up 5 or 10 MPH through just working on mechanics.
Do you have a video?
If he were my son, I would teach him a change-up (and maybe a 4-seamer as well).
Posts: 1096 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: March 06, 2006
Originally posted by floridafan: He can throw a 4 seamer and a good change-up. The change-up has control issues, just a bit too low at times. I think this is mainly due to his lack of mound time during regular season.
Keep working on the change-up. It's one of the things distinguishes a real pitcher from a mere thrower.
Posts: 1096 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: March 06, 2006
I would agree with Pain that he should be around the 90 mark by the time he's a senior in HS. That will get him in a lot of good D1 programs and then you can see what the future holds.
Good luck and God bless!
"You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time"
No one will know what he can throw at. This is only guess work. The best guess is he will finish up his senior year working at about 84-87 Mph. This would be good enough for him to get some good looks at colleges. He has a lot of growing to do and time
Let him air it out, he should, intent to throw hard is important he can always crank it back or he can learn to throw hard with intent while pounding the strike zone.
85 to 90 is like climbing Mount Everest keep that in mind
Posts: 46 | Location: long Island . NY | Registered: September 23, 2005
Originally posted by floridafan: Thank you guys for you input. I love watching him on the mound, but he is a very good hitter so we have de-emphasized the pitching and focused on position play. He has always wanted to be playing every inning.
Good move.
He can always convert over to P at some point.
Posts: 1096 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: March 06, 2006
90 will be based on the presence of fast twitch muscle fibers - Were you a pitcher? And their are so many other issues like mechanics, attitude, mound presence, work habits, coaching, etc. It sure is different than playing third when you get up on that mound and have to throw strikes with a man on third and no outs. Not that many kids can do it. Our son has worked hard to throw 90 and be able to pitch too. Agree that climb from 85-90 is not something that can be easily projected. Otherwise there'd be a lot more SUCCESSFUL pitchers.
Posts: 294 | Location: Alameda, California | Registered: April 21, 2006
The fact that you, as his Dad, are the size you are says he will get bigger and stronger-- that being said the velocity should increase but more importantly work on control, ball movement and throwing strike and getting outs---if you don't get outs it matters not what your velocity is
TRhit
Posts: 19289 | Location: Manchester, CT USA | Registered: December 26, 2002
Thank you guys for you input. I love watching him on the mound, but he is a very good hitter so we have de-emphasized the pitching and focused on position play. He has always wanted to be playing every inning. I would like scouts to be aware of his ability to pitch though if that is viewed as a plus.
How good of a hitter is he?
"Don't sweat the small stuff." "I am responsible for the effort -- not the outcome. "
Posts: 5115 | Location: South Florida | Registered: December 26, 2002
