sure they all throw hard and i bet can all throw curves that break all the way into the dugout. ill be serious with you all. i pitch im 15 weigh 145 rhp 5'8'' and throw around 80mph. sure i aint nolan ryan but how many rhp's you see that pickoff guys atleast 2 a game? well thats my specialty. sure i dont throw 95mph, and have that awesome curveball. i thinka lot of pitchers today lose the fact that pitchers are also fielders. i see alot of pitchers rush the ball to home plate. pitching is an art where i come from not something everyone is capable of doing. i may never throw any harder than 81mph in my life compared to guys throwing in the 90's already. i just feel that pitching has really changed since years ago.it went from form and delivery and fluidness and being able to controll the field to who can throw the hardest. let me know at you think of todays pitchers.......

Yeah it is kinda screwed up. Really its not how good you are its can you throw over 90. Its amazing though that you won't be drafted if you can't throw 88-90 but when you go watch AAA games the guys almost never hit 90 on the gun during the game. I don't understand it as long as you can get outs i don't care if you throw 70 and are Right or Left handed thats all that matters is outs.

daniel,

im all with ya there kid! i went to a few aa and aaa minor league games and i know wat u mean. today i also see alot of hitters being geared towards smashing high velocity pitches and from wat ive seen of those type of hitters are that they struggle with off speed pitches. i think todays players are not wat they use to be. im beginning to forget what baseball is about now-a-days.

Im sure I will get a chance to see that arm in action this year. Or, depending on what summer league you played in this past year, I may already have done your games.

I have umpired Yough HS games and also summer leagues in your area. Did you play for Southmoreland Colt this year?

ump, i played a lil bit in the mon-yough colt league. most of the summer tho i was playing for my aau team in wexford,pa. we went to play in disney and all so i missed alot o summer games. if you saw my stature, you would probably overlook my potential. that happens alot to me, but i have ranked very high in showcases. im not the next nolan ryan here, im just trying to say if you were looking for a huge 6'4'' monster around 220 then thats not me.

did u ever umpire any yough high school games?

Yes, I have done some Yough games. I umpire the Mon-Yough Colt league every summer and was in Southmoreland for a bunch of games.

Physical stature is great to have but not necessarily the only thing needed to be an effective pitcher. Probably the best pitchers in your area (Mon Valley)this year are 5'9 to 6'1" not overly big. (HS Varsity). Good luck this year.

Hey...just reading the message boards here. I see you're from Yough...my boy is from South Allegheny...we usually play you each year. He's a Junior 1B/P/DH...missed all but the first 3 games of last year with a thyroid problem. Don't know if he played against you guys or not. He's better now....bigger too....put on 40 lbs since May and grew about an inch or so.
Got a couple of questions for you...what aau team from the North Hills? I mean, was it a 15 year old AAU? My boy also plays for the Pittsburgh Tigers(15-16) and they've played some summer practice games at Southmoreland HS...they also play in the fall up in Butler. Second Q...does Yough do any kind of offseason conditioning for players not in football or basketball?

yeh all it is now is can u pitch 90? lol. Hopefully the pitching will come back with command and if u can field a ball correctly.

Dont Try..
You Already Lost..

If a pitcher is picking off at least two men a game that means he is letting men get on base more than he should

I would be more concerned with getting the batters out than picking them off.

Work on being a good pitcher !!!

TRhit

Part of being a great pitcher is having a good pick-off move.

"I love the HSBBW"

Gooden was a great pitcher in his prime and had the worst pick off move of them all-- The coaches didnt want to work on it for two reason--- afraid to screw up his delivery and secondly they felt that not that many batters got on against him to warrant messing with his motion.

Also at the age of 15 he should be working on location and control not worrying about his pick off move

TRhit

Everyone knows Pettitte has a great pick-off move...
Of the other pitchers, who played in post-season, which have a great pick-off move?

______________________________
By the time you learn how to play the game...
You can't play it anymore ~ Frank Howard

i would rather have a person that can throw strikes and hit his marks then someone who has a good pickoff move.

Dont Try..
You Already Lost..

My uncle Robert Parkins used to throw 96 his junior year and his senior year he was hittin 100's. He had excellent accuracy and was picked in the 1st round by the Boston Red Sox. He got out of baseball because he had pancreas cancer. He didnt have a kickass pickoff but he hit his spots and knew what to do in the counts etc. Just learn to throw a lot more accurate and play catch more. When your tired rest, dont get hurt. the worst thing to do is to get hurt and have to pay the price of "taking a break" Coaches could lose view of you and your start could fade. Coaches will understand if your tired and if your coach pushes you then he isnt a good coach.

Dont Try..
You Already Lost..

yeah, i would have to agree with TR. Pitching coaches don't teach you how to pick off runners first, they teach you how to throw instead. A good pick off move is just something that you should work on after you can pitch well and is just an added bonus to help your game.

I think a good pick-off move is very important for a pitcher as a whole and do think it should be taught and worked on by a pitching coach. The first concern must be mechenics, control and hitting spots of course but, a good pick off move keeps runners close, increases chances of DP's, runners caught stealing and will usally result in your ERA being lower. If you take two pitchers with the same ability, most of the time the one with the better pick-off will have the better ERA. Also having a good pick gives a pitcher much more confidence with runners on base especially in a tight game.

I'm lucky. I am a left-handed pitcher. So I kind of have an edge to the runners on first. Last year I picked of 18 guyz in 10 starts. But your right, the art of pitching has been lost in all of the things that you said. But don't give up, there are still a few programs that keep the art and continue to teach it.