Any Chance?

[andrewtexas123]

First Post! :Peep: I hope i get the response i am looking for!
I am 13yr. and 4months,i am wondering if i have a baseball carer? I pitch 64mph and 54 with a step and hard throw. That is with out any warm up or stretch!

[Royce]

I'm 17 and throw like 79-80 (I've been on varsity since freshman year). But really, pitching isn't about how hard you throw, it's about locating and changing speeds. Sure a hard fastball helps, but if it's all fastballs eventually as you move on to higher levels kids will not only hit it hard, but pull it too.

As for a baseball career, only a very small % make it to the big time stage. But if you work hard, don't put anything past yourself.

[andrewtexas123]

Thanks, what led me to this is last year the head of the legue sall me pitching and asked me if i could join the team that goes to poland for the european little legue team and for the allstar team witch i did join and got the game ball for pitching! I was happy this year my school wants me to try out for the high school b-ball team. My location is good i throw a fastball offspeed and curve...

[Royce]

Sounds like you have some potential. I went to Colorado a few years back for a tournament that we got a bid for, Kentucky, Oneonta (NY), Cooperstown, and a bunch of tourney's here and there on Long Island.

[PopTop]

Unless you think you're done growing, and my guess is you're not, quit throwing the curve ball.

Welcome to Addicts. What part of Texas are you from?

[Royce]

Yeah, I started throwing a curveball freshman year. Make sure you learn how to throw it right or you're arm is going to get, well, F'd up.

[andrewtexas123]

Unless you think you're done growing, and my guess is you're not, quit throwing the curve ball.

Welcome to Addicts. What part of Texas are you from?

LoL i cant resist... Houston(Katy) currently in london tho..

[andrewtexas123]

Yeah, I started throwing a curveball freshman year. Make sure you learn how to throw it right or you're arm is going to get, well, F'd up.

Ya before i start throwing hard i warm up for about 30 min, when ever i go to houston i go to baseball usa and do acouple of hours worth of lessons

[Royce]

Yeah, I've been getting instruction for a while now. It helps a lot. Mechanics is everyhing. :D

[yagsy]

I had a great thing written for you and it got deleted before I sent it...Damn keyboard!!!!! :Pissed:

I will write it out again tonite, something you can use.

And I will say this now but I have a story about the curve ball...

Willie is ABSOLUTELY right! STOP THROWING THE CURVE BALL UNTIL AT LEAST 18 OR 19. This will prevent injuries in the future.

[PopTop]

LoL i cant resist... Houston(Katy) currently in london tho..Resist throwing the curve. You can throw a little slip pitch or maybe work on a cut fastball, but don't throw that overhand hard curve, kid. Wait until all of your muscles and tendons and ligaments have a chance to reach maturity. I've seen a bunch of young men your age ruin their chances at a career before they ever get out of high school.

I grew up in the Houston area, mostly SW side, Sugar Land. Have fun in London, great place to be. And once more, please resist the curve for now. You can thank me later at your Hall of Fame induction speech. :cool:

[Royce]

Most kids' curveballs anyway aren't anything special. Not to brag or anything, but mine is pretty sick :D. If you throw that hard at your age, you really don't need a curveball to get kids out. But yagsy, I think 18 or 19 is an unreasonable age to wait to. Every high school pitcher I've seen has some sort of breaking pitch. Colleges aren't going to look at kids without a good breaking pitch in most cases.

I'm sure you do/know this already, but movement on your fastball is a great thing. I rarely throw 4 seamers unless I want to put a little extra on it. Being a righty, my 2 seam tails inside to righties and can tail back over the outside corner. I don't necessarily throw too hard, low 80s highest, but when you have movement on your fastball it changes everything. There's so many things that make you a good pitcher. For me, 1) Location 2) Changing speeds, keeping hitters of balance, and 3) Movement. Not necessarily movement as in a curveball but a 2 seamer or a cutter, with a circle change that tails down and away from lefties will make lefties have a hard time hitting you. (I'm just assuming you're righty).

[Robb]

I played with guys who are now in the majors or playing some sort of pro ball. When they were young, they were good but most weren't even the best in the league.

[yagsy]

Royce, I completely agree to begin working on a breaking pitch. But the overhand curve ball is something that no kid should work on until they are 18 or 19. Why? Injuries to the elbow.

A pitcher for the Phillies, saw his MLB debut and have kind of kept track since as he really impressed me overall. But his story to the bigs was fascinating. His father would not allow him to work on a curve ball all through high school. The reason was his father wanted him to focus on controlling the fastball. No matter what, if you can locate the fastball, scouts will look at you. That pitcher's name is Ryan Madson. He now has a devastating curve to go along with his excellent fastball, 2 seamer.

Trevor Hoffman redefined his career by throwing a change up but his fastball which used to be in the mid to upper 90s is now 89mph (I haven't seen him hit 90 in a long time). But he locates that fastball so well that invariably rookies and vets alike KNOW that fastball is coming in his first pitch, yet somehow, Trevor gets a strike with it. His % of not getting the first pitch strikes is very much related to the number of blown saves which tells you how freaking good he is. Trevor is one of the most fascinating pitchers to watch work both rookies and veterans. I've seen him make both look absolutely foolish and sometimes it's the fastball for a called strike three.

I got to meet and sit down and talk with a scout (who drafted Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, Zito, Mulder and Hudson) and asked him about a particular pitcher that I knew the Padres had already drafted. The conversation drifted to what he looks for in drafting pitchers. He told me that one of the most important aspects he looks for was work ethic. He spends time asking opposing coaches, current coaches, teammates about who he is scouting. Then he said he likes to see pitchers to physically be 6' + and to be proportional with the physique. The last thing he mentioned to me was make sure the candidate can locate a fastball and be able to throw a change up. He really believes in the change up and has all pitchers in the Padre minor league organization working on change ups.

Another point is weight training... please make sure you work with someone who knows growing bodies as muscle tears easily. One of the more famous of pitchers and work out geeks is Roger Clemens. He talks frequently about how he generates power and how he has been able to maintain throwing 95mph now in his mid 40s...leg muscles. But what many male athletes do is work strictly on strengthening without considering flexibility. You MUST work on both but never, EVER allow your muscles to get bigger than your physique will allow. If you do, especially while growing, you will cause future injuries and not necessarily injuries that show up right away. Instead these will show up later on because the muscular system is weak and will blow out maybe after several years into your career. It's critical to work with someone who knows about weight training AND FLEXIBILITY for growing bodies. Remember if your muscles are too tight, they will snap like frozen rubber when pulled.

If I think of more, I'll add. This is a ton to consider. One thing I would try to do if I were you is to learn as much as you can about pitching in certain situations/counts/types of hitters. TALK to anyone and everyone. You can learn from people who are pitching fanatics (like me), from your own teammates, opposing players as well as your own coaches. Learn and THINK. :)

BEST OF LUCK and I hope we hear about your progress. :cheer: :jump: :banana:

[Royce]

Yeah weight training does help. I hope to add like 5 MPH to my fastball (ideally) this winter for the spring.