Advice?

General Pitching Topics
#1

First off, I love the site and I’ve been lurking as a guest for a while and finally decided to register and start posting! Anyway, I was just wondering… I am just wondering how I compare to other high school pitchers that are hoping to play college ball or even getting drafted. Never less I play baseball because I love the sport and I am passionate about it.

I am a little over 6’0 and about 160lbs. I throw right handed and I write left handed haha. Yet my four seam has a little zip to it. I have been gun’d at 86 mph at a practice yet my location was awful. I can comfortably throw at 82~84. I have a cutter which I throw like a curve minus the spinning motion… which is my main out pitch. I have a working changeup which I am practicing with.

I’ve played summer ball and just wrapped up my junior season on the varsity team. I was on varsity since my freshman year in high school, yet I was rarely used. I was used as a reliever pitching 6 or 7 innings. Same with sophomore year, yet I was the primary reliever. Yet again this year, my school uses a 3 man rotation and I was asked to be the rarely used 3rd rotational pitcher / closer. I’m a PO.

Two seam - 76-78mph
Four Seam - 81-84mph
Cutter 82-83 mph
Curve - havent gotten this thing gun’d since like sophomore summer.
AND
for fun I throw a splitter which I’m working on to use in games and what not. A straight changeup which is getting there in the HS levels

I plan on going to a 4 year university with or without baseball, yet it would be sweet if I can get any advice on just having a better senior season.

#2

Want an example? Upstate New York doesn’t have very good baseball and I’m a small school. We faced a pitcher our second sectionals game today who threw some major heat. To be honest with you I can’t imagine him making it in college. He had little control and I was thinking if he took some off his pitches and located he’d be in such better shape. You need location. If you can blow kids away your senior year that means nothing. Hit your freaking locations. Work on the change-up it is the best pitch.

I like the cutter. It’s really a mental pitch. It’s not even the swing of the batter it’s just the batter being unsure of his swing. If you throw it you’ll start to get batters second guessing themselves. They think it’s a ball and then they realize it’s going to be a strike. Then its outside then they realize its going to be a ball. Use it mentally. Let the hitters second guess themselves. Ever watch Rivera pitch? It’s so hard for a batter to realize an apparent strike isn’t a strike and a apparent ball isn’t a ball. It’s just not something you can adjust. Ever have trouble adjusting to a umpires zone? I et you or your teammates have had some major trouble. Batting is habit and training and when you screw with that you mess with the hitter. Hard to believe a major leaguer against the best batters their could be can get away with 1 pitch. They know it’s coming.

Work on your location, I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet.

Get the change-up down. I know that it’s not a cool pitch like a curve but it’s the best pitch to master and you should learn it as soon as you can. Work on it that will help in college. You have some good stats, work with that.

#3

Thanks for the advice! I’ll really work on my location and I try my best to work on it every time I pitch. I’m still working on a changeup, it’s going to take a while. Yet after looking at my stat sheet for this year, I was 2nd on the team with strikeouts with 31 yet I was 1st with walks 24. So I def. need help with my location.

Any advice on how to throw a consistent changeup? Do you advice a straight changeup or a circle or even a palmbalm. I have a straight down, but I’m not 100 percent confident in it to use in a game.

#4

This past year ive really started working on the changeup. I throw a circle change and rarely thrown it in a game. Literly 1 or 2 times. But now i feel like its my best pitch. Ill throw it just playing catch about 50% of the time to get the feel of it. When at home watching baseball just hold it in your hand to get the grip more comfortable. The more comfort you have with it in your hand the more command youll have with it. I was surprised how fast i was able to get more movement on it as well. Just have to throw it alot and trick yourself to thinking your throwing a fastball when you throw the change up. Good Luck :wink:

#5

same here

#6

To Teceel16—here’s something interesting to think about. Many moons ago my pitching coach (an active major-league pitcher, absolutely incredible) told me that just about any pitch could be turned into a nice changeup. You mentioned several different ones—why not experiment with all of them and see which one you’d be most comfortable with, then work that one up? It doesn’t hurt to have more than one in your repertoire. 8)