My friend needs help

#1

Ok I have a friend and as I see it he has the potential to be something great. He’s 15 and he throws:

1). 4 Seam fastball (Goes about 80-85 ‘Changes speeds very well’) And clocked 92 one time on a pitching gun.
2). Splitter (That will start at about chest level and break to the knees easily…)
3). Sinker (Won’t break as much like its suppose to but breaks like a slower moving splitter.)
4). Change-up (His worst pitch but as good as he is that’s not saying much. It can still be used consistently with great accuracy.)

Ok well his problem is after a while people catch on the if he’s not throwing the fastball then it’s gonna break low. And after about the 4th he starts giving up hit after hit… All of his pitches break low and he wants to add a pitch like a Slider or a Cutter that he could throw a little higher to throw people off.

His only problem is though is at first when he started throwing the slider it was breaking decent not anything special but good enough… Well now he throws it (He hasn’t changed anything from the first time) And it has know break at all it just goes straight like a fastball…

Could anybody help him out try to figure out what’s wrong?

#2

No offense man but if he throws 85 with a decent change and splitter he should be alright, especially if he is only 15. Tell him to work on those pitches so he can hit his spots. But at 15 he shouldn’t risk throwing a slider. Just my humble opinion.

#3

I agree.

#4

Thanks for the advice, I’ll pass it on to him

#5

if it has to be a different pitch i would suggest a curve ball that moves like
2 to 8. It will be something that could start off going at a batter and break into the strike zone or other various thing. The Important thing is it doesnt only break downward it beaks away from righties

#6

4 things are important in Pitching. Not necessarily in this order:

  1. Command, ie, hitting your spots consistently
  2. Change of speed
  3. Movement
  4. Velocity.

If at 15 he’s hitting 85 and consistently getting hit, he needs to move in and out, up and down in the zone. Don’t be predictable. Can he throw an offspeed pitch behind in the count? Can he consistently hit the low outside corner with all his pitches? Can he throw the splitter or sinker at the knees on a full count? Remember - get ahead with strikes, get 'em out with balls… Takes some intestinal fortitude to do that on a consistent basis.
If he works on that stuff, he’ll be fine.

Cheers;

O

#7

Yeah well he’s good at changing speed but needs to work on hitting the spots better… Most of the time his splitter breaks too much and ends up in the dirt… Thanks for all the help guys.

#8

your not talking about a friend are you…

you got the same pitches as your “friend”

#9

Yeah we both started playing about the same time so we know alot of the same stuff, but just a bit diffrent. Like I can throw a pretty decent 2 seam fastball and he can’t even get one to move… Vice versa he has a great sinker and I have a very sorry one… Another thing is he throws 3/4 I throw side armed. So yeah I am talking bout my friend…