Pitching Help

[RebMan08]

Ok so i'm a Freshman in High School and i'm really looking for an edge over all the rest of the guys. Some background info though, i throw about 2 times a week, and do fairly well about a 3.5 ERA. I throw a 4-seam fastball, curveball, and circle change. My curveball is most likley my best pitch. But i want to add another off speed breaking pitch because these days in high school you are taught to hit the curve ball. So if i can mix up a curve and another off speed breaking pitch that would help. Please give any suggestions and if you have a new pitch if you could please include the grip that would be nice

[chisox2k5]

Ok so i'm a Freshman in High School and i'm really looking for an edge over all the rest of the guys. Some background info though, i throw about 2 times a week, and do fairly well about a 3.5 ERA. I throw a 4-seam fastball, curveball, and circle change. My curveball is most likley my best pitch. But i want to add another off speed breaking pitch because these days in high school you are taught to hit the curve ball. So if i can mix up a curve and another off speed breaking pitch that would help. Please give any suggestions and if you have a new pitch if you could please include the grip that would be nice

Im not being a xxxx just being honest:

Do you mean you only throw 2 times a week or you pitch 2 times a week. if you only throw 2 times a week you need to be throwing alot more

a 3.5 era in HS isnt that good

your fastball should be your best pitch in hs

you dont need another offspeed pitch until you have superb control and movement on the other pitches



your heading in the wrong direction looking for more pitches. pitching is the one thing where quality > quantity

[mobile eggroll]

ok reb

A) you don't need to bag on his ERA, if you can't say anything nice about it just leave it alone.

B) your fastball doesn't need to be your best pitch in high school because if you throw a change up or curve for accuracy then thats tons better then a fastball that you can't get over the plate.

C) your right on the fact that you need to work with what you got right now an at least wait till the offseason before trying something new. keep goin with what you have a try and locate your pitches.

[chisox2k5]

ok reb

A) you don't need to bag on his ERA, if you can't say anything nice about it just leave it alone.

B) your fastball doesn't need to be your best pitch in high school because if you throw a change up or curve for accuracy then thats tons better then a fastball that you can't get over the plate.

C) your right on the fact that you need to work with what you got right now an at least wait till the offseason before trying something new. keep goin with what you have a try and locate your pitches.

The first thing I said was that I'm not trying to be a xxxx, I'm trying to be honest.

I never said it has to be your best pitch I said it should be your best pitch.

I hate people who cant read and comprehend.

[screwball1]

to throw a screwball, grip it just like a curve but just rotate your wrist the opposite way and it should break down and to the right. (if you're right handed) be careful when using it can really mess your arm up even with proper mechanics.

[RebMan08]

I throw in games 2 times a week, a 3.5 ERA in high school is pretty good, don't know the last time you actully looked at a score. I watched the #1 recruited pitcher in my state give up 8 runs in 6 innings. His season ERA is 4.7 and he's been noticed by tons of MLB teams. So don't bag on a respectable 3.5 ERA considering i'm a middle relief pitcher or a closer. During closing i might add my ERA is 0.0, coming into a game with bases loaded is harder then you think.

[chisox2k5]

I throw in games 2 times a week, a 3.5 ERA in high school is pretty good, don't know the last time you actully looked at a score. I watched the #1 recruited pitcher in my state give up 8 runs in 6 innings. His season ERA is 4.7 and he's been noticed by tons of MLB teams. So don't bag on a respectable 3.5 ERA considering i'm a middle relief pitcher or a closer. During closing i might add my ERA is 0.0, coming into a game with bases loaded is harder then you think.

1st- your a freshman in HS. Your probably throwing 75mph max.
2nd- not everyone in HS baseball is a D1 prospect. I dont know how you can say a 3.5 era is good when 99.9% of the competition your facing is not going to play pro ball and most of them put academics before baseball. Now, if you are in Florida, and your pitching for Monsignor then MAYBE I would say a 3.5 ERA is alright- if you were facing people like Delmon Young.
3rd- How hard do you throw? I highly doubt your Robert Stock.

[chisox2k5]

4th Who is the top prospect in your state.
5th- If you think your 3.5 ERA is pretty good then I'd say come on down to a Perfect Game USA showcase and see how you fare against the best underclassmen in the country. www.perfectgameusa.com go sign up
6th- You want to know what good is? I copy pasted the player of the year watch from BA. Heres the all americans from last year http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...40618hsaa.html

Want to know the crucial stat for my argument? Look at IP and SV. The most anyone has is 2 and they have all pitched more than 50 innings. You arent going to get 50 innings by being a reliever in HS. Everyones going to call me a big jerk and say that I'm being obnoxious and mean, but the good pitchers in HS arent relievers- they start. I'm not being a jerk, I'm being a realist.
PLAYER, YR., POS., HIGH SCHOOL
B-T
Ht.
Wt.
W-L
ERA
G
SV
IP
H
BB
SO

Trevor Bell, Sr., of/rhp, Crescenta Valley HS, La Crescenta, Calif.
L-R
6-2
180
2-2
1.36
6
2
31
18
--
46

Justin Bristow, Sr., 3b/rhp, Mills Godwin HS, Richmond, Va.
R-R
6-4
205
3-0
0.47
3
0
15
6
3
24

Bradley Clark, Sr., rhp, Sickles HS, Tampa
R-R
6-6
200
5-2
1.71
7
0
45
29
12
55

Kyle Drabek, Jr., rhp/ss, The Woodlands (Texas) HS
R-R
5-11
175
5-0
0.62
6
0
30
15
18
66

Brett Jacobson, Sr., rhp, Cactus Shadows HS, Cave Creek, Ariz.
R-R
6-6
195
5-1
0.88
6
0
40
19
9
60

Kyle Hancock, Sr., rhp, Rowlett (Texas) HS
R-R
6-3
195
6-0
1.02
6
0
48
--
11
80

Mark Pawelek, Sr., lhp, Springville (Utah) HS
L-L
6-2
180
3-0
0.00
4
1
25
3
6
51

Miers Quigley, Sr., lhp, Roswell (Ga.) HS
L-L
6-4
225
3-0
0.93
4
0
15
12
7
24

Aaron Thompson, Sr., lhp, Second Baptist HS, Houston
L-L
6-2
190
3-2
0.70
6
0
30
19
16
61

Ryan Tucker, Sr., rhp, Temple City (Calif.) HS
R-R
6-2
190
3-1
0.48
4
0
29
12
12
45

Josh Wall, Sr., rhp, Central Private HS, Baker, La.
R-R
6-1
190
7-1
1.03
9
0
40
16
18
78

Chris Volstad, Sr., rhp, Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) HS
R-R
6-7
205
3-1
0.18
6
0
38
9
3
61

Josh Zeid, Sr., rhp, Hamden Hall Acad., Hew Haven, Conn.
R-R
6-4
225
3-0
0.00
4
0
17
1
4
39

[NateB.]

Holy tangential reply, batman.

A reply that is within the focus of the thread. Drop the four seam fastball and start throwing a two seamer. Close the gap between your fingers as much as possible. Every inch your fingers are spread apart equals a loss of about 3 mph. Go 2 seams with the seams grip and finish the pitch by snapping your fingers straight down through the ball. This will add movement which is way more important than mph. Also, consider dropping your arm angle down a bit to more of a three-quarter delivery.

[bballrx]

Who's Robert Stock?

Why is this guy "not Robert Stock"?

[NateB.]

Robert Stock

Maybe he's related to Robert Goulet?


OH NO! YOU"RE NOT ROBERT STOCK!!!!!!!

[BigDMan23]

If your looking for a breaking ball, throw a Cut Fastball. use a tight grip in the horse shoe with you index and middle fingers. Throw just like your fastball.

[peondagosu]

Yeah. Ive played against Trevor Bell and Ryan Tucker. And i do believe if your best pitch in high school is a fastball you will dominate like tucker and bell did. I mean cause most of the players cant hit fastballs around 94-97. I have hit pretty well off both of them. I hit against Tucker during the Arcadia Elks tournament and against Trevor Bell all the time since he is in my league. So if you have a good fastball you can dominate in High School. But I have to say Robert Stock, my roommate at sc, throws way harder than bell and tucker and he still does get hit occasionally in college, so to succeed in college you at least need two strong pitches.

[Comet 86 *```]

try a slider throw the ball as if you were throwing a gridiron but with a 2 o'clock arm slot or position. Grip like a four seam with the ball twisted slightly anti clockwise sort of like a cross between a curveball and a fastball grip make sure to really wrap your finger tips over the seam as you would with the stitching on a football. Wind up and cock your arm the same as a fourseam but when bringing your arm over turn your wrist so your pinky finger is the closest out of all your fingers to the target. On release rip your arm hard down and across your body with only a little flick/roll off your finger tips.The two o'clock arm slot, crossward momentum and flick/roll off your finger tips will put a really nice tight spiral on the ball. The pitch should be thrown hard like a fast ball inorder for maximum deception. This pitch is also knowen as a outshoot due to the late and sharp change or shoot in direction the ball takes, and a cutter due to the arm wrist and fingertip action near the release point. You can also slow this pitch down slightly to produce a slurve a cross between a slider and a curve or you could speed up your curveball up to produce the same result. I think the supposed gyroball is really just a fast sluve or a slow slider.

( p.s. a slider should not be thrown with any amount of top spin as you may do with a curveball)

Here are some links to examples of sliders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsWYfjKZZoI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfXTVM5iJQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dScLO9YegaM

Although the last two vids aren't called sliders but gyroballs I personally can't see any differance except maybe the speed of which they are thrown. If you read the comments made about the vids at the bottom of the screen some people are silly enough to think that its the same as a screwball if it were a screwball his thumb not pinky would be closest to the target around the point of release and the ball would spin the other way.

[cvace20]

comin in with the bases loaded doesnt count against ur ERA even if u let all 3 runners in cmon u should kno that