Tall Pitcher Bias?

Started a new tall pitcher thread so as not to take away from another pitcher's height thread:

Are there misconceptions and stereotypes about tall pitchers (both good and bad)? For example, a former coach of mine has a DD who is a 6 foot freshman in high school. She is a good, but not great HS/travel ball pitcher and her mechanics are far from optimum. Well at a recent showcase, she was offered a verbal scholarship by a well-known D1 college. IMO, all things being equal, if she was 5 foot, 6 inches she would not have received this offer, especially as a HS freshman.

Is there a bias that tall pitchers have not tapped into their full potential and colleges are taking a chance on them over their less tall counterparts?

Is there a bias that tall pitchers don't have to work as hard as short pitchers?

Rocketech1 said:

Is there a bias that tall pitchers have not tapped into their full potential and colleges are taking a chance on them over their less tall counterparts?

Is there a bias that tall pitchers don't have to work as hard as short pitchers?

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Taller and heaver pitches will win out over smaller and lighter pitchers.

The taller Ps need to work thier a** off too, they just have an advantage.

Rocketech1 said:

Is there a bias that tall pitchers have not tapped into their full potential and colleges are taking a chance on them over their less tall counterparts?

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Yes of course. It is like taking a 6'10" basketball player over a 6'1" player - there is just a limited supply of the first and you figure you can work with the raw ingredients. Sometimes we get thrown off because we spend a lot of time with athletes especially as they get older, so we see a lot of 'big' or athletic girls all the time, but in reality there just isn't that many 6' tall girls out there. When you don't fit the standard profile of what is envisioned you have to already have it figured out - they are not going to step out of their comfort zone for you.

Is there a bias that tall pitchers don't have to work as hard as short pitchers?

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There is a definite thought that taller pitchers are going to be 'useful' even if they put less into their pitching. They look the part. They are thought to have 'all the raw tools necessary to be something special'

Same with all positions really. One of the hardest players we helped get recruited is someone who just doesn't look the part - despite being the best player on her showcase team. You had to see her over several games to see that and it took us a long time to convince her eventual college coach to see enough of her to realize that. She was all conference as a freshman last year.

Also a lot of coaches, like a lot of people, are egomaniacs and they believe they will be the one who can get the most out of a player.

Coaches cannot "coach up" height.....so tall players with long arms will have an advantage because there is more perceived "untapped potential" in the player.

marriard said:

There is a definite thought that taller pitchers are going to be 'useful' even if they put less into their pitching. They look the part. They are thought to have 'all the raw tools necessary to be something

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College PC know they are going to make adjustments to all pitchers anyways so why not take the one that "looks" the part that needs work.

Not saying it's right, just saying it happens.

Can't teach genetics.

The question isn't whether there is bias. The question is whether the bias is justified.

As mentioned previously, the average height for a woman in the US is 5'4".

Some stats:

Team Average Team Height Average Pitcher Height

AL 5'7" 5'11"
GA 5'7" 5'9"
FL 5'6" 5'8"
AR 5'7" 5'9"
OLE MISS 5'7" 5'10"
Auburn 5'7" 5'8"
SC 5'7" 5'10"
TENN 5'8" 5'9"
LSU 5'7" 5'8"

First question they ask DD, "Do you pitch?". About half the time followed with "Do you want to pitch?". ;-)

Rocketech1 said:

Are there misconceptions and stereotypes about tall pitchers (both good and bad)?

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Yes, definitely. Some of the initial attention DD recieved was simply because she's tall. Once they have a coaches attention they still need to back it up to get their interest. Also very commmon in my experience are negative misconceptions and stereotypes from other parents.

Rocketech1 said:

Is there a bias that tall pitchers have not tapped into their full potential and colleges are taking a chance on them over their less tall counterparts?

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I thinks there's a bias that taller pitchers have more potential. That being said though I havent seen college coaches offering scholarships based solely on the off chance that a tall girl will pan out due to her height. Believe me, I wish that were the case.

Rocketech1 said:

Is there a bias that tall pitchers don't have to work as hard as short pitchers?

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Yes, definitely. Not only that they don't have to work as hard, but the bias is often that smaller girls work harder.

Just as an interesting statistical point...there is less variation in the height of women than men. That is, the bell shaped curve is steeper for women than men.

So, 82% of the women are shorter than 5'7". 97% of the women are shorter than 5'10". 99% of the women are shorter than 5'11".