Pitcher is only a pitcher

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Feb 27, 2017
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I'M sure it depends on the team your daughter is playing on. But from others that have or had college pitchers, at what age do you start letting them pitch only. I would love to have enough to just rotate and bench the other players. But just curious about what age others started concentrating only on the circle.:cool:
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
This really is dependent on the individual pitcher. The problem is that the position players are gaining reps in practice and in games so by 14u/16u the difference between pitchers and catchers that play other positions and the position players becomes noticeable.

Now occasionally you run into the rare pitcher or catcher that is so athletic that they can play other positions without a drop off in skill level but they are rare. Again it's one thing to play 3B and it's another thing to be a 3B. Those are two totally different animals.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
This really is dependent on the individual pitcher. The problem is that the position players are gaining reps in practice and in games so by 14u/16u the difference between pitchers and catchers that play other positions and the position players becomes noticeable.

Now occasionally you run into the rare pitcher or catcher that is so athletic that they can play other positions without a drop off in skill level but they are rare. Again it's one thing to play 3B and it's another thing to be a 3B. Those are two totally different animals.

Everything Gunner says is true. There is another factor that comes into play. Coaches philosophy. Some at the higher levels do not want to take the risk of losing a top line pitcher to injury while batting or playing defense. Unless their bats are one of the tops in the lineup most don't hit.

My DD did nothing but pitch by the time she was 2nd year 16U. And she was fine with it. Her hitting was fair on a good day. You needed a sun dial to time her to 1st. Her defense was great in the circle. After that it was suspect. The reason for it was she played on some really strong travel teams. She pitched and was really good at it.

In college she had maybe 12 at bats in 4 years. If the coach wanted to send a message to a player about their performance she would have my DD bat for them. And everyone on the team knew it because my DD NEVER hit.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
I'M sure it depends on the team your daughter is playing on. But from others that have or had college pitchers, at what age do you start letting them pitch only. I would love to have enough to just rotate and bench the other players. But just curious about what age others started concentrating only on the circle.:cool:

It is starting to happen to my DD in HS & 16U and it wasn't how I thought it would happen.

I am finding it is because pitching is taking a HUGE amount of energy out of her and as a quality pitcher the team is relying on, they need and want all her energy available for pitching. As she plays at a higher and higher level there is fewer and fewer bad teams and fewer and fewer easy outs and every pitch is thrown with more energy than at younger ages. It takes a huge amount of energy to throw around 80-100 pitches against quality A/Elite travel batters 3-4 times per weekend.

She gets to be in the batting line up as DP when not pitching, but on a long hot day she is often thrilled not to get out and play the field and she is quite content to let faster girls run for her.
 
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JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
A lot of variable weigh into the decision making process.
1) Is your DD the teams ACE pitcher?
2) How many pitchers does the team have?
3) How many players does the team have?
4) Age group?
5) Level of play?
6) How good is your DD at the plate?
7) How good is your DD at a secondary fielding position?
8) How fast does an unladen swallow fly? (Bonus question)

My DD became a "pitch and sit" at 16U because the coaches carried 16-18 players and needed to get everyone some playing time. We had 3 pitchers, so she pitched @ 33% and sat 66%. There are times I wish she could have gotten more at bats and some defensive time at 1B, but the coaches kids got priority.
 
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