Junkballers

[uncdrew]

I always wonder about this. I've heard some college pitchers say they never throw a fastball and others say they throw it quite often. Sam Show said she threw it regularly and that many pitchers do. Osterman I believe, said she rarely, if ever threw one.

I would imagine if you have big time velo you are more likely to keep throwing fastballs in college. Say like a Barnhill or Abbot.

And if you can put the fastball exactly where you want it (better than your other pitches), it's effective and valuable.

 

[Vertigo]

Agreed. I really dislike parents making comments like that. It's 0-2 count, so Sally's dad has to do the "Watch out for the Change up!!!"

Thanks, I'm sure that helped a ton. Not.

Dd and her catcher in HS knew that if they heard this coming from the 3B coach to the batter she would automatically throw a FB, regardless if they had another pitch initially called.

 

[Reaperjet]

14A Northeast US

NY/NJ showcase events—-so fairly decent quality ball for the NE.

Seeing recently what seems like a lot more “junkballers”. By junkballer I mean almost no fastballs and limited change-ups. Weak velocity and 80% or more offspeed curveballs.

I guess it’s a way for non-elite pitchers to stay in the game—but seems like a lot more than I’ve seen prior. Is this becoming more common? Or just a run of coincidence?

Which Showcase???

My Junkballer just pitched in a NJ showcase lmao

 

[RedeemerKing]

Towers to Tunnels was most recent one.

 

[Reaperjet]

Towers to Tunnels was most recent one.

We were at XTreme - and for starters there was a big range from the top teams (2) to the bottom and only a few "top Level" pitchers total IMO total... We maybe saw 1 real good pitcher all weekend. I'm sure the Rock team had a few but, we didn't face them

I think what you are describing is a Northeast thing And you wouldn't say this at a Showcase in GA.

At !4u and with my kid, you find a lot of kids still growing into their bodies,... I'm sure my kid is exactly what you're talking about and she had success against a few of the better NJ teams and no they didn't really "Catch up"...

Unless you are at A level and/or out of the Northeast I think at 14u you're still going to see a lot of pitchers still behind physically.

It's journey and IMO my kid is at the Cusp of mastering some things and finding her MPH and maturing physically .. that said, part of me fears, she will lose that Slurve that baffles hitters and gets easy outs while her MPH starts to hit right in the range hitters love lol

We were at Jenny Finch this past summer and even for the Finch teams - we barely saw pitchers hitting past 52 all weekend on the scoreboard.

Always adjusting tho - Big winter for her IMO after injury last winter.

 

[inumpire]

My girls haven’t played in 14U in a few years, but all we‘ve seen lately is girls with one strong pitch (rise, curve or drop), a very good fastball and a change up, but they all throw hard.

while the speeds seem to be faster recently, we played a team in 2019 that had a girl that threw a knuckle ball about 50 and could throw a fastball about 60 and she was very hard to hit. The only hits we got were on the fastball. Not one girl put the knuckle ball in play.

Have never really seen any 14yr old with a real rise ball. Dad calls if one, but it isn’t.

 

[uncdrew]

Have never really seen any 14yr old with a real rise ball. Dad calls if one, but it isn’t.

I've seen some 12U girls with them. It's rare, but impressive.

 

[Rick M]

…part of me fears, she will lose that Slurve that baffles hitters and gets easy outs while her MPH starts to hit right in the range hitters love lol.

DD is there now. 16U, cruises between 53-56. When she misses on the plate, those balls are OTF.

Her teammate, meanwhile, throws about 5 mph slower and still ties hitters up in knots.


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[Reaperjet]

DD is there now. 16U, cruises between 53-56. When she misses on the plate, those balls are OTF.

Her teammate, meanwhile, throws about 5 mph slower and still ties hitters up in knots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh the pain... LMAO

 

[Joel Rybacki]

Have never really seen any 14yr old with a real rise ball. Dad calls if one, but it isn’t.

Talk to college recruiters and most will tell you pitchers may be calling it a rise ball, but 9 times out of ten, it's just a fastball thrown high with some backspin for flare. Very few pitchers get much movement out of the pitch.