~How ATHLETIC is your PITCHER?

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Jul 16, 2013
4,659
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Pennsylvania
My daughter has always been above average athletically, but there are many attributes involved in athleticism. She has never been a fast runner... She has a surprisingly quick first step (instincts), is smart on the field, and is extremely strong.

Two short stories...

At a travel ball tryout the players were asked to perform several activities. During the base running segment, the head coach / evaluator made the comment (jokingly) "you run like a pitcher". She laughed. His team had good pitching, but none of them were fast runners.

At a tournament a few weeks later, DD hit a double. On the first pitch of the next at bat she stole third without receiving a signal. The coach was watching home plate and was surprised when he turned and saw DD standing there. He asked what happened. She said 3B was playing in and SS wasn't paying attention. I figured I would take the base since they didn't care. His response was "nice job". She didn't have the speed to steal third on a regular basis but was smart enough to recognize when the defense was sleeping.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
At a travel ball tryout the players were asked to perform several activities. During the base running segment, the head coach / evaluator made the comment (jokingly) "you run like a pitcher". She laughed. His team had good pitching, but none of them were fast runners.
'you run like a pitcher'
( even though coach may have been joking, truth in the humor?)
To even say that comment infers a difference between positional performance.

Does that then mean there are some coaches that would never consider a pitcher to be able to perform like other players on the field?
 
Sep 19, 2018
928
93
There are so many different types of 'Athleticism". It takes a special athlete to throw a ball 43 feet (ok 37 or so) and consistently hit within 2-4 inches of a spot.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
pitcher fielding position acceptably will never equal elite SS or 2B.

We very rarely look at pitcher only players.
18u!
Excellent
so you look for pitchers who are talented pitchers as well talented defensive players.

Can you please elaborate on why that is your strategy. Vs. picking up a pitcher only.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Interesting, the usual way that 'athleticism' is measured...
don’t be obtuse Rad 😂

Think NFL combine..and no I am not saying those types of skills are necessary in softball but if you ask 100 people who was a better athlete, Greg Maddux or Bo Jackson, 99 are going to say Bo Jackson even though Maddux won like 200 Gold Gloves..
 
Last edited:

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
but if you ask 100 people who was a better athlete, Greg Maddux or Bo Jackson, 99 are going to say Bo Jackson even though Maddux won like 200 Gold Gloves..
Atleast 1% would reply who? 🤣
 
Jun 20, 2015
848
93
18u!
Excellent
so you look for pitchers who are talented pitchers as well talented defensive players.

Can you please elaborate on why that is your strategy. Vs. picking up a pitcher only.
We want our pitchers to be versatile and play other positions. No 1 trick ponies. If we had a 20 person roster, sure a couple pitcher only players is fine. But not with 14-15 on roster,
 
May 13, 2021
643
93
Pitchers are pitchers because they can throw a ball very fast and very accurate. That skill does not require you to be to the fastest runner the highest jumper etc etc the metrics normally used to measure athleticism, Softball or baseball. This will also be true for some hitters, they will make teams because they can hit, not because they can run fast, simply because they have great hand eye coordination and are strong which allows them to hit a ball a long way very often. The problem with all of this is the metric used for what athletic is changes depending on what skill is required to complete the task.
 
Jul 19, 2021
630
93
Imagine that, could be an excellent pitcher but chose not to be an asset as a defensive player in the middle of the field...🤷‍♀️

Hmmm🤔
There are only so many hours in the day RAD and most of these girls don't want their lives consumed with one thing, ie... softball. A good pitcher is going to spend at least 2 hours per day practicing. That includes travel to and from the facility and the warm up/cool down periods. Adding additional time to that is asking a lot of a teenager who also needs to study and likes to spend time with friends like everyone else is doing.
 

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