My daughter is a pitcher and shortstop for the Beverly Bandits. I would say she is the #2 pitcher on her team. She plays shortstop when she is not pitching. I would consider my daughter to be a very good athlete. She is pretty fast, 2.8 to first base but not the fastest girl on the team. She has a very good vertical, and broad jump, and a great arm. She is currently 14 years old.
It is getting extremely difficult to find time to work on all the different skills that she needs to work on. Especially during the school year. I work 50-60 hours per week, so it is not just difficult on her. There is only so much time in a day. Sure, she has a pitching coach that she goes to about 3 times per month and I am the bucket dad. I am also the person that has always trained her for hitting and all the defensive skills that a shortstop needs. I also have a 13 old son that I work with.
I do believe she could play both shortstop and pitcher all the way through 18u on most A level teams but playing both those positions with the Beverly Bandits through 18u will be very difficult. At some point she will probably have to pick one position or the other. As of right now, she would rather play shortstop if she had to pick.
In general, I would say pitchers are less athletic than position players. There certainly seems to be a lot of pitchers that have a very difficult time throwing overhand. That is certainly not always the case!
It is getting extremely difficult to find time to work on all the different skills that she needs to work on. Especially during the school year. I work 50-60 hours per week, so it is not just difficult on her. There is only so much time in a day. Sure, she has a pitching coach that she goes to about 3 times per month and I am the bucket dad. I am also the person that has always trained her for hitting and all the defensive skills that a shortstop needs. I also have a 13 old son that I work with.
I do believe she could play both shortstop and pitcher all the way through 18u on most A level teams but playing both those positions with the Beverly Bandits through 18u will be very difficult. At some point she will probably have to pick one position or the other. As of right now, she would rather play shortstop if she had to pick.
In general, I would say pitchers are less athletic than position players. There certainly seems to be a lot of pitchers that have a very difficult time throwing overhand. That is certainly not always the case!