Pitcher's Stats

[Catscratch]

Just curious, during a typical ASA 12U game, what is a respectable Strike/Walk ratio?
In six innings what is the average amount of strikes thown and walks given?

Thanks,

 

[Brittany'sDad]

Hi Catscratch,
I guess it would depend on the level of play you’re talking. A “c” level pitcher may at times throw more balls than strikes, but since she is “developing” the coach, the team, and the parents endure through it. An “a” level pitcher would have far less. My daughter as a 16u pitcher tries to abide the “no more than three a game and never two in a row” rule. However, just as major leaguer’s struggle at times she does exceed that number once in a while. Her greatest pleasure is to go a whole game without walking anyone and that happens more often than exceeding the rule.
Mike

 

[Catscratch]

How many strikouts is expected at a 12 yo "A" level game?

 

[fastpitch5]

i dont think there is an easy answer to this. a lower caliber pitcher will probably walk more against a better batting team. that same pitcher might strike out more batters than she walks the next game b/c that team is a lesser batting team and maybe swings at everything. it is also possible she gets 21 put-outs at first all on first pitches (not likely, i know).

i prefer to simply make observations on what i see, rather than what the blue is calling. if my pitcher is throwing high and out of the zone all night, but the opponents are swinging at it, i'm grateful for the strike-out, but i also realize they weren't necessarily good pitches. doesn't have to be perfect, just get the job done.

in an evenly matched game, we might see a 60-40 ratio of strikes to balls. a ball for my #1 and #2 pitchers is probably (typically) a near miss, while a ball for my #3 and #4 pitcher can be anywhere - up to and including the next county over!

 

[SoCalDad]

How many strikouts is expected at a 12 yo "A" level game?

My DD was averaging 1.4 K per inning at A travel ball. In A travel we played an average 6 innings a game and that works out to about 8 K a game. In a typical game she would face about 22 batters so she struck out about 1/3 of the batters faced. Based upon the stats I kept that was about average for the teams we played. We did face a couple of elite A pitchers and there ratio was much higher. Both were about 2.5 K per inning or 15 K per game out of about 19 faced or 80% struck out.

My DD is now playing rec ball and for the first 4 games she was averaging 2.8 K per inning over an average of 2 innings pitched. Now that the batters have gotten second looks her average is about 2.4 K per inning over an average of 2 innings.

Bottom line is my analysis of my DD indicates a typical 12U A pitcher has about the same stats in rec ball as an elite A level pitcher.

 

[Coach JV]

My DD is 12 playing 'A' for the 1st time. Her last game out, she walked one
in 6 innings had 12 k's. This is above average for her but came against a
team that was having a problem scoring last week. She rarely walks more
than one an inning and has an era of 0.73 per 6 innings. This number will
go up when we start playing in bigger tournaments next month. So far I
am more than pleased! her last rec ball game, she walked one in 6 innings and
allowed no other baserunners. The rec coaches hate it when she pitches, my #2
was hurt and #3 had a dance recital

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

fastpitch5 is correct: There is no easy answer to your question. Some pitchers are strikeout pitchers who are expected to strike out more than 1 batter per inning and some are groundout/flyout pitchers who are expected to get the ball in play with no long hits.

I have been tracking DD's stats since the fall of 2008 when she moved from rec. (little league) to travel. She was 12 when I first started tracking.
Fall 2008 - 12U(NSA B) - 37% batters struck out - 21% walked - 9% got hits
Spring 2009 - 14U(NSA A and B) - 31% batters struck out - 13% walked - 12% got hits
Fall 2009 - 16U(ASA A) - 26% batters struck out - 4% walked - 12% got hits

As the batters are catching up to her speed, her movement is improving causing "hit" ball to be on the ground or pop-ups. IMO, the statistic that should be paid attention to is batting average against. A good pitcher at any level will have a batting average against her near or below .150

The point here is that it depends on the level of batter your pitcher is competing at.

 

[sluggers]

The point here is that it depends on the level of batter your pitcher is competing at.

The point is that stats on a bunch of 12YOA pitchers is pointless.

9% got hits

Huh? I suspect that if the fielders' daddies kept the stat book, the percentage of hits would increase.

And, of course, we haven't even discussed the quality of the teams faced.

 

[Hillhouse]

Strike outs? Strikeouts? (trying to do my Jim Mora "Playoffs" voice.. Playoffs???) ha ha. Ummmm, worry about 21 OUTS not strike outs. Walks is a problem, for sure but you may need to take rose colored glasses off and figure out what is a legitimate walk and what is not. Keeping in mind that at the lower levels of play, is often the lowest level of umpire. So, sometimes 5 walks in a game is not legitimately 5 walks and drastic changes do not need to be made. If she's throwing the ball over the backstop and rolling them, then that's legit. Sluggers is right (did I just say that???? ha ha) counting strikeouts will have a lot to do with the competition at younger ages.

Bill

 

[Dave D]

I agree with Bill on the Ks vs. outs, and would bring the most important factor "to the plate"--tournament umpiring. DD threw last weekend to 5 different umpires, each with a different idea of what constituted a strike. DD throws hard enough and with enough movement/speed changes that she will often have girls just stand and look at three or four pitches in a row. Catcher sets up on corners, pitch goes straight into glove--"Ball." On umpire actually said that she was really moving the ball well, but since it was so early in the spring, he wanted to make her get the ball straight over the plate to give batters a chance. Instead of going for called strike three, we threw a bunch of drops and induced grounders all day. When we got an umpire who would call the pitch on the corner, Ks went up dramatically. I just tell her to get people out doing whatever it takes. We track strikeouts, but we're a lot more concerned about quality hits against, walks, and runs against.