Pitchers

[uncdrew]

Being a number 1 on an awful team does nothing for development. Being #3 on a team with elite pitchers playing in elite tournaments and showcases helps build skills. Showcases are not about winning. What I see too much are kids (parents) who refuse to take that #3 spot for fear that they wont get innings. You many not get better by sitting but you certainly don't get better by facing weak opponents.

No one is advocating being #1 on an awful team.

 

[uncdrew]

There's a lot of middle ground between being on an awful team or an elite one too though. Nobody is making choices between #3 on Beverly Bandits or #1 on Bad News Bears. If I was an pitcher, working to get better, I'd much rather be the #2 on whatever team fits my general level (that will vary for everyone), and getting a lot of innings, than the #3 or #4 on a slightly better team, but getting far fewer innings.

Exactly.

Sitting and watching other, better pitchers with a glass of water in your hand isn't going to make you get better. This isn't osmosis.

 

[MightyMO]

I think we all agree that a pitcher needs innings. I just think being #3 on a good team that handles pitchers well may mean that you don't get the innings of #1 but you will still get quality innings.

Telling pitchers (and pitcher parents) that you should always find a team where you're the #1 leads to a ton of mediocre teams with mediocre pitchers getting beat up by the good teams. It also leads to the recruiting posts we all make fun of where coaches are looking for "one more pitcher" because that pitcher has been taught that they shouldn't join a team with 2 pitchers on staff.

 

[BT3100]

This^^^

 

[djcarter1966]

Yeah, balance is key. If you are a showcase team where every pitcher is the ace for their HS and at tournaments everyone gets two innings or you are playing 5GG and every pitcher get a game and a half and any innings they want if there is a coach scouting them thats different than #3 and get one pool game only and then never pitch again.

 

[uncdrew]

If you join a team that already has three pitchers and you're their #1...

 

[Agbracing]

There are some very good points made on this thread. At some point in time a pitcher has to play for a team were they get a lot of innings to learn how to be a pitcher. To learn how to handle diversity of being down, getting hit or can’t find the strike zone. They need to learn how to handle rain, homeruns, and fielding errors. In my opinion it is hard to get this type of development on high level teams trying to win big tournaments. Once a pitcher learns how to mentally handle the diversity of pitching it becomes more about quality innings against great batters then just facing a bunch of mediocre batters. So different pitchers have different needs and are always in different parts of their journey. I know my daughter on her new 12u team with 4 pitchers will not get as many innings to pitch as she could for some teams. But she will be facing some of the best batters in 12u when she does pitch. She has been on crappy teams in the past to just get innings. It sucked to watch her throw 15 strikeouts in a rec game and lose due to dropped third strike. It was terrible on her first travel teams that girls would watch the ball go between their legs or miss a pop fly and not make the easy outs. But I wouldn’t go back and change anything about her journey because of where it has gotten her. So my biggest advice in understand where in the development your DD is and try and get her on a team that matches what she needs.

 

[uncdrew]

There are some very good points made on this thread. At some point in time a pitcher has to play for a team were they get a lot of innings to learn how to be a pitcher. To learn how to handle diversity of being down, getting hit or can’t find the strike zone. They need to learn how to handle rain, homeruns, and fielding errors. In my opinion it is hard to get this type of development on high level teams trying to win big tournaments. Once a pitcher learns how to mentally handle the diversity of pitching it becomes more about quality innings against great batters then just facing a bunch of mediocre batters. So different pitchers have different needs and are always in different parts of their journey. I know my daughter on her new 12u team with 4 pitchers will not get as many innings to pitch as she could for some teams. But she will be facing some of the best batters in 12u when she does pitch. She has been on crappy teams in the past to just get innings. It sucked to watch her throw 15 strikeouts in a rec game and lose due to dropped third strike. It was terrible on her first travel teams that girls would watch the ball go between their legs or miss a pop fly and not make the easy outs. But I wouldn’t go back and change anything about her journey because of where it has gotten her. So my biggest advice in understand where in the development your DD is and try and get her on a team that matches what she needs.

Very well said and I think we all agree.

Those of us with young daughters who are starting their pitching journey need quantity. After a point (if they work hard and progress) they need quality.

My daughter has had her fair share of 4 or 5 out innings.

 

[BT3100]

There's a lot of middle ground between being on an awful team or an elite one too though. Nobody is making choices between #3 on Beverly Bandits or #1 on Bad News Bears. If I was an pitcher, working to get better, I'd much rather be the #2 on whatever team fits my general level (that will vary for everyone), and getting a lot of innings, than the #3 or #4 on a slightly better team, but getting far fewer innings.

There is a lot of middle but, like you most likely do too, I speak with a lot of pitchers parents who time after time choose a weaker team where their kid will face weaker competition but will be promised the number 1 spot instead of a team where they will face much better competition but may not get the most innings.
I can only share my experience where my DD has gone into just about every year as the #3 or #4 and ends the year as the #1. And that is not by any means a brag. If you saw the sheer work she needs to dedicate to get there your would agree it's unenviable as she's undersized for the competition we face.
But every kid is different, some may not thrive under the pressure to get better by being pushed.
And to the comment about needing to face batters to get better.. sure to some extent. But to get better as a pitcher much more time needs to be spent refining the craft. Building speed, hitting spots, spinning pitches.. all done when no one is around.
It's dirty hard work often done in the dark at times when the thought of success seems like a fairy tale.
To see a kid figure it out and become good is amazing. Life lessons that will stick with them forever are gained.

 

[uncdrew]

There is a lot of middle but, like you most likely do too, I speak with a lot of pitchers parents who time after time choose a weaker team where their kid will face weaker competition but will be promised the number 1 spot instead of a team where they will face much better competition but may not get the most innings.
I can only share my experience where my DD has gone into just about every year as the #3 or #4 and ends the year as the #1. And that is not by any means a brag. If you saw the sheer work she needs to dedicate to get there your would agree it's unenviable as she's undersized for the competition we face.
But every kid is different, some may not thrive under the pressure to get better by being pushed.
And to the comment about needing to face batters to get better.. sure to some extent. But to get better as a pitcher much more time needs to be spent refining the craft. Building speed, hitting spots, spinning pitches.. all done when no one is around.
It's dirty hard work often done in the dark at times when the thought of success seems like a fairy tale.
To see a kid figure it out and become good is amazing. Life lessons that will stick with them forever are gained.

I do agree that for every pitch to a live batter in a real game there are at least 10 at home with no one (but dad) watching.