Well Mr. Beanie, you must be new around here because you are apparently not familiar with Rule 3 of BGP which prohibits posting false or misleading information. I've been informed on here that no pitchers in the entire Commonwealth in Kentucky can throw in the 90's except for a pitcher from UK, Alex Meyer. You sure you weren't at a major league spring training game when you saw 95?

 

58Bulldogs you need to educate yourself. First of all people in the ninth region thread were talking about ninth region players not kids from around the state. Secondly, you have named six kids that throw 90 plus that is a very small percentage of high school pitchers in Ky. Also if I want to watch big time high school baseball I will go across the ohio river and watch teams like moeller.

Cooperstown, I agree with you that the hard throwers are in the minority, when you consider the total number of pitchers in the state. But not only are there a numbers of kids 85 or higher, some teams have mulitple pitchers that do.

Cooperstown, I agree with you that the hard throwers are in the minority, when you consider the total number of pitchers in the state. But not only are there a numbers of kids 85 or higher, some teams have mulitple pitchers that do.

 

Don't disagree at all. And it must be very nice to have multiple flame throwers on the same team. Happens up here in NKY on occasion, but not with a great deal of regularity.

Give me a kid who can change speeds, throw strikes while keeping the ball low, has a nickel curve and hits the corners time after time while understanding that there is a art to pitching and I will take that "pitcher" any day over your 90 mph "thrower"! You don't have to be a flame thrower to keep the other team off the bases, just a kid who understands how to pitch, who has control and isn't afraid to challenge the hitters with junk and makes the hitters pop up or ground out to his infielders!

Sorry, I thought you were another one from the 9th region thread, who thinks high school kids can't throw like this, one even said a NKY coach told him no one in KY throws that hard. As you know they do.

I think these doubters need to get out and see some big time high school baseball!!!

 

The title to this thread is a bit deceiving. I am curious if the NKY coach is thinking like me (or I like him). There are very few hard throwing Pitchers at the high school age. There are kids who can throw hard that take to the mound. It is one thing to throw in the 90's, it is another to know where it is going when you do. If my team was to face a hard thrower, we would take a lot of pitches to make sure he can throw strikes. If he can, UH-OH, it could be a long day.

 

As for that NKY coach needing to get out, I am pretty sure he has been around and seen enough to make an observation.

Give me a kid who can change speeds, throw strikes while keeping the ball low, has a nickel curve and hits the corners time after time while understanding that there is a art to pitching and I will take that "pitcher" any day over your 90 mph "thrower"! You don't have to be a flame thrower to keep the other team off the bases, just a kid who understands how to pitch, who has control and isn't afraid to challenge the hitters with junk and makes the hitters pop up or ground out to his infielders!

Those are all qualities of a good pitcher, and you are right the bottom line is do what ever you can to keep runs from scoring. The problem is with the people who come on here and say there is no one, or (only a couple) in the state of KY who can throw that hard. And then act like"we", who have seen it, don't know what we are talking about, go see St X or Lex Cath , Bowling Green , Bryan Station , Lawrence Co. play. Or if you want to see a real "freak", go see Woodford Co, when Soph. Clinton Hollon pitches.

Those are all qualities of a good pitcher, and you are right the bottom line is do what ever you can to keep runs from scoring. The problem is with the people who come on here and say there is no one, or (only a couple) in the state of KY who can throw that hard. And then act like"we", who have seen it, don't know what we are talking about, go see St X or Lex Cath , Bowling Green , Bryan Station , Lawrence Co. play. Or if you want to see a real "freak", go see Woodford Co, when Soph. Clinton Hollon pitches.

 

As a CovCath guy I have indeed been around the state and I have seen kids hit the 90mph mark but not consistently throughout the entire game. I have seen LexCath, St. X, Bryan Station and for that matter Franklin County (Thompson kid) throw and hit the 90mph mark, but give me that 79/80 mph kid who is a pitcher and not a thrower!

Give me a kid who can change speeds, throw strikes while keeping the ball low, has a nickel curve and hits the corners time after time while understanding that there is a art to pitching and I will take that "pitcher" any day over your 90 mph "thrower"! You don't have to be a flame thrower to keep the other team off the bases, just a kid who understands how to pitch, who has control and isn't afraid to challenge the hitters with junk and makes the hitters pop up or ground out to his infielders!

 

I agree completely. It is just icing on the cake if he can reach back and throw one by a batter once in awhile.

Oldguy, I will agree that none of these kids can consistently hit 90 over an entire game but not many MLB pitchers can ("MOST" really hard throwers are closers). But if they can give you 3 iinning of heat, wouldn't you take it?

If you follow CovCath to Louisville for the LIT, Bryan Station has 2 very good Jr pitchers. Bollmer has already ready committed to UL, And Combs, a lefty, is really special.

Trinty and Lex Christian are both down this year, But late in your season Lex Cath comes to town on a Sat. They have Martin, Arthur(both Preseason all state) and Carroll who will be pitching somewhere in small college next year (Rose-Holman , Trancy, etc.?) you will love this kid, doesn't throw as hard, but never throws a good strike, and has a killer changeup.

I hope you get to see some of these kids play.

Edited March 5, 201115 yr by REW2
needed to add

58Bulldogs you need to educate yourself. First of all people in the ninth region thread were talking about ninth region players not kids from around the state. Secondly, you have named six kids that throw 90 plus that is a very small percentage of high school pitchers in Ky. Also if I want to watch big time high school baseball I will go across the ohio river and watch teams like moeller.

 

Quote from Marley in the 9th Region thread: "Like I have said before very few player are throwing in the eighty. Two weeks ago at a showcase at Champions, and out fifty pitcher's only five or six were hitting in the eighty and three were from NKY, Shumate, Sexton and Cottingham."

Marley, before I posted anything in the 9th region thread you made the above post and expanded the discussion to pitchers outside of the 9th Region to pitchers you saw at a Champions Showcase. So, my friend, it was YOU, not I, that began talking about pitchers outside the 9th Region. I took simply took issue with your statement that "very few players are throwing in the eighty(sic)."

As to having to go across the river to watch "big time high school baseball" to watch teams like Moeller, I understand your point. Louisville X will travel through the entire 9th Region to play Moeller in early April.

Give me a kid who can change speeds, throw strikes while keeping the ball low, has a nickel curve and hits the corners time after time while understanding that there is a art to pitching and I will take that "pitcher" any day over your 90 mph "thrower"! You don't have to be a flame thrower to keep the other team off the bases, just a kid who understands how to pitch, who has control and isn't afraid to challenge the hitters with junk and makes the hitters pop up or ground out to his infielders!

 

Good points...there have been many tough crafty pitchers that don't throw hard who have had great high school careers. Perhaps we should start a thread about the pitchers with best command or best off speed. As to hard throwers, the players mentioned on here (Spalding, Shepherd, Hollon, etc.) are not just hard throwers. They know how to pitch and know where the ball is going when it leaves their hand. I"ll take the kid throwing 90 on the corners over the kid throwing 79 or 80 on corners.

Speed is a good thing. I believe most varsity players are going to hit the 90 MPH fastball if you don't have some decent off speed to go with it. IMO, pitching and real estate, location, location, location. I have to believe there have been more great MLB pitchers throwing in the mid to upper eighties than those throwing 90+. There is a great difference between throwing and pitching. Not that that is a secret to anyone. As Theoldguy stated, a good pitcher is much better, than a 90+ thrower anytime. I will add most, if not all of the above mentioned players do a good job.

Oldguy, I will agree that none of these kids can consistently hit 90 over an entire game but not many MLB pitchers can ("MOST" really hard throwers are closers). But if they can give you 3 iinning of heat, wouldn't you take it?

If you follow CovCath to Louisville for the LIT, Bryan Station has 2 very good Jr pitchers. Bollmer has already ready committed to UL, And Combs, a lefty, is really special.

Trinty and Lex Christian are both down this year, But late in your season Lex Cath comes to town on a Sat. They have Martin, Arthur(both Preseason all state) and Carroll who will be pitching somewhere in small college next year (Rose-Holman , Trancy, etc.?) you will love this kid, doesn't throw as hard, but never throws a good strike, and has a killer changeup.

I hope you get to see some of these kids play.

 

Oh I make it to a few CovCath baseball games a year!

There is no question there are kids out there that throw this hard, but I'm sure you'll admit they are by far the exception and not the norm. 95 mph is unreal for a high school pitcher. You won't find but a small handful of kids across the entire country that have that velocity. 90 is pretty rare at the high school level.

 

I believe what some people are saying - and I am in this category myself - is that the number of pitchers alleged to throw 80 mph is vastly overstated by BGP posters/dads/fans. Are there 80 mph pitchers out there? Sure. Absolutely. A fair number. But not nearly as many as are proclaimed to throw that hard. 80 mph is a darn good high school fastball (90 mph is outstanding; 95 mph is ridiculous hard for a 17-18 year old), but it seems to be the benchmark for if a kid throws "hard." If you throw 79 mph, you are a "puff baller". If you throw 80 mph, you are a "flame thrower". Therefore, everyone wants to be included into this 80 mph category. I had a dad one time tell me his sophomore son was throwing upper 80's and was hoping he'd hit 90 by the end of the year. When I saw him pitch, I would guess he was in the low-70's at best. (I own a professional radar gun, use it a fair amount, and have been around baseball a long time - not an expert, but I'm usually pretty close to my mph guesses). I just don't think a lot of people really know what an 80 mph fastball looks like.

 

Some comments about this post, and the thread in general:

 

- 85 mph is a very good velocity for a high school pitcher. 90 mph is exceptional. 95 is elite/extremely rare.

 

- I agree that velocities are extremely overstated by family/dads/friends. That’s why I have tried to quote third party sources for the velocities that I have listed. Colleges, too, would rather have a velocity by an objective third party than a velocity quoted by a Dad alone.

 

- I would also advise trying to look at the bigger baseball world and to be objective about where Kentucky, and also Northern Kentucky, fits in in the bigger baseball world. The posts that I made in the 9th region thread were trying to help bring objective information to the discussion.

 

- Just because someone throws 90 doesn’t meant they can’t pitch.

Give me a kid who can change speeds, throw strikes while keeping the ball low, has a nickel curve and hits the corners time after time while understanding that there is a art to pitching and I will take that "pitcher" any day over your 90 mph "thrower"! You don't have to be a flame thrower to keep the other team off the bases, just a kid who understands how to pitch, who has control and isn't afraid to challenge the hitters with junk and makes the hitters pop up or ground out to his infielders!

 

I think that it is worth noting that if a pitcher growing up is throwing about 7 or 8 mph faster than other players around him and can throw strikes, that player can often have very successful outcomes without learning a lot about pitching. Our society supports this, too, to some degree. Look at the celebration of a Little League World Series Championship when the mound is about 46 feet from home plate. If the pitcher is throwing 76 mph from 46 feet, it translates to about 100 mph related to reaction times. That player that is throwing harder would have to play up in age group to face more mature batters or play on a national level to face batters that hit that velocity to really to have to learn how to have complimentary pitches. At the same time, the high school pitcher that tops out in the low 80’s, especially a right hander, is going to have a rough time playing Division I baseball. That pitcher, if he is throwing more "average" velocities, would have to learn other pitches, how to locate, how to make the ball move, etc., to be successful.

 

By the way, another point worth mentioning is that if a team has pitchers that are throwing at velocities quite above the norm, it can be hard to find a catcher to catch them as well. The catcher would not have the experience if he has been catching pitchers that are throwing “average” velocities. A 93-95 mph fastball comes to the plate pretty quickly.