Pitching speed vs age

[Towny9]

Somehow Greg Maddox managed to pitch very successfully throwing in the mid 80's

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This made me laugh because every year I would reach out to dads about their sons with a plan to improve their velocity on the mound. Every year at least one dad would say “but Greg Maddux…” and I always had the same reply “your son is not Greg Maddux so let’s see if we can’t get that arm speed up a bit”.

 

[_MIA_]

This made me laugh because every year I would reach out to dads about their sons with a plan to improve their velocity on the mound. Every year at least one dad would say “but Greg Maddux…” and I always had the same reply “your son is not Greg Maddux so let’s see if we can’t get that arm speed up a bit”.

Interestingly enough Maddux threw fairly hard (for that time) when he first came up.

 

[Towny9]

Interestingly enough Maddux threw fairly hard (for that time) when he first came up.

When he was with the Cubs he threw harder for sure. He also benefitted from a little bit bigger strike zone when he was with the Braves. He has one of my favorite crazy baseball stats.

Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3-0 count. 177 of those were intentional walks.

 

[_MIA_]

When he was with the Cubs he threw harder for sure. He also benefitted from a little bit bigger strike zone when he was with the Braves. He has one of my favorite crazy baseball stats.

Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3-0 count. 177 of those were intentional walks.

I saw that a few months back..nuts.

 

[jfitch12]

This made me laugh because every year I would reach out to dads about their sons with a plan to improve their velocity on the mound. Every year at least one dad would say “but Greg Maddux…” and I always had the same reply “your son is not Greg Maddux so let’s see if we can’t get that arm speed up a bit”.

I love that response. I think most dads (myself included) have a real tender spot for Maddux because of their age and how he pitched, and that leads to a lot of selective memory. As others have alluded to, the reality is that Maddux only threw in the "mid 80s" for about the last three or four years of his career. When he broke into MLB in 1986, he threw 92-93, and even in 2000 when his career was towards the end of its peak, he still was a 90 mph pitcher. In 2002, the average MLB fastball was around 88-89, so for the bulk of his career, including the peak years, Maddux was at least 2-5 mph over the league average, making him the the equivalent of 95-98 mph pitcher using today's numbers (where the league average is 93+).

Rather than Maddux, the better example is maybe Osterman herself--or look at high-level D1 college players today like Brooke Yanez (61-63 mph) or maybe an Erin Edmoundson (right around 60 mph), among others.

 

[Shiloh]

I totally agree with you on this statement except 95 is the new 90.

average MLB fastball last year was 94.

Yep

 

[HunterMO]

This prevailing theme on the board that if you are good at a young age you are screwed is silly..I guess I better stop working with my 6YO DS and 11 YO DD...better not get too good

I’ve seen a lot of this in my short time on DFP. While some of it may be true…..I get the feeling some choose to think this way because their DD isn’t as good at that same moment in time. Maybe not….just seems that way sometimes.

No one is going to mistake my DD (13yo) for a future D1 pitcher. While having touched 50mph a couple times she only cruises at 45-48. She’s 5’ 2” and might see 5’ 5” if she’s lucky. We’ve concentrated on ball movement and control while pushing her to work faster. Will she ever see 60 by the time she’s a 2nd year 14u? That’s one of her goals. But who knows. If she’s low/mid 50’s and creating strikes and outs because of her movement and control….then that’s fine with me.

 

[_MIA_]

I’ve seen a lot of this in my short time on DFP. While some of it may be true…..I get the feeling some choose to think this way because their DD isn’t as good at that same moment in time. Maybe not….just seems that way sometimes.

No one is going to mistake my DD (13yo) for a future D1 pitcher. While having touched 50mph a couple times she only cruises at 45-48. She’s 5’ 2” and might see 5’ 5” if she’s lucky. We’ve concentrated on ball movement and control while pushing her to work faster. Will she ever see 60 by the time she’s a 2nd year 14u? That’s one of her goals. But who knows. If she’s low/mid 50’s and creating strikes and outs because of her movement and control….then that’s fine with me.

Yeah for every kid who gets complacent there are 2 who are motivated by the success. Either way, comparing your kid (or her doing that) doesn't do anybody any good..whether you are the best kid in the country or the worst...

 

[texasck1]

This prevailing theme on the board that if you are good at a young age you are screwed is silly..I guess I better stop working with my 6YO DS and 11 YO DD...better not get too good

IMO, that is not what was said or meant. At least that is not how I read it. The way I have read those statements in the past is that everyone develops at different times. Because of that, there will be a point where things will begin to level out. I have never seen it stated as an absolute as you are implying.

 

[_MIA_]

IMO, that is not what was said or meant. At least that is not how I read it. The way I have read those statements in the past is that everyone develops at different times. Because of that, there will be a point where things will begin to level out. I have never seen it stated as an absolute as you are implying.

My general belief, which is not founded on anything more than conjecture: on average, if a girl is throwing 60s in 9th grade, she will get a D1 offer. She may never become a good pitcher with that much speed so early, but she sure does look good. If a girl does not get speed until later, then she has a better chance to be a good pitcher because she had to work more at a younger age to be successful, but she may not get as many D1 looks (my daughter falls into this second category) Who knows with the new recruiting rules if things will change now. I think the new rules will help out with that - and the 2022s will be the first real class to benefit from that.

That theme is repeated over and over on here..