Should pitchers bat?

[Crystol Owens Brown]

My husband and I always disagree when it comes to my daughter working on batting. He says that dd should not practice batting on her own time just pitching. He says her batting is just fine and besides, as a pitcher, she is not expected to be able to bat. They don't do it in professional baseball. Me, I believe she should practice. What do you think about pitchers batting on their own time?

 

[riseball]

IIRC your daughter is playing JV in HS. She is way too young to put her eggs in one basket. She definitely needs to hit and become damn good at it. My DD did not make that decision until the summer prior to going to college. Her ability to contribute simply did not warrant the risk of an injury.

 

[quincy]

What riseball said.

I find that we do not have near enough time to work on everything we would like to, a lot does with what she does not do enough of in practice. Usually that is pitching so she works on pitching. If she had more time we would spend more time of hitting but there never seems to be enough time in season.

 

[Sparky Guy]

It all comes down to individual ability. If the player can hit then she'll hit not matter the position played unless there are better hitters on the team. There are several pitchers who hit for themselves. Finch was actually a good hitter. But her biggest value to the team was in the circle and she always had tons of good hitters around her.

My DD rarely hit. I think she had 6 official AB's in college. But she was not a good hitter and her foot speed was usually the slowest on the team. I knew that from early on. So we worked on her strengths, pitching and fielding her position.

 

[33pitchfast]

How many things can you really be great at, and get school work done. Sure there are some. I would prefer that my daughter NEVER had to pick up a bat! Many times we get so caught up in getting kids to do every thing that what winds up happining is....mediocraty at best.

 

[Crystol Owens Brown]

I think her batting mechanics is pretty solid but could be better. DD is not home run hitter but a solid contact hitter that led her travel ball team last year in RBI's. She is a switch hitter but has not hit left side in a game because the coaches said they need her solid hitting to get on base. Her problem at this moment is hitting the slower pitchers at the JV level. She has a tendency of slowing her bat speed instead of waiting.
Yes, I do agree with 33pitchfast, in between pitching and homework, she has no time for much else. Her dad and I always push grades first, softball second. Without good grades, there will be no college ball.

 

[riseball]

Never really bought into the not enough time mindset. It is all about priorities. Like anything else if it is truly important you make time. If they cannot balance school and softball in HS, they have no future in college softball.

 

[JAD]

Pitchers who cannot bat become "pitch and sit" players, and if you are on a team with 4 pitchers, that translates into @ 25% pitching and 75% sitting. Unless your DD is a STUD pitcher I would encourage her to continue to work on her hitting as much as she can. My DD does not like to sit, so she works on her hitting and playing 1B to maximize her playing time. It does not always work out that way during a tournament weekend, but she will always hit in HS, so she continues to work hard.

 

[marriard]

Yes. Hit away.

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[nanotech14]

Be great at both, the no time for both thing is used to much. There is always time. Your husband is wrong.