Tiny Pitchers Get No Love

[RADcatchers]

My DD is 5'2" 95 lbs. Other pitcher on team is around 5'5" 125lbs. Age division is 14u.

imo that is not a big size difference. Perhaps one being a year or two older would be the bigger difference.


Quick Google search to add for size discussion




What grades are the middle school. Starts with 12-year-old?

 

[FlSoftball]

My now 16u DD was pretty small during 14u- she always threw hard but was never the tallest- had to fight for what she got and really learned to spin the ball a lot! Well near the end of 14u growth spurt came along with a huge burst of speed and now one thing she gets complemented on from coaches is you throw really hard and the ball still moves a lot. She is not the tallest now but still has great spin and speed-. I think that is due to working so hard on spins when she was younger then the speed came with growth and more strength


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vaydoe]

My now 16u DD was pretty small during 14u- she always threw hard but was never the tallest- had to fight for what she got and really learned to spin the ball a lot! Well near the end of 14u growth spurt came along with a huge burst of speed and now one thing she gets complemented on from coaches is you throw really hard and the ball still moves a lot. She is not the tallest now but still has great spin and speed-. I think that is due to working so hard on spins when she was younger then the speed came with growth and more strength


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's awesome. We are hoping to see a similar growth spurt for our DD. The majority of my family is tall so we think she is just going to be a late bloomer.

 

[DropcityUSA]

Tiny is relative to age and I didn't want to limit the post to only my daughter but all parents that may have smaller players for their age division. My DD is 5'2" 95 lbs. Other pitcher on team is around 5'5" 125lbs. Age division is 14u.

They are both small compared to what I saw at PGF Nationals 14u Premier.

 

[Orange Socks]

I see the value in this statement. Honestly, it doesn't even bother me if my DD is sitting out because the other pitchers truly are better on the team (that has been the case before ).The frustration is when a "Big" pitcher gets way more mound time but just absolutely tanks game after game costing the team wins. Someone else mentioned a quote along the lines of "small players have to prove their good while big players have to prove they aren't". That's the part I hate.

You said it was the first game right? Lots of games to play. Coach is still learning what he has as far as players and their strengths. Also, sounds like your DD got the majority of the innings. Does it matter if she started? How many innings or what percentage do you believe your DD should get in a game? While your DD is sitting, do you expect her to be on the field at another position? Is she a PO? What about the pitcher who started? What did she do the other 4 innings? Your team lost, what did the hitting look like?

Perhaps the coach wanted to see what how the starting pitcher handled herself? Can't judge a pitcher by the first game only. Let it play out and let the coaches coach. We talkin' 'bout Middle school.

 

[JayW]

regardless of their size they both have to prove their value.

From your title it's peculiar that you haven't mentioned your daughter's size. Not trying to be snarky, pardon the blunt pointing that out, but it's something I've noticed has been left out.

How many other players on the team are your same daughter's size or smaller?

Taller or shorter, I'm generally going with the taller.

Faster or slower, I'm generally going with the faster.

Stronger or less strong, I'm generally going with the stronger.

Smarter or less smart, I'm generally going with smarter.

Ballplayers still have to perform, but it would make no sense not to value the measurables.

Just because a player has strong measurables doesn't mean that they have an offsetting weakness which makes a player with lesser measurables better.

 

[CoachCeetar]

Taller or shorter, I'm generally going with the taller.

Ballplayers still have to perform, but it would make no sense not to value the measurables.

Just because a player has strong measurables doesn't mean that they have an offsetting weakness which makes a player with lesser measurables better.

This isn't basketball, or getting things off a high shelfball.

What data do you have that prioritizes the taller measurement in softball? Given two pitchers exactly the same except for 5" in height, what assumptions are you making to choose one over the other, and are you sure those assumptions A. correct, B. meaningful?

What if they both measure their fastball at 65mph? Still taking the taller pitcher? why?


Found this interesting article on Drivelinebaseball. Because the height/pitcher bias exists in baseball too.

 

[JayW]

This isn't basketball, or getting things off a high shelfball.

What data do you have that prioritizes the taller measurement in softball? Given two pitchers exactly the same except for 5" in height, what assumptions are you making to choose one over the other, and are you sure those assumptions A. correct, B. meaningful?

What if they both measure their fastball at 65mph? Still taking the taller pitcher? why?


Found this interesting article on Drivelinebaseball. Because the height/pitcher bias exists in baseball too.

Read my whole statement. Thank you.

 

[DropcityUSA]

There was a big pitcher (like 6ft, 200lb) clocked between 63-67mph at 14u PGF national that was getting a lot of interest from a particular P4 school at one game. I think she got rocked all 4 games she pitched in. My bet is she will be highly recruited.

 

[RADcatchers]

5'2" 95 lbs.

5'5" 125lbs.

With the difference being
3" & 30lbs
i'm going with whichever is more experienced and trains correctly more often will probably have the edge over the other