While watching the AAA Memphis Redbirds last night (they won in 19 innings) I figured out ( I think correctly) not including my son, 16 former CU teammates are playing pro ball, that's pretty amazing. Two are ML players. Many in AA or above. Most were recruited by Kevin O'Sullivan (Florida Gators Head Coach). There have been other teammates, but they have either been released or moved on. One is a college coach, and another the baseball trainer at UT. Pretty talented group of players. Most of them had no pro interest before college or went undrafted. Things can change in a few years. And for what it's worth, probably the most successful pitcher in the program could never get past low A. That just goes to show that successful college players don't always make successful pro pitchers.
Son's team is 0-2 but have not gone without a fight, so I am hoping for a win soon. The Texas League is pretty tough, parks are hitters park, huge. The hitters are now patient at this point, they don't swing away at just anything. According to what my player says, for most pitchers if they can make it past that league to AAA they are almost there. That's encouraging.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"That just goes to show that successful college players don't always make successful pro pitchers"
ReplyDeleteYou know, with all we're hearing also about Andrew Miller and a few other top college pitchers struggling in MiLB ball you can't help but wonder.......Why is that?
Are the pitching coaches of these teams going in trying to change things that don't need fixin?
Are these young pitchers trying TOO hard?
Do some have injuries that they're trying to play "with" with fear of losing their place?
I would "guess" to say that the analogy of how every hitter in the MiLB league and up is probably equal to all of the #3/4 hitter in D1 ball. They can ALL rake with a bat! But does this stiff of competition all of a sudden make these guys horrible? I have a hard time believing it.
Do some of these MiLB pitching coaches have such egos that make them tinker with good college pitchers mechanics? I would think that the good pitching coaches have the philosophy "if it ain't broken, don't fix it"...shrugs.
"That just goes to show that successful college players don't always make successful pro pitchers"
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder why?
What happens at the MiLB that maybe perpetuates some pitchers to falter after having stellar college careers...shrugs
Ken
First,pitching to wood is quite different than pitching to metal. So is hitting with wood.
ReplyDeleteEverything changes at the pro level.
I heard that they changed Miller's delivery. He also threw high 90's in college, they tone that down a bit to clean up mechanics. He was struggling when they sent him up so obviously they needed to make changes.
There are adjustments to make. The key is making those adjustments.
They didn't do much changing to son's mechanics, but they did change some things, and you have to work on those things all of the time. When the head pitching guy tells you that he wants you to work on something, you better work on it. If you have been used to doing something one way, it takes a while to adjust. How you adjust determines yor movement, that's about it.
I think it's more mental than anything else. You feel comfortable and have been successful with one thing then you have to change.
DK basically has only one pitching coach since coming to proball, and he is a 23 veteran of the game, so as son says, "you known darn well I am going to listen to everything he says". Plus, his organization very much likes the pitching mechanics to be more of the classic pitchers, which he has. A lot of it is mental instruction too.
Tim Lincecum is probably the exception.
I don't mean to prolong this post, but I HAD to respond to your last sentence Barb.
ReplyDeleteI've watched many of the crazy pitchers over the years since I was a little boy. To name a few:
Luis Tiant
Mark "the bird" Fydrych
Dontrelle Willis
Trevor Hoffman (HIGH leg kick!)
Paul Byrd (arm swing!)
Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (ha ha!)
But how Lincecum throws is mind boggling! And he does it without any injury whatsoever!