I’m coaching Majors this season and of the 11 kids on our team, 6 have pitched in multiple games already!
All 6 of those kids (5 of whom are 12 years old) throw a curveball/slider, in addition to their fastball, and a couple of them have a changeup as a 3rd pitch.
Age 11 or 12 is generally the right age to start developing secondary pitches, because by that age most kids who like pitching and are getting time on the mound are able to throw their fastball for strikes fairly consistently.
At the Minor and Intermediate levels, 99% of kids should be throwing only fastballs until they get comfortable enough with their mechanics and arm action to be at 50%+ strikes in a game with that pitch.
Attempting off-speed pitches before age 11 is generally counterproductive from a developmental standpoint; even though I will admit that even a really bad 9-year-old curve can be effective against young hitters, if the only goal is winning, breaking balls at younger ages is not making anyone better at baseball.
What I’ve noticed from our pitchers in Majors who now can throw multiple pitches is that they are relying too much on their curveball and end up not challenging hitters with their fastball.
They are throwing 0-0 curveballs to hitters who have proven to be late on fastballs. They are throwing 2-0 curveballs to Intermediate call-up players who would struggle against higher velocity. They’re either trying to get too tricky when it’s not necessary or they’re pitching scared, meaning they are worried about giving up hits against their fastball.
Throwing a good curveball in the right situation is fun, is a good idea to mix in developmentally, and can be effective…but it’s not necessary most of the time in Little League.
Here’s why (and hitters, plug your ears): HITTING IS REALLY HARD AND THE PITCHER ALWAYS HAS THE ADVANTAGE.
This is true at all levels of the game.
I pitched against multiple 1st round drafts picks in pro ball. And even as a 42nd round pick with far from overpower stuff, every time I faced off against someone with a much higher baseball ceiling that I had, I was still far more likely to get him out than not. That’s just how the statistics work in baseball.
And in Little League, pitchers aren’t facing 1st round picks who will likely end up in the Big Leagues, they are facing Little League hitters and should attack them with their best and most consistent pitch. For almost every pitcher in Little League, that’s going to be their fastball.
Why focus on attacking hitters rather than pitching around them? Because hitting a baseball is extremely difficult and even when the ball is put in play, there are 9 guys on the field trying to make an out.
Don’t believe how hard hitting a baseball is?
The next time you go to a Dodgers or Angels game, get there in time to watch batting practice and watch how often the best hitters on the planet pop-up or foul off a meatball pitch, thrown with the explicit purpose of letting them crush it, straight into the batting cage netting.
MLB teams average about 8 hits per game…that’s less than 1 an inning!
Don’t believe how often batted balls are outs?
There are only .5 errors per game in the big leagues.
As players get older, the defense starts to make more and more plays.
What can pitchers learn from these facts?
- Hitting is difficult
- Your defense is your friend
- There’s no reason to be afraid of any hitter!
So, let’s go after hitters with our best pitch and really challenge them to beat us!
This doesn’t mean that off-speed pitches have no value; from a developmental standpoint 11 and 12 year olds should start throwing their curveballs and changeups in a game in order to learn.
But falling in love with those pitches to the point where a kid on the mound forget that he has the advantage can cause them to “pitch scared.”
My team did an intersquad game during our first practice slot after Spring Break.
One of our 12 year old pitchers, when facing our best hitter (who might the best Little League hitter on the Hill), walked him on 4 straight pitches and not one pitch was even close to the strike zone. He was pitching completely afraid of giving up a hit.
Before their second match-up on the day, I told my pitcher, “Yes, you’re facing a great hitter, but he’s still just a Little Leaguer, not Shohei Ohtani!”
He took my message to heart, started pumping his fastball in the strike zone and got the best hitter in PV to hit a groundball to 2nd.
This concept of “playing scared” goes deeper than just having a bulldog mentality on the mound; too often these days young athletes play full of fear.
They are…
Scared of making a mistake.
Scared of getting yelled at.
Scared of letting their parents, coaches, or teammates down.
That fear, which usually is a result of a playing environment that is putting too much pressure on kids to be perfect, is something we can fix.
We fix this by…
Encouraging risk-taking.
Celebrating effort over results.
Setting realistic expectations.
Making our support independent of performance.
When we create that type of environment, kids thrive.
And they have more fun!
For everyone pitching this weekend; challenge the hitters with your fastball and always remember that YOU HAVE THE ADVANTAGE!
PLAY HARD, HAVE FUN!