This week we're going to report some of the positive happenings that occurred on the diamond during the much-too-quick high school season.
So let's give props where props are due:
Rarely are hitters overwhelmed by fastballs. I'm not referring to low-to-mid 80s heaters, but upper 80s to low 90s gas.
Players turning on high-octane heat, even when they're behind in the count. Without question, bat speed is at an all-time high. And that's not limited to the top-of-the-order hitters, but players relegated to the lower part of the order. It's as obvious as a Ryan Howard infield shift that the hours upon hours of hitting practice, which includes year-round private lessons, have paid dividends. Which leads us to pitching.
I'll reiterate my growing frustration of pitchers providing too much respect to hitters and lacking the stones to challenge batters more often. I've watched dozens of kids consistently throw the ball in the mid-80s, which is exceptional. It appears the vast majority of teams have at least one hurler who possesses an 85-88 mph fastball: Homewood-Flossmoor's Aaron Hauge, Andrew's Tom Durkin, Lockport's Jake Bulthuis, Marian Catholic's Brett Lilek, St. Laurence's Kyle Wood, Oak Forest's Kyle Funkouser, and Richards' Jon Ryan come to mind.
In some instances, teams have multiple hard throwers on their staff:
Sandburg's Joey Greenfield and Ryan Billo; St. Rita's Joey Filomeno and Jon Starcevich; Brother Rice's Kevin Koziol and Ryan Koziol; Providence Catholic's Matt Trowbridge and Brandon Magallones; and Mount Carmel's Jeff Boehm and John Kravetz all provide wicked one-two punches for their respective teams.
That simply wasn't the case even 10 years ago.
And then there's the just plain filthy stuff of Minooka's Mike Foltynewicz and Downers Grove South's Nick Burdi. Both consistently reach the low-to-mid 90s and will earn selection in the first three rounds of the Amateur Draft ( Foltynewicz next week and Burdi, as long as he maintains his health, next June.)
"There are more hard throwers, that's the good news," one area professional scout who wished to remain anonymous told me. "The bad news is most of them are throwers and not pitchers."
The silver lining in that little dilemma is that those raw arms can be taught the nuances of pitching at the collegiate or professional level. It's just a shame most high school coaches prohibit their No. 1 and No. 2 starters the chance to call their own game?
I know it's a pipe dream, but really, it's the best way for pitchers, and catchers for that matter, to learn how to set up hitters and develop. However, with pressure to win at a premium and coaches unwilling to shrink their egos even a bit, don't expect to witness pitchers calling their own game on a consistent basis anytime soon.