Pitching In The Ivy League

cramersmash
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 17:45:39 +0000

Hello,
I’m a senior from Philly, and I applied to Brown University, and was thinking of trying to walk-on for the baseball team. I played four years of varsity baseball. I pitched (righty) for all four years, and started in right field/third base for three.

My fastball is around 73-75mph, but I can hit as high as 78 on a good day. My fastball has a tail to the left hand batter’s box that makes it hard to hit with solid contact. Some call it a two-seamer, but I grip it with a four seam grip.

I throw a knuckleball (as far as I know, the only one in my league who does so), which I can throw on a 3-2 count and get a guy looking. Occasionally, I hit a batter or two, but more often than not, I get a bite on it. I can only remember one or two times in my high school career where it has been hit hard, and never for a home run. It has a two foot drop (more if I get a good push on it), and comes in at about 57-59 mph. I taught myself how to throw it, and it’s never really let me down.

I have a solid changeup which I can usually use when I’m ahead in the count, but I usually get guys out with my fastball. Something about the tail on it.

I have a very durable arm, I can throw between 90-120 pitches in a game before I really get fatigued, and I can go as high as 140. That being said, I usually don’t need that many. I just threw a complete game on only 84 pitches, so the high pitch count is a last resort.

I don’t walk a lot of guys- most of my outs are either via strikeout or groundout. Not a big fly ball pitcher. If I have a solid defense, most of the ground balls can be scooped up by the middle infielders.

I have a knack for staring down batters longer than most pitchers. When I was a freshman, before I had the velocity and smarts, I would throw inside and behind people, and make them uncomfortable in the box, thus leading to more outs. I don’t really need to do that anymore, but it’s still important to remind the batters that I’m the one controlling the gamer.

I think I’ll be able to throw in the high-70s, low-80s by my freshman or sophomore year in college. I don’t care about being the ace- even if I was in the bullpen, that would be alright with me. I’m a very smart player, and a crafty pitcher.

Do you think I have a chance at making the team?