Getting back into baseball: is it too late?

[acann3]

I just finished my freshman year of college (I am 19 years old), and I am considering trying to pitch again at a high enough level to get on my college club team. I used to play up until my freshman year of highschool, but I was always relatively mediocre without very high velocity. After reading The MVP Machine, I believe that I went about a lot of what I did when I was younger in the wrong way. I always had good command but never really commited myself to building velocity. In highschool I threw discus, wrestled, and played football, so I am athletic and believe I could pick pitching back up at a relatively quick clip if I apply myself. Do you all think this is possible? If so, what do you think would be my best way to approach this?

[dennisjames71]

Of course your mileage will vary; but I personally don't believe it's too late for you at all.  I played all 4 years of high school but only started pitching in my Sophomore year.  I threw with good velocity in my first year but I was much too wild and in my Junior year I focused on my control and developed 4 solid pitches. Much like you described, my command became more important to me than lights-out velocity.  Fortunately, I was able to get my fastball up to ranges where recruiters noticed and did end up earning a scholarship to a Division II university here in Southern California and pitched for one season.  I personally think it's more difficult to "level-up" with our pitch control if we have ridiculous velocity from the beginning (rather than the converse).

 

 I am glad that my coaches in high school pulled me aside and helped me build my control for the pitches I was developing at the time and helped teach me to "reach back" and add the velocity at times when i needed it rather than throw at super speeds 90% of the time.  

 

I'm also reading The MVP Machine too and I'm about a 1/3 into it and I'm enjoying it so far.  I'm a big Ben Lindbergh fan and listen to his Effectively Wild podcast regularly.  Best of luck to you if you do decide to give it a go with your college team.

[Kccitystar]

20 hours ago, acann3 said:

I just finished my freshman year of college (I am 19 years old), and I am considering trying to pitch again at a high enough level to get on my college club team. I used to play up until my freshman year of highschool, but I was always relatively mediocre without very high velocity. After reading The MVP Machine, I believe that I went about a lot of what I did when I was younger in the wrong way. I always had good command but never really commited myself to building velocity. In highschool I threw discus, wrestled, and played football, so I am athletic and believe I could pick pitching back up at a relatively quick clip if I apply myself. Do you all think this is possible? If so, what do you think would be my best way to approach this?

Don't let your dreams be dreams, my dude!

 

If you're athletic and have the aptitude to build skills and learn new ones, getting back into baseball shouldn't be difficult. It's the discipline that's the true challenge.

[acann3]

7 hours ago, dennisjames71 said:

Of course your mileage will vary; but I personally don't believe it's too late for you at all.  I played all 4 years of high school but only started pitching in my Sophomore year.  I threw with good velocity in my first year but I was much too wild and in my Junior year I focused on my control and developed 4 solid pitches. Much like you described, my command became more important to me than lights-out velocity.  Fortunately, I was able to get my fastball up to ranges where recruiters noticed and did end up earning a scholarship to a Division II university here in Southern California and pitched for one season.  I personally think it's more difficult to "level-up" with our pitch control if we have ridiculous velocity from the beginning (rather than the converse).

 

 I am glad that my coaches in high school pulled me aside and helped me build my control for the pitches I was developing at the time and helped teach me to "reach back" and add the velocity at times when i needed it rather than throw at super speeds 90% of the time.  

 

I'm also reading The MVP Machine too and I'm about a 1/3 into it and I'm enjoying it so far.  I'm a big Ben Lindbergh fan and listen to his Effectively Wild podcast regularly.  Best of luck to you if you do decide to give it a go with your college team.

That's very encouraging to hear. Right now, I am simply focusing on rebuilding arm strength to be able to pitch with any velocity at all before I get back on the mound and try to refine pitches and regain command. Any tips you have as far as building that velocity? Right now I am focusing mainly on long toss and am looking at getting some weighted balls to try some of how Bauer trains in The MVP Machine. Anything else you think might help?

[sabugo]

Coming from another sport - I never even played baseball - I can tell you this:

- Do it right, but let passion dictate your effort, not what you think should be done
- Be sure to put in the hours. There is no substitute for practice. 10 thousand hours of ANYTHING will make you an expert
- Keeping the above in mind, make sure you get your rest. And rest properly. Give your body enough time to heal. Competitive sports are NOT HEALTHY. So do your best to minimize the impact it has on your body.

And lastly, the most important tool you possess is your mind. Being an athlete is so much more than playing or having 'talent'. There is no such thing as talent. Or at least it is a very little amount of what makes an athlete. Talent is most often an excuse to justify lazyness. Hard workers get farther and more sustainable results than 'talented' people. Being an athlete requires that you give it everything you have to succeed. Forget birthday parties, forget drinking with your buddies, forget doing all the stuff that normal people do. They are not following your dream nor are they responsible for it. You are. It is YOUR mission. Every breath you take HAS to be towards that goal. Every single minute that passes, you're either getting better, closer to your objective, or you're not. It's that simple.
I always tell my kids class, 'Hey, if staring at a wall is your passion, somehow you're going to find a way to make that your living. If that really is your passion, go be the Michael Jordan of staring at walls'. Whatever you end up doing with your life in five, ten or twenty years, make sure your athletic career does not define who you are, make sure you do it because you like it, because it feeds your ambitions. In the long run winning or losing is measured not so much on the field but off of it. It is measured on how you played the game, how much effort you put into it and how it made you feel.

Follow your dreams, but work hard at them. 
Be happy, treat others well and you'll be fine.