Any Phillies Fans???

[juiceweezl]

Some of you have kept up with my son (and Dr Dave's) through the years. Mine graduated high school in May and was headed to Arkansas to play baseball next month. Well, he won't be going to Arkansas now. Third round pick by the Phillies. Good write up here.

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/jordan-viars-drafted-by-phillies-at-17-years-old

He will sign Saturday morning in Philly and head to the spring training complex for minicamp and hopefully be playing games in low A ball within a few weeks. Crazy times but glad to see all his work pay off in a big way. Hopefully he can make the big team within 3-4 years.

[cool cat]

Wow that’s awesome. Nice to see the work payoff, with potential for more.

[Stephen]

Wow, what an achievement!!

[scootro]

this has been the high school draft for the majors due to covid nobody in college played last year! good luck to him getting in the big show

[juiceweezl]

this has been the high school draft for the majors due to covid nobody in college played last year! good luck to him getting in the big show

College played a full season this year. Last year the draft had 5 rounds. They went back to 20 rounds this year which is half of what it had been. Scouts were out and about all spring and summer, and many were out last fall watching. There were constantly a dozen or more guys at my son’s high school games this year and even more when he played with Blue Jays Scout Team in the fall against juco kids.

[davbrucas]

Congrats Billy! I know you’re one proud dad!
$720k sign on? Half of that should be yours for all the sacrifices for his baseball the past 10yrs. [emoji12]

My kid was sitting around 94 in summer ball and he hurt his arm. MRI next week. Ugh. It’s triceps pain and not elbow thankfully.

[Sean88gt]

That's awesome, Billy!

I'm still over here pushing my kid. He's 12 and going into 8th. Has solid movement on his fastball, keeps most pitches at knee-height. He's dealing with the longer mound-plate distance this season, so I need to have him work more on strength and form. He hasn't hit his growth spurt or puberty yet.

[juiceweezl]

Congrats Billy! I know you’re one proud dad!
$720k sign on? Half of that should be yours for all the sacrifices for his baseball the past 10yrs. [emoji12]

My kid was sitting around 94 in summer ball and he hurt his arm. MRI next week. Ugh. It’s triceps pain and not elbow thankfully.

Thanks, Dave. He signed for a little over slot plus up to $170K or so in college he can use. Great opportunity for him to have the rest of his life taken care of. I spoke to a Houston arm at the Reds workout about Colby. He said his stuff was really good and that he was dominating hitters when he got the chance. Hope his arm is ok. That kid is going to have his chance in the future. He is too damn big and strong and has control of multiple pitches. Keep me posted on the MRI results please.

[juiceweezl]

That's awesome, Billy!

I'm still over here pushing my kid. He's 12 and going into 8th. Has solid movement on his fastball, keeps most pitches at knee-height. He's dealing with the longer mound-plate distance this season, so I need to have him work more on strength and form. He hasn't hit his growth spurt or puberty yet.

He's young for his age. My youngest is going into 8th grade but will be 14 in Sept. Movement is everything with pitches. I regularly watched guys turn around 94 this spring and summer if it didn't move. You have to be able to make it move and throw a secondary pitch. Puberty is also a HUGE equalizer. My youngest has hit it, and he has gotten so tall and strong. Just keep your boy working and his time will come to dominate.

Sometime with Jordan is home, I'll let you guys know so you can bring him to come watch him hit. He does a great job of talking to all the younger kids and just going slow. He loves to talk about hitting, and if the kids will listen, they will learn a ton. Still trying to wrap my head around being a Phillies fan though!

[ceyko]

That's awesome, Billy!

I'm still over here pushing my kid. He's 12 and going into 8th. Has solid movement on his fastball, keeps most pitches at knee-height. He's dealing with the longer mound-plate distance this season, so I need to have him work more on strength and form. He hasn't hit his growth spurt or puberty yet.

If need a catcher for reps, mine is 11U going 12U next year and can always use receiving reps, just needs to know pitch and location of it.

FWIW, we specifically works with my son for high speed pitching along with receiving, framing and blocking. However, smallest kid on our team gives him a challenge with his pitches having a lot of movement and lower velocity. Kid had the best pitching stats on the team, great attitude...plays his little self to the max.

What team is your kid with? We played some 12U AA tournaments this year - we're Bison Baseball out of Mesquite. Long ass drive for us, but the coach works the catchers hard - so it's worth our time.

[ceyko]

Hopefully he can make the big team within 3-4 years.

Long ass brutal journey but I don't know a single person we talk to - who regrets going for it. Wish y'all luck man.

[Mike]

I think I’m the only Phillies fan around here. That’s amazing and I’m looking forward to watching his progression with the team!

Congrats to both of you for all of your hard work.

[Sean88gt]

If need a catcher for reps, mine is 11U going 12U next year and can always use receiving reps, just needs to know pitch and location of it.

FWIW, we specifically works with my son for high speed pitching along with receiving, framing and blocking. However, smallest kid on our team gives him a challenge with his pitches having a lot of movement and lower velocity. Kid had the best pitching stats on the team, great attitude...plays his little self to the max.

What team is your kid with? We played some 12U AA tournaments this year - we're Bison Baseball out of Mesquite. Long ass drive for us, but the coach works the catchers hard - so it's worth our time.

Sure man, drop me a line. We're up in Mckinney.

He's like that pitcher. He's a sharp kid, great mental awareness of position and batter. Guy misses high, he throws high. Guy misses low, he throws low. He can hit mid 60s when there's a radar on him, but in games, he just doesn't. He throws slower and it drops out. He has that natural left-hander cut on his throws as well, so kids will bail out or way over-swing on the ball.

He ended up dominating this past season by being comfortable with his throws. However, it does require an active catcher.

[bcoop]

That's AWESOME!!!

[ceyko]

He ended up dominating this past season by being comfortable with his throws. However, it does require an active catcher.

Trick is finding a youth coach who cares/knows catching - as opposed to them just being a backstop with no real mission. The work between the two can make a difference. I've watched pitching doing very well, son gets injured and is out for a couple innings and same pitcher - walk walk walk (just borderline calls not made to look good).

We're right next to you in Van Alstyne. I'll send ya a message.