by Rich » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:44 pm
"We are talking about 12u here, and ERA is earned runs, so even good pitchers who are playing for an average defensive team, should still have a low ERA, good strike-out percentage and low walk percentage. Most top 10-15 teams have good defense, so I think we are talking apple to apples in this division. Although, you do have a good point about defense playing a critical role in a pitcher's overall confidence and success, if she's throwing for a team who makes phenominal plays time and again, then on the books she would appear stronger; however, I think those on here are speaking from experience of playing against these pitchers/teams and know the difference between being robbed of base hits by awesome defense and solid pitching performance.
If there is a top pitcher out there who was not mentioned, please give up the team name(s) because maybe the top teams haven't played them enough, or even faced that pitcher in a tournament or friendly."
I don't want to talk about who she is, because that would mean saying that the team she plays for is not that good defensively in a public forum, and I wouldn't do that. I'm just saying I have seen most of the top pitchers mentioned here, and she is as good as any of them. Not the fastest, but the girl knows how to pitch, has great movement and control. I did see her shut down one of the top twenty in a tournament game that would have ended up scoreless except the other team started bunting. She lost the game 2 to 0 because her defense couldn't play the bunt or a fielder's choice pop up. That other team did not hit the ball hard even once, never hit it out of the infield and most just struck out. I watched her pitch about 10 games and she has been very consistent. There are some pitchers and teams that are flying under the radar, so to speak. I think you all have done a pretty good job with your rankings, but there are teams and players you haven't seen much of yet that are going to surprise people.
