Alex Swenson, a former D1 coach and scout, breaks down the exact velocities college baseball programs want. Power 4 schools look for 88-90 mph with a good breaking ball; mid-major D1 wants 86-88 mph; D2 averages 85-86 mph; D3 sits around 84-85 mph. Left-handers typically throw 2-3 mph slower than these benchmarks.
Chapters
How hard does a high school pitcher have to throw to play at the Division 1 level or Division 2 or Division 3 level? We're going to be talking about the skill sets and athletic standards college coaches are looking for in a high school pitcher. Give this a follow because I'm going to be going over all positions over the next few days. This is coming from A former Division 1 college coach, scout and recruiter with 11 years of experience. And now what I do is help high school baseball players get interest and offers from their top school. So let's talk about right handed pitchers at the division one level. So the average division one right handed pitcher velocity, if you will, is 89 miles an hour. So that is average. Okay? There's guys definitely below that and there's guys definitely above that. Now what college coaches are expecting out of high school athlete, and by the time they're a senior year, if we're looking at the Division 1 Power 4 conferences, so that's the SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, they're expecting guys sitting around 88 to 90 miles an hour, topping out 91, 92 with good arm action, a strike thrower, repeatable mechanics and a good breaking ball that you can throw over for a strike. Okay. And that's sitting 88 to 89 miles an hour, not just hitting it once and going back down to 85. Okay. Now my left handed pitchers take two to three miles an hour off of these velocities. For right handed pitchers, that's typically what they expect you to be at. So at 89, if you can be around sitting 86, 87, topping out 89 for Power 4 conferences, man, you're in a good spot there. And again, strike thrower, aim for 69 to 70% strike percentage, D1 mid major. So that's all schools that are not in the SEC or ACC or Big Ten or Big 12, this is important. You got to be again, around 86 to 88 miles an hour sitting by the time you're a senior in high school. So you're not at college yet. Okay? They're pretty projecting you out as well. And all the same thing. Good arm action, strike percentage, repeatable mechanics, a good breaking ball, D2, 85, 86 miles an hour sitting around there on average. Okay? Again, this is not far off. Guys from D2s and D3s. All right, D3s for right hand pitchers, again, 84 to 85 miles an hour consistently you're going to be able to play at the next level. All right, make sure that you go and compete guys are looking for physicality on the mound, a good arm action, as I mentioned, and that attacks zone has a good mindset up here and that can deal with adversity. Good luck.
