Some high school pitchers believe that they must have three pitches in their arsenal to throw at the college level. Although, it certainly helps to have three effective pitches, it does not help to have an ineffective pitch.  Pitchers need objective information from coaches to decide if a pitch is helping the pitcher or hurting the pitcher. Preferably, high school pitchers want this information from a high school or club coach, not from a college coach making a visit to perform a player evaluation. Pitchers have options. They can gravitate toward the pitches that are performing well, or they can spend time working on the pitch or pitches that are ineffective. Sometimes it's best to just move on from a particular pitch rather than beat yourself up over it. Determining whether to keep a pitch or toss it should be data-driven. This information should include how often balls and strikes are thrown in a game. It should include velocity and opponent's batting average per pitch. If a pitcher is not able to throw a pitch at 100 percent intensity, then it may not be an appropriate pitch to have in the arsenal. If a pitcher has a couple really effective pitches, such as a 2-seam fastball and a curveball, it may pay to focus on improving or perfecting quality of those particular pitches. Whatever a pitcher chooses to do, evaluation should be part of the process. Take feedback constructively and focus on the positives rather than the negatives. 

Coach Mike VanderBunt