Wow. Keep an eye on this kid.

The 6-foot, 180-pound 15-year-old was tossing 90 mph fastballs by the time he was 14 and has been known to connect on 400-foot home runs, using a wood bat. He also has the intangibles, the moxie, the mental edge, as well. Just ask his teammates, who have seen Stock's competitiveness on the field and off it.


"It might be a 50-50 split with scouts in Southern California which way we like him," one area scout said. "I asked him what he liked most about hitting or pitching and he just sad, 'I just love to dominate, whether it be hitting or pitching.' And that's what he does, he just dominates games."

A year ago, Stock was the youngest player to ever make the Team USA youth national team, yet he was the team's best pitcher. Last summer he made the World Youth Championship again, where he pitched for 8 strike outs in 4 innings against Cuba before a 3 hour rain delay knocked him out of the game. He struck out 15 in his game against the Netherlands earlier in the tournament.


baseball america link

Are there some people who are such natural talents that they can hone their pitching and hitting skills at the same time at a professional level? I always read about people who can pitch and hit well, and wonder why those skills can't carry up the ladder. Or, perhaps nobody tries.

Are there truly not enough practice hours in the human body to hone these skills at the same time?

Based on everything we know about the time professional baseball players train in just one area, I'd have to say there are not.

I doubt there are many (any?) professional athletes who could essentially cut their practice time in half and maintain anything near their normal level of play. And that's what you'd have to do.

Edit: Oh and I wonder how long it'll be before CFBilly accuses this kid of being older than he says he is?

Considering the amount of stress the arm takes from throwing over a 100 pitches a game, with most being more than 90 MPH, pitchers need time to rest their arm. Taking 30, along with about 7 swings in a game, amounts to over 180 swings in the time that a pitcher is supposed to be resting. I just don't think a player could excell at both in proffesional baseball.