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Jeff, good thoughts. Same to Tad and Lonnie. I really don't get why more kids are not taught to properly throw a change up early on. I think it should be thrown in early years before the curve primarily to teach variation of speed in the importance of keeping hitters off balance. Sadly, most throw a change more like a slow fastball and coaches don't like that because it allows the lesser hitter to get around on it. Live bats could spell disaster. But to good batters it is essential to keep them guessing. The extra look helps, especially when it doesn't have the obvious curveball look in the hand.
I thought the success of Phillies pitchers a few years ago would start a trend aided now by the conformity of softer bats in HS and college. My 15 year old this summer beat a traveling team of 17-19 year olds by primarily working off the change. They had so many big swing and misses because it was completely different than the fastball/curveball combo almost universally used (and he does possesss very good fastball/knuckle curve). That particular day the big swingers needed something different to frustrate them.
Does that require pitchers to have a certain amount of pitches? That should go under the category of luxury rather than absolute. Lonnie, you got that one right. It is very helpful but not the reason to hold one back. Give me a winner with two solid pitches and then let him learn on the job as he develops in his pitching maturity and confidence. Would you tell Lee Trevinio he should hold off joining the tour until he learned to hit a draw as well as his fade? We don't live in a perfect world. Let the kids play! THANKS!