Skip to main content

Peter Taraskevich, college switch pitcher

Pete Taraskevich
Hometown: Sunrise, Florida
High School: American Heritage HS 
College: Cumberland University (Class of 2010)

Height/Weight: 6'0"  229
Bats: Left
Throws: Both (ambidextrous)
Glove: In high school, used two gloves for pitching

Draft: Selected by the Twins in 27th round of MLB Draft in 2003

Taraskevich eats, golfs and bats left-handed (.408), shoots baskets and bowls with both hands and writes right-handed. He has always tinkered with the two-handed special delivery in fall and summer league games. At a national showcase in December, he was rated the fourth-best pitcher and the 12th-best prospect overall. (Sun Sentinel)

How he got started throwing with both hands

His rare skill began at 11, when he would throw a tennis ball for hours against the wall of his home in Sunrise, Florida. His father, Steven, a physiology professor at Nova Southeastern and a former high school pitcher, told him to switch hands or he'd become "the youngest candidate for Tommy John surgery."

Throwing Smoke

Whether Pitching Right- Or Left-handed, Peter Taraskevich Confounds Hitters.

June 11, 2003|By Christy Cabrera, sun-sentinel.com
The Twins were likely intrigued not only by Taraskevich's mid-90s fastball, but by his ability to throw both right- and left-handed. Although he always was ambidextrous, it wasn't until he accidentally hit a teammate in youth league play that Taraskevich realized he could use his left hand almost as well as his right. This season, he closed several of his own starts by switching arms, and would like to use the next year to continue developing his left-handed pitches. Read more


The Right-handed Southpaw

May 3, 2002|By Harvey Fialkov, sun-sentinel.com
Switch-hitters are becoming more commonplace in baseball, but switch-pitchers?
When the state's top-ranked American Heritage Patriots (29-2) host Pope John Paul II (16-13) in today's Class 3A regional semifinal, coach Todd Fitz-Gerald has the option of starting a left-handed pitcher and right-handed pitcher -- at the same time. 
Junior starter Peter Taraskevich, who may be held out for Tuesday's possible regional final, would like to become the first effective modern-day ambidextrous major league pitcher. But first he has to convince his high school coach to let him try his unusual talent on a regular basis. Read more

Zion Lutheran Perfect In Quarterfinal Victory

May 3, 2000|sun-sentinel.com
DEERFIELD BEACH — Peter Taraskevich and Rory Mulcahy combined to pitch a perfect game, leading Zion Lutheran to an 11-0 win over Broward Christian in the Class 1A regional quarterfinals Tuesday.
Taraskevich, a freshman, threw just 38 pitches in striking out all nine batters he faced. 
"Peter was able to overpower them," coach Paul Liotti said. "To face nine guys and strike out nine, that's a heck of an accomplishment."

Statistics
HIGH SCHOOL: Four-year letterwinner at American Heritage School … Selected First Team All-State … Voted Player of the Year … Selected in 27th round of MLB Draft in 2003 … Recorded 135 strikeouts with 0.98 ERA and 10-1 record as senior.
Peter Taraskevich  - Cumberland University
2010 (SENIOR): Ambidextrous pitcher ... Appeared in nine games with five starts and one complete game, posting 2-0 mark with 6.75 ERA in 22.2 innings with 19 strikeouts

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pitchers Glove Rules - Size and Color

What are the rules on a pitchers glove? According to the official baseball rules, a pitchers glove can be up to 12 inches in size , of any weight , and any color except white or gray as long as it is not distracting.  The Akadema ABX-00 glove, pictured above, is 12 inches,  solid black and is not distracting according to local umpires. Little League Rules Gray glove is not allowed for pitching  White glove is not allowed for pitching Little League Rule 1.14: Each fielder, other than the first baseman and the catcher may wear a glove not more than 12 inches long nor more than 7 3/4 inches wide, measured from the base of the thumb crotch to the outer edge of the glove. The glove may be of any weight. Little League Rule  1.15 (a) : The pitcher's glove may not, exclusive of the piping, be white or light gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner. (source: Little League Baseball Rules Regarding Bats and Gloves ) Off

Fastball Velocity - How fast do kids throw?

How fast does a Little League pitcher throw? The average fastball is between 50-60 mph for a  pitcher in the Majors division of Little League (11-13 yo). Pitchers in the Little League World Series throw fastballs 60-70+ mph. Only a few pitchers touched 70+ mph in 2015 and 2016. One man-child hit 81 mph on the radar. This velocity is almost unhittable from 46 feet  and extremely rare for a 13 year old. #18 RHP Carlos Gonzalez - Panama 79-81 mph fastball  105 mph MLB equivalent reaction time #18 RHP Jaekyeong Kim - South Korea 75-76 mph fastball #19 RHP Ryan Harlost - Mid-Atlantic, Endwell, NY 71-74 mph fastball Threw a complete game to win the 2016 Little League World Series Loreto Siniscalchi , a 6'1" pitcher from Canada, threw in the mid 70s and completely dominated the hitters from Japan.  He led Team Canada to its first victory over Japan in 18 years. Big right-hander Isaiah Head from Kentucky threw 70-73 mph fastballs. His record was 3-0, 12 I

Baseball Glove Options for Switch Pitchers

Custom made  Mizuno ambidextrous glove Looking for a glove for a switch pitcher? Before spending hundreds of dollars on a custom glove, please think about age of the player and how much time they will spend pitching. Here are glove options for ambidextrous pitchers, based on age: Age 3-5 Kids don't pitch at this age. They should be learning the proper way to throw. Young kids should try catching the ball with two hands. Use tennis balls or foam balls for throwing. Forget about the low quality plastic glove - it's in the landfill within a year. Gloves are awkward for young kids. If they learn two hand catch when they are young and continue with the skill, they will do well fielding balls when they are older. Learning to throw with both arms is easy at this stage. If a child can throw with either hand when they are three-years-old, it doesn't mean that they are talented or ambidextrous - it just means that they are a typical kid. Gloves:  Buy a small leath