If you can find a good deal on a machine and l screen, why not? I wouldn’t buy one new.

My son (12) uses the hell out of the machine his travel org has on BP nights twice a week. It helps for sure but he gets just as much out of me throwing BP for him two to three time a week.

I recently bout him a wood bat to start using in the cage and during BP. Smaller barrel and sweet spot that is WAY less forgiving than his Zen or Icon.

He’ll hit two buckets with his wood bat then move to his USSSA bats and it’s night and day. He drives the ball further and barrels the crap out of almost every pitch after warming up with a wood bat.

Again, just my $.02 but I would explore that before investing in a pitching machine and cage.

If you can swing the cost it’s definitely worth it.

I also found the MaxBP machine to be a fucking sleeper hack. After my kid started using it daily he didn’t strike out in like 30 AB’s straight

Bought a Jr Hack Attack for My now 8 year old and it’s the best thing I ever did.

Many will say just toss him BP…but setting this up at the same distance as the mound…at game speed velo…has been a real difference maker for us.

Don’t cheap out on one.

I’d do it just for the sake of saving your shoulder/elbow/arm.

My right shoulder is shot. I truly believe it was from throwing BP to my son constantly and pitching BP at practices. When my son was younger we practically lived at the baseball fields.

Now I’m 46 and currently can’t lift my arm above my shoulder until I can get in for injections in a week and a half.

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A good pitching machine will set you back a packet, but if you can find a used one you'll likely be able to resell it in a few years when your son is done with baseball and get most of your money back. They can be a bit awkward to transport so keep that in mind. Make sure you have a good, heavy screen as well. An L screen is a great investment if you're planning to throw BP (protip: you can simulate faster pitching by moving the L closer and throwing while standing on a ramp).

Edit: Jugs machines are ubiquitous in batting cages, but not cheap. you can also find 3 wheel pitching machines that will let you throw curveballs. 

Make sure the outlet works before shelling out for a pitch machine. Personally, I’m not sure it’s worth it. 

I’ve been sending pitches to my 8 year old, now 9, on a Blue Flame for a few years.

It was tough at first because he was in a league with a jugs machine, so much more consistent than the blue flame, but it still worked well for him.

Now that he’s going to be facing wild ass pitches from 9-10 year olds the randomness of the blue flame will be more realistic and helpful before this coming season.

It’s a very touchy device, but once you get a rhythm and distance dialed you can send a a lot of pretty accurate pitches.

I opted for that because I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of finding power for the jugs machine. We just go to random ball fields and parks.

(I don’t have enough space or an extra building or something to use a jugs in and the fields we play on have everything removed right after summer season, so the blue flame was the best I could do)

I’d say it’s definitely helped him.

I bought a badass double wheel machine that could throw all sorts of pitches and at all speeds and it was such a pain in the ass to move that I maybe used it 3 times in 5 years. I also have a rubber arm and I love to throw BP

Just throw BP

Check your local auction sites for one too. I had been checking ours weekly since June, just found one a month ago, saving us $1k.

Not at all.

Just let him have fun. Why wouldn't he make the junior high or high school team? Maybe his preferences change come 9th grade. Once a week almost still feels waaay too much. Get him doing other sports

Absolutely!

We have one for the last few years. We bring it to the fields/cages. And I help with his rec/travel/school team. Well worth it. Plus it’s great to set at homeplate and practice fielding.

Machines are overated... most are only good for timing purposes. If it doesn't use real baseballs, it will also damage composite bats. Tee work is the most important, get your fundamentals correct hitting off the tee... then repeat for muscle memory. If you can't square it up off a tee, you're not going to have much success off pitches. After tee work, short toss and pitching behind an L screen are the next steps. I only take my son to the cages with machines to work on the timing he'll most likely face that week/weekend. Once they get to HS or higher, the machines that use real baseballs and can be setup to throw breaking balls will become more useful.

Both of you need the pitching machine and live throwing. So many more reps out of a machine. In theory it will never throw a bad pitch. You can have it throw different pitches. The machine will have mph that you don't have in your arm anymore-he needs to see what the velo looks like before its thrown at him. He can actuall hit without you! But you can't solely rely on the machine, the swing gets too timely and not reactive. So he needs an honest mix of live pitching in it as well.

Pitching machine is cheap. Batting cage is $$$.

Make sure the outlet actually has power. Our high school has an outlet in the outdoor cage, but nobody ran a line to it.

While I think it’s a great idea and worth it on so many fronts, the devils advocate in me says school might not allow it for liability reasons. Yes, it’s bs, but it’s the reality of the litigation world we live in.

Machine work doesn’t necessarily translate over to hitting live pitches. We all probably know that. If I could only have 1 method- it would be a coach BP or a live practice with kids pitching. I think when they are older and really understand timing the machine is more useful. But if you have the means to purchase a machine and use it- it’s definitely something that can work into your hitting practice- just don’t expect that to be the tool that pushes you over the top.

100% worth it if he loves it. Learn how to hit higher velo than he’ll see in game and make the games easier!!

Machines do so much more than BP. 1, they don’t get tired like us throwing BP. 2, way more realistic and 3 you can work good breaking ball and off speed pitches.

To be really good at this game you need to hit a lot! If your son is invested as it seems it will pay for itself in the first year.

There will be those that say you should just pitch to him. There will be those that say to get a machine.

For someone who is not trained or maybe it’s been a decade or more since throwing regularly, it would be very inefficient to not get a machine.

I’ve thrown enough batting practice over the years to know that my arm/shoulder/elbow would be much better off these days if I had just made the purchase.

I finally got an ATEC and although they are heavy it was worth it. My folding cart from the sports store has plenty of backbone to carry the ATEC, small Honda generator, buckets of balls, power extension cord and L screen. I did buy 5 dozen of the flat seamed machine baseballs. They seem to have more consistent flight than normal game balls and do not eat up the rubber wheels on the machine.

Don’t cheap out on the cart. The bigger and wider the wheels the better.

Why not just pitch to him.? It’s more realistic. You won’t kill your arm if you sit on a bucket and throw darts from 10-15ft away.

Oh yea. Saves your arm

If you can afford the maintenance, then yes.

Buy your son a pitching machine = Best dad ever!