www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx

This is my stud Julio Prieto. As you can see (hopefully, if I did this link right) he hasn't quite reached his full potential. But he's 24 now.
A) is this a normal speed at which he's progressing?
and
B) is there anything I can do at this point to help his progression?
 

Is playing time the only way that you can help people reach their potential? Well timed promotions and all that too, I'm assuming.

Coaching and training budgets have a primary effect.  Having a good medical budget is a good secondary effect, since players don't develop as much while injured, and it seems that the lower your medical budget, the worse the ratings hits will be for injuries as well.

Posted by radiuslee on 9/4/2010 6:57:00 PM (view original):
Is playing time the only way that you can help people reach their potential? Well timed promotions and all that too, I'm assuming.

No, timing of promotions does nothing. The promotion does not help improvement - when a player gets a "promotion bump" on his ratings on the player card it is simply a reporting of his progress AT THE TIME OF THE PROMOTION. It's a reporting event. 

Coaches assist in development; good skill coaches with high patience seem to deliver the most results for young players. But playing time is by far the most important factor.