Perfect Game Class of 2018 Rankings

Congratulations!

 

Have him keep playing hard, work on good grades, and try to "keep his nose clean".

 

I have seen very highly ranked players in our state not get recruited, for various reasons.  

 

 

Thanks! He's a very good kid at a respected prep school who is truly focused on succeeding and getting better.  Obviously you never know, but I feel confident he will do the right thing based on past experiences.

What separated kids as they enter HS is work ethic.  If a kid works hard and does the right things, the sky is the limit.  

I have a question that is likely borne of ignorance; how does someone even get looked at to get on this list?  My son is a very strong 12U player, and not nearly a 2018, but, he does hope to play College ball.  So, I'm curious what kinds of things the parents of these kids sent their boys to in order get them in this very honorable position.  Thanks in advance.     

Congrats to your son mcphuguy!

 

longsufferingmetsfan...you have entered into a double edged sword...on the one hand 2018 puts him in 9th grade which is supposedly far too early to really predict anything.  On the other hand he is now officially on the PG ranking system to be looked at, if coaches are looking, but they aren't suppose to be looking at ninth grade, so then you have to ask the question, "If the rankings don't count for anything then why rank 9th graders?"

 

I have a 12 year old too....the advice I have been given is not to worry about rankings until 10th grade or so...BUT...if your kid is really strong in 9th grade (for example a 1.8 pop time, or a 90mph fast ball) it is worth taking him to a PG showcase.  However, short of excellence in 9th grade it's better to wait until 10th grade when he may be more competitive with the 17 and 18 year old's that are there to show their stuff too!  What I told my son is "When you have $600 worth of something to show then you can go, until then, go practice."

Thanks for the humorous and cogent reply!!! 

a 12u would a '20 or 21 grad correct? you are probably about 6 months early to start thinking about the recruiting process...I am kidding but you have plenty of time!

Mets, welcome to the 2019 thru 2021 club!  Hope you stick around.  I think this is a personal choice.  They are doing showcases as young as 7th grade now.  I did not send my son but don't have an issue with those who did.  The only reason I would even think of it is to see how he stacks up.  Problem is (like a lot of us I am sure) we already know most of the great players in the area and they didn't go either!  So how accurate an idea will you get?  Not very in my opinion.  My pocket radar tells me all I need to know about where my son stands.  And that is a one time $200 purchase.  Although if I suddenly become flush with money I would probably upgrade to the $300 ball coach for continuous mode.  As for when?  I think summer after freshman year is a good time to start.  Get familiar with the process, work out any nerves and be ready to go the following year.

My son didn't do a showcase, but has played in PG tourneys

 

Showcases can help your son when the time is right. He'll be graded and you can trend in subsequent events if he is improving. PG sponsored tournaments will be critical too. Enjoy this time with him, slow it down and let him have as much fun as he possibly can. I hope he accomplishes his dream..my son never dreamed of college ball that early and will leave for school this summer as a pitcher. Fun times then and now....stay close to this board as plenty of folks here have been down this path and the info/advice offered is pretty good

Here's one dad's fairly recent experience with PG rankings -- for what it's worth. 

 

- As a freshman, my son initially ranked High Follow, something like 500 overall

- At the time, I kinda challenged PG's ability to accurately rank players so early.

- PGStaff made it clear that these are just that - early projections

- Sometime in sophomore year, my son jumped to 200-ish

- In his junior year, following Jupiter, he jumped to Top 100

- He slipped a little this winter, with no activity, while others were seen.

- He currently is ranked 104 -- second team All American list

 

This summer he'll participate in PG Nationals, HOPEFULLY the Big Event in August, and certainly Jupiter (third trip) in October. Then he'll be ranked again.

 

And THEN and only THEN will the rankings really matter, IMO. Because PG is very good at getting the rankings right as seniors near draft day -- which makes perfect sense.

 

So: Parents of 2018's: Be proud -- but don't over-rotate on it. Over time, these lists will firm up -- and your son will be where PG honestly believes he should be when it matters most.

 

But p.s. - PG is very good -- but not infallible, as PG Staff makes clear. AND ... some young men invariably sneak up. That's half the fun!

Thanks jp24!  That's just what I was looking for.  He's going to do WWBA, Jupiter, and Evoshield Classic for PG this year, as well as his first PG Showcase as well as several other tournaments.  Fun to see what will happen.  I think it's a good motivator for him to get better, if nothing else.  

 

Do you sense colleges look at these rankings a lot?  I sense they do.

Oh...one more thing...how often did PG end up revising their rankings on your son?  Once or twice a year?

I'm not sure - seems like every year this time, then after big events like Jupiter, Nationals, etc.

The player rankings sometimes change daily as we see players, but the larger updates happen about 6 times a year.

As an aside question I guess...

 

Do you ever change rankings based on things outside of what you actually see?  In other words, if you hear a kid is injured or became a discipline issue or something like that?

 

As a hypothetical - if you learned a kid was kicked off his high school team because of legal issues, would he drop in your ratings - or are you just looking at pure physical tools?  

For the most part, the things you reference would fall under the category of makeup or character.  We try to stick to raw talent with our rankings.  However, those things you mention could play a big part in our draft lists.

 

With serious injuries involving a significant time away from playing, we tend to move a player down slightly, but still keep him high enough to recognize his talent.  For the record, we have had players that get in trouble or get kicked off their HS team and still go in the first round and end up in the Big Leagues. We have also had players injured and inactive go in the first round.

 

There are three areas we try to stay away from on player reports.

 

Injury - Unless it is documented and confirmed by the player.

 

Signability - That is why they have scouting departments and college recruiters. Plus, people do often change their mind.

 

Makeup - Same as above. Though we often mention the positives in this area, we stay away from airing out any dirty laundry we might be aware of.

 

Any mistake we make on those three things could have a huge negative effect on the player. Our #1 concern regarding the rankings is always the player and talent.

Makes sense to stick with measurables.  Too much to consider once you get away from those.  Although I suspect there is a ton of having to bite your tongue that goes on...