Scout Interest vs Coach Interest

Pick a college or colleges that he wants to go to and go to that camp specifically. 

If he is drafted the D1 schools will call..  Might want to plan on a JC at this point.

When you ask if it matters if he plays D1 or not, I assume you are referring to the draft and Milb?  The honest answer is yes, it does matter.  However, it matters less if your son attends one of the top academic/baseball D3's in Texas and it matters even less if he does well there and also is placed in a very good Summer Wood bat league and does well there.

The I35 corridor from Dallas to San Antonio along with the Houston area, as you may  know, is heavily scouted.  Those guys don't miss anyone and they heavily scout D3 talent at the top levels in Texas.

With all of the stated, the road to Milb is less of steep climb when someone has success at the D1 level.

In terms of last minute interest from a D1, sometimes that means being patient all the way through July of next year, if D1 is the goal and your son might compromise on fit.

One very important thing to remember in trying to work through the input you are receiving is MLB scouts are looking 3-5 years out and trying to project. Most D1 coaches are looking at next Fall and trying to project on talent which translates and can contribute immediately, within the needs of their program next Fall.  While it is all baseball, it very much ends up being apples and oranges.

Even though he was from CA., the way our son approached this was getting admitted and making the deposit at a top Texas baseball/academic D3.  During his senior year, he attracted a fairly decent amount of interest from local D1 programs, with offers from two, which came very late(June and July following graduation.)

He stayed with the D3, was very happy he did, ended up getting drafted.  Even though the D1 interest was flattering and he probably would have jumped at one of them had it been during the Fall of his senior year, he was very comfortable knowing he had the D3 in place as the D1 interest escalated, but did so pretty late.

Thanks for the input!  Would the same apply to East Coast D3s by your estimates?  The three schools are by Philly, NYC, Maine

If he is as fast as u say and hits well why has he never played on HS Varsity team? 

what type of team did he play tourn with. Just curious son knows a kid who shows amazing at showcases, but does poorly in games. Gets attention by recruiters, but not much contact after they see him play in person.

No idea Sir, he goes to a private school and didn't play for the feeder schools or feeder select programs the school seems to favor.  Other than that I have no idea.  I honestly thought he was good enough as a freshman to play at least JV and maybe varsity.  He did start HS at age 13 though.  I took him to the FSU camp as a 13 year old and he hit all the pitching there easily.  As a Softmore at 14 he started playing 18u outside of school and flourished there. 

 

He's just he opposite of what you described.  His arm shows well in showcases and his hitting shows well...He does not profile as a "Prospect" I think partially because he is smaller than the typical player.  His 60 time honestly sucks IMO for a CF which is kind of comical because speed is actually an asset for him.  He covers ground well and runs bases extremely well because his short burst (20 yards) is exceptional.  When I say exceptional, I mean NFL combine splits for the first 10-20 yards (1.48, 2.48).  He just can't stride out the remainder of a 60 like some guys.  He collects infield hits and extra bases, steals, etc. though like its a game.  I'm not joking or making this up.  As a softmore he was barely 125lbs but he could squat over 300lbs multiple times.  He could throw a baseball 300 feet as 14 year old.  Some of that stuff is just genetics and can only improve as he fills in more and matures. 

 

He seems to get written off a lot because of his size and 60 time.  Games is where he shines.  He rarely has a bad game, and in most tourneys and showcase scrimmages he will steal 2nd and 3rd any time he gets on base.  I watched him pinch run at one showcase and steal 5 bases in 1 inning (2nd, 3rd, home without a passed ball, then 2nd and 3rd again).  They tried picking him and he stole anyway 3 times off the pickoff.  that turned some heads. 

 

Most coaches who see him play like his aggressiveness and all out play.  He has some room to improve his swing in his lower half, but honestly he rarely has a game without a hit or multiple hits, he doesn't strike out much, and he is pretty clutch.

 

He played tourney ball with three different teams at both the 16 and 18u level at PG, the most notable being Houston Banditos.

I think there are differing views on that topic.  On this board, in the past, and on the D3 boards, there are some who honestly believe position players in the North, especially at the D3 level, are not given the same scouting scrutiny as those in the South and West, for instance.

To be completely candid, but going from memory, I cannot remember any D3 position player being drafted out of Maine, Philly or NYC in the last 10 years. There are a number drafted from the SUNY league,for instance, but those are very large public schools for the most part and have plenty of D1 type talent. I can take a guess at the D3 in Maine because one saw our son at the Stanford Camp and contacted him and I know for certain they have not had any player drafted.

What this does not answer is the question of whether those areas don't get scouted or scouted as thoroughly as Texas, for instance, as contrasted with whether they get scouted as thoroughly but the players are not projected for the draft.

One of the great posters on this site, bbscout,  who has a topic dedicated to him regularly posted that MLB scouts get paid to find players who project, no matter where that kid is playing. When they don't, they get fired. He assured me that our son as a D3 player would get scouted if he had some tools and bbscout was right. I believe his perspective is the most likely, but others vehemently disagree and think there is a strong regional bias of some sort to the West and South, when it comes to D3 and scouting for the draft. When our son was drafted, a D3 outfielder from Trinity College was also drafted in a similar round. Both played in the NECBL the previous Summer and ended up in the top 10 in hitting.  Trinity College has players drafted  and so does Southern Maine.  My belief is that the tools and talent which project usually  get found by scouts no matter where and no matter what level.

I hope these thoughts are helpful for you and especially your son.

If you just look at the 2014 draft, 15 D3 players were chosen, of which 5 were position players.  Radack from Hendrix in Arkansas, (who is one helluva player) was the highest chosen position player, drafted in round 20.  Of the remaining four position players drafted, all chosen in rounds 31 - 40, two were from California D3 schools and the other two from Masachusetts D3 schools, including the D3 Player of the year, Tad Gold drafted in the 35th round.  Take a look at Julian Barzilli's stats at Whittier college (who was drafted in the 31st round) from the '13 and '14 seasons, and you'll get an idea of how high the bar is for drafted position players from D3.  Our son is a senior D3 player, I absolutely love D3 baseball, but very, very few position players are drafted from any region in D3.

like2rake, you are correct but a lot more sign as undrafted signee's with the shortened draft. The fact is that unless you are a top 4 round pick the odds are pretty staggering no matter the level. 

You guys are all being very helpful and I appreciate it.  We are still exploring a couple of In-state (Texas) options and also his real desire (West Coast Options).  Academically he has almost unlimited options due to his grades, test scores and even his ethnicity.  I suspect he will want to commit by January somewhere so he has a spot to play ball for sure.  One school is suggesting he has a good chance of starting CF as a freshman and that's attractive to him.  One thing I mentioned to him is looking for a slightly stronger program and maybe redshirting since he is young so he can mature physically and as a player and still have 4 years of eligibility.  Whether he plays pro ball is not really critical to us or him (from what I can tell).  I think just making and playing for a college will really be great for him considering his experience in HS.  I know the day he signs will be a very rewarding moment for him...The whole Scout interest situation has been intriguing for me, but I agree with an earlier poster, the projection is 3-5 years out assuming development time both physically and skills wise.  Perhaps the why the interest is there.  I think the HTF thing is an attention grabber too since that's off a full swing not a bunt.  I'm going to teach him to hit LH too this year so he cant bunt LH and see if we can get him down to 3.75 or so.  it seems feasible with the right technique.

5tools, given your questions and the title of this thread, you may be interested in a couple of resources available on our website.  One is a transcript of an interview we did with current Padres Director of Scouting Billy Gasparino, as well as a transcript of an interview with current Oklahoma State Head Coach Josh Holliday.  They both provided great information in those interviews.  Here's a link:

 

http://informedathlete.com/store

where within that site is the transcript you are referring to?

Top item on that page - "What do Pro Baseball Scouts look for in an Athlete?" and the 4th item down - "Recruiting Through the Eyes of a Coach"

Just finished reading a great new book on this subject called "Five Plus Tools" By Dave Perkin. He is a pro MLB scout who now works for Sports Illustrated ( SI.com ) and is their draft analyst each year, scouting all the top HS players in the nation. This book is a must read if you have a player who might get drafted or play college baseball. I found it incredibly helpful since I have pro scouts and D1 recruiters following my 2016 son.

Thanks,

 

I'll check into that book.  Interestingly enough the same Scout showed up again at another game this week.  I wasn't there, but my wife said he was timing him and taking notes any time he hit or was on base.  We haven't talked with him except when he asked me for my sons name and spelling the first time.  We kind of feel its best to leave him alone to do his job and not draw attention to him. 

 

Its neat for my son either way and a confidence builder to know someone might be interested.   

I think it depends on the d3..if your good they will find you..my sons college has 4 major league scouts their today looking at a senior pitcher who throws 90-92 and a senior 3rd basemen.the pros scout d3's as well..some kids mature differently ,,,and alot of immature kids end up at d 3's because they didnt have the frame senior year in high school..