2019Dad posted:Dominik85 posted:Btw why are quite a few pitching gurus that make their living on getting pitchers recruited like kyle boddy or Cressey so critical on showcases?
Dominik85 -- I started a topic yesterday with a great blog post (IMO) from Kyle Boddy. Here's what he said about showcases -- you can decide for yourself whether he's being "critical" of showcases (I don't think so, but that's JMO):
"If you go to Perfect Game events when you aren’t any good, you are screwing yourself. “Exposure” is a two-way street – if you aren’t a top-flight guy, guess what? You’ve just shown everyone that you are an average-sized HS junior that throws 82-85 MPH with a bad breaking ball. That’s not a guy that commands Division-I attention at all. And the more you showcase your average tools, the more that version of you is imprinted on college recruiters and pro scouts. Even if you start to develop and get better, they again will remember the average toolsy version of you and it will take more to get them off their first impression.
Here’s what you do – attend showcases when you are clearly AT LEAST in the top quartile of performance for your age. If you show up, blow noise, rip breaking balls, and perform well, you will then get invites to the big national showcases at no charge. Then you attend those, do well, and guess what? Offers will come in and scouts will be sending you questionnaires to fill out.
If you showcase well at a young age, you will get a ton of shots down the line – this is similar to minor league ball, but that’s another discussion entirely. If you showcase poorly at a young age, scouts will remember that, and while it won’t doom you, it makes it harder to overcome those impressions."
I take Boddy's position as a pretty solid one. One problem is that most don't have a good idea of the timetable. That's really the kind of education I'm talking about. There is no one-size-fits-all. Often the question of when to start showcasing comes up here. There's no good answer without knowing a lot of details.
If you are a freshman pitcher throwing 85/86 (or a 6' 4" lefty throwing 84) with some good size, you're very likely to get an early look by D1's. If you are in the summer before your senior year with the same measurable you need to adjust your target audience and try to get in front of more welcoming schools. Perhaps you're better suited to target specific schools through camps. If you're a 5' 7" freshman throwing 78-79 you're wasting your money. There are so many variables it's mind boggling.
My son plays on a team that is a mix of 2018's and 2019's. There are some very talented 2019's including PG's 14u player of the year last year. That kid is a catcher who registered a 1.89 pop time at a PG showcase the summer before his freshman year and he can hit. He's already entertaining multiple offers. Another 2019 on the team just committed to Oregon State. They were introduced to him at the same PG event. Those are freshman that should definitely have been there. I see others who are wasting their time. Some, I would even say shouldn't have showcased at all. They should have found some very specific schools that might be a fit for them and target them specifically. Bottom line is that it is up to the parents, player, and maybe his coaches to educate themselves and develop a reasonable timeframe and game plan for recruiting.