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Reply to "The One College Baseball Stat You Can't Google"

As my son first started doing showcases, I heard many surmise that only velo mattered and where the ball went didn't.  I can't speak for PG; PBR rules our area.  At least with our experience, accuracy DOES matter. For a few reasons.

1) each showcase attendee gets an online write up/Comments along with their measurables.  While some states are better/worse than others with them, this is where accuracy is noted.  If a kid has a cannon for an arm, but throws over a player or into the stands, it should be accounted for there.  I've attended around 8 showcases put on by various orgs over the last year or so, but can't remember a single kid who had outstanding velo but the accuracy of Ricky Vaughn.  I haven't seen one kid be able to work the system/fool anyone.  Maybe a couple pitchers, but we all know that's different in 2020.  If you have Vaughn-like accuracy but throw 95+, you'll be just fine - at least for a while.  But I've yet to see a C who throws 79-81 down to 2B who has horrible accuracy.  Or a guy fielding a ball at SS, who goes into a full wind up or throws a friggin' pulldown over to 1B.  YMMV

2) ratings and rankings get a lot of hate here (and most of it is fair), but go take a look at some of the highest rated/ranked players who have high velos and watch some of their videos from showcases.  Then let me know how many of those guys have accuracies that are a joke.  Here's another angle.  The top PBR INF velo in our state among 2021s is 87 mph.  But the kid who hit that number is only ranked 77th (in a small state).  He's a solid player, but owning that top number in the state is clearly NOT getting him undo love.

3) video of players throwing are uploaded for everyone to see.  So any C who has a 1.75 pop time but his throws end up in the dugout, will be seen.  His 1.75 pop time will certainly get him some initial looks, but once a coach sees his throw downs bounce 3 times on the way to 2B, that'll be the end of that.

I'm sure there are a select few examples where a kid has completely worked the system by throwing accuracy out the window, but I've yet to see one.  But I'd welcome any examples that are backed up with proof.

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