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Reply to "Wade Boggs Would Not Get Recruited Today"

I know that a lot of people don’t agree with me, but college recruiters are not as focused on measurables as most people on this board seem to believe - with the exception of FB velo for a pitcher. Position players are different. They are evaluated primarily on their hit tool and whether or not they project to be able to hit college pitching. How they load, balance, bat path, how quick their hands are, how well they know the strike zone, how often they make solid contact, how often they walk vs strike out, their approach at the plate, understanding of situational hitting, how well they run the bases, body language, and how well they play in the field are the things that determine if a position player is recruitable. None of those things can be measured at a showcase. Those things have to be observed (by someone) in live game action against good competition. Once that happens, and someone is suitably impressed, phone calls start getting made and word gets out about a player. After all of that a coach is gonna watch the player himself more than once. He might look at verified measurables - or he might not. Coaches look for qualities in recruits that remind them of other successful players. Again, something that can’t be measured. When scholarships are involved (in other words not D3) the ability to play the game productivity is the primary reason kids get recruited. Sometimes a school will take a flyer on a kid because of size, speed, or arm strength. Producing a big exit velo number is not an indication that a player can hit good pitching. A good 60 time doesn’t mean a player is a good baserunner. Showcases and camps have adopted the model of the pro style MLB tryout camps that used to take place. I attended a number of them as a player decades ago. But the difference is that in the MLB tryouts the players were evaluated by pro scouts and coaches that knew how to grade what they saw - and those camps were usually free to attend. PG, PBR, etc. are for profit and are all about the money. Many events are run by people with little baseball experience who have no ability to judge anything they see. What they know is that a 6.8 time in a 60 is better than a 7.0 time. And that’s about it, so they push the narrative that recruiting is all about numbers and the public buys it.

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