2021....too much to soon?

Yup, no reason to rush out to more showcases with those numbers yet.  He should continue developing, getting good instruction and having fun playing baseball.  For now, tackle the challenge of HS baseball.  It's coming.  Enjoy each step.

And welcome to the posting side of the site!

Agreed. There’s really no number you just mentioned that will get him college attention just yet. However, it’s good you are being active in his recruitment. Keep up the work in the weight room and hopefully as he develops he will see increases in velocity. 

Curve ball at 70 and Slider at 75 makes me think he has more upside to fastball.  I've got a 2021 also,   one of his friends threw 85-86 at a PBR event and ended up with almost 10 offers from big 12, SEC schools.   he verbally commited to USC the one on the east coast.   so your not far off,   if he grows and gets to mid 80s by fall might be some action I suspect.  

Concur... take your time...focus on strength, speed and skill refinement.  With him heading into his first HS season get him focused on having fun and hitting the crap out of the ball.  Keep his strength training during spring ball to help prevent injury and to be prepared for a busy summer club ball season.

Avoiding the public radar's until you have something to show.

I agree that he is leaving some velocity behind in mechanics. He is doing a college level strength and velo building program right now with several college coaches and some minor league players. I think he is all upper body. If we can get legs and push involved, then 80's should be easy to reach I would think. He also is coming off a 3 month shutdown during football, so maybe he is just getting back in the groove. However I don't think we will do another showcase unless a cheap one comes up in our area. Our benchmark to go to a PG showcase is 85mph, so a ways off from that one. Looks like after sophmore year, we should hit it hard "if" he has the numbers to back it up.

I always noticed velocity drop after not throwing for awhile,   usually my son is  really throwing well come april or may.  

The timeline for baseball may be a bit different where you are from.  In GA Showcases and college camps, heck even meeting up with your travel ball team is a no-no from January 15th - May 15th (ish, depending on how far your team goes in the playoffs.)  Maybe you should find out from some of the juniors when they do their college camps, I really doubt it is during the season.  Most in GA are done either very late summer, as in right when the season is over.  Or over Christmas break, as in right before the season starts.

We are in Midwest. We start season in March or when snow melts...lol. Wish we were from the south. Nothing like playing baseball in the snow and 20degree weather. I have noticed looking that velo is higher for 2021 players in the south, however. Probably from ability to play year round. I think maybe the shutdown time we get my be better in the long run. Injury is always a major concern with the torque on the body pitching supplies.

You're instincts are correct: get out of the showcases until there is improvement.

Upside: you've got metrics upon which to base your objectives. Great! With the improvement in skills, strength AND SCHOOL, he'll do much better next time out.

So yes: put a freeze on everything until after he's completed his improvement program. Then re-measure and decide from there.

One early, inexpensive, local showcase to get a feel for the environment is enough unless a kid is an early prospect stud. It also shows the kid where he’s at versus other players. Then work on getting to the middle of that pack or higher before returning.

Don’t worry about high school exposure. Most, if not all exposure comes from summer ball. If a kid is a D1 prospect (but not top pro prospect) newspapers clippings typically only draw interest not visits. College coaches are busy in the spring.

Not that it matters, but update velo is now 83mph. Checked his weight...he is up to 170 lean. Looking forward to season. Also got locked into a good travel team that play in some big tourneys.

Wait, what?  25 pounds and 6 mph in less than four weeks?  Sorry, I'm too analytical.. will try not to read too much into that. 

Congrats on the gains and the travel team connection!!

Well I'm thinking he was closer to 160 @ time of first post. I hadn't heard his weight since summer, so that is my fault. I would be too as I know daddy stats get lofty....not the case here. Mind you he hit 83 once and 82 3 times. The rest were 80-81 in 25 pitch bullpen. His work ethic is crazy so the gains don't surprise me. Bands and plyo on no throw days. Weights for football. He has had hit it hard in the last month. Time will tell. Practice starts in 2 weeks.

Bullet let me apologize before I get started....I have a Very athletic 2019  6’3” 175lbs RHP, 88mph (PG), played in all the big PG tournaments, Jupiter, etc... very successful, etc... no offers yet.  My point is you have time.  I would not spend another minute worrying,  enjoy every minute, relax, have fun

Bullet34,

Despite the updated weight / height gain it is still about skills development and working toward having something to showcase in the near future.   Exposure comes after you know your son has something college coaches want.  I agree with RJM that a local showcase is a great place to start to know if he is ready.  My son's travel team had college coaches at his team's practices & workouts and that is how we knew he was ready.

There are a number of critically important things that your son should be focused on at this point in time.   Further skills development, identifiying target schools, grades & GPA, preparing for SAT/ACT, setting his travel schedule (to focus on the aforementioned schools) and beginning to network with people that can help in his recruitment.    You've got to start somewhere.  Setting these foundational elements is very important.   Most likely the target schools will change over time, but the foundational stuff will stay with him.   If your son's travel coach or high school coach is involved in his recruitment that is an extra bonus as they can be a sounding board or a resource to help open doors or make introductions.

I'm not going to sugar coat it.   There is a lot of hard work in front of him, and he is going to rely on you for guidance.   As a parent at this point in time, you've got to take a quick course in college baseball recruiting 101 and 201 (read lots of HSBBWeb posts through the search feature) so you can prepare yourself and your son what may be coming your way and various options.    You will quickly realize everybody is different.  Timelines are different.   There are many paths to get the same outcome.   Everybody goes through this and it can be maddening.   My son changed direction on me a couple times, and we were able to quickly adjust because he gave himself a lot of options through his baseball skills and academics...again foundational elements that have value to college coaches.

As always, JMO.   Good luck!

I completely agree and great post. We are just going to focus on having a good season. He will have some pressure trying to prove his worth at Varsity as a freshmen. Probably from himself more than anybody. Fortunately we don't need to worry about academics, as he is will be close to a 4.0 with many AP honors classes. We can't control size, but I agree on preparing and learning. All this is great. We are using NCSA to start networking and doing our list of prospective schools. He also has a local guy who has pro experience and college connections guiding him a bit. I have seen too many players not ready when the time comes for things to get serious about moving to next level. We will not fall into that category. We are done showcasing until as you all say he is ready which seems a bit cloudy on when that exactly is...lol. i keep hearing much conflicting info, but I'm satisfied to give a while before we go again. Our travel coach says that we will go to a school only if they contact him (the travel coach) for a UV or personal invite to a camp. This forum is awesome. I really do appreciate all of you passing down experience and knowledge. I feel like this is some place that everyone should know about that have ball players in the house.

bullet34 posted:

lol. i keep hearing much conflicting info

One thing this site is really good at is conflicting info!! But you can take it, weigh it and make the right decision for you and for your son. Welcome aboard and enjoy both your son and the debates you will see on this site!

Make sure that he is having fun......if HE wants to do more, fine, but take your clues from him. A freshman has a long ways to go so don't let anyone sap the joy out of the game by pushing that he should be throwing 80 or 85 or whatever, creating targets that will all depend on his physical development.   And breaking balls can wait until that arm is older and more developed. A fastball and a changeup can work wonders, and no college is going to worry about how many strikeouts he had in 9th grade.    Some kids hit eye-popping numbers early but there is no need to rush anything for a 9th grader.  If he wants to play other sports, encourage that too-high school sports  are a lot of fun creating a lifetime of memories and I hear of too many kids starting to "specialize" way too early. If he loves the game and loves playing, he will develop just fine.  

bullet34 posted:

. We are using NCSA to start networking and doing our list of prospective schools. He also has a local guy who has pro experience and college connections guiding him a bit. I have seen too many players not ready when the time comes for things to get serious about moving to next level. We will not fall into that category. 

I am not going to bash on NCSA as Im sure some have found use in it, but I would suggest doing some research before going all in on them.  Many of the functions they offer can be done very easily and to a higher result level by the athlete themselves.   Read through a lot of the info on this site, do some searches.  In the end you may find that you have the ability to achieve better results with more control if you put together your own recruiting plan and do all the "marketing" yourself. 

Here is a high level approach.  If you have any specific questions, post your question as a separate topic, you will receive lots of advice...

-Ensure you are on the right travel team.  Not all teams are built equal.  Just because you are playing in a lot of high level tourneys and the program has a reputation for winning you may not be in the right program.  The right program will be designed for recruiting not tourney wins.  I see your in IL, PM me if your in Chicagoland and let me know what program your in.  I maybe able to provide some guidance.

-Start by putting together a list of 50 - 100 schools your son is interested in.  Make sure you are across all spectrums.  D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO, etc.  The larger the list the better.  Make sure these schools interest your son.  For instance if you are not religious but you have the Uber conservative religious school on your list, its probably not a fit for your son.

-Put together an athletic resume.  This should be a one pager that is easy to read.  Include name, contact info, position info, measurable info, GPA, High School and HS contact info (consular and coach), and travel coach contact info.

-Put together a semi generic email. A couple of small paragraphs is all you need.  Make sure its easy to read.  You will need to modify this email for every school you send it to.  In the verbiage of the email you should mention something specific about the school you are sending it to.  In other words make is personable and seem like it was custom written for that school.  Have your son introduce himself, explain why he is interested in the school he is emailing, give a couple of highlights about his playing ability to catch their attention.  Let them know you have attached a resume and a copy of your HS and summer schedule.

-If you feel like his playing style is smooth and will show well, include a link to a recruiting video.  Do some research on how to make a recruiting video.  There is a specific way to shoot them.  The video should only last a couple of minutes at most.  No music, commentary or graphic overlays (other then a splash page with contact info at the beginning and end.  In general not game footage as well.  You can include some at the end.  They are actually pretty boring but if shot and produced properly can be very effective.

-Send the email out to those 50 - 100 schools.  At his age you most likely will get back a camp invite.  This is not a sign of interest.  But if the email is very personal or if you receive multiple invites from the same coach in a short period of time, their maybe some interest.  This is a very tough area to work in.  Schools use camps as a money make to fund additional coaches or programs, as well as recruit players.  The trick to this whole thing is to figure out which ones are interested in your son and which are not.  If the email contains a cell phone number for the RC at the school, have your son (not you) call and talk to the coach.  You will gain some insight as to their interest. 

-As you progress through the recruiting process you will start to narrow down you list of schools.  Hopefully at some point you will have a good line of communication to a couple of schools.  You should focus a lot of effort on those schools.  In addition as your son starts to attend additional showcases and camps you will need to email the list of schools attending prior to the camp.  Send a personal email to each school attaching your sons resume and recruiting video to them.  Hopefully this will help them remember your son when they seen him at the showcases.

At the end of the day, you control your recruiting process.  Do not leave it up to anyone else. No matter what they tell you.  Do not be afraid to ask questions as you go through the process.  Folks on this board can be very helpful.