60 yard times for outfielders

grandslamfan, The 60yd dash won't make or break a coaches opinion of you unless it is extreme. A 6.5 or a 8.00 could sway his opinion, but the nickname you use will sway him a lot more. A kid who is a real good hitter and is an adequate runner will get lots of attention. A CF is a player that will be a good runner, but if you can hit and don't run very fast, they will just move you to left or right.

My son runs a 6.4 60 and the coach has him playin LF.

Hey guys, as an OF the main thing is, to read the ball at the crack of the bat and to run good routes. If your son is a decent runner and has good a god jump on the ball, he wont have any problems, when it come to hitting? You don't have to be a power hitter to play CF, for the most cases the RF is the one with the lumber and better arm. How many times a baseball player has to run 60 yards on a straight line? 6.7 to 6.9 is MLB average.

xgent,
Your son must run track?. He's a burner!


Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Links to a couple of articles:

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/pro-scouting/scouting_speed.htm

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/pro-scouting/rating_system.htm

Bob,
"Doing nothing is still a course of action"

Don't confess speed with quickness and agility.

GO NAVY!!!BEAT army!!!!!

Last year a mid-major D1 college coach told me they were looking for sub 6.7 for centerfielders and sub 7.0 for corner outfielders. He claimed virtually every D1 or D2 outfielder in North Carolina (about 25 teams?) could run sub 7.

Having observed the recruiting of my '04 outfielder son, by far the most important tool they are looking for from their outfielders is hitting - the ability to really deliver HRs and RBIs (particularly at the corner outfield spots) or a fast runner who can get lots and lots of base hits.

Yes, there is a lot more to being an outfielder - getting a jump on the ball, agility, etc. etc., but that's very tough to observe in the few times they see a kid. Though it seems awfully simplistic, the truth is they at least make a preliminary judgement based on something they can measure - their 60 yd time.

-jda

A lot has to do with the type of game that a coach plays--some like speedy outfielders with good defense and not necessarily being power hitters

Others don't look for speed other than in their centerfielder and want power out of the LF and RF posiitons.

Just another think to investigate as you go thru the recruiting process--do your tools fit the programs style of play?

TRhit

CF needs the speed, RF need the arm, and LF needs to hit. All outfielders need to react from the crack of the bat. Above all accurate arms and knowing where to throw in the split second decision to hold a runner or gun him down is more important than the .2tenths speed in a straight line. A quick note is that a quick ball transfer or mid crow hop could shave the .2seconds.

Softhands...6.7-6.9 is major league average? Which Major League?

In the US, each team has a 2 quick outfielders and a couple of middleinfielders that might run less than 7. I would bet that only 1 or 2 on a team are 6.7 or less.

I remember the Angels when they won the World Series. Had to be the slowest team in the history of MLB. Eckstein seemed like the only guy that had any running speed. Erstad is about 7.0. Catcher was about a 9.2. Spiezio had to be 7.4-7.5. Kennedy at 7.2. Glaus at 7.8. Salmon at 15.0 and Anderson at 7.2. ...and the DH.

beenthere, I'll bet each would say "it was a slow track"

If you can run, great. But speed, arm and defense are really secondary skills in the college game. A generalization, maybe, but that is mostly how it is.

In college, outfielders are hitters, period. All have to hit for average and corner outfielders have to hit for power, too.

OLDVAMAN

I respectfully disagree

It all depends on the type of game the program plays-

TRhit

Thanks for all your input. My son is a two way player, right fielder/pitcher right now (15 year old). He wants to play both ways in college, but he hasn't showcased his position player skills as well as his pitching skills at the showcases we've been to. Good thing he has two more years to do that. He ran a slow 60 (7.6) at the last showcase we were at, but ran a 7.1 with summer team last week, indoors. He has been very disappointed with his hitting at the showcases. He is a much better hitter than he has demonstrated. He has done very well during the summer against some of the better teams in the country. I can't say it enough, thanks for all your advice to start early, now he has time to improve!

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet" Bobby Unser

Salmon a 15.0?

Can you say, facetious?

Actually, he's likely an 8.0

I think I can beat Manny Ramirez to 1st. He usually jogs and sometimes doesn't even bother with that.

My kid just needs to beat the batter to 1st base from the mound....thank goodness.

The bottom line is that you can play D1 without being super fast. But you will definitely get a lot more looks if you can run 6.5 to 6.7.
The pro scouts that I have spoken to say that they consider 6.8 to 6.9 to be average speed.

If you are Manny Ramirez or Sammy Sosa you can take one hour from home to first, but don't get wrong, both of them were very fast runners when signed.

"Peace is, the respect for the other people's rights".
Benito Juarez

The funny thing about this thread is grandslamfan wanted to know what speed it would take to be considered for a D1 outfield position. I guess, that my answer would be that there is no magic time. The better you hit the better chance of getting a scholarship. Hitters get in the lineup. Runners get in the line up if they can hit.

bt...Not sure where you get 6.7-6.9 for mlb outfielders.

With the Cubbies, Lofton almost died running from gap to gap between SammyCork and Alou. If Sosa was at 7.5, then Alou must be at 8.2.

There was a kid at my first college who ran like a 6.4 60 and was an outfielder, problem was, when the ball was hit in his vicinity, he would stare at it for a second to see how far it was hit and then he would run. The best outfielders can break almost instantly and most balls that do not stay up in the air that long are caught because of the jump and not so much the speed of the outfielder. In this kids case, he was the fastest player on the field and maybe the league, but a pretty bad outfielder when it came to getting a jump on the ball and many routine catches fell in. He was as much a liability as he was fast, and while he tracked some balls down in the gaps that were hit high, for the most part he wasn't very good. There was another player that had absolutely no idea what to do when the ball was hit right at him either short or right over his head.

It takes more than speed to be a good outfielder and coaches need to know that you can actually catch the ball or at least get to it, as opposed to just being fast.

Good point ghouse. That 7.1 kid can look 6.7 and the only difference is the reaction time.

Speed is just one of the 5 tools scouts look at when evaluating a prospect. If you are slow runner, that is OK if you hit for power, or if you are a pitcher. If you have average speed, you will be OK if you have good defensive abilities (good arm. good hands, etc...), and of course good hitting potential.
If you are fast, don't care what position you play, speed is a plus that will increase your value as a prospect depending on the rest of your tools. Always will be exceptions, but exepcions can not be used against the rule.

"Peace is, the respect for the other people's rights".
Benito Juarez

TR

Knew that one would tweak you a little. And, as the parent of an outfielder who prides himself on arm and defense and speed, it tweaks me, too.

But we're finding more and more coaches are telling us it's all about the bat.

All many seem to want from their outfielders on defense is not to make the big mistake and just hit the first cutoff man. Then hit a 400-foot line drive when it's your turn. They'd like their center fielder to be able to run a little bit, but they want offense first and last.

I know what you're saying and I know you know coaches that feel differently. But that's not the message we heard.

So I guess my son will continue pitching and hitting lessons and not worry so much about running.

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet" Bobby Unser

OLDVAMAN

They are out there but I do agree the bat will always work--my sons speed and bat kept him in the lineup plus the fact he could play all three outfield positions but it was his bat and speed that was key

I also think it may vary from region to region as well with the college coaches.

Bottom line is the kid had better be a "player"

TRhit

WHen my son first started playing AAU he was asked for the first time to play the outfield.
Usually at first when not pitching, there were now three bigger and slower firstbasemen in front of him who needed to be in the lineup, too.
It was not pretty at first, but as he gained the innings in left....his instincts improved and was able to get a good first step and get to the ball even though he was not under 7.0...
Made some ESPN catches out there and had a ton of fun playing the OF...

______________________________
By the time you learn how to play the game...
You can't play it anymore ~ Frank Howard

Somebody once told me, if you can hit, they will find a spot for you. Hitting has got to be the most difficult task in baseball. Stand up there and someone throwing a round object 90 mph from 60 feet and try to hit it with authority with another round object. Believe me, if you can hit, they will definetly find a spot for you.

There was a player who reportedly had a Sports Illustrated article written about him claiming he may have been the best base stealer ever (pre-Ricky Henderson). He couldn't hit and I don't think he ever got past AAA. When I played against him he was playing for a team whose manager had just been kicked out of an independent league and had brought most of the team down to the LA area.

ALL OF YOU GUY
Speed helps, and I don't know why must showcases put so much care for the 60's.

softhands
Speed is one of 5 skills that scouts looks for in a good prospect. So they test players at all 5 aspect including speed. May be from home to first running is more important to messure in baseball, but they do the 60 yards. Even so scouts take home to first times during games.
Like you say speed just help, and speed along doesn't say nothing if it is not together with some other of the tools.

"Peace is, the respect for the other people's rights".
Benito Juarez

BeenThere,

Just to clarify, I wasn't saying that 6.8 to 6.9 was average for MLB Outfielders. I was told by the head of the Major League Scouting Bureau here in Texas that 6.8 to 6.9 is considered average speed by pro scouts when evaluating a prospect.

Well we have a centerfeilder hes a 10th grader and he runs it in a 7.2 and all the major D1 schools such as Fsu, Floria and Auburn have been watching him along with Lsu. He has an average of .430 and hits the ball hard constantly. So i dont think speed really matters as much as long as u read the ball good.

I don't have an answer to the specific question posted, but this past summer my son attended Area Code tryouts and various other similar events and if the organizers didn't like your 60 time, they never even allowed you to hit. You ran the 60 and it was see you later if you were not under 7.0 (by their watch, which is a whole 'nother debate about how timing is done).

At the Stanford camp the 60 was made such a big deal that kids were literally stripping down to their jocks to try and cut down their time by any millisecond possible to go into the "report" on them.

I was and remain very confused by all this, but an awful lot was made of your 60 time at these events. I still cannot get over how kids were dismissed from the Area code tryouts without ever hitting and I did not see one kid whose 60 time was that bad to be dismissed without taking some swings. You'd think hitting would come first, but every event it was the 60 that was the first thing. You'd have thought you were at track tryouts not baseball.

Anyone can hit the ball a country mile. I went to a showcase last week, and all the boys looked the same which tells me that hitting can be taught, but speed and arm strength are GIFTS!!

A certain football coach from the state of Florida has said more than once that you can't coach speed; you recruit it.

But if that fast player doesn't play good angles, get good jumps, have good footwork and have enough sense to throw to the right place the right way, that speed isn't going to put him on the field.

Unless he can hit.

In the college game, so it seems to be from this corner, every statement of tools ends that way.

Unless he can hit.