Base Running-In Park Home Run

#1bballmomfan,

One way to get your son's speed noticed is to go to a Perfect Game Showcase and run a 6.6 or faster 60yds which is what they time at showcases. It will then be on your son's profile forever. Scouts and coaches also time players' times to first with anything under 4.0 seconds being a really good time especially from the right hand box.

What 3bagger said...

I'd forget about the inside-the-park time.  Baseball people won't relate to that.  It's his 60 yd time and home-to-first that they have benchmarks for.  Most showcases will time him in the 60.  There is more merit to a time registered at a large showcase such as PG that everyone trusts as a credible neutral source who conducts things in the proper manner.

He just turned 17 and is a 2015.  He was timed at a local showcase at 6.7 60yd and ran a 3.70 30yd that was back in September.  His times have greatly increased and he's running a 11 flat 100yd.  We are in the Texas area and have heard about the PG events but not sure how to get into one of them.

You can go to perfectgame.org  They aren't cheap but very highly regarded and followed by the right baseball people.  Also, there is a ton of info here on HSBBW about them that will help you determine if it is a fit for your son.  Just use the search.  Come back with any questions - there is also a regular poster here from PG that is very helpful and straight forward.

Just for further reference…the average MLB time for a RHH home-first is 4.30 seconds, LHH is 4.20 seconds. That is in-game, from the point of ball-to-bat contact to the point of foot-to-bag contact. 60-yard average is 6.90 seconds. Due to the nature of the job, I tend to put more value in home-to-first times because 1) I'm able to see them more, and 2) they're more realistic to the game of baseball than running 60 yards in a straight line. Both are taken into account, along with first step quickness, running form, and explosiveness, when evaluating a player.

Thank you J.H.  it seems then my son's time is very competitive and should be able to maybe grab some attention.  I look forward to seeing how these next two showcases go and how he performs there.  We are in the process of putting a skills video together in hopes this will show some of his potential and skills.  Thanks for the info.  

I also applied for an invitation to a PG showcase at McKinney Ranch coming up in August.  That is actually where he did the Metro Scout League Dallas Fall event.    

#1bballmomfan- No problem. Let us know if we can help at all. Keep the video short and simple - highlight his tools. I see videos with a lot of fluff and background info that is both distracting and wastes time. Recruiters/scouts don't really care about music being played in videos or a player's stats (I listen to my own music when writing reports, and a simple Google search of a player's name will provide most other info). Just show us the meat and potatoes, we don't like side dishes. 

JH,

Those Major League times to first are skewed by Bartolo Colon's 8.6 to first!

Dustin Pedroia and JJ Hardy ran the same exact 60 time as Prince Fielder when they were all in high school. Troy Tulowitzki was slower. Maybe we all need to reevaluate our stopwatch-clicking skills… 

Just to clarify...

1. Are you saying his speed has improved greatly since he last ran the 6.8?

2. Does he also run track during baseball season? What events? Track is similar to baseball in that there are not enough scholarships to field a team. So, if your son is running track and excels at multiple events, then he opens himself up to more scholarship offers.

In my opinion, track has fewer variables in that it is not as subjective as baseball. I know of a kid who is at a tiny 1A high school that is going to a top level D1 track program. It doesn't matter that he destroys the 1A competition, it's his times on the track that matter. It doesn't matter if you're 5'10" or 6'4". I'm sure there is some projection in T&F, but your time, distance, etc... peformance is what matters.

His 100m decreased by almost a second (11.75 his sophomore to 11:00 his junior year)so we are pretty sure his 60 has decreased as well.  Our baseball program doesn't time 60's as this was done digitally at a showcase (Metro Scout League).  We have had several interested colleges for his speed.  He does run track during the season.  He qualified and ran regionals in 100 and 200 but didn't advance to state this year.  He also plays football in the fall.  Lets just say he loves to compete. His heart is baseball but he loves football and we have encouraged him to play what he wants now because in a year that won't be the case.  People think he's crazy for doing all those sports, but he excels at them and loves to compete. We have talked in depth about which one he wants to do.  He wants to go to college and play baseball.  That's his dream.  He's a very driven young man and we have no doubt he will play somewhere....it's just finding that somewhere....or getting that someone to see him. 

On the Perfect Game part he applied and received the invite to attend the showcase that will be held in McKinney this summer today so I think we are going to also try that as well as the Top 96 and Complete Showcase. Is that the Perfect Game you were referring to?  

Update...time has passed way to fast for me.  I was able to locate that video of son running the 14 sec in park home run.  Initially I thought my hubs deleted it with all the other baseball videos that got deleted when he was transferring all my videos to CD's, but somehow I was able to find a good handful of videos I thought were lost forever. I uploaded it to YouTube and attached the link below.  His 60 time dropped down to 6.44-6.5 and clocked at 90+ bad speed.  This video was taken May of 2014. He is still uncommitted and anxiously awaiting the season to get under way.  Currently he's looking at a few D3's, a NAIA and a D2 but undecided really

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http://youtu.be/6NABEaZFHlI

#1baseballmomfan:

The next PG showcase in Texas is early June in Houston. 

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2853

Hoping by then he will have a college commitment....

At a D1 camp in SoCal, they had players stand in the box without a bat. The coach pitched a baseball, they pretended to swing, and were timed to second.

I thought it was a telling drill because some boys pick up speed as they go.