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Last summer Francis7 started a thread called College baseball reality.  It got me thinking about what really happens when players get to college.  My son is a college freshman, and he had lots of friends from his high school and summer teams who are also playing in college. I made a list of 33 of them, who are at everything from JUCO to P5. I had planned to track how things went for them during freshman year; now, of course, those brief seasons are over, so I thought I'd share what the results were.

Of course, we have no idea how things would have played out over a long season; some players were not playing well and might have been benched, some were playing well and might have moved up. Some of these teams had played fewer than 10 games when all was cancelled.  So, all this really tells is what had happened 2 weeks to a month into the season.

Total players starting college in fall 2019:
7 at P5
10 at mid-major D1
7 at D2
6 at D3
1 at NAIA
2 at JUCO

# of players NOT on spring roster:  8 out of 33
(some cut after 40+ fall rosters, some no idea what happened):
5 P5 players
2 D1 mid-major players
1 D3 player

Playing time for players on spring rosters:
P5:  1 starting (fielder)
        1 not playing
D1:  3 played in more than 50% of games or 10+ IP
        2 played in a few games, less than 7 AB
        3 played in 0 games
D2:  2 getting two-way playing time, playing every week
        3 played in one game, 1-2 IP or 1 AB
        2 played in 0 games
D3:  1 getting two-way playing time, playing every week
        1 getting a few IP each week
        2 played in one game, 1 AB
        1 played in 0 games
NAIA: 1 starting
JUCO: 1 played in half of games (10+ AB)
          1 pitched in one game (out of 15)

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Of the five P5 players did any of them receive athletic money? What I’ve seen is players shooting for their dream P5 on a long shot and ending up not on the roster. They could have received money and a better shot at getting on the field at a mid major. 

In most cases if a kid doesn’t receive any baseball money he’s third string recruiting insurance against two recruits ahead of him receiving money.

baseballhs posted:

At the P5s, I don't even think it matters if you have athletic money.  Sometimes that puts a bigger target on you because that is what they are wanting back.  We knew quite a few with scholarships above the 25%, who left at Christmas and transferred.  It's eye opening for sure.

Some kids realize early they overreached. Or they see a big challenge they don’t want to risk. Those getting money get first shot even if it’s 25%. But first shot doesn’t always mean starter. But they still have to prove they belong.

baseballhs posted:

At the P5s, I don't even think it matters if you have athletic money.  Sometimes that puts a bigger target on you because that is what they are wanting back.  We knew quite a few with scholarships above the 25%, who left at Christmas and transferred.  It's eye opening for sure.

I’ve never thought of it this way and I think it’s an interesting (and kinda scary) concept that could be true in some situations.  From my observations at Mid D1, the guys on scholarship get more chances to show that they can’t play, while the non scholarship guys get few chances to show they can. But in the end the $ doesn’t matter. You have to produce. Period. 

Last edited by RoadRunner

P5 Coach: "Johnny I like you and you are working hard, but Jimmy is outperforming you and unfortunately we don't have a spot for you on the roster this year, however my friend at "JC drop down P5" has a spot for you, of course you can stay at "P5 U", but if you do you will not be able to play here again and you will have to sit out a year if you transfer to another school, so I suggest you call coach "JC drop down P5" and work out the details.

Unbeknownst to freshman at "jC drop down P5" that a P5 player is going to show up in January and 'take" his spot that he worked hard to earn in the fall...

Welcome to college baseball.... 

BOF posted:

P5 Coach: "Johnny I like you and you are working hard, but Jimmy is outperforming you and unfortunately we don't have a spot for you on the roster this year, however my friend at "JC drop down P5" has a spot for you, of course you can stay at "P5 U", but if you do you will not be able to play here again and you will have to sit out a year if you transfer to another school, so I suggest you call coach "JC drop down P5" and work out the details.

Unbeknownst to freshman at "jC drop down P5" that a P5 player is going to show up in January and 'take" his spot that he worked hard to earn in the fall...

Welcome to college baseball.... 

So true and I bet it is going to happen a lot right now with 2020's and guys able to return.  The coach is going to say you got your year back but I won't have a spot.  I've already called my friend and he has a spot.  We are planning on bringing you back but you need to call today.  Because those spots will be filling up fast.

I didnt know where to post this.

Just an FYI. according to D1 baseball, as of April 5th, 199 players have signed into the transfer portal, 104 being graduate transfers. This does not include those who entered the portal before the season was cancelled. It was noted many of them were from IVY league programs.

I saw the same thing.  Without counting, I'd guess there were 25-30 Ivy players there, and more still from schools that do not offer graduate/master's level options.  I don't know what percentage of possible Ivy and similar grads that represents to the total number possible, but it's probably somewhere in the range of half.  I think that's a pretty significant number of guys that are willing to give up what are likely good job opportunities, even in these current economic conditions, to continue to play.

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