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Looking for advice on whether / how to pursue guest invites for my 2024 RHP/SS. He plays for a local team that doesn’t attend the bigger tournaments. I’ve seen a lot of comments on the board about playing the best competition you can and I think he would benefit from being challenged more. At the same time, he’s getting great development with a respected coach and the team’s format allows him to focus a lot of time on getting bigger, faster, stronger. So I’m wondering if he could balance the two by staying with the current team and looking for select opportunities to pick up with other teams for the bigger tournaments.

Is that possible? If so, how does it happen? Would he reach out to coaches or do the coaches find the players? Does he need to showcase or get on social media so people can find him?

Also, is it harder to pursue this strategy if he wants to stay as a two-way? From what I’ve seen, it looks like mostly pitchers guest play. I think he’d be open to PO as a guest player and that’s probably his best selling point. He sits mid 80s from the mound and has been told he’ll get innings this spring with his HS varsity team.

All advice is greatly appreciated.

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There are a few ways we have used to find  guesting opportunities for our (C) 2024 son. One is to put son's name on the PG bulletin board (of course, it helps to have PG tournament stats listed). Another is to network among baseball player parents- let it be known your son is looking for guest opportunities. We have helped pitchers we know get hooked up with other teams looking for guest pitchers. Which part of PA are you in?

(And yes, much easier to get guest opportunities as a PO)

Last edited by Fan2024

Sitting mid 80’s as a 2024 makes your son an elite arm at the national level.  You could send a video with radar visible to any of the top ranked national teams and get an invite to play with them instantly.  I can’t imagine playing with a local club against local competition would be any challenge or benefit for him.  

I have a 2024 LHP/1B in southeast PA.  He started to get invites to guest play at large national events last fall, and several programs have contacted him recently about events this coming summer.  The calls come from a need for pitching, with expectations for DH/EH when he is not pitching.  Much of the initial contact starts on Instagram when interested teams direct message my son.

My son now has three years of performance history with PG for all to see at perfectgame.org.  He gradually built his "PG resume" while playing with his local club at regional PG tournament events. IMO, the initial interest starts with his PG Player Profile. Additionally, we started making video a priority last summer - my son will post highlight clips on his Instagram story, I will post much of the video on a YouTube channel ready to share when the next call comes.

As a family we can only fund so many trips to GA and FL each year with our finite $ and limited PTO.  We are trying to get more organized so that we can be proactive and targeted about which national scout teams would create the most positive exposure for my player.  As both @22and25 and @TerribleBPthrower advise, we will be getting in contact with some of the teams he wants to play for and send them video. Our focus is now on events in the Aug through Oct calendar.

Last edited by mjd-dad

Some good advice above. 

To add to it, be up front with your current org what you plan to do.  It's nice to tell them directly before you guest play. Many don't tell their current team and they find out through third parties. Feelings get hurt.

If guest playing with a national org, have a conversation beforehand how they plan to use your son. Make sure it is clear to all involved.

Word of advice.  Make sure your agreement comes with an understanding that they will put him on their roster.  We played several tournaments and son was never added to roster.  His play still drew interest from scouts watching but he did not get credit on PG site for any of it.

PG message board is the easiest but you have to know what age and what events you want to play in.  Don't be ashamed to play him up because several teams are always looking for pitchers.  You should not have to pay to be a guest PO other than maybe a few dollars if they let you keep jersey.  Other than that they are normally the ones needing players so we never paid to play as a guest with any of my sons.

@PitchingFan posted:

Word of advice.  Make sure your agreement comes with an understanding that they will put him on their roster.  We played several tournaments and son was never added to roster.  His play still drew interest from scouts watching but he did not get credit on PG site for any of it.

PG message board is the easiest but you have to know what age and what events you want to play in.  Don't be ashamed to play him up because several teams are always looking for pitchers.  You should not have to pay to be a guest PO other than maybe a few dollars if they let you keep jersey.  Other than that they are normally the ones needing players so we never paid to play as a guest with any of my sons.

Hang on, they had him play and didn’t add him to the roster? Did they just have him play under a different name? I’ve never heard of this before. I’m not questioning you, I just think it’s pretty s***** to have a kid play for you and not addd them to a roster

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the perspective and advice. It’s clear there are some do’s and dont’s that we need to keep in mind with not having been down this road before.

The budget point is a big one for us. I’m sure it’s not a yes or no question, but thoughts on whether freshman year travel is worth it? We’re a little ways outside of Philly so any national event will require a flight and hotel. If it is worth it, are there 2-3 events you’d recommend we target?

Thanks!

Target a tourney, but only with the right team. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the WWBA if you’re with a sh!t team.

My advice would be to get him to a PBR event (lower cost than PG), get documented measurables you can send to a team, and then see where he can land. And then I would suggest he make that team his priority for pitching. Don’t burn his arm off throwing for both.

@Senna posted:

Target a tourney, but only with the right team. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the WWBA if you’re with a sh!t team.

My advice would be to get him to a PBR event (lower cost than PG), get documented measurables you can send to a team, and then see where he can land. And then I would suggest he make that team his priority for pitching. Don’t burn his arm off throwing for both.

First stop on the 2021 season for my son is the PBR PA pre-season indoor trials in six weeks, with a goal to be a top performer at the PBR PA State Games scheduled for June.  He has aspirations to garner an invite to the PBR Futures Games.   If that all happens, then the opportunities to guest play with the a top rank national scout team should fall in place, If it doesn't happen, then my son will just keep grinding. 

Hang on, they had him play and didn’t add him to the roster? Did they just have him play under a different name? I’ve never heard of this before. I’m not questioning you, I just think it’s pretty s***** to have a kid play for you and not addd them to a roster

It happened on multiple occasions in WWBA's with sons.  Oldest son pitched a no hitter and hit 2 homeruns in 17U WWBA to upset #2 ranked team in the tournament and was not on the roster with a team from California.  Last minute add and did not put him on the roster.  PG had to come get his name to do the write-up.  He was added by PG the next day.

Youngest son played in every PG event he could from age 14 until 17U and was not on many rosters because many were last week adds to rosters.  When he was 14,  he played in 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U and 18U WWBA and was only on rosters for 14 and 15U.  PG does not care as long as they are eligibile but it does not help overall stats on player's PG page.  Almost every occasion both sons got to pitch and play the field or at least hit.  Just know it is awkward when you are a pickup with a team you never met.  The parents are especially cold when your kid takes one of their kid's spots.  They are not really there to win but for their kid.  I never really associated with the parents after my first year of doing guest play.

I would disagree on you have to play for a top team to make it worth your time to go to PG event as a guest player.  It is luck of the draw or agreement up front.  When youngest was 14, he played in the 17U WWBA with a team from Delaware that only had 10 players by the time they got to Atlanta.  I had negotiated that son would get to pitch at least some at LakePointe.  Their first game was cancelled because of rain and it got moved to LakePointe at 1 AM in the morning of the third night.  They called and wanted son to pitch.  We drove down and he pitched against team that won the tournament.  There were scouts everywhere to see the other team.  Son pitched a 1 hitter through 6 innings tied 0-0.  Not on roster and all the scouts kept asking who the kid on the mound was.  It was awkward because none of their parents knew who he was.  They kept saying some kid we picked up.  I had to answer their questions.  The scouts were intriqued not only that a 14 year old could shut down this team but how a 14 year old kid from MIssouri stepped on a team with 17 year olds from Delaware to play in a big game.  They pulled son in the seventh for their ace and lost 8-0.  I asked son later about the kids and he said the only person who talked to him the whole game was a kid on the bench that asked his name and the coach.  But he got great exposure and even one offer later from that night.  I always negotiated that my sons would get a game at East Cobb or LakePointe or against a top team at a nearby field if they were going to guest pitch.  You can be on the best team in the tournament but if you are a no name pitching at the airport you are wasting your time and money.  But it really is luck as to who you play whether scouts will be there if you are not at the main fields.

Last edited by PitchingFan
@PitchingFan posted:

It happened on multiple occasions in WWBA's with sons.  Oldest son pitched a no hitter and hit 2 homeruns in 17U WWBA to upset #2 ranked team in the tournament and was not on the roster with a team from California.  Last minute add and did not put him on the roster.  PG had to come get his name to do the write-up.  He was added by PG the next day.

Youngest son played in every PG event he could from age 14 until 17U and was not on many rosters because many were last week adds to rosters.  When he was 14,  he played in 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U and 18U WWBA and was only on rosters for 14 and 15U.  PG does not care as long as they are eligibile but it does not help overall stats on player's PG page.  Almost every occasion both sons got to pitch and play the field or at least hit.  Just know it is awkward when you are a pickup with a team you never met.  The parents are especially cold when your kid takes one of their kid's spots.  They are not really there to win but for their kid.  I never really associated with the parents after my first year of doing guest play.

I would disagree on you have to play for a top team to make it worth your time to go to PG event as a guest player.  It is luck of the draw or agreement up front.  When youngest was 14, he played in the 17U WWBA with a team from Delaware that only had 10 players by the time they got to Atlanta.  I had negotiated that son would get to pitch at least some at LakePointe.  Their first game was cancelled because of rain and it got moved to LakePointe at 1 AM in the morning of the third night.  They called and wanted son to pitch.  We drove down and he pitched against team that won the tournament.  There were scouts everywhere to see the other team.  Son pitched a 1 hitter through 6 innings tied 0-0.  Not on roster and all the scouts kept asking who the kid on the mound was.  It was awkward because none of their parents knew who he was.  They kept saying some kid we picked up.  I had to answer their questions.  The scouts were intriqued not only that a 14 year old could shut down this team but how a 14 year old kid from MIssouri stepped on a team with 17 year olds from Delaware to play in a big game.  They pulled son in the seventh for their ace and lost 8-0.  I asked son later about the kids and he said the only person who talked to him the whole game was a kid on the bench that asked his name and the coach.  But he got great exposure and even one offer later from that night.  I always negotiated that my sons would get a game at East Cobb or LakePointe or against a top team at a nearby field if they were going to guest pitch.  You can be on the best team in the tournament but if you are a no name pitching at the airport you are wasting your time and money.  But it really is luck as to who you play whether scouts will be there if you are not at the main fields.

I’ve had PG mess up stats because they didn’t catch a sub, but that would stink to not even be listed.

It is awkward at first for sure. This summer my son was put in lead off for the first game and my wife and I cringed. By the end though the parents and kids seemed ok with it. He led the tourney in BA and XBH.

I think you were referring to Senna as far as he quality of the team. I don’t care as long as he plays. I will say son’s fall team was very good and the coach asked the TD’s to schedule the best teams for pool games. They went 2-3 against 5 of the top 10 teams in the country. In normal times there would have been scouts everywhere.

That is really weird with the roster thing.  This summer at a PG event our team ran a kid out to 1B that was not on our  roster (apparently parents hadn’t signed off on the liability waiver so he wasn’t activated yet).  The scorekeeper held the game up and would not allow the umps to start until the kid was off the field or on the roster.

I am curious if the coaches turned in a lineup with another kid’s name in your son’s place.  It takes about 2 seconds to add a kid to a roster, the whole thing sounds really odd.

Last edited by 22and25

This would have been before all of the stuff that is done now at WWBA.  There was a true scorekeeper but not all the technology.  This would have been 5 years ago and later.  There were kids playing in almost every playoff game that were not on the roster back then.  Technology in PG has come a long way in the past few years.  Four years ago, I watched 5 kids between the two teams pitch in a championship game at 17U where none were on the rosters on the team pages.  But I also saw it two years ago in the playoffs where a kid was picked up that morning so it must have just been your scorekeeper.  None of these that I'm talking about were illegal they were just not on the rosters.  I just don't think unless someone questions it that PG cares and most of the big boys do it on a regular basis.  One of the big boys had their number two team get upset and knew they would not make the playoffs so they moved a few pitchers who had not pitched yet to the #1 team to win a championship.

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