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I read through this young man's PG profile.  They graded him as 6.5 and 7.5 x 2  just a few years ago when he was 5ft10-6ft/180lbs.  I have no doubt that he's worked very hard to get to where he is now.  His dad was a former high level college player so I'm sure he had good instruction as a youth when these grades were given.  Now all of a sudden PG has an epiphany that he is a 9.5?  If they are so good as a scouting service, shouldn't they have been able to tell when he was a freshman how good he would become?

I know a 16 yo kid who did a PG showcase as a 14u.  They graded him a 6.5.  He now runs a 6.5  60  and is a heck of a player.   Come on... 6.5.  I could even tell back then that was preposterous.   He was a minimum 8.

I almost think they do this on purpose to make you feel you have to come back and do it again. errr...  I'm sorry.... pay it again.

Seriously? Perhaps you should spend some time analyzing data. It's all there for you. Take a look at the metrics of 14 yo players and compare them to metrics collected at the PG National. Do you see a difference? Grades aren't given based on what the eyes see--they are based purely on data points. Big differences in the body and abilities of a 14 yo and a player entering adulthood.

What was the 60 time for that 16 yo kid who did a PG Showcase as a 14 yo?

When you collect data points for 20+ years it's really easy to assign grades.

When you attend a PG Showcase at age 14 you cannot expect to receive high grades unless your metrics match those of older players. As others have pointed out repeatedly, it's pretty easy to get you own pocket radar and stopwatch and get those metrics on your own. You would then have an idea of what grade you'll end up with if you still want to attend.

But for those that have the means and the desire, there are many intangibles to be gained by attending--learning how to deal with pressure, feeling comfortable with showcase formats, seeing your peers and understanding where your current skillset fits and what you need to improve, etc..

Believe it or not, the remainder of that 14 yo's baseball career is one big showcase; it never stops.

@RJM posted:

This is where my philosophy of the best recruiting method is have a travel coach who has credibility and contacts and can presell the player. Once past the top one hundred players at a major PG event the next 900 can blend in. On any given day you can’t tell 200 from 1000 in three or four at bats.

My son never did a PG showcase. But from attending PG tournaments and his travel coach selling him he had a 9.5 score. I felt it was high. But hundreds of players receive 9.5. Keep in mind PG scores is how they see potential not reality.

Not sure how is was 10 years ago but you don't get assigned a grade without having at least one metric. Unless you are a pitcher who gets gunned at a PG tourney, you will not have a grade without having attended a showcase.

Of course you can be ranked, but you will not have a grade.

And there are not hundreds who get graded 9.5.

As an example, there are currently 152 players in the 2024 class graded 9.5 and above:

RHP - 30

LHP - 11

C - 22

1B - 4

3B -15

MI - 39

OF -31

@PABaseball posted:

Or the PG grades are completely meaningless and irrelevant. The sole purpose of those grades is to get people to come back (pay) to improve them.

There is zero value in their grading system. It is entirely useless.

Crazy talk on this board! I guess those MLB grades are useless as well? They are based on "tools" and those "tools" are based on data points.

PG's grades are based on data they collect.

Rankings are not the same as grades. Neither are rankings leading up to the MLB Draft. And every baseball media outlet has their own ranking.

But of course metrics aren't what make great players. We all know that already. But if you don't have the metrics (tools) it doesn't really matter what a "great" player you may be...

When I coached Little League I drafted players, not tools. And it worked pretty well. That's because my draft pool was pretty small (local community) and the players were age 12 or younger. If my draft pool consisted of the entire country I would have been able to draft "players" who also possessed "tools".

The PG grade definitely matters...to the players and sometimes the parents, especially the crazy baseball obsessed ones. I would overhear the kids in the backseat during my uber baseball dad days and it was a hoot hearing who deserved it or why they didn't based on their past tourney performance and comps to other players with said PG grades, much more engaging than the BB HOF discussions I had growing up. I can admit now since the it is past the statues of limitations, there was a time during the lull in the drinking with the parents at the tourney hotel I would bring it up to stir the pot and get the party going again. 

@absorber: "Seriously? Perhaps you should spend some time analyzing data. It's all there for you. Take a look at the metrics of 14 yo players and compare them to metrics collected at the PG National. Do you see a difference? Grades aren't given based on what the eyes see--they are based purely on data points."

Respectfully... and you know what I really mean because of how you started off your spiel...  It says right on their website that the grade is a projection of where they see the kid in the future.  And that write up of the player's performance seems an awful lot like it is based on what the PG scout's "eyes see".   

@ABSORBER posted:

Crazy talk on this board! I guess those MLB grades are useless as well? They are based on "tools" and those "tools" are based on data points.

PG's grades are based on data they collect.

Rankings are not the same as grades. Neither are rankings leading up to the MLB Draft. And every baseball media outlet has their own ranking.

But of course metrics aren't what make great players. We all know that already. But if you don't have the metrics (tools) it doesn't really matter what a "great" player you may be...

When I coached Little League I drafted players, not tools. And it worked pretty well. That's because my draft pool was pretty small (local community) and the players were age 12 or younger. If my draft pool consisted of the entire country I would have been able to draft "players" who also possessed "tools".

I was hoping this was some sort of sarcastic troll post but it does not appear that way.

If you think the guys at PG are on the same playing field as MLB scouts you are sorely mistaken. But you also compared your local little draft to the MLB draft so I don't know how much I can help to begin with.

@PABaseball posted:

I was hoping this was some sort of sarcastic troll post but it does not appear that way.

If you think the guys at PG are on the same playing field as MLB scouts you are sorely mistaken. But you also compared your local little draft to the MLB draft so I don't know how much I can help to begin with.

Posting to web forums is really a waster of time and I can only blame myself.

Lotta PG bashers here which is why PG himself quit wasting his time on this forum. Even though he was really helpful and would bend-over backwards to help a parent out.

I guess we can disagree on whether PG data collection and grading over the last 20+ years is any good. I'll just compare the PG grades (and ranking for top 250) to the last few MLB drafts and see where they differ. On the surface they seem pretty close to me (for prep players).

I was obsessed too.  In the end I realized that the top ranked 200 players or so are ranked carefully, for the draft (those players have grades of 9.5-10). PGstaff himself, when he still posted here, admitted that.

Everyone else's rank seems to be determined by an algorithm based on the data they have on the player - FB, performance at tournaments, where committed, etc, and is completely meaningless.

@ABSORBER posted:
But for those that have the means and the desire, there are many intangibles to be gained by attending--learning how to deal with pressure, feeling comfortable with showcase formats, seeing your peers and understanding where your current skillset fits and what you need to improve, etc..

I agree with much of what Absorber is saying.  But not this; paying $800 to learn how to deal with the showcase format is not justified.  There are many other places you can do that for much less money.

@2022NYC posted:

The PG grade definitely matters...to the players and sometimes the parents, especially the crazy baseball obsessed ones. I would overhear the kids in the backseat during my uber baseball dad days and it was a hoot hearing who deserved it or why they didn't based on their past tourney performance and comps to other players with said PG grades, much more engaging than the BB HOF discussions I had growing up. I can admit now since the it is past the statues of limitations, there was a time during the lull in the drinking with the parents at the tourney hotel I would bring it up to stir the pot and get the party going again.

As a baseball dad, you should have let the kids know grades aren't based on tourney performance. And then asked the kids how their metrics compared to the "graded" player in question.

Both players and parents are just as ill-informed.

@absorber: "Seriously? Perhaps you should spend some time analyzing data. It's all there for you. Take a look at the metrics of 14 yo players and compare them to metrics collected at the PG National. Do you see a difference? Grades aren't given based on what the eyes see--they are based purely on data points."

Respectfully... and you know what I really mean because of how you started off your spiel...  It says right on their website that the grade is a projection of where they see the kid in the future.  And that write up of the player's performance seems an awful lot like it is based on what the PG scout's "eyes see".   

My apologies. I should not have started my reply that way.

I was obsessed too.  In the end I realized that the top ranked 200 players or so are ranked carefully, for the draft (those players have grades of 9.5-10). PGstaff himself, when he still posted here, admitted that.

Everyone else's rank seems to be determined by an algorithm based on the data they have on the player - FB, performance at tournaments, where committed, etc, and is completely meaningless.

I agree with much of what Absorber is saying.  But not this; paying $800 to learn how to deal with the showcase format is not justified.  There are many other places you can do that for much less money.

Everyone's journey is different and I added that for emphasis. People are going to do what they want to do so whether they pay $800 or not is completely up to them. Mileage varies!

@ABSORBER posted:

Not sure how is was 10 years ago but you don't get assigned a grade without having at least one metric. Unless you are a pitcher who gets gunned at a PG tourney, you will not have a grade without having attended a showcase.

Of course you can be ranked, but you will not have a grade.

And there are not hundreds who get graded 9.5.

As an example, there are currently 152 players in the 2024 class graded 9.5 and above:

RHP - 30

LHP - 11

C - 22

1B - 4

3B -15

MI - 39

OF -31

I asked someone high up at PG how my son got a PG score without doing a PG showcase. It was explained what he showed at PG East Cobb was noticeable enough (did everything well except hit one over the fence) that they went looking for information on him. He had a score and a rank. He had metrics from a couple of well respected, regional showcases that required scout recommendations.

But, I agree with PABaseball. The scores and rankings are meaningless. It’s about what the recruiting colleges see.

Last edited by RJM

There is no doubt that in the past PG participation has helped some players. But they are in the vast minority. It’s also true that in the past Jerry Ford personally helped some players and some people on this board. That’s an even smaller minority and it is ancient history. When I joined HSBBW it was my opinion that the board was being used as a focus group by PG in order to shape public opinion and maximize profits. Personally, I thought that was disingenuous and it rubbed me the wrong way. Since Ford sold PG a couple of years ago the money grubbing has become shameful. Ranking 9u teams and players?!? Let’s see someone try to justify that! PG is a for profit business model. It is not a baseball development model. Those are facts. Once you realize that it’s much easier to figure out what part of PG, if any, will help you on your baseball journey.

@ABSORBER posted:

Posting to web forums is really a waster of time and I can only blame myself.

Lotta PG bashers here which is why PG himself quit wasting his time on this forum. Even though he was really helpful and would bend-over backwards to help a parent out.

I guess we can disagree on whether PG data collection and grading over the last 20+ years is any good. I'll just compare the PG grades (and ranking for top 250) to the last few MLB drafts and see where they differ. On the surface they seem pretty close to me (for prep players).

You're trying to convince a bunch of people who have been through the process, sat with coaches, have been coaches having those conversations with parents, are currently coaches, etc, that PG grades matter. They don't. There is more than enough (anecdotal of course) evidence on this board where people have asked coaches how much stock they put into rankings, ratings, etc and the answer every time is zero. In the rare cases where they do, the same coaches go and vet the kids themselves before doing anything with that information.

Coaches are not heading over to PGs site and sorting by showcase grades to see who they're going to target. They don't cross kids off their list because PG only has them as an 8 and not an 8.5. Does PG get the top of the heap right? Of course, they all play for Evoshield, Five Star, Dulins, 643, Team Elite etc. It's pretty easy to see who the top guys are when they all get together and play against each other in the playoffs, in Jupiter, etc. My guess would be the top 200 players are probably spread out across 20 or so teams - who run into each other fairly regularly.

As far as the PG bashing - this comes up every so often where people feel PG is owed a debt of gratitude. It costs money - it is not being done out of the kindness of their hearts. Is Jerry a good guy? Probably. From what I've seen around here it appears that way. Are people allowed to criticize something they feel was a bad purchase - yes. When I go to a restaurant and the food sucks, I talk about it. That's why I don't think anybody ever has the right to complain about Area Code - it's completely free.

I'm pretty pro PG. Their events have been helpful and I thought the competition was pretty good at their events. I've seen multiple #1 overall picks taking the field against us - that's pretty rare. That being said I'd never spend $800+ on a showcase to receive a number nobody cares about. If that makes me a PG basher I can live with that.

Last edited by PABaseball
@PABaseball posted:

That being said I'd never spend $800+ on a showcase to receive a number nobody cares about. If that makes me a PG basher I can live with that.

This feels a bit like Groundhog Day on this topic, and our PG experience was the same as @PABaseball we never did a showcase. I will add that every coach my son talked to, also looked at his PG profile (not that it was spectacular, nationally ranked in the 500's - whatever that means). We did the PG tournaments because my kid enjoyed them, and I enjoyed watching him play - never went to one expecting more than that.

If you want a definitive analysis of your kids potential, pay an impartial MLB scout to watch your kid play and you'll be a lot closer to reality. I didn't pay or ask for the critique, but I got one when the kid was a junior - it turned out to be pretty spot on.

A 2024 dad I’m friends with took his son to back to back PG showcases this summer. Started out as a 7 from sophomore year. This time he tried as a catcher. Big kid, rakes in BP. Made one pop between both showcases below a 2. They bumped him to an 8 and then a 9. The dad was laughing because the kid didn’t really show any gains between events. Here’s the kicker, he’s a terrible catcher.

It's like Grade Inflation, everyone gets at least an 8.  Especially if they go and pay for a local PG evaluation.  There is way too much project-ability in the grading system, it should be where they are "right now".  But then nobody would pay for the grade at 15yo.  I'm not sure if any recruiter pays attention to the grades, because there is one question it doesn't answer, "Can they play the game."  I do think the grades are for Parents

I mean seriously what does this mean (below)?

8

Potential draft pick and/or excellent college prospect

Son's Hs teammate was graded 8.5 and saw 3-4 non conference innings at a mid DIII freshman.  Good kid, good player, hard worker, but he was the furthest thing from a potential draft pick, and college must mean any college.  But when grading is a range of 1-10, seems they should re-evaluate the system.  A little more bell to the curve.

Last edited by HSDad22

The PG Grade was originally meant to project future possibility. I am not sure if that concept has changed.

As far as that potential player being a future draft pick, maybe he just didn't do what's needed to reach that 8.5?

FYI, freshman very rarely play at any program, no matter what division.

"I took my son to a couple PG showcases early on. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t ." 

"The PG grade definitely matters...to the players and sometimes the parents, especially the crazy baseball obsessed ones"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm admit guilty of this.  Even though I have an older kid and should have known better.  Perhaps this explains my animus towards PG.  A small part of me was not 100% sure if there wasn't some sort of a gain to be had by an early high PG grade.  I believe that EVERY coach looks at a kids the PG profile at least once and it couldn't hurt to have a positive write up and a 8.5 score or higher. right?   lol. But with some poor decision making, I sent my kid to one last winter and graded 7.5 despite being 90th plus percentile in every metric. Now I live in constant temptation of going to just... one... more... damn... PG showcase to clear that grade.  And relying on TBPT to regularly beat me with a reality stick. 

"I took my son to a couple PG showcases early on. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t ."

"The PG grade definitely matters...to the players and sometimes the parents, especially the crazy baseball obsessed ones"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm admit guilty of this.  Even though I have an older kid and should have known better.  Perhaps this explains my animus towards PG.  A small part of me was not 100% sure if there wasn't some sort of a gain to be had by an early high PG grade.  I believe that EVERY coach looks at a kids the PG profile at least once and it couldn't hurt to have a positive write up and a 8.5 score or higher. right?   lol. But with some poor decision making, I sent my kid to one last winter and graded 7.5 despite being 90th plus percentile in every metric. Now I live in constant temptation of going to just... one... more... damn... PG showcase to clear that grade.  And relying on TBPT to regularly beat me with a reality stick.

90th percentile nationally? Or just the showcase he attended? Freshman? Rising Freshman? Sophomore? Junior?

Doesn't add up. Post a screenshot if you can.

@HSDad22 posted:

It's like Grade Inflation, everyone gets at least an 8.  Especially if they go and pay for a local PG evaluation.  There is way too much project-ability in the grading system, it should be where they are "right now".  But then nobody would pay for the grade at 15yo.  I'm not sure if any recruiter pays attention to the grades, because there is one question it doesn't answer, "Can they play the game."  I do think the grades are for Parents

I mean seriously what does this mean (below)?

8

Potential draft pick and/or excellent college prospect

Son's Hs teammate was graded 8.5 and saw 3-4 non conference innings at a mid DIII freshman.  Good kid, good player, hard worker, but he was the furthest thing from a potential draft pick, and college must mean any college.  But when grading is a range of 1-10, seems they should re-evaluate the system.  A little more bell to the curve.

Like any grading scale you need to look at the big picture. Does anyone receive less than 6.5? Very few, if any. Does anyone receive a 10? Very few. That's your scale. Count up how many of each grade 6.5 through 10 and there you will find your bell curve.

Does anyone really think grades 8 and 9 really mean anything?

Having a grade doesn't mean you can play; it simply places you in a bucket of like-metrics

@PABaseball posted:

You're trying to convince a bunch of people who have been through the process, sat with coaches, have been coaches having those conversations with parents, are currently coaches, etc, that PG grades matter. They don't. There is more than enough (anecdotal of course) evidence on this board where people have asked coaches how much stock they put into rankings, ratings, etc and the answer every time is zero. In the rare cases where they do, the same coaches go and vet the kids themselves before doing anything with that information.

Coaches are not heading over to PGs site and sorting by showcase grades to see who they're going to target. They don't cross kids off their list because PG only has them as an 8 and not an 8.5. Does PG get the top of the heap right? Of course, they all play for Evoshield, Five Star, Dulins, 643, Team Elite etc. It's pretty easy to see who the top guys are when they all get together and play against each other in the playoffs, in Jupiter, etc. My guess would be the top 200 players are probably spread out across 20 or so teams - who run into each other fairly regularly.

Once again, you (and others) keep talking about "rankings". I'm talking about GRADES. They are simply a grouping of like-metrics, regardless of what a PG write-up says about what each grade represents.

National level travel teams are usually made up of kids from all over; they don't develop talent themselves. How do you think they identify players to invite for their teams? You haven't seen these teams recruiting from the PG Junior National Showcase and other events?

Again, not talking about rankings here-just grades. You don't receive a grade (today) without having metrics and that usually means you attended a showcase. Unless you are a pitcher--who received pitching metrics at a tourney.

Not disputing how college coaches find players but anyone here who thinks PG (and others--like PBR) doesn't have at some impact is in denial. Me, I'm a realist. Coaches don't have the time or resources to evaluate every high school player in the country based upon that kid sending email with his metrics on the subject line. These prep organizations most definitely have an impact.

Every major college program out there crows about their recruiting class rankings (and no, those are not based on GRADES)...

Last edited by ABSORBER
@ABSORBER posted:

90th percentile nationally? Or just the showcase he attended? Freshman? Rising Freshman? Sophomore? Junior?

Doesn't add up. Post a screenshot if you can.T

Their listed percentiles are national.  He is kinda young for class also so keep that in mind. 
I'm sorry, I feel like 2022NYC.  Lol. 
PERCENTILE RANKINGS
CLASS OF 2025 in the recorded year
CATEGORYTOP RESULTCLASS AVGPERCENTILE
FB84 mph75 mph
91.82%
607.27 sec7.60 sec
71.78%
10 SPL1.60 sec1.76 sec
91.66%
1B82 mph73 mph
89.36%
Their listed percentiles are national.  He is kinda young for class also so keep that in mind.
I'm sorry, I feel like 2022NYC.  Lol.
PERCENTILE RANKINGS
CLASS OF 2025 in the recorded year
CATEGORYTOP RESULTCLASS AVGPERCENTILE
FB84 mph75 mph
91.82%
607.27 sec7.60 sec
71.78%
10 SPL1.60 sec1.76 sec
91.66%
1B82 mph73 mph
89.36%

Position? Don't know what to tell you. Here are the 8 2025 1B's who threw 82 at a PG showcase in 2022:

Is your kid one of them? If so, his grade should be 8 or 9 since these eight were grade 8 or 9.

(First column is grade, second column is 1B velo)

Attachments

Images (1)
  • mceclip0
Their listed percentiles are national.  He is kinda young for class also so keep that in mind.
I'm sorry, I feel like 2022NYC.  Lol.
PERCENTILE RANKINGS
CLASS OF 2025 in the recorded year
CATEGORYTOP RESULTCLASS AVGPERCENTILE
FB84 mph75 mph
91.82%
607.27 sec7.60 sec
71.78%
10 SPL1.60 sec1.76 sec
91.66%
1B82 mph73 mph
89.36%

And one more item to note: a grade is given after the conclusion of a showcase (usually within a month or so). That grade won't get updated again regardless of what kind of stud the players develops into. There are plenty of cases where a newly drafted player has a poor grade (or no grade at all) on the PG site!

So, yes, if you received a not-so-hot grade then you will fall into the PG trap of continuously attending showcases! But I don't believe PG gives out grades with this in mind; it's just a common effect. They aren't twisting your arm.

In the case of the numbers listed above above, they would have to apply to only the showcase in question, not the player's cumulative metrics. So if you son happened to throw 90 a week ago his grade won't change.

What I got out of this thread, other similar threads, and my own experience.

  • Showcases are helpful to capture verified metrics; BUT only go to showcases if you know you have something to show.
  • PG showcases at $800 is not worth it.  Go to cheaper showcases that captures the same verifiable metrics.  If you really want to show metrics in PG, go to the cheaper 1 day WWBA workouts.
  • While metrics are helpful, and I do think coaches do look at your metrics, I do land on the camp of "PG grades and rankings do not mean anything".
  • Metrics is just one aspect.  Coaches still definitely want to see you play.  They could also identify you based on how you play w/o looking at PG profile/grades/ranking/metrics first (which is what happened with my son).
  • There are a lot of what we call "showcase kids".  These are kids who has the look, and have really good metrics, but does not translate on the field.  They may not have the right attitude, character, temperament, etc.  There are also a lot of ways to game the numbers in showcases doing things that you won't do in a game.  I still expect these kids to be recruited and be given opportunity bec there's always the chance that the coach can teach these kids how to play later on.  More often than not, they just flame out.
  • While PG showcases are not worth it, the bigger/major PG tournaments could be worth it if you are on one of the teams that can really compete (and not just be the sacrificial punching bag).  For example, in the recent 17u WWBA with 418 teams, I believe you could have had a much better tournament by just taking the best 100 teams, playing true round robin, and then everyone gets into bracket play.  The teams outside of the top 100 teams would be better off (financially and exposure wise) to play local or arrange for round robins at colleges.
@RJM posted:

For example, in the recent 17u WWBA with 418 teams

Wow! I thought it was way too many several years as ago when it was about 320.

And the only way PG can accommodate these many teams in ATL is by having teams playing in fields that are 1 hr or more away from East Cobb.  No one who lives locally even considers these location to be in Atlanta.  I like the PBR tournaments a lot more.

Final update.

What a difference a month makes. The phone did start ringing and he had multiple offers. He ended up taking the first one and, in my opinion, the strongest academic/baseball combo of his options. Pepperdine U. I will say, there were multiple P5’s that ended up showing some interest (four), but definitely the schools on the lighter side of the ledger and no heavy pursuit or offers prior to his acceptance of this one. Could he have made it to a P5? Who knows, I don’t really care but it is relevant in the context of the conversation string so thought I’d share. In the end, he really liked Danny Worth and Rick Hirtensteiner. The fact that Coach Worth came out to a game at WWBA, they built a nice pregame report, and kid was raking that day all didn’t hurt.

All we can ask for in life is a shot— he’s got it, we’ll see where this goes. I sure am beaming with pride right now though, thanks to all who shared a little bit of this journey. Baseball’s the best, except when it isn’t. But today, it’s the best.

Last edited by Giff

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