LHP in an unusual recruiting position. Advice needed!!

I assume you're enrolling this fall?   If so, walk on tryouts are likely coming up very soon for next season.....they are not held in the spring.  You've really got no option other than just tell the coaches the truth...and show up for walk-on tryouts.  I'll be honest and tell you that upper 70's as a LHP won't likely get you a shot at making a mid-major D1 roster....but attending the tryout will at least get you on the coaches radar.  It can't hurt to try out....but again, being honest, I don't think at this point that your skillset is likely to get you a spot in their program.   Email the coach, explain your situation and ask about walk-on tryouts are being held.  Good luck

I would get on club team and get more experience.  Then if you feel u r ready try to walk on soph yr. if not, then you can get a good education and enjoy club team . Good luck

Agree with Buckeye that mid 70's won't get any attention from the coach.  Trying to forecast what you may be throwing at the start of the college games in February doesn't do you any good.  For any walk-ons to stand a chance, they will need to show a strong skill set now. 

There is a world of difference between playing very competitive 8th grade ball and college ball.  For your set of circumstances, I think playing club ball for a year, working out, continuing to improve your velo and learning more about what it may take to make the team would be a good route to take.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing and how things work out.

Most of the Club teams I am familiar with hold try outs as well.Be prepared to do what you can at the try out. I do not know how competitive your club team is or how organized. 

If you intend to go the club route, you should do some research. Some club teams have paid coaches, and others are ran by the players. 

You need to be at mid 80s for a mid major. I suggest you skip the walk on tryout, find a pitching coach and tryout out for the club team. Also get on the best possible summer team next year. If at some point it's starting to fall into place talk with the baseball coach. All he's going to do is tell you to show up for walk on tryouts. But at least he'll know who you are and like the effort.

wibaseballer3, have you registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center and been certified as a Qualifier to be eligible to participate as a freshman?  If not, the NCAA rules state that you're not eligible to compete for a varsity or club team - an intramural team would be your only option. 

In addition, be aware that since the DI school you're planning to attend has both a varsity and a club baseball team, if you play on the club team, you will be using one of your four years of college eligibility.

Ok, thanks for all the responses, it has really helped! I have two updates.

First of all, I got in contact with my college coach, and he did make it sound like I could be a viable player, however they are currently at the roster limit per NCAA rules and cannot add another player.

My other update is that I threw another bullpen today and my velocity seems to be starting to increase. I was around upper 70s, maybe low 80s today. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but would it be out of the woods to expect myself to be mid to upper 80s after another year of consistent work, considering that I am currently doing this off of literally no training, and am relatively skinny and lack muscle as I sit here right now? And if this all happens, what should I expect to hear from the college coach if I contact him after next baseball season, when the team might have room? Also, just for fun, what would MLB scouts think? 

I realize some of these questions are forecasting a bit, which I am aware is a big no-no, but I just want to educate myself as much as possible in case this becomes a feasible reality. Any further input would be great appreciated!! So I guess my blanket question would be, if everything comes together a year or so from now, what would college coaches and MLB scouts think of a 19 year old LHP with a mid to upper 80s fastball w/ movement, sharp breaking ball, and decent change-up. That would basically be my profile.

19years old mid to upper 80s lefty with movement and a sharp breaking ball and decent change up.  That would interest most college coaches if you also had good command of those pitches.

MLB scouts might not be as interested. Unless your fastball had plus movement and your breaking ball was plus.  Even then chances are you would be a low draft pick.

Think college!  Prove yourself in college and things might change.

Best of luck.

I am not qualified to answer your questions, but here are some things you can do:

1)  Go ahead and get qualified now from the NCAA Eligibility Center as Rick above mentioned.  It is basically filling out a few things online and then sending in your HS transcripts (and of course paying them a fee).  If you don't qualify, you will know what you need to do, or you won't be playing D1 college ball.  Period.  When keewartson was being recruited, college coaches asked if he had already qualified.  

2)  A year from now, after you have practiced, trained, gained weight, played college club ball, maybe summer collegiate ball, ......go to a MLB tryout.  Keewartson and I went to watch a local tryout several years ago to see what it was all about (and to go to a bakery nearby... but I digress) and there were many college players there.  At least you can see what you are up against.  (Tryouts are listed online and are free).

3)  If club or D1 ball doesn't work out, you can still be part of the team by being a team manager.  Some perks in doing that:  possible scholarship money, travel, cool team gear, being part of a team, good references.

Which was it... upper 70's or lower 80's?

How are you making that determination?

If you think you will gain 8-10 mph because you have not had any training and you are skinny, what pitching training are you going to get and how are you going to get stronger in the right ways in the next six months or so?

How are you going to gain confidence pitching effectively against grown men (college) who are currently training 3-6 hours a day to hit well against effective grown men pitchers?

I'm asking just a few of the tough questions because that's what you will have to do yourself and come up with a real plan to make things happen.

And, yes, it is premature to project your profile.  A tremendous effort may yield great results and it may not.  But to get the results you desire, it will certainly take no less than a tremendous effort.

wibaseballer3,

I don't think you realize how monumental a challenge you have set before yourself, but that's probably just as well.  If you knew how far behind you are, you might talk yourself out of even trying.  

If this is your goal, it's better just to focus each day on what you can do that day.

I think your first priority ought to be to find some way to get into some real games and pitch to real batters as soon as possible.  There is no point speculating how good you might be or who might be interested in you next year until you find out where you are right now.  If you can't join the club team, join the local men's rec league (Rick can tell you if there are any eligibility problems with that).  As a moderator, I can see your email address, so I know there is an MSBL league in the city where you go to school.  Get on some kind of team this fall and pitch all you can.

The other thing you can do right now is sign up for a physical education class in strength training at your school this fall or join a gym and start working with a personal trainer who knows something about training pitchers.

One step at a time.

Check back and let us know how it's going. 

Best wishes,

Regarding Swampboy's suggestion above and my earlier comments, an outside sports team such as the local men's rec league has the same rule applied as the school's club team.  You'll need to make sure that you're an NCAA Qualifier as determined by the NCAA Eligibility Center in order to be eligible for a school's club team or a local men's rec league team.

If you have additional questions or want clarification about these rules, you can contact me directly at rick@informedathlete.com.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I will just take things day by day and see what happens. I just have one more question, and this is more just to know what is allowed than something I am actually planning on doing. Since I am not on my school's official varsity baseball team, am I allowed to contact coaches from other schools about transferring without getting an official release from my school? Again, I am just trying to educate myself, so thanks for any responses!

Yes, you can contact coaches at other schools since you are not considered a student-athlete at your school.  Good luck!

Wibaseballer3

You have received a lot of good advice here.

In what area of the country do you reside?

Send me your contact info.and I will forward it to Sonny Maynard former head baseball coach at Johnson County Kansas, Comm. College, Sonny can get you on the right track to your destination.

Don Ervin

dfervin32@yahoo.com

Phone#. 417-830-9137-Cell

          417-882-4734-Home