MLB Scouts at NCAA Games

Tough one to answer, but I think your 50% might be close to the truth with D1 P5 schools.  Greater than 50% when D1 P5 conference play starts.   

For the D1 schools that don't get as much scout traffic what I saw was a "scout day" set up by the D1 HC where draftable players were sent through their "paces" in front of the scouts.   The scouts would show up again later in the season when they had multiple players on their list they wanted to see in game situations.   

100% agree with you that summer leagues are where the non-D1 P5 guys can get more visibility and exposure.   I would frequently go to Cal Ripken Summer League games up in NoVA/DC when I was travelling.   They had players at all levels, and the stands were chock full of scouts.   I've also gone to Valley League games and a few others.   It is the same thing.   A non-D1 P5 player can really make a name for himself in the college summer leagues.  This is why it is so important to know what kind of "juice" a non-D1 P5 HC has with the summer leagues if your son aspires to be a professional baseball player.

As always, JMO.

I would imagine for pitchers the scouting presence would be more frequent in D1 games. I have seen more than a few gents with stalkers behind the dish. They all can't be team stat geeks and dads at the games I have attended.

Our local College SSU is a Division 2 and SRJC.

SRJC normally is ranked 3rd in the State.

Because of the competition in their D-2 and JC Conference, the Pro Scouts regular attend the games. The "Bird Dog" Scout has a small area, the "Area" Scout may need to cover all of Northern California = to five States in the Northeast USA.

The "Cross Checker" is the key to a player's future. He covers 1/3 of the USA.

The Scouts have a "strong" network and they study the player's "Body language", the parents, teammates, friends, coaches.

A strong Summer League is scouted by all 30 teams and the scouts depend on reports from the Area Scout.

This is a "serious" business!!!  The "weatherman is the Scout's guide.

Bob

There have been 5-25 at all 8 of our games so far and this weekend we played Iona who is not very good.  They are there to get a first look at some guys and compare to later in the season.  I don't know that I've ever been to a UT game that there were not 5-20 scouts at.  If we are scrimmaging, there are at least 10 there every day for scrimmages.

Not true that you will never see an MLB scout at a D2 game. I have seen them at D2 games in Oklahoma more than a few times. MLB scouts are at Juco games all the time. Where you will almost never see an MLB scout is at a D3 game - unless he has a kid playing in the game.

@adbono posted:

Not true that you will never see an MLB scout at a D2 game. I have seen them at D2 games in Oklahoma more than a few times. MLB scouts are at Juco games all the time. Where you will almost never see an MLB scout is at a D3 game - unless he has a kid playing in the game.

never say never. Kid from Chapman got drafted a in 2020 (shortened draft year). 

I think it all depends on the player.  We used to have scouts show up to our NAIA games, back in the day (waaaay back, lol) depending on who was throwing, who we were playing, etc. We had one guy drafted the year before i got there and one guy on my team who was of interest, so the scouts knew who they were there for and not really looking for that diamond in the rough.

I think he said "almost" never...

I understand what you're saying but the numbers you're using are not particularly close so you're actually hurting your intended argument.

50% is significantly more. So yeah maybe half won't have MLB presence, but 50% is greater than the .2% you're referencing.

I would argue that the number is higher than 50%. All a bad team needs is one or two guys and boom - scouts are there to see them.

Siena has also had 7 players drafted in the past 10 years so before we go putting down lower level D1s again just know they're not all bad.

I think it is team by team. It helps right now that we possibly have five first round picks over the next years.  Saturday they watched our starter throw and then hung out till son’s roommate came in. Watched him hit 101 and 102 for one Inning and left.  

@T_Thomas posted:

I think he said "almost" never...

Thank you. I see that someone reads all the words.

Wow, 101 and 102?  That's crazy!

Last weekend was 103.6.  90 mph change up with slider also.   Coming back from TJ.  Sat out last year.  

@PitchingFan posted:

Last weekend was 103.6.  90 mph change up with slider also.   Coming back from TJ.  Sat out last year.  

That's some serious cheddar! You guys are going to be fun to watch this season...

@Francis7 posted:

A current D2 player told my son: You will never see a MLB scout at a D2 game.

And, I wouldn't disagree with that statement. It seems like maybe 1 or 2 D2 players per D2 conference get drafted each year and 95% of them are pitchers who were probably seen in a summer league anyway.

But, I would counter with: You won't see a MLB scout at 50% of the D1 games either.

Miami vs Virginia? Yeah, you will find scouts there. Iona vs Siena? Pretty safe to say you won't see a scout there.

Is that 50% too high or too low?

Sienna had a stud freshman pitcher last year that transferred out to a P5 I believe, there were scouts at games. Quinnipiac had a catcher drafted, Marist a pitcher. Niagra had a kid in 2019 that had scouts out every time he pitched. Most of these schools will also have scout days in the fall. I've shot local scouting events where lots of the weaker Northeast conferences are well represented.

Have to say, since your son committed you seem to start a lot of posts crapping all over local Northeast D1 conferences.

@nycdad - I'm not crapping on them. But there is a huge difference between conferences like the "ACC and SEC" and "NEC and MAAC." Not all D1s are the same. That's reality.

Scouts are more likely to go to those SEC and ACC games.

That said, there's always exceptions. Some D3 kids make the professional ranks. Some D2 too. Ditto the lower D1 programs.

But, my point is: Yes, maybe scouts don't care about D2. But the same can be said, to the same extent, about some of D1 too IN GENERAL AND NOTING THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS where some kids will bring in a scout anywhere.

@Francis7 posted:

@nycdad - I'm not crapping on them. But there is a huge difference between conferences like the "ACC and SEC" and "NEC and MAAC." Not all D1s are the same. That's reality.

Scouts are more likely to go to those SEC and ACC games.

That said, there's always exceptions. Some D3 kids make the professional ranks. Some D2 too. Ditto the lower D1 programs.

But, my point is: Yes, maybe scouts don't care about D2. But the same can be said, to the same extent, about some of D1 too IN GENERAL AND NOTING THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS where some kids will bring in a scout anywhere.

Son was a D2 pcoach and RC and a pcoach for 4 years at a mid D1. Always lots of scouts in attendance, specifically closer to the draft.

Obviously, the more talent at a program the more scouts will be in attendance. This is not hard to figure out.

Scouts have areas that they are assigned to, so you will find more in certain states than others.  That's not hard to figure out either. In Florida you have spring training complexes as well as many milb teams, so you will find plenty everywhere at any game at any division and looking at visiting teams as well.  More as the season gets closer to regionals and the draft.

I do understand nycdad's statement, at times your comments seem to strike out at the top college baseball programs. It isn't hard for most to figure out that these guys are out watching where they will find the most draftable players.

I was wondering how many college games you have attended to make your original observation or do you go by word of mouth?

There are late bloomer/late developers in college ball. A friend’s son entered a D3 at 5’11”: throwing mid 80’s and left 6’3” throwing 94. He was drafted. The pitcher he opposed in the D3 national championship was also drafted. If not for late bloomers/developers every drafted college player would be from a P5.

@Francis7 posted:

@nycdad - I'm not crapping on them. But there is a huge difference between conferences like the "ACC and SEC" and "NEC and MAAC." Not all D1s are the same. That's reality.

Scouts are more likely to go to those SEC and ACC games.

Well yes, of course. But again even in your response you can't seem to help yourself in bashing the weaker NE conferences.

My thought is your son probably had interest and offers from teams in these conferences , chose a different route which seems like a very good choice for you and your family, but now you take every opportunity to justify it by bashing these conferences. You did this in another thread which you quickly abandoned as well.

JMO, and maybe I'm just overly sensitive to defending the conferences because I have kids in them.

@nycdad - maybe a combination of both? Maybe I single the lower D1 conferences out too much and maybe you're partial to them because your kids are in them? Sorry about my part of it. I will try and be more mindful about it going forward and how I reference them.

@TPM - I've been to a few college games in person. Some Big10, some MAAC, at the D1 level. I've seen PSAC games at D2. And, I've seen some Juco-D3 games in person. That's not the total basis for my opinions though. More so, it's what people share on these boards.

Scouts will carefully and repeatedly watch any player who emerges as a 1st or 2nd Round possibility, at any level.  But they are there just to watch that player or players.  They aren’t (usually) just watching random games “hoping to find a Diamond in the rough”.  That’s fantasy/Hollywood stuff.

@nycdad posted:

Well yes, of course. But again even in your response you can't seem to help yourself in bashing the weaker NE conferences.

My thought is your son probably had interest and offers from teams in these conferences , chose a different route which seems like a very good choice for you and your family, but now you take every opportunity to justify it by bashing these conferences. You did this in another thread which you quickly abandoned as well.

JMO, and maybe I'm just overly sensitive to defending the conferences because I have kids in them.

Typical high school parent stuff.  He’ll (probably) chill once the realities of College Baseball settle in.

The harsh truth is nobody cares who recruited a kid or where they were “ranked” or whatever

FrancisOO7.

maybe on your next visit to a College Baseball game, you can interview a pro scout. Have a list of Questions.

1. who determines the daily game to scout?

2. Do you prefer pitchers or hitters to evaluate?

3. What do your eyes see?

4. What system do you use to project a prospect?

5. How many miles do you drive each year?

Bob

@Francis7 posted:

@TPM - I've been to a few college games in person. Some Big10, some MAAC, at the D1 level. I've seen PSAC games at D2. And, I've seen some Juco-D3 games in person. That's not the total basis for my opinions though. More so, it's what people share on these boards.

Scouts are everywhere, it's their job, they even attend milb team games to search for players who could be included in trades.

Of course, we know that the more competitive the teams, the more scouts, agents. advisors will be there as well.

However, whoever gave that info to your son is probably wrong or maybe right if the teams are really bad. But don't count out the mid/ lower D1, Juco, D2 or D3 programs, there are gems hidden everywhere!

I'd think it's simply about going where the players are.  This is a HS game.  Scouts from every MLB team there that day.

IF an ACC or SEC team wasn't carrying draft-able players, there wouldn't be scouts.

I used to attend FRIDAY UTA practices during the fall all 4 years that my oldest was there.  A local Blue Jay scout was there almost 1/2 the time (maybe Friday at UTA was his rotation of DBU, TCU, Baylor, etc).

I was at a JUCO series 3 weeks ago watching my youngest future team play Weatherford, there were 4/5 pro scouts there both games.

Fact:  I attended 17 D2 games over 9 days last season and there was a scout visibly present 2 times

Opinion:  There are really good baseball players at the D2 level.  The "freakish" talent that is required to be scouted is rare.  If you look at D2 lineups (not rosters)  there are very few TRUE underclassmen in the lineup.  There is little variance in SKILL across a roster at the D2 level.  There is a big difference in the STRENGTH / MATURITY and understanding and willingness of what it truly takes to compete that comes with that maturity.   A heard a D2 coach refer to his conference as a man's league not because it is better than other levels but because the players on the field are mature and play with an edge because of their prior college experiences either at a juco or as a drop-down.   D2 is a different type of animal.  It is not made up of guys scratching to get to a D1 or look from a scout... it is made up of guys playing every day like the end is coming fast...because it is... like I said.. my opinion...

@Francis7 posted:

Scouts are more likely to go to those SEC and ACC games.

But if your kid goes to a mid-major and plays AGAINST any SEC and ACC school, and performs, he will get seen.

keewartson's mid-major college opened his junior at Florida.  Florida for Pete's sake.    Scouts were all over the concourse.  I moved to far left field just to watch them.

Son hit a triple off one of Florida's highest prospects.  He got seen and scouts took notes.

It also helps if there is a strong pitcher at a mid-major.  Then ALL the players will get seen.