My son is scheduled to participate at the PG National Showcase in a few weeks at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg. I was wondering if anyone could advise anything the wish they knew before they got there? From what I can tell the 60's are run on turf but the players also need their spikes for the field.
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Your son is on his own to warm up for the 60 so he should have a good routine. For position players lower throws read higher velocity. For BP it’s ok to take a pitch or two if you can’t drive it. Also, as much as you want to get a few out it’s also good to show hitting to all fields so don’t be afraid to hit a ball where it is pitched. Don’t stand in groups gossiping while shagging balls (from experience 🤦🏾♀️). As always, have fun. It’s a great opportunity to meet some great talent from around the country in his class.
Just curious, how old is he and how did he get invited? Did he do a bunch of of events?
@PTWood posted:Your son is on his own to warm up for the 60 so he should have a good routine. For position players lower throws read higher velocity. For BP it’s ok to take a pitch or two if you can’t drive it. Also, as much as you want to get a few out it’s also good to show hitting to all fields so don’t be afraid to hit a ball where it is pitched. Don’t stand in groups gossiping while shagging balls (from experience 🤦🏾♀️). As always, have fun. It’s a great opportunity to meet some great talent from around the country in his class.
My son wasn't at this level in HS, but this right here is why this forum is such a great thing! Well worth the price of admission... I've got to go throw a few more bucks at the PayPal account. Thanks @PTWood
Thanks for the info PTWOOD. Dadof3, he's a 23 grad. We did receive an invite for it and he has done PG showcases and events previously. I honestly don't know what PG's requirements are for the invite.
Sure. However there’s a whole lot more people that can afford these events more so than me.
@adbono posted:Sure you do. The ability to pay for it.
That’s not true. The PG National is pretty exclusive. It is mostly top 250 kids. When we were there we had several kids on my sons team drafted. I sat next to a first rounders mom. Not everyone gets an invite and it’s a worthwhile event..
The overwhelming majority of college baseball players play in their home state or a bordering state. It’s something like 75% or more. I think. The first thing you have to ask is if the appropriate audience of coaches will be at this event. If it’s a bunch of D1 coaches and your son doesn’t have draft talent you would be wasting your time. If your son is a JuCo prospect you would be wasting your time. National Showcase events by PG probably aren’t going to help your son get recruited. My son attended the same event in Houston years ago. It was an absolute joke. Event was conducted in a driving rainstorm. Metrics were recorded by local kids working for minimum wage. Write ups were done by inexperienced PG employees who didn’t possess the knowledge to evaluate players. I could go on. But my son never attended another PG event other than WWBA and that didn’t do anything for him either. For context my son was very good HS player that PBR ranked highly (which also did nothing to help him). He turned into an elite JuCo player (according to Collegiate Baseball). He was committed to a top 20 D1 team when an injury ended his career. He did not have draft talent and most of his offers after tremendous JuCo stats were from really good D2 programs. That’s how tough it was in 2020. It’s even worse now. Especially for HS seniors.
I suggest that you read the “Transfer Portal” thread carefully and gain a good understanding of what is happening at the higher levels of college baseball. And how that is impacting all the levels below it. It’s more important than ever to be playing in front of the right audience. And it’s more important than ever to figure out who your “right audience” is early on in the HS years.
Just relating my personal experience. As someone regularly says, your mileage may vary. If your son is a top prospect and MLB scouts are taking to him it may be a good idea for him to go. I just know that the vast majority of people on this board don’t have players that fit that description.
@baseballhs posted:That’s not true. The PG National is pretty exclusive. It is mostly top 250 kids. When we were there we had several kids on my sons team drafted. I sat next to a first rounders mom. Not everyone gets an invite and it’s a worthwhile event..
Well, I hope all that is still true. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t. I attended Area Code tryouts in North Texas a couple weeks ago. There were 185 kids there and half of them didn’t belong. Every event that used to be top tier talent only seems to have gotten really watered down.
I have a question. If these are supposedly 2023 top prospects don't most of them have committments at this point? Are they looking for college opportunities or draft opportunities?
@TPM posted:I have a question. If these are supposedly 2023 top prospects don't most of them have committments at this point? Are they looking for college opportunities or draft opportunities?
Draft. My son was called with disapproval by his future college coach after doing it I just looked back at the Top prospects and my sons team from 2020. Lots of draft picks in the 5 round draft. Definitely top kids. I remember taking some pics as the lined up on the field, knowing some would be household names some day.
@baseballhs posted:Draft. My son was called with descent by his future college coach after doing it I just looked back at the Top prospects and my sons team from 2020. Lots of draft picks in the 5 round draft. Definitely top kids. I remember taking some pics as the lined up on the field, knowing some would be household names some day.
How many of the 2020s that attended were drafted? Would you know? Do you feel that a year before a HS players draft was worth the expense keeping in mind that you live in an area and environment where there is much talent.
A year before sons draft they invited the top 50 players in the country to these events and there was usually no costs.
I guess if one can afford it, needs to be seen, go for it.
JMO
Just looking at the top prospect team from 2020 at the PG National, I counted 17, just names I recognized. Not cross referencing. Do I think this was make or break for the draft, no. If you are fringe, it can definitely help.
im sure the number is higher. That said, it was a goal for my son early on to go to the National. He got mono a few days after the event and was fine hit the summer. Then lost his senior year to COVID. Would do it again. Some of the most stressful and amazing 5 minute stints I will look back on. That and a similar 5 minute stint at the Super 60 (that one was one $150). Both totally worth it for me. Sharing those intense moments with your kid are always worth it.
Thanks for the reply. I do get it about sharing those moments.
The big thing for my son was making try outs for team USA. What a great experience. He didn't make the team he was a grade younger than those that did. But it opened doors for him for the next few years. It is much more difficult and involved these days to get to the try outs.
I get it that I’m the voice of dissent in this thread. And the event may be well worth attending for the OP for many reasons. But I looked at the roster of the players registered. I can only speak about a very small sample size. But as for the Texas players listed, there were a couple of names I expected to see and didn’t. And there were at least 2 names that support my earlier comments. Just saying things have changed in 2 years.
Possible things could have changed. We did USA tryouts too and it was also great. I honestly wouldn’t trade any of it.
The number of events has grown (PG Nationals, Area Code, BF All-American, ECP, MLB PDP, USA Baseball, MLB Combine…and that’s not even counting the tournaments like Jupiter and UBC). Some guys who have been seen a lot are opting not to do all of the events so you might have a west coast guy who chooses not to go to PG Nationals but does ECP. If we could do it again we probably would have done less—our son was exhausted by the end of the summer. Also, BF, ECP, Area Code, MLB Pipeline and the Combine are largely (or completely) no cost.
@adbono posted:I get it that I’m the voice of dissent in this thread. And the event may be well worth attending for the OP for many reasons. But I looked at the roster of the players registered. I can only speak about a very small sample size. But as for the Texas players listed, there were a couple of names I expected to see and didn’t. And there were at least 2 names that support my earlier comments. Just saying things have changed in 2 years.
It's OK for everyone to express opinions.
I am still a PG supporter. I know folks call them a money grab but they have played a big part in helping lots of players to achieve their dreams so its hard to tell folks what to do and not do.
My opinion is that it should be about choosing the right venue for each individual player without breaking the bank. It's really not a bad idea to attend an event where a player doesnt belong so he/she can find out where they do belong.
BUT, I do agree with you, players are best to stay within their geographical regions because players usually do end up playing close or in their home state or region. Of course that doesn't work for everyone.