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Pro Scout Teams

JMoffJMoff1,000+ posts
My son had the opportunity last fall to play for the Royals' Pro Scout team in Arizona. It was started with coaches from his club ball team with the area scout for the Royals coaching and supporting. I think it cost me $100 for the whole season.

The team had 20-25 players at the beginning, but shrunk as the season (early September through October) progressed. My son (incomming freshman) pretty much got to pitch an inning or two every week in a double header or 9 inning single game, for a total of about 10 innings. He got 11 AB's in 14 games. The Royals were made up of a few incomming freshmen, and a bunch of sophomores & juniors, so they weren't as competitive as some of the other teams around.

For a kid who was used to being the #1, this was frutstrating for him. The Royals had excellent coaches and provided access to the minor league pitching co-ordinator and the minor league roving hitting instructor. Both gave the boy's a nice lecture. He definitely received some exposure, but was frequently frustrated when the scouts would put away the radar gun when the other team's senior stopped throwing and he took the mound. I tried to explain that he has 3 draft years before his velocity matters, but he didn't seem to care.

As a freshman this winter, he's been offered try-outs with the two elite teams in the Phoenix area (Angels and D-Backs). There is also rumor of the White Sox starting a team and possibly a return visit with the Royals. He tried out for the Angels (throwing about 20 pitches in a bull pen) and they've offered him a spot for this coming fall.

I think he got GREAT exposure this past fall. He's shown up on lists of 'top players', is getting a shot at the varsity team this spring at a 5A-I school and frankly his reputation might be better than the bumbling teenager I have to remind to take out the garbage every day.

Also, a 15U 6'2" LHP throwing 85-87 gets lots of phone calls to 'come out and pitch'. Being tied to a team where he only has to throw 15-20 pitches a week against great hitters feels better to me than throwing 7 innings and 80-90+ pitches against kids who can't hit him. In the limited AB's he got, several were against kids throwing in the low 90's. Not typical of a 15U club game. He went back to his hitting lessons asking to go over that whole 'quick to the ball thing again' and his approach \ technique has improved (even though he was getting blown away).

He thinks pro-scout is a waste. He only gets to pitch once a week and get 1 or 2 AB's. In his opinion, he'd rather get 10 K's and 15 AB's in a weekend tournament than get up early on Sunday to sit the bench.

For the record, his HS summer season runs from the end of May through June into early July and doesn't conflict. He also doesn't play football.

So the questions for the forum:
Is pro scout something that exists everywhere (I assume it does)?
Is it worth it?
Are your experiences positive or negative?
Are the kids really geting exposure or is it only providing an opportunity for the top few players to play before the scouts?
Is playing club tournaments better than limited number of innings / AB's pro-scout offers?

In the short time I've been on this forum, I've come to realize there are some very knowledgeable baseball minds out there, so thanks in advance for your opinions.
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P PGStaff10,000+ posts
quote:
Also, a 15U 6'2" LHP throwing 85-87 gets lots of phone calls to 'come out and pitch'


I bet! The Royals had a scout team in the WWBA CHampionship last fall in Jupiter. That team had a roster that included top kids from all over the country. I would stick with that organization just to get a better chance for the Jupiter Tournament. To be honest, there is nothing quite like this Jupiter event. More than 600 scouts and college coaches including the Director of Scouting for nearly every Major League organization.

Actually it's really the most important part of our business to know who the top players are. We would be very interested in knowing who any 15 year old lefty throwing mid 80s is. It really is in your best interest, so if you wish, please PM me with your son's name. If not, we'll just have to figure it out ourself in time.
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
Next year your son will be one of the "bunch of sophomores and juniors." He'll play more. If the coaching and instruction is great it looks like a great situation. Plus your son's arm isn't getting toasted with a lot of innings carrying a team through tournaments.

One of the issues I have with the make up of today's youth baseball world is the year by year procession of age class travel teams. This didn't exist when I was a kid.

From 9-12 I played LL. We didn't have travel ball. We didn't have majors and minors. We had LL. A kid had almost no change to pitch until he was twelve. Then from 13-15 we had Babe Ruth ball. 13's never pitched. Then we had high school and Legion from 16-18. 16's/sophs rarely pitched.

I went into soph year of high school with about 350 innings on my arm. With travel starting at 9U with kid pitch most kiddie ball studs have more than 350 innings on their arm by the time 12U ends. They have another 300 or more on their arms by the time the enter their soph year of high school. That's 650+ innings while their body is going throw major physical development. This is where I believe all the arm problems are coming from. Too little throwing and way too much pitching in organized games from 9U through 15U.
MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
quote:
frankly his reputation might be better than the bumbling teenager I have to remind to take out the garbage every day.


LOL, that's a refreshingly humble statement, JMoff!

Reading your post, this sounded like a tremendous opportunity for a very talented young player. On one hand, it's very understandable that he is a kid who just wants to pitch lots of innings and get lots of strikeouts! That's fun! But on the other hand, you are a dad who has done the research and is finding out that some opportunities are better than others for creating FUTURE opportunities for him. Playing against the best competition with great exposure - scout teams, Jupiter tourney - will allow a very talented player to be seen by the right people.

By the way, having PGStaff express interest in getting to know more about your son at this young age is also a very good opportunity. I'd suggest you take him up on his offer. Wink

Best wishes, and keep us updated!

Julie
20dad20dad1,000+ posts
quote:
So the questions for the forum:
Is pro scout something that exists everywhere (I assume it does)?
Is it worth it?
Are your experiences positive or negative?
Are the kids really geting exposure or is it only providing an opportunity for the top few players to play before the scouts?
Is playing club tournaments better than limited number of innings / AB's pro-scout offers?

----------------------------------------------------

we don't have the numbers that you have,so not many pro scout teams. i don't know of any, in my state.

from your post,sounds as if it is inexpensive,well worth it.imho.

as far as the exposure/number of innings. he is a freshman, so the innings won't/shouldn't be the big thing.
he'll learn to pitch in his bp sesions. games are showing people what he's learned. don't get me wrong,games are a big deal. but arm strength/care will be biult up outside of games.

i may be alone in my thinking, but a freshman player will get more out of 50 quality practices than 50 games. it sounds as if he's got a future. and he throws from the correct side.lol i also know it's hard for a 15 yr old to believe practice is better than a game, i didn't either at that age.

take care of that arm,you only get one that's lefty.
D Doughnutman1,000+ posts
Jmoff,
A friend of ours plays on a scout team in Phoenix. His little brother, a freshman, is a catcher. He is very good. He got the opportunity to catch some bullpens. It turned into some playing time and he got to catch a couple of MLB'ers on the side. He said it was the greatest thing he ever did. He recieved all of the coaching and advice from the big boys and he learned a lot. He is now scheduled to play for them next summer and it is a HUGE opportunity. Playing on the scout teams is a big deal. Do not pass it up. I know a couple of hundred kids that would kill for the chance.
BW Bob Williams500+ posts
J. Moff;

Consider your son very fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved with the KC Royals in Surprise. The Royals coaches are great teachers and I hope your son will learn and ask questions.

Each year, we [Goodwill Series] works with the Tampa Bay Rays scout team in Southern California. For the past 2 years we have sent to Australia this scout team.

This year, the Rays team played 12 games in 15 days against the best players in Australia and the National Team from South Africa.

We are now planning for December 2009 with the Rays and the Cubs Scout teams.

It is indeed a "trip of a lifetime".

Bob Williams
JMoffJMoff1,000+ posts
Thank you all very much for your opinions, comments and private messages, I appreciate them.

I am sold on the pro scout idea and limiting the innings while maximizing the exposure. It is VERY easy to sneak up to 150 innings in a year, which my son actually did a year ago.

I'm 'one of those dads's' who always has a score book and a fancy spread sheet that tracks every pitch he throws. When I added up all the different teams, tournaments, school ball, etc I was fankly shocked when I saw how many innings he threw. I literally had to check my math 5 times before I believed it. Year round baseball is dangerous, even with a 4 week break around Christmas and a 4 week break in the summer.

The Royal's suggested not to go above 100 innings total, but also to not go about 35-40 pitches in one inning. 7 innings is OK if its once a week during the HS season. 3 innings today, 3 innings tomorrow, not so good. Obviously there is no absolute answer to this question, but I haven't had anyone tell me 150 was OK... Thank God I learned my lesson and he didn't get hurt.

With all that said, he loves closing a pool game and then pitching the championship game. Getting a 15 year old to think about the next ten minutes is difficult. Getting him to think about the next 10 years is impossible. Getting him to believe it from his dad is completely out of the question.
D DXBIBLE10+ posts
Do it. He should be honored. In most areas, the scout teams are 80% seniors, 20% juniors. No sophs or frosh.

He shouldn't be throwing a lot in the fall. The arm needs rest. A friend of my son threw 140 innings last year, and by August his velo was down 4-5 mph from peak. Fortunately our team has a lot of pitching, so my son ended summer around 100 innings and continued to experience velocity gain all summer.

Take care of the arm! Anyway, a pitcher will ultimately need to learn the art of being "patient." One inning a weekend and getting to know some pretty special players and coaches isn't a bad way to do it.

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