Walking On After Late Injury?

Walking on doesn't normally work out.  Very, very rare, even at D3.  If the kid really wants to play the family might consider a PG year at a boarding school.

yeah, i know the odds are long for a walk on anywhere.  But this kid is not your average walk on.  He's a strong player who was headed places, but was  felled late in the recruiting rate race by injury.  I doubt anybody would take a flier on him and guarantee him a spot given that it's going to end up keeping him out of action for about a year all told.  But somebody should be interested in seeing if he can work his way back into form, I would think.

SluggerDad,

 

Sorry to hear about this situation.  My youngest son went through something like this during the final recruiting phase as a rising senior, and it broke my heart.  My son may not have been at the level of your friend but it is difficult to see a young recruit anywhere get hurt during this time period after working hard to prepare for it.  I think your friends strategy is a very good one.  My oldest son went to high academic school and there were a couple walk-ons per year.  This varies by program and by level...obviously the higher the baseball level the more difficult to walk-on.  But I think the majority of programs would welcome a walk-on of your friends caliber......I know I would want to see what he could do for my team if I was the Coach.  I think he should reach out to those schools he's been accepted to, tell his story and see how the Coach responds.  At this point he has absolutely nothing to lose especially as a catcher. 

 

As always, JMO.

A walk on with no prior contact with a coach has almost a zero chance of making a team. In his situation he needs to find a good JC where he can play lined up as a back up, and then he should also continue the recruiting process but he will need references. PG ratings, scouts references, HS coach references, etc. Continue to talk to coaches but let them know about his situation and the desire to walk on to a team. Walking on with knowledge and support will allow him the opportunity.

 I hear you BOF.  Problem with the JC route, even as a back up option,  is that the kid is basically aiming at high academic schools. Mom and Dad have been completely committed to his baseball ambition,  but academics has always come first by a long shot.   So I'm guessing this  particular  family would have a hard time getting on the same page about the JC route.     But I do take your broader point.  It's unfortunately time for the family to get real about what's still possible baseball wise and what the kid is really willing and able to do to keep the dream alive.  At the moment, I think their inclination is more along the lines of what Fenway suggest at this point -- apply to schools that are a good academic fit and get in touch with the coaches there, and  tell his story.   He does, by the way,   have a dynamite write up from the one showcase he did this summer before his injury struck.  Plus we do know at least one 2015 (another travel teammate of may son and the kid I'm talking about) who walked on this fall at a school in one of the Power Five conferences and actually made it.  So maybe that's giving them a little bit of hope.  Of course, that kid was completely  healthy.  

 

 

Non-recruited, non-preferred walk ons face two huge hurdles:

 

1. Being good enough to play after not being good enough to be recruited. Most walk-ons don't clear this hurdle, but your friend might because he looked recruitable until he got hurt.

 

2. Getting enough of an opportunity to demonstrate his talent at an open tryout. I watched the open tryout at my son's school freshman year after the team scrimmage on the first official day of fall practice in late September after the scholarship athletes and preferred walk-ons had been working and working out together since the beginning of summer school in July. The tryout was a perfunctory formality: the players didn't get to hit, so it would have taken eye-popping velocity or foot speed to get noticed in the half hour or so they took to eliminate the entire group of two dozen aspiring ball players.  

 

Your friend needs a strategy to overcome the second hurdle by making sure the coach knows who he is before the tryout.  Because he is a catcher, willingness to be a bullpen catcher could be part of the strategy. Because at one point he was recognized as having D1 potential, asking  travel, high school, or college coaches who saw him before he was hurt to attest to his ability could also be part of the strategy.

 

Best wishes, 

 

P.S. I just realized I said what BOF said, but in more words. 

I would say your friend's boy is in a different situation than most walk ons.  The fact that he is a catcher with serious skills, should help him a great deal - If he is healthy.  If he can play, the coaches will see it.  If he is a stud, he'll have opportunities.  Fingers crossed for him.

Well its going to take a lot of work... I would find some coaches, recruiters that know his abilities that can go to bat for him... Also, identify teams that have a need for a catcher.... then try to get a try-out on your own... not a team try-out.  Shoulder problems are tough to over come.

Agree with BOA, JC route is the best way to go for his situation. As for high academics, not a problem, for first year or two he would only be taking lower division GE. I know of several kids that transfered into high academic DI schools from JC. 

Walk on's only create a new set of challenges.

Saw the kid when my son was home for turkey day (they are serious buds - one of the best things about baseball is the friends you make).  Turns out, unfortunately, that  he has a torn labrium in his throwing shoulder.  A very tough injury to come back from, as I understand it.  My heart aches for the kid.  He poured his heart and soul into excelling as a catcher after the position change.

That's news is tough. Has he had an MRI to confirm? My son was originally diagnosed with a torn labrum but a MRI proved otherwise. 

Unfortunately yes. Surgery scheduled for this month.

Sluggerdad,

 

I am really sorry to hear about your son's friend.  That is a really tough break senior year. 

Okay, I wish him well. It's not the end of playing but will take determination and desire to get back. It can be done.

My son tore his PCL and MCL the first weekend of the summer after junior year. After crutches for four months he fell on his shoulder doing rehab/agility drills. He separated his shoulder requiring surgery. The surgeon told him he wouldn't be able to play in the spring senior year. He was in the opening day lineup. While being high school ready to play he was not college prospect ready.

 

The plan was to play Legion and spend a lot of time on getting strength back. The plan was to showcase in the fall and start college in January. The expectation was he probably wouldn't have a roster spot that spring.

 

He destroyed Legion ball. His hitting coach, also former travel assistant, former D1 coach and a pro scout decided he was ready as a college prospect. He contacted teams that had him on the radar screen the season before. My son headed off to college a week before classes. It made it easier my son had already been accepted there on his academics. He had applied to some colleges just in case. The deal was try to walk on. But he was guaranteed a roster spot and money the following year.

 

The only time I became unhinged in recruiting process was these injuries. It was horrible timing. But as I post about any situation, if the kid wants it he will make it happen. It probably didn't hurt son could play six positions. But a quality catcher is a big deal too.

 

 

 

 

Just a side note: My daughter played three high school sports and college softball. After graduation from college she worked in a law firm for three years. She's now in her third year of law school. She recently said a lot of who she is and what she has accomplished so far comes from the mental toughness that developed from competing in sports and dealing with all the situations thrown at her.

 

From the time my kids were little I told them you don't lose when you fall down. You only lose if you choose not to get up.

Was your friend's son being recruited before his injury? If so, has he reached out to those schools to see if there is still an interest? My son tore his UCL in the last high school game of his Junior year and missed almost that whole summer recruiting season. He eventually had TJ surgery in the fall of his Senior year after unsuccessful rehab attempts. While all of the D1s (mostly Ivy and Patriot schools) lost interest in him the D3s didn't. They realized they now had a good chance to get a player of his caliber at their school. He ended up playing in the NESCAC.

Sorry to hear of the young man's injury. Shoulder labrum repair can be difficult to rehab (I've had one, but at 50 years old). His success will be partly impacted by the extent of the tear (and the number of anchors required to repair it). If they tried rehab first, then maybe the damage isn't too severe. Hopefully, he has a skilled surgeon.

 

What kind of hitting skills does he have? His hitting will probably come back quicker if he hits from the right side. Could he move to 1B or 2B? At least initially.

 

Best wishes.