RHP was recruited to play in college - without playing travel. It's possible.

A pitcher can be gauged by velocity and spin rate. For a position player it’s a bit more subjective. Yes, there are metrics for position players. But a position player has to demonstrate he understands the game.

My son was “discovered” at a showcase. I put it in parenthesis as his travel coach contacted the schools ahead of time.

My son didn’t need PG East Cobb and Fort Myers to be “discovered.” What it did for him was have him walking away from these two weeks knowing he could compete with any level of talent. He wasn’t a Top 500. But he was good enough.

Congratulations! You used a sniper approach, not the typical scattershot approach so many resort to. My son followed a similar path at HA showcases without travel ball, and didn't even throw as hard as your son and still got recruited and accepted to one of the top schools in the world (40 year plan).

Congrats!

Congrats.  I do think that works much better for a pitcher than a position player.  I know of a kid who went a similar route as a hitter and his dad was a little obnoxious about everyone else wasting so much money on travel ball.  His kid was just cut from his JUCO a few weeks ago.  I think his lack of ever seeing high end pitching hurt him. 

@RHPitcherparent posted:

I just wanted to give a bit of hope to parents who don't have the time or money for travel ball. But, their son still dreams of playing in college. We are not anti-travel ball, we just didn't have the time and money to participate. (We have four kids.) So, here's what we did instead:

1) We found a terrific local pitching coach for our son when he was 13.  We paid him for one hour a week year around. Together, they worked on developing three pitches and velocity.

2) We continued with these lessons and he kept working - until he had something worth showing. (This was key) He also played on his HS team in a strong league to get some game time on the mound.

3) Finally, as a rising Junior, he was hitting 90 with three pitches. It was time to hit the showcases.

4) He wanted to get into the best academic school possible, so we took him to Headfirst and Showball the summer between junior and senior year. (He had a 4.2 and a 34 ACT.)

5) Before attending, our son emailed all the schools he was interested in attending and included a verified 90 velo. As well as his grades and test scores.

After the events, and over the next 4-8 weeks, our son was contacted by 10 HA colleges. Mid-D1 to D3. He recieved four offers and in the end choose a top ten ranked college with a strong degree in his field of interest. It was a school he probably wouldn't have gotten into with out baseball. (The 40 year plan.)

So it all worked out, and he'll be stepping onto the college field this fall.

That's awesome and a definite blueprint for pitchers.  A little bit of a "stick the landing" approach, but your son stuck the landing so very happy for you both.  Curious, did he end up D1 or D3?

@d-mac posted:

Congrats.  I do think that works much better for a pitcher than a position player.  I know of a kid who went a similar route as a hitter and his dad was a little obnoxious about everyone else wasting so much money on travel ball.  His kid was just cut from his JUCO a few weeks ago.  I think his lack of ever seeing high end pitching hurt him.

+1 on that.  You have to have experience hitting the appropriate level pitching as an offensive player.  Can’t steal first base

with Pitchers, if you hit a certain number on the radar gun, somebody somewhere is going to want you

He went with the better college D3, over a mid-D1 program.

@RHPitcherparent posted:

He went with the better college D3, over a mid-D1 program.

Right on, good call.  Same deal with my guy. 4/40.  Congrats again.

Thanks. I'm so glad it's all over. The recruiting process was very stressful!

Yup, easy... all you gotta do is hit 90 with three pitches as a rising HS junior 

Seriously, huge congrats RHPitcherparent.

But your son has attributes that are extremely rare.  So, stating this as some sort of blueprint for those parents and players who don't have the time or money for travel is a bit skewed.  There are certainly many different paths that can be taken.  But, for the vast majority with more earthly skill sets, some version of travel ball that affords exposure to the right audience is quite useful.

Another point I would make that applies to the "earthly skill set" group is that if you aren't committed to making the time, the results are likely to reflect that lack of commitment.  But, that pretty much applies to anything worth working for.

I am really happy for you and your kid the plan worked well. In your opinion, would you change your strategy if your kid topped upper 80s and cruised at low to mid 80s? I believe the super academic camps would have generated interest and discussions. I base this statement from people I spoken to and my kid's experience at a HA D3 camp, where a mid 80s pitcher was being considered.

RHPitcherparent,

Congrats!  There have been (a couple) others that have taken a similar approach, and been successful.  There was a recruit I remember about 7-8 years ago that an Ivy recruited and offered.   I provided advice to the parent and son., but the strategy was theirs.  As RJM pointed out, pitchers are definitely advantaged with this strategy.

The feedback I got back from the parent of the above mentioned recruit was that he had a difficult time at first.   We boiled it down to inexperience at the higher levels of his age group, and we concluded that was due to no travel baseball experience.   Even the best high school programs pale in comparison to the best national travel teams.  So (my two cents), I would try to make sure he is ready to compete physically and mentally day 1 of college.   You may want to ask his college coach (or pitching coach) about ideas to give him more real life mound experiences before college, so he isn't struggling Fall of freshmen year where impressions and decisions are made very quickly.

Just my two cents.  Good luck!

PS....Your son's metrics and makeup are very similiar to my oldest son, as well as his HeadFirst experience.

@RHPitcherparent posted:

Thanks. I'm so glad it's all over. The recruiting process was very stressful!

Congrats, and well done on targeting the right schools for your son and having success.  I would caution against the "glad it's all over" sentiment.  This is just the beginning.  He needs to continue to work to get bigger, better and stronger.  I'll add this - at least half the kids my son played HS travel ball with who committed during HS were not playing ball for that college by the start of their sophomore year. Some commitments didn't work out, others got cut the fall of their freshman year, others were cut after freshman year, others saw the writing on the wall (no playing time) and left the program... and it is much tougher now with the covid hangover of 5th and 6th year seniors and grad students hanging around.  Good luck, but the work is far from over, it is just beginning.

To compare travel to non travel ball, at a high school game a dad asked if my son owned and dominated 17u travel games like he did high school ball. He was surprised when I responded no. I explained unlike high school every pitcher throws 87-92. Every player on his team is capable of being the star in any given game. The talent is essentially equal across the board. The only difference was noticing some players were slightly more athletic than others in the field.

congrats, if you have 90 plus arm with 3 legit pitches as a HS SR, you are going to be a beast at D3. With those types of qualifications it certainly is possible.

I'm glad the recruting process is over for my wife and I. It was new to us and pretty stressful. I knew most of the coaches talking to him - were also talking to many others. And the who process was pretty fickle and fluid as there are thousands and thousands of excellent baseball players. I think going to a D3 with mid-D1 ability was the right choice. It will give him a good shot at seeing the field, I think. I also wanted to thank you all for all your baseball insights. They were invaluable during this process.

@old_school posted:

congrats, if you have 90 plus arm with 3 legit pitches as a HS SR, you are going to be a beast at D3. With those types of qualifications it certainly is possible.

I believe you’re going to see a lot more 85-90 entering D3 the next couple of years. D1 is going to be a tough entry the next couple of years for high school pitchers with so many 22-24yo pitchers. There will also be plenty of pitchers transferring down for mound time.

Unless you’re a pro prospect pick the right academic situation with the potential for a quality baseball experience.

@RJM posted:

I believe you’re going to see a lot more 85-90 entering D3 the next couple of years. D1 is going to be a tough entry the next couple of years for high school pitchers with so many 22-24yo pitchers. There will also be plenty of pitchers transferring down for mound time.

Almost guaranteed.  Have seen many very talented players opt for D3 as opposed to take a chance on a bloated D1 field.  Think this talent trickle down lasts at least another year maybe 2.

@RJM posted:

I believe you’re going to see a lot more 85-90 entering D3 the next couple of years. D1 is going to be a tough entry the next couple of years for high school pitchers with so many 22-24yo pitchers. There will also be plenty of pitchers transferring down for mound time.

Unless you’re a pro prospect pick the right academic situation with the potential for a quality baseball experience.

My son's D3 team had at least two pitchers north of 90 MPH and most who saw time were mid to high 80's.   I think many D3 teams are already there.  I could be wrong.  The closer topped at 95 (I am told).....

@Gunner Mack Jr. posted:

My son's D3 team had at least two pitchers north of 90 MPH and most who saw time were mid to high 80's.   I think many D3 teams are already there.  I could be wrong.  The closer topped at 95 (I am told).....

I can tell you that many teams are not there. I am not saying you wrong about your sons team but i would need to see those numbers myself before I believe it, the part of "most who saw time were mid to upper 80's" would be most stunning assuming that is defined as 87-89 mph

I have watched 4 years of D3 baseball, been to league playoffs and NCAA tourney and I have not seen or heard rumor of those types of numbers deep into a staff. I have watched / son played against multiple games vs 4 different teams that went to the D3 WS between 2018-21 and none of them had that.

Congrats,

Not trying to take away from your post but, as mentioned, travel ball is significantly more important for bats than arms. If you want to play competitive college baseball (D1, top half of D2, top 1/3 of D3, or high level juco) you need to prove you can hit quality pitching. Unless you play HS ball in an area like Tx, Ga, or SoCal there really isn't any way to know if you're a good hitter or if you're good at hitting bad pitching. Until you prove you can 85+ on a regular basis there is no way to know.

I saw travel more as a means to play better competition than it did for recruiting. Had mine not played the travel schedule he did I think he would have had a significantly harder time transitioning to P5 ball. He's a pitcher

@old_school posted:

I can tell you that many teams are not there. I am not saying you wrong about your sons team but i would need to see those numbers myself before I believe it, the part of "most who saw time were mid to upper 80's" would be most stunning assuming that is defined as 87-89 mph

I have watched 4 years of D3 baseball, been to league playoffs and NCAA tourney and I have not seen or heard rumor of those types of numbers deep into a staff. I have watched / son played against multiple games vs 4 different teams that went to the D3 WS between 2018-21 and none of them had that.

I just personally gunned my sons friend, just completed Freshman year at a D3, who couldn't crack his rotation and he was cruising 87-88 for a few innings this past weekend.   I don't know what his teammates throw to be clear.  I hear you though, you would need to see it to believe it.  I do believe it - the two kids in 90's both taking graduate years at D1's.  My sons team and his friends team were top 15 and both are pretty high end D3 level baseball and the programs have been for years.

Also didn't Chapman have a guy low to mid 90's in 2019? Drafted?  To be fair to your point - these could just be one offs.  Sorry further clarity - you are correct my assumption were most were mid to high 80's who saw time.   I feel pretty good about it being mid 80's for the balance but I might have stretched that a bit.

Clearly, the competition within the entire college system has increased due to covid. Way too many great players and not as many spots. I'm grateful my son found a spot since 90 velo seems to be dime a dozen now. Crazy.  He's on the skinny side at  6" 4" 210lbs. So he needs another 15lbs of muscle to throw harder and stay on the mound in college, I think. I agree our strategy would never work for a position player - since they get recruited mostly on hitting, and need travel level pitchers coming at them. But I do believe with so much competition now, players need to be very strategic if they want to get recruited and actually play on a college team. I think my son would be sitting for two years if he went with one of his mid-D1 offer. The D3 coach was all over him so we're hoping "go where you're loved" plays out at this school. We'll see.

@Gunner Mack Jr. posted:

I just personally gunned my sons friend, just completed Freshman year at a D3, who couldn't crack his rotation and he was cruising 87-88 for a few innings this past weekend.   I don't know what his teammates throw to be clear.  I hear you though, you would need to see it to believe it.  I do believe it - the two kids in 90's both taking graduate years at D1's.  My sons team and his friends team were top 15 and both are pretty high end D3 level baseball and the programs have been for years.

Also didn't Chapman have a guy low to mid 90's in 2019? Drafted?  To be fair to your point - these could just be one offs.  Sorry further clarity - you are correct my assumption were most were mid to high 80's who saw time.   I feel pretty good about it being mid 80's for the balance but I might have stretched that a bit.

Nick Garcia. He’s legit. Seems like SCIAC has a pitcher drafted every other year. But you have to play in a high profile summer league. Nobody is scouting D3 games.

https://www.milb.com/player/nick-garcia-694356

Lots of good input here from the people who make this site great.  First off, @RHPitcherparent, congrats to your son and your family.  That's great to hear!  I sincerely mean that, but I wouldn't advise anyone with uncommitted prospect hopefuls in their family to take one once of comfort in "it's possible" type statements from anyone.  I mean no disrespect whatsoever to RHPitcherparent or anyone who might disagree with me, but I'm of the opinion that right now - all things considered - more is more.  Being possible and being PROBABLE are often galaxies apart from each other, yet we as humans often look to equate the 2 in every day life.  I am not suggesting anyone put their other kids up for adoption or take out a 4th and 5th mortgages on their homes so they can spend more time and money on recruiting.  But I think finding ways to stand out is key.  That's everything from emails to coaches to camps to flatground to travel ball and a hundred+ things in between.  If your emails, flatground, and camps (just for example) don't help you stand out at the right moments to the right people, then you either need to create more opportunities to stand out or make peace with being done playing ball.  I'm seeing a lot of 2022 families putting substantial portions of their recruiting "strategies" into HOPE.  Yes, they're doing some things, but when the "usual" things don't produce the desired results, I think many feel at a loss.  These are anything but usual times.  Sometimes casting the widest net involves going with a more is more approach.  Creating opportunities out of nothing.

While I completely understand why parents and recruits do it (I did it myself at one point), I fear that far too many take comfort in PRECEDENT.  Some will point to 2020 MIF Johnny Smith and say "my kid's measurables/numbers/stats/etc are all just as good - if not better - than Johnny's, and he ended up at D1 University of Awesome, so my kid has nothing to worry about."  That MIGHT be the case if it WASN'T the year 2021 right now, but a Covid-impacted 2021 is very much where we're at.  I also see parents whose kid grew up playing the last 10 years of baseball with another player so when that other player gets an offer, they get awfully sure their kid has nothing to worry about.  Because their kid performed better the the other kid all 10 years.  That logic is heavily flawed, but I think many are prone to buying into that.

I'd suggest we all celebrate that RHPitcherparent's son found a good home, but at the same time, don't view their story as any sort of precedent that runs the risk of creating comfort and/or complacency.  The best recruiting approaches center around PROBABILITIES and not POSSIBILITIES.  And for many players, playing travel ball increases the probability of getting offers.  It surely did for my 5'9" 2021 MIF.  He got 2 offers in his first tourney weekend with his travel team last June and a month later, committed to one of those offers from that first weekend.  And money was a HUGE factor for us in that we don't have much!

DanJ. I completley agree playing on a solid travel team is now table steaks for a kid trying to play in college. We knew we were facing a huge disadvantage by not playing travel due to the cost/time. That's why we had to look for an alt strategy. I thought, how many D1 schools need to recuit pitchers with a 34 ACT? Almost none of them need to. They can recruit a kid with a 27 ACT who throws 95. We lose in that scenario. However, when you ask "how many HA D3 schools can find a kid with a 34 ACT and can can throw 90?" Not many. To verify, we searched the HA D3 rosters and checked those player's the Perfect Game stats. We could see most were throwing mid 80s and topping out at 87. So I knew the HA window was his best shot at generating recruiting interest. I was actually surprised by the interest by the midD1s. You're right, in hindsight, I should have titled this post: "RHP was recruited to play in college - without playing travel. It's almost impossible." . . . Yes, we were an outlier.

@2022NYC posted:

I am really happy for you and your kid the plan worked well. In your opinion, would you change your strategy if your kid topped upper 80s and cruised at low to mid 80s? I believe the super academic camps would have generated interest and discussions. I base this statement from people I spoken to and my kid's experience at a HA D3 camp, where a mid 80s pitcher was being considered.

I'd look at the HA school rosters and see who's losing graduating pitchers. Then, reach out to those coaches. Many HA D3s currently have kids throwing mid-80s. Also, I've heard serving him up as pitcher/OF or another position, can help make him look more appealing to D3s - since he can be used off the mound as well. Good luck.