Scout question

OH BBMom,
It is not unusual for this to happen. A scout saw your son and he liked what he saw, he wants to come to see him and probably speak with him and get an idea of how he feels about the draft and his expectations of proball.

People have to stop trying to figure out what everything means. Everything means something but trying to figure out more that is necessary is just not necessary.

Good luck to your son.

BBMom, don't mean to be frank, but did the scout talk to your son, have him fill out a card, or call? It's always a good sign to have a scout show up to a game, but there are different "scouts". Some are bird-dog scouts, some work directly for the Big Club. If he's a rising Junior at a DIII and has big league talent, hopefully there will be more contact.

Good luck.

Bum,
OH mentioned that her son went to a scout day at another school. Do associate scouts attend legit scout days?

OH BBMom,

The question of whether the situation is "unusual" depends on defining "unusual" to whom and in the context of D3 baseball.
Looking at this from the context of a scout, I would say no, it is not unusual, for a scout who is really doing their job. As I have posted before, I relied, a lot, on bbscout when our son was involved in the process through D3. bbscout described how MLB scouting is so much different than college scouting. A scout gets paid to find talent at every level and in every area and those who don't, get fired.
With the area where your son's team is located and the high profile programs, including your son's, I am not surprised and don't find it unusual scouts would be at a scout day and pick out players/pitchers from top programs to follow.
Looked at from the perspective of D3, the situation is somewhat "unusual." D3 baseball has anywhere from 12 to 25 players/pitchers drafted each year. The majority are pitchers, as is the case at DI and DII, JC and Naia, also. So, I guess it is "unusual" in that the usual is close to 99% of D3 players/pitchers don't get drafted.
But, to support what TPM described, there is a very big difference between being scouted and the next steps.
Very few D3 players get drafted after their junior year. Most are senior signs. Far more players/pitchers get scouted than drafted and even during the draft, there can be some expectations created by MLB teams which get crushed when names are not called.
For your son and family, the odds are against him and it is important to know that.
It is also important to know the process is just starting, it is very early, and the odds are stacked against this being meaningful for the 2013 draft.
Finally, it is be far better to have 20 scouts interested rather than one. But having a start with one is something which does not happen too much at the D3 level.
Hopefully, some of these thoughts could be helpful is keeping your son's head out of the clouds. It would not be helpful for him to see this as "unusual." It is part of a long process with final decisions to be made by folks he likely won't ever meet.
MLB teaches players in Milb to focus only on what they can control, which is what they do on the field, in preparation to get on the field and in the weight room. Your son needs to pay attention to those and work very hard to get better every pitch, every inning and every game.
He must work equally hard in the classroom.
With all this said, congratulations to your son. This is a "start" and the finish line, if reached, is likely very, very far away. Learning about the reality of the process, combined with what he does everyday between now and "very, very far away" and likely feedback from his college coaching staff, or all of the above, will likely get his head out of the clouds.
Thanks for sharing. I love it when this happens for players/pitchers in D3 baseball.

Great post.

quote:

Originally posted by OH BBMom:
Son is a junior pitcher at a DIII. He went to a small school scout day in September on the advice of his coach. He was told by coach that a scout from a pro team wants to come to the school to see him throw. Is this usual? I'm trying to keep son's head out of the clouds for now.

As TPM says, this is NOT "unusual." I'll echo what others have said it the past that it's ALWAYS a good sign to have a scout show such interest. But. . .it's nothing to get excited about as it's way too early in the process. Depending on the format of such a visit by a scout, it could be a good opportunity for your son to talk with the scout and find out more about what the scout is thinking and what the process is like.

Like infielddad mentioned, there are different levels of scouts/scouting (see http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/p...g/scouting_ranks.htm ). Now, if one of those top levels of scout, like the "National Crosschecker", wanted to have a personal audience with your son, then I think I'd be VERY excited. And that could yet happen, but not likely until later into the season. Until something like that. . . it's best to just keep one's head out of the clouds and go about the business of working hard at the academics and practices in preparation for the upcoming season. I feel it's important for players to simply focus on each day's activities day by day. . .like in a game where you simply focus pitch by pitch kind of thing.

quote:

Son is a junior pitcher at a DIII. He went to a small school scout day in September on the advice of his coach. He was told by coach that a scout from a pro team wants to come to the school to see him throw. Is this usual? I'm trying to keep son's head out of the clouds for now.

Many colleges have a scout day for their own team. It sounds like your son went to a school other than his own to participate in their scout day? If that is what happened... That seems very unusual to me.

At any rate, a scout, especially a "full time" scout, wanting to see your son is a very good thing. Even better if they show up at a game he is pitching.

Best of luck

Thank you for all the great advice. In order to qualify the scout day a bit more, it was held at a central location for players at DIII, DII and NAIA schools in the state of Ohio. Son thought there were between 25-30 pitchers there, and around 20 scouts, although I do not know the level of the scouts.

I really loved the advice about "controlling what you can control". I will be sure to pass that along.

Just to set the record straight, my son never met the drafting scout or the cross checker who came to see him and he was a second round pick.

OHBBMom,
Regardless of who the scout is or what level, if this motivates your son to work harder, I would consider this is a good thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Hsbaseballcoach:
did your son fill out a questionnaire for that team that drafted him? Also how many questionnaires did he end up filling out in all roughly? I'm very surpised he was a second round pick and didnt meet the scout that drafted him and invested that much money. Is that unusual? Just curious. Thanks!

We live in south florida and he played up at the field all through HS, and scouts from the team were always around plus one of his HS coaches was an associate scout.
However, he was drafted out of college, in another state, and he had no clue until the night before that the team was interested in drafting him. He didn't even meet the scout until the following spring training. Very ironic though, the hitting instructor that first year was the yankee scout who came to every HS game son pitched.
As far as I know, there are lots of scouts that come to scout day at his former school. I don't know how many questionares he filled out, and can't remember in HS.
I just wanted to bring up a point that always remember that there is someone watching, even if you have no clue they are.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
However, he was drafted out of college, in another state, and he had no clue until the night before that the team was interested in drafting him.

That was Bum, Jr's experience as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
However, he was drafted out of college, in another state, and he had no clue until the night before that the team was interested in drafting him.

That was Bum, Jr's experience as well.

This is not uncommon in college. I know that at Clemson, coaches made it clear that if you are playing post season, that is where your priority should be. I think that a lot of the scouts went to the coaches for info.
After all who is more likely to give an accurate assesment of the player.
My son's teammate, Tyler Colvin was surprised that he was the first pick of the cubs in 2006.

Scouts and college coaches talk all the time and are not limited to a specific region. It is a small and very tight community.