Is it customary for scouts (college and pro) to communicate with the high school coach when attending games? Have started seeing many in the stands with guns taking notes at home and away games. The college scouts usually wear their school shirts, but the pro guys seem more low key. Curious.
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My experience is that the player's advisor (or player) sends a weekly schedule, including expected pitching schedule, to area scouts. College coaches are communicate with the player. I haven't seen scouts or college coaches coordinating games with HS coaches.
I have had college RC's call me (HS coach) to see if there was definitive start date/rotation for a pitcher. For position players, the were less likely to do so - had dialog with player and expected that they play most every game. A couple times, they would contact me when they knew they were coming thru the area for an Easter tourney or similar and ask if I had their guy of interest scheduled to pitch a certain game/date.
Also, I think it is more likely that a RC will want to see a position player in a travel/showcase setting where a certain level of competition is the norm. The exception would be when they know the league or match-up is particularly competitive/high level HS.
Old school HS coaches like Cabbage have relationships with college coaches and MLB scouts. Younger HS coaches seem to not invest the time to foster those kinds of relationships. College coach or MLB scout would probably only coordinate a visit with a HS head coach if they already knew each other. Other than that contact would be direct with the player. Often coaches and scouts want to see a player when the player doesn't know they are watching.
If it's a pitcher, yes. Position player they can just look at the schedule and show up whenever.
College coaches don't usually show up to HS games unless they are local or they know the other team is good/has more players they want to take a look at. A 2hr drive on a Thursday is doable, anything more or involving a plane is a no go.
MLB scouts are usually more subtle, although I saw a photo from a game a few weeks ago with 60 scouts behind home. There were two top 5 round guys and another kid all in the same game. Looked like Jupiter except it was 43 and raining.
We have scouts at every game and at a lot of practices but we have two potential first rounders one pitcher, one hitter.
The only time there were scouts at my son's HS games was when the ace pitcher (95+ mph FB) was pitching. We came to call it "the circus" as there would be 20+ scouts behind the plate - all with radar guns. If he was not scheduled to pitch the scouts weren't there. And as soon as he was done pitching for the day, the scouts were left. The pitcher went on to be drafted in the 6th round.
You won't see many college coaches at HS games because colleges are in mid-season now....they just don't have time unless it's someone fairly local. Agree that if it's a pitcher, they are very likely to have confirmed that the pitcher will be on the mound (either with the player or the coach). They won't drive 2 hours and hope to see a kid....again, they just don't have time. Keep in mind that most colleges play Fri-Sun...with Thursday being a possible travel day.....and also at least one game on Tuesday or Wednesday...sometimes both.
I agree with those who have said that the college coaches have communicated with the high school coach - at least in situations where the top prospect is a pitcher to be sure what day the pitcher is on the mound.
Our son had a teammate who was a top level prospect and was drafted out of HS. There's no way the HS coach would have had a prior relationship with many of these college coaches because they were coming from all parts of the country.
adbono posted:Old school HS coaches like Cabbage have relationships with college coaches and MLB scouts. Younger HS coaches seem to not invest the time to foster those kinds of relationships. College coach or MLB scout would probably only coordinate a visit with a HS head coach if they already knew each other. Other than that contact would be direct with the player. Often coaches and scouts want to see a player when the player doesn't know they are watching.
I don’t think the age of the hs coach is relevant. Ours was older than dirt, and had zero relationships or credibility with any college coaches or pro scouts. A few miles down the road, in opposite directions, there were 2 very new hs coaches, from different schools both between 20-30 yrs old, with very much credibility.
