Showcase Timing

Does he have the 6th tool?

Bob

He is getting there for sure. Last year with surgery scheduled  during the season and no harm to come playing ,they had him on JV.During the time he was able to play he stole home twice  with the catcher not paying attention walking back to the plate after a play. So I'd say aggressive play is one of his strong points.

I would be inclined to do a lower cost PBR or similar lower cost showcase close to home to get a sense of where he is in his recovery. You'll get some verifiable stats and then decide if you should do a higher end show case in the future.

I would highly recommend Headfirst or Showball in place of a PG showcase.  PG doesn't have coaches attend for the most part.  It is for creating or boosting the players' PG profile numbers. The other 2 have many coaches of all levels and have many dates offered throughout the year.  You can choose the event based on the schools attending that might be a fit for your son.  It is expensive, but many on this site will agree it's worth it. 

If you do choose to do PG, I would make sure he's recovered. If he goes in and does poorly, those metrics sit on PG until he does another one.  Not every school values the PG numbers, but many do.  So, just be cautious and spend your $$ wisely.

Iowamom23 posted:

I would be inclined to do a lower cost PBR or similar lower cost showcase close to home to get a sense of where he is in his recovery. You'll get some verifiable stats and then decide if you should do a higher end show case in the future.

I know where his numbers are exit velo wise and close to where he is in 60. I just don't want his outfield velo numbers to bring his rating down to the point where it isn't money well spent. A  .5 point higher grade number than he is rated now I don't think would be worth it. The more I think about it  I may get a gun on his outfield throws a couple weeks before the showcase and if he is only throwing a couple miles her hour faster than when he was 14, I may wait until the September PG event. Luckily he will participate in 6-8 summer showcase tournys where some target schools are supposed to be in attendance. I appreciate the ideas given. Always good in my opinion to get ideas from people who have been down this road before.

Kimb27 posted:

I would highly recommend Headfirst or Showball in place of a PG showcase.  PG doesn't have coaches attend for the most part.  It is for creating or boosting the players' PG profile numbers. The other 2 have many coaches of all levels and have many dates offered throughout the year.  You can choose the event based on the schools attending that might be a fit for your son.  It is expensive, but many on this site will agree it's worth it. 

If you do choose to do PG, I would make sure he's recovered. If he goes in and does poorly, those metrics sit on PG until he does another one.  Not every school values the PG numbers, but many do.  So, just be cautious and spend your $$ wisely.

Headfirst and Showball are primarily for kids entering their senior year of HS looking for offers from high academic schools. A sophomore wouldn't really get much out of it even if he were interested in those types of schools as they typically don't start recruiting until the summer after their junior year. I also wouldn't say coaches value PG numbers, it is just there for verification. So when they get an email from a player or a call from a travel coach saying Johnny throws 87, they can go to PG/PBR and see how accurate that information is. 

As for the OP, I wouldn't do any type of showcase until he is 100%. Why spend the money when you know he can perform better when healthy? Truthfully I would skip the showcases altogether until necessary or an invite only type deal. You say he is on a good travel team and will be getting in front of target schools. If they like his game you will hear from them. No need to fork over another 800 when he will already be seen by schools he is interested in. 

The top prospect lists and honorable mentions don't mean anything. The score on his PG profile means even less. The score is there so you spend the money on another showcase to get it higher. I know kids with 9.5s who had no offers. I know others who have 7.5 because they went and threw 75mph in 9th grade at P5 schools. Save the money and wait for the summer to play out. 

Does your kid have a list of colleges he is interested in applying to? Maybe reach out to them and attend one of their camps?

Headfirst is for high academic achievers, as is Showball HA camps(i think they have regular camps). OP did not specify that his son is a HA kid.

  Agree that PBR is a respected place that you can get your numbers recorded, and can usually be done somewhat locally. Save the trips for big time Tourneys.

2022NYC posted:

Does your kid have a list of colleges he is interested in applying to? Maybe reach out to them and attend one of their camps?

 

That is the plan for the fall, with a full summer showcase tourny schedule we wont have many open weekends for camps.Luckily thou many of his target schools either host or are supposed to have reps at the tourneys.

57special posted:

Headfirst is for high academic achievers, as is Showball HA camps(i think they have regular camps). OP did not specify that his son is a HA kid.

 

  Agree that PBR is a respected place that you can get your numbers recorded, and can usually be done somewhat locally. Save the trips for big time Tourneys.

He did attend a PBR showcase a couple months before his surgery. He posted decent numbers there and they gave him a decent writeup. I personally like the fact that PG uses wood bats and has  games to show a little more than numbers. Also PBR does not have any events scheduled for spring/summer in our area.

Some posters put too much stock in showcase scores. Be more concerned with what coaches see than scores. Unless you’re tossing spaghetti off the wall to see what sticks your son or his travel coach is in communication with his target schools. Not cutting loose with the arm can be explained. Be preventive up front rather than defensive after the fact. Tell the coaches why he isn’t cutting loose. In the long run you can’t hide injuries anyway. 

I see the OP's point; you want to get your son's numbers to colleges so they will come watch him in summer games.  The measurables you listed are D1 numbers, so this summer should be a big recruiting year.  Presumably your summer coach knows these numbers, and can time/measure your son so that the info is up-to-date?  Is that coach or organization well-connected and respected?  In that case, they should be contacting the colleges and telling them about him (including his numbers), asking them to watch him in summer games.  What do they say about PG/PBR?

RJM posted:

Some posters put too much stock in showcase scores. Be more concerned with what coaches see than scores. Unless you’re tossing spaghetti off the wall to see what sticks your son or his travel coach is in communication with his target schools. Not cutting loose with the arm can be explained. Be preventive up front rather than defensive after the fact. Tell the coaches why he isn’t cutting loose. In the long run you can’t hide injuries anyway. 

I definitely agree that many and probly myself included give too much thought to measurables. I think in my son's case is that he would like to get some invites to certain events just for the sake of taking part on a larger stage. We both know when his playing days are over that the memories are what will remain.What is important to him I know other kids have no interest in and are very successful in their journeys. He likes to compete against top competition and seems to thrive on it. I know I will probly dish out more money than needed to get him in front of the schools he needs to be in front of. I have no younger son, so enjoying this opprotunity to watch him play and enjoy himself makes me ok with that. I appreciate all the thoughts regarding the subject, many good ideas and suggestions.

I agree with holding off on showcases until he is fully healed and ramped up. If you are looking for an amazing experience for your son this summer or next, I highly recommend the Stanford camp. 

anotherparent posted:

I see the OP's point; you want to get your son's numbers to colleges so they will come watch him in summer games.  The measurables you listed are D1 numbers, so this summer should be a big recruiting year.  Presumably your summer coach knows these numbers, and can time/measure your son so that the info is up-to-date?  Is that coach or organization well-connected and respected?  In that case, they should be contacting the colleges and telling them about him (including his numbers), asking them to watch him in summer games.  What do they say about PG/PBR?

The coach my son will be playing with this summer is well respected but I wouldn't say nearly as well connected as the top programs are in the area. He did play college ball and is one hell of a good coach thou. My son will be the only 2022 playing with a talented group of 2021s from the area with most of them being starters on their respective 5A or 6A HS baseball team. They will play in 2 tournys hosted by P5 teams and 3 hosted by top mid major programs. The other tournys are either PG or showcase tournys with multiple college coaches signed up to attend. So I would say a good opportunity for him to shine if he does well. The reasons I opted for this route is the cost is minimal for us due to fundraisers and sponsorships for these type of tournys. This allows me to enroll him in specific college camps later in the fall or other events that could come up. I also didn't want to commit thousands of dollars for him to play with a top program and him to have some sort of setback with his arm. Luckily this hasn't happened and his doctor says in April he will be good to unleash as long as no setbacks occur. He is released to play now but wisely we have chosen for him to tame the throws for a while yet. He has worked out with a couple of the travel programs in the area this offseason and will be joining one of the best connected ones in the area this fall.