If I might add… Intent not to sway anyone, but rather to give another view point.
We have files dating back to age 13 or 14 on a very large number of high draft picks and college stars. While that age is not as important as older ages, it still becomes part of a players history. It sometimes will show makeup issues and help in projecting the player when the time comes. The academic history doesn’t start with the junior year so why would the baseball history.
For example here are two hypothetical pitchers:
1. At age 14 a pitcher (5’7/135) is throwing two pitches (change and fastball) and the fastball with some control is 75 mph.
At age 15 (5’9/148) he ‘s throwing three pitches (fastball, change, curveball)
Fastball with some control is 80 mph.
At age 16 (5’11/163) he’s throwing the same three pitches (all have improved) Fastball with good control is 85 mph.
At age 17 (6’1/178) he’s added lots of movement to the Fastball and the change and curveball are improved even more, now close to MLB average. Fastball is 90 mph.
2. At age 14 a pitcher (5’10/150) is throwing three pitches (change, curveball and fastball) and the fastball with some control is 84 mph.
At age 15 (6’0/175) he ‘s throwing four pitches (fastball, good change, good curveball, slider) Fastball with some control and good movement is 88 mph.
At age 16 (6’1/183) he’s throwing the same four pitches, Fastball with control is 90 mph.
At age 17 (6’1/190) his other pitches have improved slightly and are close to MLB average, Fastball is 90 mph.
At age 17
Pitcher 1. 6’1/178
Pitcher 2. 6’1/190
Velocity
Pitcher 1. 90 mph
Pitcher 2. 90 mph
Other pitches – equal
Command and control – equal
Everything else - equal
Does pitcher 2 get the nod because he appears bigger and stronger? Look at their history.
Both of these pitchers should be highly recruited by DI schools and both will get serious attention from MLB scouts. Of course, there would be much more listed in the players actual file, than what is presented in the above examples.
Pretend you are a scout or recruiter. Which of the two pitchers would you be most interested in? Why?
Which pitcher 1 or 2 is likely to grow more?
Which pitcher is likely to throw the hardest?
Which pitcher is likely to improve the most overall?
Which pitcher do you think will be better 2 or 3 years from now (projection)?
Which pitcher would you guess has the best work ethic?
Which pitcher is least likely to get injured?
Which pitcher has the least risk overall?
You might even come up with other things from the above information. In the real files, there's much more that could be considered.
The same things can be applied to hitting, running, fielding, power, etc.
Chris Lubanski (1st round draft pick) is a good example. We first saw him at age 14. His first report said he had one tool (could run) and was interesting. He showed a somewhat weak arm, no power, and a very skinny body. We saw him many times as he grew older, every time there was improvement and he became a high profile prospect by his junior year in high school. But it was his history that made him such a desirable player worth millions of dollars. His history proved many things about his makeup, desire and work ethic. He didn’t get that good by accident and his history showed how hard he worked at all phases of the game. We had compiled a lot of information on Chris Lubanski. Some of which may never had been available had we not seen him until he reached age 17. Some that, in addition to his ability, helped him make the USA National Team and helped in other areas.
This just goes back to another point. No matter what scouts say, they can never have too much information about a player. The quicker they can identify a prospect the more information they can gather before he becomes draft eligible. There is never any worthless information. This becomes even more important when the front office is considering paying this player millions of dollars. Or when a college plans to invest part of their recruiting dollars.
A full understanding of the process is helpful. Should you as a 13 or 14 year old attend showcases? It’s not necessary! And you can’t usually get in the big events with juniors and seniors anyway. Can it end up helping? In some cases yes!
Each year we have MLB scouting departments request the entire file we have on a player. They want the entire file, not just what we have over the last year.
Last but not least, we run underclassmen events for young players. While these events are not gigantic draws to scouts and college recruiters, they are covered heavily and the information gets to the scouting and recruiting community. At our National Underclassmen each year you will find several coaches from the top amateur programs in America in attendance. This includes East Cobb, Midland Redskins, Florida Bombers, and many others. They are all looking for the best young players in the country.
This is not meant as an endorsement for young players to attend showcases. It’s meant to show there is another side to think about besides just seeing how you might compare to others. By not attending it’s not a big deal, there’s lots of players we don’t see until they’re juniors. But for some it has been very helpful, opened a lot of doors, and given them some documented history.