Size - how much does it really matter?

My son is 5'9 - 5'10". He is a pitcher on a top D2 team. It can be done. It is certainly a disadvantage, but if you can play, there will be coaches who don't care about the height factor. I think some coaches do care, so your and your sons job will be to get exposure to as many schools as possible and hopefully run across that school or schools that are looking for your son's position and who don't care about how tall he is. It's definitely not time to give up. Keep plugging, height doesn't matter to everyone.

gettin'there,

 

I agree with bballman! Just have to find the right fit somewhere. It only takes one coach who will believe in your son and give him the chance.

 

How old is your son and where is he in his baseball development?

 

For me, it's the SIZE OF THE HEART that matters.

 

 

To be honest, it does matter.  If his goal is to play at the next level, he will hear about it again and again.  He needs to remember that EVERY player has hurdles to overcome.  It all comes down to how he approaches it.  Does he dwell on it and see it as a short-coming or does he use it as motivation and is 100% committed to overcome and succeed.  It definitely can be done.

 

Youngest son definitely has the height deficiency   And, he throws LH so he doesn't play the positions that are commonly occupied by the short guys on the team (another hurdle).  Last year, he made a strong college team that had several cuts down from 90+ players, only to suffer another setback with significant injury late in the Fall (another hurdle).  This year, after a long rehab, he was determined to give it another go at another good college.  Two days ago, he cleared another hurdle, having been chosen as one of only two players to make the big cut from a group of over 50 to join the returners/ recruits.  Hopefully, the hurdles will continue and I know he will keep jumping as high as his short self will take him. 

 

While he hears about his size constantly, he is focusing on the strengths that he brings.

 

Make sure your son understands that if he doesn't make it (at any level), it's not because he is short.  It's because he didn't want it badly enough and work hard enough to be better than the next guy.  He didn't work hard enough to leave no doubt to a coach that he is a player that can help the team and should be on the field.  He didn't get past his hurdles as well as the other guy did.  Dwelling on shortcomings will not work.

 

Best of luck!

 

 

 

What a great post!!!

 

Perhaps, we should call the game "hurdleball." Hurdles are about as present as the ball, itself!

My guy came out of high school 5'10" 142. Went to JUCO for 2 years and got to 5'11" 150. Now at a D1 as a recruited walk on battling it out with 8 other outfielders. Has started last 2 intrasquads in center and hopefully grabbing a spot. By the way he's now grown to 6'0 180 according to the fall roster...hahaha...he's actually just under 160. Obviously size is important, but you still have to be able to play, which at a D1 primarily means "hit".

Size is not worth worrying about, unless the player is undernourished.

 

I used to be a size freak, still good to see it, but talent trumps size.  

 

Of course size can be an advantage.  So is strength, speed, arm, and many other things an advantage. Not very many players running around with every advantage. Almost everyone has something they have to overcome.

 

Sonny Gray is better than most pitchers that are 6 inches taller than him.

 

BTW did anyone see Prince Fielder in the clubhouse when Detroit was celebrating the other day?  He was always big, but now his arms look like tree trunks.

Size gets the benefit of the doubt.  Talent beats size.   Size and talent is a no brainer. 

Same with Kris Medlen and Tim Lincicum and Craig Kimbrel and Dustin Pedroia among others.

Nice post cabbagedad.

I pretty much mirror what everyone else has posted. Size does not matter, talent does.

 

The best player on my son's travel team was 5'7". He has been playing on a major D1 team that was in the regional's last year.

 

My son's college team starting short stop is "undersized" but he hits for power and led the league in HR's last year, and hits in the 3-5 hole.  He was an all star this summer in one of the top leagues in the country.

 

One of the best position players from my sons age group in our area is 5'8" and was drafted in the 5th round, went to a major D1 college and played in the Cape this and was player of the week a couple of times. This is the one kid from his group that has a shot of playing in the MLB IMO. 

 

Now if you are an average player who is smaller than it might hurt you, based on the OP I suspect this may be the case. Scouts are not stupid they will see talent regardless of the size. 

I coached a kid that was a stud and only about 5'9".  In fact, he wasn't a pitcher and yet, we had to have him throw the state championship game and so, he did and won.  We could not get anyone interested in him.  I actually drove to a D-I in state and told them about this kid.  Terrible day for me since I left my lights on and my battery ran dead.  LOL  Anyway, no interest.  He went JUCO and then went down south where he became a college All American and eventually played in MLB. 

Bum, Jr. is 5'10 (LHP) in his shoes.  He was always the smallest player on his travel teams but was very talented.  He had to work harder than the other players and that's what motivated him--he wanted it.  Somehow he has always found the ball in his hand and if all ended tomorrow (MILB) he won't use his size as an excuse.

There is a player on Manhattan College (DI, but admittedly lower tier) who is listed at 5'6" and is really maybe 5'1". He is a player, period.

 

He is an exception, certainly, but the cream always rises to the top, it's just easier to get noticed and be given the benefit of the doubt if you're 5'10" plus.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/...ogram-162153287.html

 

Thanks, All! The responses are very much appreciated!!

 

Son is a hard worker and good ball player, so we'll keep working!  He's a 2015 who's already had a few "hurdles" - missed spring varsity/summer club season due to injury then club team unexpectedly disbanded late summer right when he was ready to start fall ball, so we're doing the best we can to catch up on "exposure". Son is confident - I'm the worried mom! I hope to be sharing good news in about a year!

 

CoachB25 - very impressed with the effort put in to find a spot for one of your kids!  Glad you can now laugh about the car problems!

One thing one invariably notices in the small guy success stories is that they were usually very aggressive, the dirtiest guy on the field types who believed they were one of the best guys on the field despite their  lack of size. Many times they are one of the very hardest workers. Sometimes they almost play with a little "chip" on their shoulders.

 

In baseball, talent is not just given to the guys who are 6'3'', they just get more chances to show it. But there are plenty of undersized guys who make their mark.

Amen, ThreeBagger. Describes my son to a tee.

My son is a 2014, 5'9" and 160 lbs.

 

He is not signed. My take is as follows. 

 

If you are small and want to play a position you better have speed to die for. I am talking 6.7 or better or possess a VERY special bat. I saw a kid 5'3" last weekend run a 6.3 and the coaches were all over him. That is game changing speed. Once they saw him hit they lost interest but 6.3 will ALWAYS get interest.

 

My son plays much bigger than he is but unfortunately he is not blessed with that game changing speed. IMO that is why he is unsigned. He actually hurt himself working too hard to get faster. 

 

The best example I have is based on his HS team where my son batted almost 200 points higher, against the same exact pitchers, was lights out with the glove (took ss position as a sophomore from upper classman) and throws 6-7 mph harder with a pretty special release and DP turn. The other boy is 6' 1" kicks the ball around some but ran a 6.6. Guess who got rated higher? Same evaluators (Baseball Factory).  Keep in mind my son has run in the 6.8s documented by others so he is no slug. Typically he is 6.9-7.0. He will also likely hold more than one high school batting record including avg., hits, doubles, RBIs, and RS, as long as he does not get hurt. He also batted over .500 against ACC signees. Only coach that cared was a small Juco and there were other colleges that saw him turn around 88-92 mph pitching going 2-4 in one game and 3-5 in another. He even went 4-4 against a former #1 LaSalle pitcher in a scrimmage. Only one other kid even got the bat on the ball.

 

One other thing the coaches like is a vocal kid. My kid is not a talker and that hurts him. He is also not bragger. He lets his play do the talking. He is a great and humble kid.

 

He is always the dirtiest kid on the field. Ask anyone that knows my kid and they will tell you he is also the hardest worker they know. 

 

There are more kids that can run 6.9-7.0, throw 80-85, and hit for average than you think. 

 

Now if you have an arm like Tim Lincecum God Bless you! 

 

Size matters whether you like it or not. Speed matters even more. Don't kid yourself.

 

One more example: One kid is 6'2", runs a 7.35, throws 80 and has a 79 mph batted ball exit velocity. Another kid is 5" shorter, runs a 7.0, throws 80 and has batted ball exit velocity of 84-87. Guess which kid they took. The bigger kid and both were classified as middle infielders. I am guessing the coaches felt the smaller kid is maxed out while the bigger kid has a much higher ceiling. They wont say. I have a lot more examples too. 

 

BTW: the coaches told my son in this example that they loved my son's swing. He one hopped the 375 sign on a line and hit the ball harder than the bigger kid.  We have yet to hear from them but they have signed the bigger kid. We are still hopeful that we will hear back from this school. He loves the school and the coaches. It is a very good D2 program.

 

If you have enough money and some skills plenty of D3 schools will be interested. Remember most better D3 schools are pretty good academically too so grades will matter.

 

The most important factor in all of this is to be as honest in your sons skills as possible. Focus on his education and the baseball will be a bonus if he makes it.

 

I hope I kept this positive but just want to be real too. Size is a huge deal to a lot coaches.

 

B

 

 

 

There are plenty of state university secondary campuses that are inexpensive and D3. University of Southern Maine is a state university and ranked D3 program.

They can play baseball in Maine

 

Good to know. Most D3 s in Maryland and PA seem pretty pricey.

 

The one school that was very interested in my son, D3,  is in a VERY unsafe area and cost darn near 60k a year.  Yikes!

 

Salisbury is very reasonable and a very good nationally ranked D3 program too. I should have thought about it a little more.

 

B

Bill L is not understating the effect size has on recruiting. Although once you have successfully navigated the recruiting process you tend to look at it differently.

You understand that taller players have more of a projectable upside and that is what is important to most baseball people. I have seen less talented (proven over time) taller players sign well ahead of very talented shorter players in most circumstances.

Closely followed a 5' 8" high school player sign D1 in July after he graduated high school and somehow become a very talented D1's top recruit by the fall. What followed was Freshman AA, two years at Cape Cod, 1st team AA on Louisville Slugger, NCBWA, MLB draft and early minor league advancement.  So it can be done and may create the chip-on-the-shoulder motivation that can lead to high achievement. But....it is frustrating during the process.

Great thread. Of course size matters. Have it, and you have one less hurdle to jump. If you don't you have one or more to an already long list. Lack of size can be overcome if the player is given the OPPORTUNITY to do so. I suspect plenty of excellent, albeit short/small, players don't get the opportunities.

Amen!

Son is 5'8" 155 freshman catcher at a D3 that recruited him heavily.  Had other opportunities, but he felt this was best fit for him and had an opportunity to possibly get on the field which is where he likes to be.  With a 1.9 pop time, runs 6.7 60, batted over .300 in four years as varsity starter (over .450 senior year 1st team all district, 1st team all state), we thought he would generate more interest than he did.  IMHO it is due to size which hurt his chances to go D1.  At the end of the day, he is at a great place with great coaches and college atmosphere only 3 hours from home.  I would say things worked out just perfect, including his size.  He plays much bigger than his size and will never use it as an excuse unless he is playing in a pick up basketball game.  Even then, he can nearly dunk even at his height.  Couldn't be happier with his decision.  Check out D3's if your kids grades and test scores are decent as you could find some are more affordable than you might think. 

 

My son worked hard this fall and has a shot to be starting catcher in the spring.  Still a lot of work to do, but all you can ask for is a shot, not matter where baseball may find you.  Nothing is guaranteed, no matter what the coaches might tell you.  All my son's coach told us is that he'd love to have him and that he'd give him a shot to make the team.  All my son needed to hear. 

Gametimer, what conference is your son playing in and what did he think of the competition at the DIII level? Thx!

Southern Maine gets players drafted. Your kid could do a lot worse than playing for Ed Flaherty. Flaherty is one of the winningest D3 coaches. He's had D1 offers but didn't want to move his family from Portland.

 

Salisbury State in Maryland is a D3 that is typically ranked. Most of the Penn State sub campuses are D3s

 

Ranked (Top 25 2013) state school D3s ...

 

#2 Southern Maine

#4 UW-Stevens Point

#10 Cortland State

#11 Salisbury State

#15 UW-Whitewater

#18 Texas-Tyler

 

Eastern Connecticut and Rowan-NJ (both received T25 votes) are typically strong.

 

You have a PM. 

Thank You!

I can sum it up in two quotes.

 

MLB cross checker told me, "Big guys prove they have to suck and little guys have to prove they are great."

 

Skip Clappord, who is the winningest JC Coach in California told me, "We use to recruit guys that move in space.  Now we recruit big guys that move in space.  This is because whatever you can do at 5'10 I can find a 6'3 guy that can do the same thing and then some."

 

 

I guess Ichiro Suzuki, Sammy Sosa and Mickey Mantle (the greatest power hitter of all time) would be automatic cuts on your team, coach.

 

Some good posts here. I think I can sum it up pretty efficiently...

 

Size matters far less than skills.

 

Why worry about something you can't control?

He nailed down exactly what the coaches are thinking. They make mistakes but if a big guy goes bust he did not pan out. If a smaller guy does not work out it is an "I told you so".

 

The head coach of Rutgers baseball told my son's summer coach, I do not even look at kid under 6' tall. He is not the only one.

 

Son played with a kid that was 5'7" tall. He threw from the left side and has been clocked at up to 88 mph with an 80-84 mph real 12/6 curve ball. He was 5-2-1 against PG top 25 teams at U16 and 17. He 3 hit East Cobb! This includes the WWBA.

 

He received no scholarship offers and ended up playing football and received a full ride. Go figure. Size is less of a big deal in football!

 

Just another quick story. My son was at a Penn State camp. The only SS they talked to was 6'3" and this kid had no skills other than he could hit a little.  Once they saw him field and throw they lost interest . Trust me when I say there was some real talent at this camp but they only wanted HUGE kids.

 

We had to accept this reality and my 5'9"  son knows he will flat have to out work, and out hustle the other kids. He will find a spot and some coach will be very very pleasantly surprised. Not only is he an excellent ball player, he is a better citizen.

 

My son may not sign until spring and I just wish we could get some coaches to actually see him play rather than just see him in  "pro style workouts". He sprints on and off the field. He has an extremely high baseball IQ. He is always the dirtiest kid and is clutch both in the field and with the stick. I think he batted .600 last year with runners in scoring position. Coaches love his swing but "he needs to get bigger and stronger". That is a direct quote from a D1 coach.

 

Look at the rosters of the schools where your son is interested in playing. You will get a good idea of what the coaches like.

 

Size matters big time to the guys that make the decisions right or wrong.

 

B

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm...

 

http://www.scarletknights.com/...ll/roster/roster.asp

 

Totally disagree. Size matters more than skills in too many instances. It is called project-ability.

 

At the same time don't worry just work harder and know that sometimes life is not fair.You can get really ticked off and that is okay. Then get back to work!

 

We are all judged equally in the end

 

B

One kid under 5'10" hmmm. Bet they all run like the wind! I quoted exactly what the coach said to our coach. 

 

Not too many under 6' that is for sure.

 

B

 

In my experience I've never met anyone in baseball- collegiately or professionally- who would say size is more important than skills. Size helps, projectability is important (and very real). But if you're good, you're good. Whoever says size is more important than skills probably won't have a job in the game much longer.

       
       


And who knows if that is even totally accurate. Some of those 6' & 6'1" guys could be under 6' as well. My son is listed on his team's website as 6', 180 lbs. He's maybe 5'10" and about 187 lbs. Not sure how it got listed that way, but I think schools exaggerate up sometimes. So, there could be a lot more under 6' than is even listed.

I said it earlier and I'll say it again. I think to some coaches, height is a big deal and to some coaches, not so much. Get out in front of as many schools as you can and you will run across those coaches who don't care. As long as the talent is there, there is a spot at the next level.

From Baseball Reference.com (6'3 or more, 5'10 or less):

 

Pitchers in Top 10 All-Time

6'3 Wins = 1

5'10 Wins= 3

 

6'3 ERA = 1

5'10 ERA = 3

 

6'3 K's = 4

5'10 K's = 0

 

Hitters in Top 10 All-Time

 

6'3 BA = 1

5'10 BA = 1

 

6'3 HR = 4

5'10 HR= 2

 

Stolen Bases All-Time

 

6'3 SB = 0

5'10 SB = 4

 

Overall Total

 

6'3 = 11

5'10 = 13

 

Short guys win. 

 

Gettin'there,

I gathered from another thread that your son is a position player.  For perspective, if you click the Rutgers link that JH posted, you will see that this coach has NINE players on his most recent roster under  6' and 40% of his position players are under 6' including an OF that is 5'8".  I'd say the door is open if the talent is there, even with a guy that "won't even look".

 

Perhaps the coach made that statement as an easy out as it related to whatever player they were discussing.

 

In this thread, there are several posters who have "undersized" players who have made it.  There seems to be lots of common ground on what it takes.  Obviously, for your son's sake, I'd focus on those instead of the few more skeptical views.

I think its easier for coaches to tell someone that they are not big enough rather than not good enough for their program.