What to look for in try-outs

If you don't know the kids ahead of time, you are pretty much shooting in the dark come draft time. Some kids will look great in tryouts, but never hit the ball in the game. Others may "dog it" during tryouts, with or without collusion on the part of a coach.

Start asking around now, to try & get a feel for the kids.

As far as general strategy, if you can get two really strong pitchers in rec league ball then your team will do well.

Of course, a really good assistant coach will always make things better. Don't know if you can pick one assistant ahead of the draft or not. If so, a good assistant whose kid pitches is a great choice.

You will also need a solid catcher, and most tryouts don't even involve catchers defensively.

As far as observing the actual tryout, watch for sound mechanics and confidence.

You're correct that the typical tryout format is so abbreviated as to be pretty much worthless.

Good luck.

I have been through many drafts and the way I approach the draft is to assign a value between 1 and 10 at the skills test for each player's various skills (hitting, arm strength, running speed and fielding). Assign a value of 10 for the player you feel is the very best hitter, a 10 for the player who showed the most arm strength, etc. Use that player's skill as a basis for assigning a value to all others. If a player seems average, give him a 5.
Add the values for the 4 skills you are evaluating to arrive at a total score. You will now have a ranking that you can quickly refer to while the players are being drafted. Make a subjective comment about things you notice (fundamentally sound, good size, doesn't hustle, etc), but make sure you assign a value number because you want a full ranking of all of the players. The subjective comments allow you to differentiate between players that have total scores in the same range. 14 year olds will already have had a year in the league so they should be more advanced than the player who is moving up.
Early in the draft, try to get some pitchers and a catcher or 2. During the skills test, assign a somewhat higher score to the pitchers and catchers you see and don't wait to long to draft them because the will be in demand by the other coaches. Also, try to find a shortstop very early.
Do your homework as far as identifying pitchers, catchers and a shortstop. With everything else being equal, draft the player with the good-looking mom.

I would run some scrimaging and put value as mentioned to players skill level. Note how they setup for grounders, fly balls mechanics etc. If you are not aware of the proper techniques see if there are some local ball players who can assist you in the selection. Our HS teams always had college players help in the selection process. Also get a good book on coaching and fundamentals. I always go to the library and get reaqding material on pitching and there is usually lots of coaching books for various levels.

Irish,

When selecting - build your team from the middle.

P(s) - C - ss - 2b - cf.

Good luck and have fun!

At the age of 13/14 the athletic kids will stand out in any tryout-- as noted above try to get some info on the kids baseball ability and family situation ( do they have rides, etc) but for me the athletic ability was always the key

You mention try-outs and a draft. Team try-outs are quite different than a draft. At a try-out you can put your players through their paces and even have a scrimmage as BHD suggest. A draft is limited. I did it almost identical as ECB fan. (Welcome ECB, I see this is your first post!!) IrishDad, If it's a draft, you're only one of a number of coaches selecting from the available players. You’ll have to assign a number system to their tools and rate each player as he “showcases” his skills. Total up their skills and give each player a value. As players are selected by other coaches, you mark them out and move to the player with the next highest value. Design your system ahead of time so you will be prepared on draft day. You can identify positions which might help you with your teams needs. In our rec league which has a draft, brothers are automatically assigned with his brother and you lose a draft pick. Some areas have a “bid” situation and players are “auctioned” off to the highest bidder. Each coach is given lets say a 5,000 points prior to the “draft” and they in turn bid on the players they want. I remember when I was a kid I went for 1,200 points and the coach had to take my brother for the preset price for brothers (500 points).
Fungo

PS: While I would never do this, some coaches do as ECBfan suggest and add few extra points if the player’s mother was attractive... but ONLY after they had gotten the best players!

quote:

PS: While I would never do this, some coaches do as ECBfan suggest and add few extra points if the player’s mother was attractive... but ONLY after they had gotten the best players!

Fungo I like the way you think, haha.

One other thing that is worth thinking about when drafting for 13/14 ball is the parents. I always tried to stay away from problem parents no matter how good their kid might have been. They just aren't worth the trouble. Of course, if you have a problem parent that happens to be a GLM, it isn't quite so bad

When in doubt, particularly in the later picks in the draft when you really have no other way to pick between two kids - select the older kids - either the 14 YO or the 13 YO with a may, june , july type birthday. (assuming that your league uses the new May 1 birthday as the cut off)

The jump from the 12YO to 13/14 is huge - and many 13 YOs are lost for half the season. Batting average in my league for the two years I had access to the stats, 14s hit .140 higher than the 13s. Obviously these are youth baseball stats - but across an entire league, the results are almost certainly meaningful.

BTW - the reason for the small set of 13s being included in this comment is that this year, unlike any other, many of those kids may have played at the 13/14 YO level last year because of the shift in the cut off date.

Good luck - and have fun. Just remember, in the long run no one cares how your team did. But they all remember if they had fun playing baseball....