When to Start

Welcome to the site.  There are countless threads on this topic that you can search.  Bottom line, showcase when you have something to show.  Your son is ahead of the curve with size.  But unless he is also ahead of the curve with obviously projectable D1 talent, velo, bat speed, etc., there is no reason to jump into that stage any time soon.

If he does show it now, you will be hearing so from unbiased strangers and you won't have to ask here.  Save your money for later.  You're probably gonna need it.

Everything Cabbage said. But to add...

Before you email anybody or send videos, you have to establish whether he is a prospect or not. None of that is going to happen as an 8th grader or even a 9th grader unless he is one of the top 50 or so players in the country, which I'm sure you would know by now. I would say that until he is very much ahead of other players (teammates, competition, etc) or at the same level as players who are starting to be recruited, he is not a prospect yet. On top of that you have to see how talented he is. That is the most important part. Can he play in the Big 12 or is he more suited for small D3 schools? 

For now I would say find a reputable travel organization that has a history of sending players to colleges and tryout. If you already have one, great. Starting next year I would start tracking his pitching velocity, his exit velo, his IF/OF velo, and his 60 time. See how those numbers are and report back. If he is only throwing 77 and runs a 7.6, he does not need to be emailing anybody or attending any showcases. I'm sure you will get some advice about the value of showcasing early, but the truth is if there is nothing to showcase you are wasting money. 

There are obviously exceptions, but for the most part: 

D1 Recruits 

P5 - Freshman - Junior Year 

Top Mid Majors- Soph-Junior Year 

The Rest: Junior- September of Senior Year. 

D2/D3/JUCO- Junior year- Nov of Senior Year

First welcome, you found the right place at the right time. 

Start here:

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/recruiting_tips.htm

...and in particular the timeline. 

Start searching through the posts and you will find all kinds of information.

First think I notice about big kids who are younger is that they mostly have 1/3/OF/P.

Colleges don't recruit 1/3/Corner OFers. They recruit up the middle, and pitchers. Be one of those guys.

Good luck.

When to start?  Now is a good time for both of you to start learning what you can. This board is a great place. Follow along, join in with questions, follow schools, travel orgs, others on twitter. Research on the internet, talk to your sons travel coach. 

My son verbally committed last spring.  He is currently a junior in high school in the Houston area.  

I can share what we did.  But my son/ situation is different from your son/situation. And if would have done something different, I’m not sure the outcome would be any different.

Here are a couple things that apply to almost every kid/family.  

For your son: Get bigger, faster, stronger.  Play the best competition you can.  Take a break now and then, either other sports or activities.

For you:  Enjoy the game, team, season that is in front of you right now.  Don’t get so caught up in the future you don’t enjoy the right now.  Don’t try and figure out why this kid was recruited to that school or why that kid has this rank.  

And don’t go broke!

PM me if you want more specifics.

All of the above. 

I'll address camps...TCU, Baylor, A&M College Station, U of Houston, Rice. All have excellent camps. Son attended TCU, Baylor & A&M a few years back...For JUCO, San Jac & Navarro, Blinn...Some of these schools run a tournament or 2...so your travel team IS very important. 

To add....

Don't showcase until he makes the Varsity HS team.  Sending out info when he is on the freshman or JV team just doesn't make sense.  Maybe do a camp to get the feel of it, if funds are flush.

What Keewart says.

At your son's age, my son's youth travel coach asked us for a private meeting. He told us that he thought our 2018 could pitch varsity as a freshman, which he did. Then we signed him up for a $100 local showcase. It gave us stats so when coaches say "what makes anything think he really throws 82?" Or whatever it was?

We could answer "this showcase." and they'd say, oh. Okay.

Having said that, this was the point where we told our son that we would financially support his baseball dream, but he had to do the work. Get himself up for lifting and get himself there. Schedule his own pitching lessons, his own batting practices, etc. In other words, he had to do the work. We'd pay for it. 

He's now a pitcher at a P5 school. Coaches told him he was  a "pleasant surprise." We're going with that's a good thing.

Good luck. It's been a fun ride for us. Hope it goes well for you too.

Usually I would agree with the idea that you wait until varsity but in Texas there are some stacked teams. We had 12 seniors last year and every kid went on the play college ball.  My son was a sophomore throwing 90 and he rode the bench all year. Not all schools are the same.  I know Houston area has some stacked teams.

My son did one showcase summer before freshman and then two more early fall of sophomore. I think it’s good experience to learn to manage nerves and being on a stage.  It also opens your eyes to where he stands, good or bad, compared to others.

Thanks for all of the tips/suggestions! What prompted me to make the post was an unsolicited message from Ryzer, a service that provides information about showcases and camps.

baseballhs posted:

Usually I would agree with the idea that you wait until varsity but in Texas there are some stacked teams. We had 12 seniors last year and every kid went on the play college ball.  My son was a sophomore throwing 90 and he rode the bench all year. Not all schools are the same.  I know Houston area has some stacked teams.

My son did one showcase summer before freshman and then two more early fall of sophomore. I think it’s good experience to learn to manage nerves and being on a stage.  It also opens your eyes to where he stands, good or bad, compared to others.

Exactly! Around here, there are some who proudly announce that they are 4 year starters on their HS team, but forget to mention that they go to a 2A private school with 100 kids per class. In our school, there are 700 kids per class. You have to be a really strong player (usually a P5 D1 type)to play Varsity as a sophomore, and a college player as a Junior. 

  And this is in a "hockey state". Places like CA, TX, GA, FLA, etc. would be far more competitive, again, depending on what school you are in. Context is everything.

  My 2022 is 6' 155lb. Fast runner, throws about 73-75mph, though the season hasn't really started here. Might get as high as 76-77 by mid summer. Plays all over, and can hit, but his future is probably on the mound. Great kid, Great student. Likes baseball, but probably Computer Science, and the latest episode of Supernatural, just as much.

 I won't have him to a Showcase till next summer( rising Junior) at the earliest. IMO, there is no point. He simply doesn't stick out enough to get attention from the sorts of places that will be interested in  scouting 15 yo's.

You sorta have to know what you've got,  where you are heading, and then be prepared to adapt to the inevitable changes that happen as the mature. 2022 is probably going to be a D3 HA guy. No point pushing him to be something else, unless it becomes obvious that he is either more, or less, talented than I think.

2023 seems really young to me. If he is REALLY talented, and sticks out, then scouts will find him. Otherwise, I would relax a bit. You might have to decide(like my 2022) whether his best talent is pitching, or hitting. We don't know with mine yet, but local circumstances suggest that he will be more valued as a P. He is going to play the field as long as he can, because he loves to hit.

As previously mentioned in another thread after the top X number of prospects the rankings can be very random. How much difference is there between player #500 and #1,000? #500 and #1,500?

When my son went through the process I asked him what is going to make him standout from 500-1,000 other players. Being good isn’t enough if you’re planning to attend a PG event with playing D1 in mind. Over 3,000 kids are headed for a D1 each year. Is 3,000 a lot? Not relative to almost 500,000 high school baseball players. 

A sizable portion of those 3000 kids headed to D1 schools will be either cut, phony redshirted, or looking to transfer all within 6 months of the start of their freshman year...try to stay within your boy's realistic ability..nothing wrong with being a big fish in a smaller pond if the academic fit is right.

CatcherDadNY posted:

A sizable portion of those 3000 kids headed to D1 schools will be either cut, phony redshirted, or looking to transfer all within 6 months of the start of their freshman year...try to stay within your boy's realistic ability..nothing wrong with being a big fish in a smaller pond if the academic fit is right.

Phony Redshirted? 

CatcherDadNY posted:

A sizable portion of those 3000 kids headed to D1 schools will be either cut, phony redshirted, or looking to transfer all within 6 months of the start of their freshman year...try to stay within your boy's realistic ability..nothing wrong with being a big fish in a smaller pond if the academic fit is right.

50% of D1 players transfer. Only 18-20 of 35 players receive adequate playing time. Competition is fierce. Every year the program tries to recruit someone better. Everyone was first team all conference or more (up to all state) in high school.

Some make the mistake of picking the dream school as a non scholalship player instead of taking the best offer where they are loved. If a player receives one D1 offer and four D2/D3 offers what is he being told. Is one coach right and all the others wrong? But the kid wants to say he’s going D1 (for now).