Will all pro baseball players be well over 6 foot tall soon?

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I think if we follow this guy's lead and start building more dugouts like his...



...the average height of baseball players may very well decline.




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The two Major League teams in Los Angeles area… Dodgers and Angels… average height is 6’0”. Typically pitchers (which are approximately half the roster) raise the average height by quite a ways.

Most Major League rosters average 6’1”… Pitchers included. Size IS important, but not anywhere near as important as some might think. There are a ton (actually many tons) of Major League players who are under 6’0 tall. Same holds true in college. We see a lot of very good prospects every year that are 6’0” or under.

Being in Arizona I try to go to spring training games and see the players a little closer. There are some tall players but not as many as you'd think. The listed heights of pro players are sometimes a little off too. Players who are listed as 6'0" are usually 5'10 1/2" on a good day. Does anyone actually measure height or take someones word for it. My son gets listed as 6'0" on the school roster even though he's not quite yet, but I go with it so I can keep claiming to be 5'10"

Yes, all pro players will be Avatars. But normal size Avatars because baseball will be testing for AGH (Avatar Growth Hormone)

I think height is a factor. I have talked with a couple of pro scouts over the last year and one of them flat out said 'You can't teach tall' when referring to the pitching prospects he discussed.

Athleticism will still win out over simple height but I am sure that most pro scouts look at a 6'2 guy and think there is more potential than a 5'8 prospect, even one that plays better at that time.

I remember Troy Tulowitzki plays Short stop and at 6'3" is considered too tall for this position.

Jimmy Rollins is listed as 5'8" or 5'9". But he is really 5'7" or even shorter?

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Yep, agreed...

....if you need an excuse not to put the work in... to place blame...to shurk self responsibility...to blame the system...to overestate your real ability...then lack of height is certainly an excellent choice, one of the easiest and most popular to hide behind...

On the other hand...it might just be all the sweeter, a life changing/affirming accomplishment when you are the one who beats the system, outworks the candidates, takes the responsibility on ones self to get it done without what the excuse makers perceive as "free passes".


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Well height plays a factor for pitchers because of a better downward angle and releasing the ball closer to the plate, but positions players I would think it would be almost a disadvantage since they have to getter lower.

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Well height plays a factor for pitchers because of a better downward angle and releasing the ball closer to the plate, but positions players I would think it would be almost a disadvantage since they have to getter lower.

I haven't noted any baseball people saying that Jason Heyward's size; 6'5" @ 245lbs is a concern. Quite the opposite. I've attended Spring Training for the past 20 years and from looking at what you see on the field; I find it hard to believe the post stating the "average MLB player is 6'"

Prime9,

It was me who made that post you find hard to believe... See it below

quote:

The two Major League teams in Los Angeles area… Dodgers and Angels… average height is 6’0”. Typically pitchers (which are approximately half the roster) raise the average height by quite a ways.

Most Major League rosters average 6’1”… Pitchers included. Size IS important, but not anywhere near as important as some might think. There are a ton (actually many tons) of Major League players who are under 6’0 tall. Same holds true in college. We see a lot of very good prospects every year that are 6’0” or under.

Note the mention of the Angels and Dodgers being teams that average 6'0" tall. There are "many" Major League players that are under 6'0" tall. They are right there at those spring training games you've been attending.

Here are a couple links... The first link includes all the players who played in the Major Leagues last year for each team. Notice how many are pitchers, which raise the average height of each team by a good margin.

MLB Rosters ESPN

Baseball Almanac

Maybe you will believe these two sources?

I've had about 20 guys in the big-leagues from my program and the best one was 5'8" in cleats on cement. That would be Jimmy Rollins. We were fortunate to have Pedroia play for us a little and he's smaller than Jimmy. Conversely, Sabathia played some with us and Pat Burrell and Dontrelle played for a few years each and those guys are huge!

Bottom line- It takes talent to play in the big leagues- period. You have to have a special tool as well. It's interesting that every MLB team averages over 200 lbs. per player. My guess is that pitchers skew that number to an extent.

PG,

My "disbelief" was more of a "tongue in cheek" statement than really doubting you or your source. I'm over 6' and 200lbs and it seems to me that most of those guys dwarf me.

I fully realize size doesn't equal talent but many of the players certainly, to me, "appear" huge and more so every year!

I never meant to imply taller was better just that kids are taller and more athletic they they used to be. Taller kids are playing at all positions now.
I know there are some very good players at all levels who are under 6'0". Some of my favorite players are considered undersized. That's in part of why I root for them.
It's been stated on other threads that scouts give a longer look to taller kids so if high school teams are getting taller than it should trickle up to college then the pro's.

Interesting topic.. Taller players may look better in a uniform and offer more projection. However, for me as a fan of the game it is fun to watch the small, gritty types of players also. Working for everything! Nothing like watching a Pedroia, Furcal, Rollins, etc.

ncball,
There was an article about Rollins in a Philly paper last year. It stated that the local scout had to lie about Jimmy's height in his report back to the team. He listed him at 5'8" because if he listed him at his real height at the time, about 5'6", no one would come to see him.

Have you heard of this story?

He may be short but his make up is 10 feet tall.

My kid is now 6'0 1/4 so hopefully he'll make the grade for pro baseball . LOL !

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Dorminy:
My kid is now 6'0 1/4 so hopefully he'll make the grade for pro baseball . LOL !

Mary: Well, Lloyd, that's difficult to say. I mean, we don't really...
Lloyd: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I'd say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Lloyd: So you're telling me there's a chance... *YEAH!*

Bas3balldad , hilarious movie , jr. is throwing for Cards on Sunday and Phillies next week so he'll take 1 in a million cause at least there's a chance .

I love that movie. Congratulations to you and Jr. you get to live the dream a lot longer than most.

Baseball talent does not recognize your size !!!

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
ncball,
There was an article about Rollins in a Philly paper last year. It stated that the local scout had to lie about Jimmy's height in his report back to the team. He listed him at 5'8" because if he listed him at his real height at the time, about 5'6", no one would come to see him.

Have you heard of this story?

He may be short but his make up is 10 feet tall.

I remember the article. I believe Rollins was actually 5'4", 130. The scout figured if he reported his real size the Phillies wouldn't send a crosschecker.

I don't know enough about recruiting, etc., to offer an educated opinion about how right or wrong this is. But, I do know that son has had more interest shown him since he's hit 6'2". He's still the same person with the same talent (maybe a little more mature than last year.) It is a little annoying to me. I've heard coaches and dads on our team make statements like "I bet his velocity has really incresed with him growing so much!" or "With that heigth, he should be fast based on his stride alone."

If you're taller, more is expected.

quote:

I do know that son has had more interest shown him since he's hit 6'2".... "I bet his velocity has really incresed with him growing so much!"...

Well, his velocity has increased hasn't it? Most kids grow and mature and get stronger and better.

I just ignore the 'he's bigger so he's better' comments that sometimes get thrown out. He has always been good in relationship to his peers but at '12' he wasn't a good '14' and at '14' we wasn't a good '16', etc...Nothing beats just maturing into a full grown man....

Hawk19,

Good point.

"Not all baseball players are big, but they are all powerful. Baseball is a game of short explosive movements." mlb scout

It definetly appears that being over 6 foot and 200lbs is a requirement, but there are some great players who are not.
The two last World Baseball Classic winners were both average under 6 ft and less than 200 lbs.

The Red Sox took a whole bunch of **** for drafting Dustin Pedroia in the late first / early second (can't remember exactly).

Fans were outraged, everyone made fun of them. I watched him for three years at ASU and knew he was special, but had my own doubts about his ability to succeed at the next level.

He's 5'6" standing on a pail and an American League MVP.

DISCLAIMER: My kid is a 6'3 1/2" LHP sitting at 85-86 as a 16U sophomore, so I don't worry about the whole size thing very much. :-)

I agree it's pos.sible to make it as a position player if you're under 6" but not as a pitcher. Out of the approximately 700 MLB pitchers, how many are under 6".?

From a study I found. <70 inch group had 13 members. The 70-72 group had 117. The 73-74 group had 222. The 75-76 group had 222 as well. The 77-78 group had 90. And again the 79+ group had 22.

quote:

I agree it's pos.sible to make it as a position player if you're under 6" but not as a pitcher. Out of the approximately 700 MLB pitchers, how many are under 6".?

In some thread on size within the last month I analyzed all the American League pitchers. If I remember about 85% were 6'1" or taller.

Overall, there is no doubt that pitchers are the tallest. However, many of the very best pitchers are 6'0" tall or less. Check Cy Young Award winners!

The complete rosters of the 2009 World Baseball Classic is kind of interesting to look at. Not sure what it means exactly.

There were 449 total players on the 16 rosters.

222 or about half were players that are either in the Major Leagues or are minor leaguers with MLB organizations.

228 of the 449 (more than half) of the players were listed between 5’5” and 6’0” tall.

Of the 228 players listed at 6’0” or less, 92 were with MLB organizations.

221 of the 449 players were listed between 6’1” and 6’7” tall.

121 of the players were listed at 6’1” or 6’2”.
Of those listed 6’1” or 6’2”, 66 were with MLB organizations.

79 players were listed at 6’3” or 6’4”.
Of those listed 6’3” or 6’4”, 51 were with MLB organizations.

13 players were listed at 6’5”.
9 of those listed 6’5” were with MLB organizations.

4 were listed at 6’6 and one player was 6’7”.
All 5 of those players were with MLB organizations. Only two were pitchers, though.

Realizing that some of the countries involved in the World Baseball Classic would have smaller players overall on their rosters… It is still very interesting that over half of all the players who participated in the World Baseball Classic last year were between 5’5” and 6’0” tall.

I think there will always be a place for talented players who are not over 6'0" tall.

I thought it was going the other way now and all the scouts were looking for pitchers that are 5"10" or so and throw like Tim Lincecom. Sorry I could not resist. LOL

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Originally posted by 2bagger:
I thought it was going the other way now and all the scouts were looking for pitchers that are 5"10" or so and throw like Tim Lincecom. Sorry I could not resist. LOL

Funny thing is I heard a MLB coach on the radio today that the reason Tim Lincecom is successful is cause he's different. What batters hate most is when a pitch looks different.
That by sending all our kids to pitching coaches who make all the kids look the same rather than letting them develop there own style we may be causing cookie cutter pitchers that hitters can tee off on.

Bas3balldad,

I tend to agree with that.