OT: What to expect from a high school baseball showcase?
My son is a junior, and a varsity pitcher. He was just invited to two college showcases over the summer outside Chicago. We have no experience with these. Anyone out there who either has a son who participated, or participated themselves: What can we expect? What questions should we ask? What will he be asked to do? My husband will probably go with him.
Thanks, appreciate your help.
One is ScholarCase and the other is Chicagoland Classic. His head coach nominated him for the Chicagoland Classic. The ScholarCase showcase is for academic high achievers (he just meets the criteria). His coach called him in today and told him about these. He doesn't know if he wants to play in college, but I think he's worried his skillset won't translate. His velocity won't wow anyone (he throws in the low 80's), so if they're only going to clock him, that will be a problem. But if they're looking for a guy who actually knows how to pitch, whose ball gets a ton of movement, who throws strikes, who knows how to set up a batter and how to make adjustments in game, and who can handle adversity, he's their guy. (That's my sell). My understanding is there will be college scouts at both showcases.
Thanks. If he were to find a good fit, great. If not, I've been encouraging him to look at colleges with competitive club baseball. He can still play but without the heavy practice and workout schedule of playing on an official college team.
90 mph is far different from low 80's. 90 mph will get you a D-I offer 9/10 times. You have to put it all in perspective. D-I colleges look for a good frame and a kid that can consistently throw in the mid, to upper-80's with at least a feel for a secondary pitch. If a kid is 6'3" and throws 87 mph then he'll get looks. If he 5'11" and throws 84, not so much.
It depends on what level you're talking about. D-II and D-III schools will certainly look more at game management and pitchability over velo. Big colleges use measurables because they trust that they can fix mechanics, but not frame.
I coach in Ohio, and we had a kid get a D-I scholarship simply based on the aforementioned measurables and a travel ball appearance. They never once came to watch him throw a high school game, even though our school is less than 10 miles from their campus.
He's 6'1" and lanky/skinny right now. 158 pounds soaking wet. My husband is 6'2", 195 naturally, no lifting of any kind, and they have similar bodies, so he definitely will fill out. He has a command of three pitches, four when everything's clicking: fast, slider, curve and splitter. From what his coaches, and other teams' coaches and parents who have seen him pitch, tell us, he's rare in that he has a mature-beyond-his years ability to set up batters and work the plate. He loves to paint the corners. Plus, the kid throws strikes. He's only walked 4 or 5 in 25+ innings. Of course, I'm biased because I'm his mom.
My Son was at one years ago. They were focused on running speed for position players and ball velocity for pitchers.
If he's pitching then he'll likely just be asked to throw a bullpen, and maybe get measured and run. They want to see how hard he can throw, and if he has multiple pitches. Honestly, kids can get recognized because of them, but others can just be used to hand money over.
It's hard to judge based on what you've shared, but hopefully your son has fun and catches someone's attention. Prep Baseball Report is big in the area, and we have several kids go to their showings just to get numbers on record so college coaches can see them. It's worked for a few.
I hope he has a good experience!
Thanks! He's fortunate in that he doesn't need a scholarship to go to college -- we've been putting money away since he was born. So he can just check it out without feeling the huge pressure of having to perform to get into college.
Boredom...
But best of luck to your kid - hope he pitches lights out
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throwing low 80s consistently, that's pretty good. If you pair that with a breaking ball and/or changeup, you will get people out.
A lot of showcases can be pretty slow. A lot of standing around, waiting for other guys to go until it is your turn. But they can be good places to get exposure.
I might recommend looking at D3 schools. I played D3 here in Illinois at a great school, excellent facilities, and got pretty good financial aid for my grades. We played good competition, and even went to the D3 World Series my sophomore year. It is not quite the commitment you would need at the D1 level, but still good baseball.
Wendy I've enjoyed watching your questions about baseball over the years. My son is a few years older and chose not to pursue college sports. I shake my head at his decision but it was his to make.
Enjoy these last few seasons because you will miss it a lot when it's gone. I have realized how much baseball (and football/basketball) was part of our family from 1st grade until graduation.
I remember having discussions with you about this. My kid's not 100% sure he wants to play in college but I think it's more apprehension about the process and wanting to be sure he can compete at that level. He tends to underrate himself, so going to a showcase will, I think, help him see where he stands among his peers. I only want him to play in college if he can go to a school he'd be happy going to even if he wasn't playing. One of his teammates, a senior, is going to some very small community college in Missouri to play and hopefully transfer to a D1 program at some point. He has zero interest in doing that. A D3 school is fine with him and where he'd likely end up.
His summer basketball coach was very open with my son and said, "If they aren't paying for your education don't play sports. The time demands and effort required just aren't worth it."
Coach's son had a 50% track scholarship to a D1 school in New England. He also wanted to pursue engineering. His track coaches assured him that the travel and demands of track wouldn't interfere at all with his plan to pursue a rigorous education. He quickly found out that was not the case and after 2 years decided he was done playing catchup.
Unfortunately the family wasn't in a position where he could continue at that school and he was forced to leave school as well. He eventually finished at another school but not until after taking some time off to work and save $$.
Out of all the kids my son ever played any sport with only two are still playing in college. That's an exceptionally small number but something I tell my elementary basketball parents that think their little one will surely be playing in college. There's a lot of people out there selling the dream and getting wealthy in the process.
OTOH, he has many friends who are playing club sports in college and love it.
PS. Are there any minor league baseball teams that run open tryouts? The local one a few times a year allows athletes to come in an throw/hit/run. It's a wakeup for a lot of kids that aren't even allowed to hit if their 60 time isn't below a certain number. I cannot remember how they work pitchers as that didn't apply to my son but I believe they had to hit a minimum number on the radar to proceed to the next round.
I love the club sports idea. Actually prefer this to getting a scholarship. I know my son, and he likes having time to himself to just hang out, and I have a feeling with a real college sport and all the studying and homework, there's no time for that. Plus, out of all the pitchers in his year, he was the only one coming into his first varsity year not talking about playing in college. The others made videos of themselves, posted stuff on their Twitter accounts, went to showcases last summer, started crazy lifting and taking supplements, etc....How many of those guys are even playing? None. Maybe an inning here or there. My son is the #1 starter, including senior pitchers. I think my son intentionally took the pressure off himself by not thinking about college. He just has fun and knows he's not performing for a scholarship. That's why I think club sports might be best. Have fun. It's baseball.
I went to one of these and got a few lower level college offers. Your d3's like albion, kalamazoo college, etc. I chose to go the university route and party in Ann Arbor. I wasn't cut out for the college athlete life and I had no future prospects as a catcher under 5'10 with no real power. Slap hitter all day and not very fast.
These places just run you through al the testing and it sounds like your son coudl easily grow into a reasonably powerful thrower if he started a proper trainign regime. Few high schoolers are throwing 90. If you are throwing mid 80's with a frame you get developed then start throwing 90's. The better the grades the mor eopportunity he will find because there are less cholarships in baseball so if they can find a way to give him some academic aid to offset cost that helps.
He can play college baseball if he wants with what he is doing right now. It just depends on how bad he wants it. A buddy of mine played at Michigan tech as a 2yr starter for their team and he was a bench player in high school. At the lower levels d2/d3 etc so much of it is based on if you want to do it and commit to the grind.
I played JUCO and went to a top-25 D-1 after. I went to a number of these prior to college and as a JUCO rising sophmore.
Wolverinebutt gave you short and sweet of the process.
Having talked to numerous college/pro scouts at these there are no secrets. For position players it starts/ends with speed test (60 yard dash) and pitchers is all about velocity (abbreviated bullpen).
All position players will run a 60 yard dash. If you can't break 7 seconds might as well pack it up and go home unless you are 6'5" and built like a tank. Scouts have told me they only keep an eye on those under 7. As a 15 year old, I personally witnessed a Phillies scout "sign" a 26 year old who ran like crap but hit 5 of 7 out with a wooden bat.
Pitchers, scouts only care about velocity at these things. They are looking for 92+ for rightys an probably mid-80s for leftys. Colleges may look forgive a few MPHs but like the timed run if you don't break a threshold you have lost there attention. I think you usually get about 10 pitches to show your stuff.
These showcases can drag on with other things (fielding and hitting), but unless you have impressed them with speed or velocity nobody is watching you. The scouts are usually sitting in the dugout or benches and catching up with each other. They see so many kids that they can just listen for the "pop" off a bat and know if a kid can hit.
If your son is a finesse pitcher then the local paper or online stats page will be his best friend. The coaches at his school need to be sending the papers these things and providing the lip service to the writers to get them in the paper/on-line paper. Then coach will need to call scouts/schools he knows to have them come out and watch him pitch.
Maybe scouting has changed from the past but pro scouts only get big paydays when their scouted/drafted players make the majors (1st MLB contract). So they are keenly aware of talent, but these guys also share with the local college coaches because they know that kids are late bloomers and those relationships matter as its a feedback loop (talent development).
Also, baseball teams typically have 25-30 guys. Unlike football and basketball, baseball gets 11.7 scholarships. If he goes to any team that has kids getting drafted those kids typically get the scholarships with other starters getting some percentage 25-50%. Its rare that someone will get a full ride unless you turned down a football scholarship or you were a top-3 round draft pick.
If he's unsure of wanting to play after high school, I definetly would not spend any money if that is required. All of the ones I went to growing up did not cost me a cent. But travel ball was only starting to grow during my adolescent so that may have changed.
Good luck to him.
One last thing.....your handshake matters.
Don't strain but you better give a good squeeze.
Thanks for the info. Questions for you: What if he's not looking for scholarship $$? We worked long and hard to set up a college account and don't want it to go to waste. Is that something he should ever bring up? Does it matter to scouts?
I don't know if it matters. I wouldn't bring it up unless they ask you specifically if financial assistance is needed.
Others will have better advice on transferance of 529 or other investment vehicles. I would just let this process play out, if you have the money that is great. If they offer a % that is all the better.
December 24th, 2019 at 5:09 AM ^
That's so great, that you have saved money for his college. My parents did the same, and I appreciate it so much to this day. For example, I went to Ivy League college only because my parents helped me pay for my studies. But, while studying, I worked with writing service ukessay website assisting other students with writing their college assignments to make some money and pay my parents back. College gives you more when you don't need to think about debts and loans.