What College Coaches Look For in Position Players
- Baseball Tools
We are all familiar with the 5 Key Tools all scouts are looking for. Speed, power, hitting for average, fielding and arm strength. I believe there is a 6th tool all players can possess which is mental approach. College coaches are looking for a player to possess 2-3 of these tools and then looking for one tool they know they can develop when the player gets on campus. If there is one tool that will keep you around the game for a long time, it is arm strength. There is always a place for someone with a good arm, the mound. This is a tool you should place emphasis on at all times, and develop the others along the way as you continue to grow as a player.
- Educated Feet (Athleticism)
I refer to athleticism as educated feet. The most athletic players I have coached move very well on their feet. They don’t drag their feet when moving to a groundball or take false steps in the outfield, and they always follow their throws. Baseball is a game where you are on your feet at all times, so your feet have to know what they are doing in order to get you where you want to go quickly. You can have educated feet and not be fast. Educated feet are efficient feet. How efficiently do you get into position to field a groundball, block a breaking ball in the dirt, or field a bunt from the mound?
- Ball to Barrel Skills
It is hard for a coach to evaluate a player solely based on offensive statistics because there are so many variables. This is when a coach will use ball to barrel skills to evaluate a player. Players who possess good ball to barrel skills, are players who are consistently making hard contact. Ball to barrel skills show a coach that you’re barrel is in the zone a long time, timing is good and you have a good approach at the plate. Hitting a round ball with a round bat, square, is hard to do.
- Approach
The more I work with college hitters, I realize all swings are pretty good. Does it need some tweaking? Sure, but one skill that can make a swing better without tweaking is a hitters approach at the plate. Are you a first pitch swinger? And if you are, are you hitting that ball hard or is it a weak out? Do you understand what is thrown to you in certain counts by a pitcher or pitching coach? College coaches know how to get hitters out. Players need to realize in college you aren’t getting fastballs in fastball counts, you will be pitched backwards. College pitchers will pitch backwards to get you out, and coaches want to see you have good plate discipline to understand how to consistently be successful in the box.
- Hands
One aspect I look for in every hitter and infielder is how quick their hands are. The faster your hands are the faster of fastball you can hit. Fast hands also equate to bat speed, and bat speed translates to power. Believe it or not you can train yourself to have fast hands. Get a speed bag and do your best Floyd Mayweather Jr. impression. Quick hands in the field also translate to getting the ball to first base quicker. The faster you can get the ball out of your glove the quicker the ball gets to first, and, as a middle infielder, the more bang-bang double plays you complete.
- Arm Strength
This is the most important tool to work on and possess because if you can’t do anything else, but you have a good arm, you’ll get put on the mound. We all know the stories of position players turned pitchers in the big leagues. Arm strength is important because the game speeds up from high school to college to professional and you have to be able to get the ball where it needs to go quickly. Arm strength is an easy tool to focus on because all you need to do is play catch and long toss to for your arm strength to go up. When you are getting loose, throw the ball as far as you can. If you want to throw hard, you have to practice throwing the ball hard, and part of throwing the ball hard being able to throw the ball far!
- Speed
Coaches say it all the time: “Speed never slumps.” It’s true, I have coached players who cant hit the ball past the outfielders but I saw them hit .375-.400 in college baseball because they can bunt and put the ball on the ground and beat it out. Speed is a serious tool, and while it is God-given, it can be improved. Speed is not the end all be all of recruiting, but coaches know how to utilize speed to win baseball games. A 9th inning steal of second base to get into scoring position, or scoring from second on a base hit are very useful tools coaches use to tie/win late in games (Dave Roberts in the 2004 ALCS Game 4 against the Yankees when everyone in the park knew he was going to run – enjoy this clip of both happening in the 9th inning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDbHnsNtQv0).
What Scouts Look for in Pitchers
- Mechanics
Mechanics are one aspect pitchers can continually work on. Good mechanics relate to a healthy arm and smaller chances of arm injuries. Also, a lot of times, if a pitcher has good mechanics, a college/professional coach can see there may be more velo in the tank with some adjustments and body awareness. Pitchers with poor mechanics are usually the ones who are more injury prone because their arm is being used in an unnatural way. Today, I feel we are seeing more arm injuries because we have placed more emphasis on velocity and less on mechanics and throwing strikes. Pitchers should place an emphasis on both because if you throw hard and have bad mechanics, you may end up getting hurt and not having good fastball command.
- FB Command
First, understand there is a difference between control and command. Control is the ability to keep the ball IN THE strikezone, though not necessarily in any particular location within the strikezone. Command is the ability to precisely locate pitches, in or out of the strikezone, with the goal of keeping each pitch out of the heart of the plate. Often, pitchers and coaches confuse these two. College coaches want to know you can throw your fastball to a dime in the strikezone at any time. Don’t focus on throwing strikes, focus on where you are locating your strikes.
- Breaking Ball
Colleges coaches recruit the breaking ball. College coaches need to know you have an OUT pitch you use to put hitters away. The sharper the breaking ball and the more planes the breaking ball travels through on the way to the zone the harder the breaking ball is to hit. Breaking balls are unbelievably important to college coaches because these are the pitches thrown in the biggest situations in games (runners in scoring position, hitters who have holes in their swings, etc.). You must have at least two pitches to be an effective college pitcher (obviously the more the better). College coaches usually look at your fastball and then the breaking ball.
- Ability to Pitch Backwards
Pitchers ability to get hitters out relies solely on how you pitch them from at-bat to at-bat. The more I dive into counts as a hitting coach, I realize the most effective pitchers are not throwing fastballs in fastball counts, they’re throwing the exact opposite of what the hitter is expecting. This is how they are caught off guard and make weak contact and get out. Pitchers have to be able to attack hitters in a different way when you are facing them 2-3 times per games. The ability to pitch backwards mean you have to be able to throw your off-speed pitches in fastball counts. If pitchers cannot do this on a consistent basis, then hitters will know what is coming and be ready to tee off.
- Educated Feet (Athleticism Around the Mound)
Just like a position player has to have educated feet, so does a pitcher. Hitters will bunt and teams will sacrifice bunt, and the pitcher has to be able to field his position to get the out. Small ball is an important part of college coaches offensive philosophy, and they will use a pitcher not being able to field their position well in order to get an offense going. So, as much as you focus on throwing hard and throwing strikes, you have to be able to get the outs that are being given to you around the mound. When pitchers can’t field their position, coaches will take advantage of it.
- Arm Action – Loose or Max Effort
While you may be a started in high school, your arm action will give a college coach a realistic role of where you fit at the collegiate level. We have all seen the kids throwing 92mph and how and it looks effortless, this is what is called a loose arm. Loose arms generate less energy to throw when throwing a pitch which will allow the pitcher to have more stamina and pitch deeper into games. Most starting pitchers at the college level have loose arms. On the flip side of this, we have all seen the same 92mph pitch but it looks like it takes every thing in him to get that ball going 92mph. This is what we call max effort. Max effort pitchers generate more energy to throw a pitch which shortens their stamina and may only allow for 1-3 innings. A lot of back end (7th-9th inning) pitchers are max effort guys. They will come in and blow the doors off for an inning knowing they only need 3-6 outs.
- Hand Speed
Hand speed comes into play in regard to deception. We have all seen the pitchers who slow their arms down when they throw off-speed pitches and then speed it back up when the fastball is thrown. College coaches are looking for pitchers who have deception. If you can maintain the same hand speed on all of your pitches, then it becomes hard for a hitter to recognize the pitch out of a pitchers hand. Hand speed also relates to how sharp your off-speed pitches will be. The more hand speed you can generate the more deceptive your pitches will be.