College Baseball Scholarship by the Numbers
Continuing with our series of scholarships by the numbers here is our graphic on baseball. College baseball is different from most other college sports because college coaches and professional teams are recruiting high school athlete’s at the same time. It is not uncommon for the major baseball powerhouse schools to lose a star recruit who decides to go straight to the minor leagues.
When looking at college baseball programs, it is important to remember coaches divide their scholarships up to try and get the best players they can. With 20 plus players on a roster, finding a full scholarship can be very difficult. Almost every college baseball player will need to pay for some of their own education.
Another consideration when looking for a baseball scholarship, is the position you play. The majority of scholarship money in a program goes to pitchers, catchers and/or the best hitters. Having an ace pitcher on your staff can be worth five to six wins a year. For that reason, coaches will give scholarship money to a prospect who might develop into an elite pitcher over a position player. Playing in the outfield or middle infield position you have to bring something else to the table to get significant baseball scholarship money.
Another very common route for college baseball players, especially pitchers, is to go through Junior College before moving on to a four year university. Generally, athletes go to Junior Colleges because they are not academically eligible. In baseball, a lot of four year university coaches have good relationships with Junior College coaches and send prospects to a JC for two years to develop before bringing them on to their roster. Don’t be surprised if a coach asks you to play two years at the JC level before they would offer you a scholarship at a four year school.
Do you have questions about playing baseball at the college level? Are you not sure how to start the recruiting process? Leave your questions in the comments below or check us out on Facebook or Google+.