COLLEGE BASEBALL RECRUITING AND SCOUTING

GET RECRUITED AND PLAY COLLEGE BASEBALL

Between NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, and junior college, there are over 1,600 opportunities to continue your academic and athletic career. It is important that you reach out to coaches and let them know who you are. College baseball recruiting questionnaires are available either on the baseball team website or the main athletic website page. Take the time to fill out these baseball questionnaires for the schools you are interested in to get on coaches recruiting lists immediately.

Pitchers

The old adage, you can never have enough pitching, applies to college baseball as well. Coaches look to recruit and give scholarships to pitchers before signing other players. You can be recruited based on potential. If you have a big frame and can throw hard baseball coaches will develop you and help you work on control. Coaches want to see you pitch in person so they can judge things such as velocity, arm speed, and movement. If you can’t get out to throw in front of college coaches you will need to have a great pitching video. Your video should have footage from both behind the mound and behind the plate. If you have access to a radar gun, incorporating that in your video is a great way to depict your velocity.

Middle Infielders

Middle infielders are usually fast and athletic with quick hands and feet. Coaches recruit athletes for defense and speed first, and hitting second. College baseball teams need to be strong up the middle because that is where majority of the balls are hit. By attending baseball camps and combines you can set yourself apart from other baseball players.

Corner Infielders

When recruiting corner infielders, coaches will sometimes recruit athletes that are great hitters and sacrifice some defense. Figure out your recruiting list and attend camps at those schools, or at the very least at other camps around those schools. Baseball scouts and coaches still share information with other coaches if they are not recruiting a particular athlete- so make sure you get out and play in front coaches as much as possible.

Outfielders

Outfielders are versatile athletes. Some outfielders are recruited for defense, some for hitting, and some for speed. Figure out what your skills are, and look for programs that need your skills. Pay attention to college graduating classes as well as incoming recruiting classes. You will want to look for programs that are graduating athletes with your skills as well as identify programs that have not signed athletes with a similar skill set as you.

Catchers

Catcher is first and foremost a defensive position. Coaches are going to want to recruit athletes with good pop-time (the amount of time between the pop of the ball hitting your glove to the release of the ball). Pop-time shows a coach how quickly you are able to receive the ball and throw a base runner out. Along with pop-time, a coach will take a look at your arm strength when recruiting you. In order to make the best video possible you should showcase your blocking, throwing, receiving, as well as hitting skills.