As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter about how college coaches evaluate pitchers, this week I’m going to discuss how college coaches evaluate position players.

I’ll copy the introduction from last week’s newsletter below:

Evaluating baseball players is an inexact science. It’s difficult for college coaches to project how well high school players will perform at the next level.

This scene from “Moneyball” shows that even professional scouts swing and miss on prospects:

I personally know one “can’t miss” D1 prospect who was recruited by a lot of D1 schools, committed to a former national champion, and has struggled to get on the field in college.

Many other “can’t miss” prospects enter the transfer portal every year.

College coaches are constantly tweaking their evaluation processes and systems to minimize the risk of “missing” on prospects.

But what do they evaluate?

This varies from coach to coach and position to position, but the following is a general list.

How College Coaches Evaluate Position Players

Arm Strength

Arm strength is most important for the following positions:

• Catcher

• Third Base

• Shortstop

• Center Field

• Right Field

It’s a plus for second baseman and left fielders, but not a high priority, and it’s not important for first basemen.

Coaches love to evaluate arm strength because it’s easy to measure (with a radar gun).

Defense

College coaches typically value defense for the positions through the middle of the field (C/2B/SS/CF) and are willing to sacrifice some defensive ability at the other positions if a player can really hit.

When evaluating defensive ability for catchers, coaches look at the following:

• Receiving (can the catcher “steal” strikes on the edges of the strike zone)

• Blocking

• Throwing

Coaches also want to know that catchers can handle high-velocity pitchers and pitchers with sharp breaking pitches.

For middle infielders, coaches look for the following:

• Ground ball fundamentals (all types of ground balls)

• Ability to throw from different arm slots

• Ability to field and throw on the run

• Double play fundamentals (feeds and turns)

For outfielders, coaches look for the following:

• Ability to read and track fly balls quickly and decisively

• Routes to ground balls and fly balls

• Footwork on do-or-die ground balls

• Crow hop technique on do-or-die plays

A lot of coaches also value a first baseman who uses good footwork around the base and is proficient at picking throws out of the dirt. A good defensive first baseman makes the other infielders better because they know they don’t have to make perfect throws every time.

Hitting for Average

College coaches look for a couple things to determine whether players project to hit for high average at the college level:

• Swing mechanics

• Bat-to-ball skill

Here are some general swing mechanics coaches look for:

• Short/compact/simple - Not much wasted movement

• Barrel path - Flat through the zone -

• Barrel path - Inside through the middle of the field

Coaches evaluate bat-to-ball skill in various ways:

• Contact consistency in BP

• Low strikeout numbers versus good competition/high velocity

• Plate discipline - Swings at good pitches to hit and doesn’t chase bad pitches

• High batting average versus good competition

Hitting for Power

Exit velocity (the velocity at which the ball comes off the bat) has become a popular metric in recent years. With technology such as Rapsodo, Trackman, and others, measuring exit velocity in batting practice and is common.

While max exit velocity is an indicator of power potential, it’s a flawed statistic (especially when measured off a tee or batting practice). Just because a hitter can produce high exit velocities in controlled a controlled environment doesn’t mean he can when facing high-level competition.

While college coaches will certainly look at exit velocity, they want to see in-game power production against high-level competition to accurately project a hitter’s power potential.

Coaches will also look at SLG and total number of extra base hits as part of their evaluation on power potential.

Speed

Speed is a plus for all position players, but is valued most at the following positions:

• Second Base

• Shortstop

• Centerfield

The 60-yard dash is the most common speed metric. Some coaches also look at home-to-first time, which is the time from the crack of the bat to the foot hitting first base on an infield ground ball.

In general, a 60 time under 7.00 seconds is pretty good. Higher level coaches, however, will want to see times as low as 6.60 or better for the positions I mentioned above.

Frame

I’m working on a research project to determine the average metrics for high school players who commit to college programs at different levels.

So far, with close to 200 D1 players recorded, the average height and weight for a D1 prospect in high school is 6’1”/192. These averages go down slightly for lower levels.

This illustrates the emphasis college coaches place on recruiting big, strong, and physical players.

The important of body frame depends somewhat on position. The average height and weight for corner infielders will be greater than middle infielders, but frame is still important.

It’s critical for high school players to take strength, conditioning, and nutrition seriously to develop the body frame college coaches desire.

Performance

Performance = Game Statistics

Coaches often don’t trust stats unless they know the level of competition, but they will at least take a look at them.

Here are the stats that coaches pay attention to for position players:

• Slash Line (AVG/OBP/SLG)

• Extra Base Hits

• Strikeouts

• Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio

• Stolen Bases

For defense, coaches sometimes pay attention to fielding percentage and stolen base percentage for catchers.

Intangibles

Intangibles are attributes coaches like to see that are difficult to measure. Here’s a list:

• Competitiveness

• Attitude

• Mindset

• Resilience

• Etc.

To get a feel for a player’s intangibles, coaches will watch his mannerisms closely during games and talk to coaches/people that know the player well.

Here are some things that coaches will like:

• Fighting with two strikes.

• Willingness to take a hit-by-pitch.

• Hustle to first base, even on routine plays.

• Hustle on and off the field.

• Confident body language

• Etc.

Feel free to reply/comment with any questions and/or insights.

All the best!

- Matt

P.S. If you'd like to schedule a free consultation with me to discuss your specific recruiting process, reply to this email or sent me a text at 319-883-0242.