Balanced Attack – Part 3

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

For the past two weeks I have written about the importance of a “Balanced Attack” to the college recruiting process for high school players. Parents need to avoid the “showcase and college camp itch” when it comes to every invite received in the mail. Try not to allocate your family’s entire budget to these two categories. As I mentioned last week, showcases and college camps are important, but they need to be a part of an overall strategy that makes sense for your family’s goals and objectives.

The theme at Baseball Factory from our staff is constantly stressing to families that they need to look at four different areas of focus EACH year when determining their plan of attack to prepare for college baseball. Leaving out any of these four areas can create an unbalanced approach and leave you behind the curve.

I spoke last week about Academic Performance and Skill Development as the first two areas of focus. For those parents that are scratching their head and are looking for some guidance, here are the final two areas to focus on when creating a game plan for the college recruiting process:

3. National Tournament Competition – How does a player stack up against nationwide competition? If your son lives in New England and wants to play baseball in the South, how does he compare to players that live in Florida? As I have said to many parents that attend Baseball Factory events, how many high school baseball players that live in Florida want to come North to play in college? Not many, so if your son wants a spot on a college baseball roster in a warm weather climate he needs to know how he compares to players in that geographic area. It may be time to say no to another local tournament (playing with and against the same kids he has competed with for the last 10 years) and challenge your son in a new environment. This experience will bode well for him when he steps onto a college baseball field for the first time and sees players from a few different states. This would have helped me a lot when I transitioned from high school baseball to the University of Pennsylvania. It was a little overwhelming to see bigger, stronger players from Arizona, California, and Colorado for the first time as a college freshman.

4. Promoting yourself to colleges – College baseball is not football or basketball. It does not have the recruiting budgets or scholarships that those big revenue sports have. Therefore, it is much harder for college coaches to know about all the talented high school players in the country. College baseball coaches lack the budget, resources, and "where with all" to recruit high school players as compared to their football and basketball counterparts. As a result, players need to be their biggest advocate when it comes to promoting themselves. Showcases and college camps are only part of the picture here. You need a realistic game plan and some tools to follow up with coaches on a consistent basis. What about schools that haven’t seen your son play at all? How are they going to know about him? You need a professional webpage to help market your son to coaches. That web page should have an edited video of him performing and an unbiased evaluation of his skills. These tools are helpful to initiate a dialogue with a college coach and open the door for communication.

You also need to know what schools are realistic for your son’s baseball ability, academic performance, and social considerations. Think twice about hopping around to only Division I college camps if your son is best suited for a smaller program. Seek guidance on schools that are a good fit for your son and don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing.

Good luck in the process. Stay focused on your game plan and your balanced attack with pay off in the long run!

Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Tool Talk: Hitting

Andy Ferguson: Another Day, Another Double Play

Throughout my travels, I always try my best to take some time and catch up with each tool. It is always interesting to learn about players from the point of view of the tools themselves. Some have more to say than others, not only about their own particular importance and value, but also about the relationships they have with other tools.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with the tool Hitting. Hitting’s job is defined by the ability to get base hits, but as people have begun to look at the statistics that support Hitting a little differently, his job description is beginning to change as well. He is particularly outspoken about his fellow tool Power, and how Power can’t truly exist on its own.

Andy: Hitting, good to see you again. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Thanks for spending some time with us today.

Hitting: No problem. You and I didn’t spend much time together while you were playing, that’s for sure, but now that you are scouting you have been spreading my good word. Always a pleasure.

Andy: Thanks for pointing out that I wasn’t a very good hitter…AGAIN. I am sure everyone knows that by now. If you keep it up, I may go and try to make friends with Running – even after all my comments about how the 60-yard dash is overrated.

Hitting: Oh, all right. I’m sorry. My cousin, Five O’clock Hitter, said you and he got along real well. That’s gotta count for something huh?

Andy: Well, he's right. I certainly could hit in batting practice, just not when the game started...but enough about me. I wanted to talk to you today about your relationship with one of your fellow tools, Power.

Hitting: Oh, him. He always gets all the credit. Oh, look! A homerun! Blah, blah, blah. I’m so sick of hearing about him. He’s nothing without me, at least that’s what I’ve been trying to tell everyone for years.

Andy: Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t realize it was such a sore spot for you, but since it seems to be on your mind, why don’t you tell us about it?

Hitting: Now we’re talking! First of all, just so we all are clear, players use me to get base hits – not just singles, but any kind of base hit. That counts doubles, triples, homeruns, and heck even walks too. Players that can really use me well go to the plate with a good plan, they swing at strikes, and they make a lot of hard contact.

Andy: Yeah, yeah. We know all about that. Matt Schilling has been saying a lot of good things about you in his blog entries.

Hitting: Really? I’ll have to check those out. Running told all us other tools that all he ever heard Matt talk about was 60 yards this, 60 yards that. After all, he did coach at Coastal Carolina you know.

Andy: Of course I know that, and believe me...we have all heard his claims about runners. Back on task please?

Hitting: Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. As I was saying, if a player doesn’t have a good enough grasp on how to use me, he may be able to use my friend Power in batting practice but he sure won’t be able to use him in games consistently. He won’t be able to make good enough contact, especially on good velocity and off speed pitches, to be able to get to Power.

Andy: Can you give us an example? Maybe a Major League player that we would all know?

Hitting: Just use my friend Ryan Howard as an example so far this year. He’s struck out 38 times in 96 at bats, or almost 40% of the time. He only has 17 hits so far this year, of which 5 are home runs – nowhere near the pace he has been on for the last couple of seasons. Bottom line: he just isn’t making enough contact for his power to matter. His start to 2008 reminds me of how a lot of high school players try to come to the plate with only Power, it just doesn’t work. Don’t worry, Ryan Howard will come around. I’m not making fun of him, he and I get along real well. As for young hitters with these kind of numbers, they need to realize that all players must first be hitters and then worry about power.

Andy: Thanks Hitting, that’s good stuff. I know all of us in the scouting community realize this, but it's clear that young players don't understand that yanking and jerking balls out in batting practice just really isn’t all that impressive.

Hitting: Glad to be of service. As I always say, “any day, any hour, hitting is always a lock. If you only have power, you better have fun at five o’clock”. By the way, is that a haiku?

Andy: Uh, no. Not a haiku. Too many lines, too many syllables and it rhymes. Close though... Thanks again for your time.

Hitting: One more thing. You think you could skip the double play for me today? We, uh, don't get along very well.

Andy: No problem. Something tells me I won't get that request from your friends Fastball, Curve, Changeup or Control...

Andy Ferguson is currently the Senior Director of Baseball Operations with the Baseball Factory.

Ferguson joined the North Carolina State baseball team as a walk-on, and went on to solidify his role on a team that participated in four consecutive NCAA Regionals. He later coached with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and then served as an Associate Scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres.

Investing in the Future…

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?
I recently read a great chat with Jayson Stark from ESPN.com and Baseball America about the worst baseball free agent signings in the history of the game. The conversation came up after the San Francisco Giants announced that they were moving Barry Zito to the bullpen. In other words, the Giants may be paying Zito approx. $14.5 Million dollars in 2008 to be a lefty specialist out of the pen. I guess they do need someone to fill that role after getting rid of Steve Kline. Lefties did hit .318 against Kline in 2007. Zito has to be able to do better than that, right?

I won't hold my breath. Lefties are hitting .348 against Zito so far this year.

So if Zito truly is this bad, what prompted the Giants to pay $126 Million over seven years? How did they not see this coming? They had to have some good reasons, right? Well, here’s what I’ve come up with as potential reasons, or as we would now call them…Excuses:

1. When they signed Zito, he was 28. Many experts consider the years between 28 and 35 to be a pitcher’s prime. They’ve been battle tested, but haven’t killed their arm. They now have the best of both worlds: pitching ability and pitching knowledge, which can be a lethal combination.
   
   
2. His career ERA after the 2006 season was 3.55 (and that was in the AL). San Fran was moving him to the NL and another pitcher friendly park. AT&T Park ranked last in 2006 for homeruns allowed (the Oakland Coliseum was 24th).
   
   
3. He won 23 games in 2002 and took home the Cy Young award with a 2.75 ERA, showing that when on, he can be un-hittable.
   
   
4. Between 2001 and 2006 he made at least 34 starts throwing more than 210 innings each year. Now that’s consistent! What team wouldn’t want a lefty they can count on to pitch every fifth day for an entire season? And not just for one season, but for the next seven years.
   
   
5. According to a few sources, Zito plays the guitar, travels with his pillow and is as mellow as Jack Johnson off the field. What a great fit for the Bay Area.
   

So, can you really blame the Giants? They saw these positives and jumped on board. Hey, they were looking for a new face to the organization. From Barry (Bonds) to Barry (Zito), but with a lot less negative press. They saw this as a step in turning around the image and performance of the ball club.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out. With Bonds, they looked naïve, turning a blind eye to an unnaturally enhanced slugger with an edgy personality…but he was always “just their Barry.” With Zito, they look like fools who completely missed the boat on a “proven ace” that now tops out at 84 MPH, can’t even get lefties out and is headed to the bullpen. Which is worse?

I expect to hear this statement from Bud Selig next year: “With the first pick, in the 2009 Amateur Baseball Draft, the San Francisco Giants select…Ryan Leaf, Quarterback, Washington State.”

What Does it Mean to be a “Great Coach?”

Steve Sclafani: All Access Pass

For all of us who have ever played the game of baseball, we have all had that great coach we remember with joy, as well as that coach that made our baseball experience a living nightmare. For all you coaches out there that are coaching youth and high school baseball players, your number one goal should be to give young players a positive upbeat experience where they can learn the game of baseball and also walk away with more confidence and overall self-esteem.

When I am asked to speak to little league and high school coaches across the country about our coach certification program on Baseball University most of the questions from the participants are regarding the appropriate age level to introduce specific strategies and techniques. While this is no doubt important (i.e. we don’t want to teach a 10 year old to throw a curveball) we must also realize that it is not only what we are teaching, but also HOW and WHEN WE ARE GETTING OUR MESSAGE ACROSS. BASEBALL IS A SLOW MOVING GAME; NO YOUNG PLAYER LIKES TO GET YELLED AT IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME WHEN HE HAS MADE AN ERROR.

OK, by now I guess you get my point. Good coaches get players to relax and play at the top of their game. They can still be tough and firm and demand a lot from their players, but they do it in way where they’re not “showing up” their players in front of the entire team. Let me give you an example of a great coach that I once had….

The summer before entering my senior year of college, I had the privilege of playing for the Winchester Royals of the Valley League. Our coach was a young guy (25 years old) who was a tremendous teacher of the game and baseball strategist. But what I really remember about him was how he helped each and every player on our team to believe in himself. This coach helped me to get the most out of my ability by staying positive in stressful game situations. For example, if I struck out in a clutch situation or made an error, he would quickly tell me to “wipe it out and look ahead.” He never showed up a player or yelled at a player during a game situation. He realized that causing a player to crawl into his shell and play the game scared is the wrong thing to do.

That being said, there was certainly a few times that as a team, he let us know that he was not happy with our overall effort and expected more from us. Again, this was always after a game or before a practice session. How many times do we see a coach chew a young player out on the field for swinging at a bad pitch or for making a physical error? What is the upside of this behavior? Do we think the player is trying to make an error?

Positive reinforcement in a game where failure is common is key to the success of a young player. After all, it’s more than the three hits every 10 at-bats that makes a young player successful. How does that player and coach handle the failure of making an out 7 of 10 times?

Be one of those coaches that your players will always remember. Stay positive. I certainly have fond memories of my former coach, Dayton Moore who is now the general manager of the Kansas City Royals!

Steve Sclafani is the CEO/Founder of the Baseball Factory.

Sclafani’s ability to create new opportunities for baseball players nationwide and to develop exposure vehicles has led to over 20,000 Baseball Factory and Team One players competing at the college level, $500 million in scholarships, and over 2,000 players selected in the MLB draft. Sclafani was recognized as a member of Baltimore’s prestigious 40/40 Club, honoring 40 top executives under 40 years of age. Steve is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he played second base.

Getting It Right the First Time - Part 3

Kelly Kulina: Your Link to the Colleges

This week we will continue our discussion regarding evaluating colleges in order to make an informed decision. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this discussion we covered the criteria that you should consider when reviewing the schools on your target list. The criteria include Academics, Location, Size, College Environment and Cost.

Of course, the other side of the college search process is evaluating the baseball program. It has to start with a realistic look at your ability. Most players spend too much time looking at schools they can’t play at. Here are a few areas to consider when researching and visiting with coaches:

• Opportunity to Play – The first question I ask all of the Exclusive College Recruiting Program players is if they are looking to play as a freshman or are willing to sit, especially for the right program. Most of them say “yes,” which is certainly understandable. However, players need to understand that playing opportunities will vary from level to level. That being said, players that think they won’t mind sitting out need to stop and reflect on this. You are used to playing every inning of every game from Little League through high school and regardless of athletic ability, it will be a tough adjustment to sit on the bench!

• Reputation – While it’s easy to get wrapped up in wins, losses and championships, when I say reputation, I am referring to more than that. Does this program have a reputation for developing players, or do they have more success just through recruiting better players? One way to evaluate this is to research the players that went to college undrafted and came out as a professional. Go and watch the team practice and evaluate how the players and coaching staff communicate. For research purposes, look into player retention rates and try to connect with current players and their families.

We will cover the last two criteria to consider during your college search in Part 4. As you have hopefully realized from Parts 1 – 3, there is a lot to take into account in order to make the right college decision. Do your research and you will be successful!

Kulina is a former Associate Head Coach and recruiting coordinator with the University of Maryland. As a former recruiting coordinator for ten years in the ACC, Kulina has vast contacts and is widely respected throughout the nation. From 1989 to 2000, Kulina coached 46 players who were selected in the MLB draft.

A Plan of Action - Part 3

Steve Bernhardt: Building the Better Ballplayer

Last week I discussed two new steps from our player development action plan. So far we have covered the following steps:

Week 1
Step 1: Create an honest evaluation
Step 2: Formulate long-term goals

Week 2
Step 3: Develop a game plan
Step 4: Formulate short-term goals

This week I want to touch on the last two steps in our plan to develop successful young players.

Step 5: Execute the game plan through quality practice – It all looks good on paper, but now it is the player’s responsibility to execute the game plan and begin reaching those short-term goals. Proper repetition at the right intensity is the key to executing the game plan. In order to change muscle memory, the body must perform the task in the new, or proper way, over and over again until it becomes the natural, engrained way for the body to react. Players and parents can benefit from seeking out expert instructors to assure that their practice time is being used most efficiently. Working on swinging the bat is usually a fun exercise for all players, the tougher thing is for catchers to spend time working on blocking balls to the glove side or infielders to perfect fielding slow rollers. Making fundamental changes requires hard work and patience.

Step 6: Perform in games – The final piece to the puzzle and ultimate goal is to be successful when it counts: IN GAMES. By concentrating on the process of player development, successful results will emerge during the games. These game results will provide feedback that will show players the continual adjustments that must be made to their game plan, goals and practice routine.

The process of building a better baseball player is not a short or easy one. Players, coaches and parents must all share in the responsibility of saying no to the seventh tournament of the summer and yes to more practice time. The long-term results will be much more rewarding.

Bernhardt played for five years in the Colorado Rockies organization. As Executive VP of Baseball Operations at Baseball Factory, he oversees all events and instruction. Bernhardt currently serves as an Associate Scout with the Colorado Rockies. He received his B.S. from the University of Richmond where he was an All-Conference player.

Matthew Colantonio – Brown University

Justin Roswell: Where Are They Now?

Matthew Colantonio (Garden City, NY), current true freshman for Brown University was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. After 35 games with the Bears, Matt is hitting .384 with 21 RBI’s and leads the team with a .493 on-base percentage.

Prior to Matt’s collegiate career, he was an outstanding student-athlete in high school. He participated at several Baseball Factory and Team One Baseball Showcases. His very first event was the Baseball Factory B.A.T.S. (Baseball and Academic Targeting Service) Program—now the Signature College Recruiting Program. His performance at the B.A.T.S. event propelled him to earn a spot on the Baseball Factory USA Junior Olympic Tournament team.

He continued to train, condition, and work on his game and was asked to represent Baseball Factory at Dodgertown and train with former National Cross-checker Mac Seibert. Mac selected Matt to attend the 2006 All American Tournament and the Team One East Showcase. Matt performed very well at Team One East and was honored as one of the top ten participants at that event, eventually leading the coaching staff at Brown to offer Matt an opportunity to earn a spot on their 2008 roster.

We would like to acknowledge Matt on his academic and athletic achievements at Brown.

Check out Matt’s bio and current stats.

Justin Roswell joined the Baseball Factory in 2001 serving in the scouting, event coordination, and player development departments. In 2007 he became the Senior Director for Team One Baseball, the showcase division of Baseball Factory. As Senior Director, he leads the player identification process for all Team One Regional Showcases. Justin also runs the Under Armour Tournament Division. Justin graduated from California State University - Fullerton, where he received his degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on management.

Work the Count - Take a Strike: Part 2

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

Last week I wrote about the two quotes mentioned in the title: "Work the Count" and "Take a Strike." I commented that I did not like these comments because they were misleading and incomplete. The fact is that the more balls and the less strikes that you have, the better off you are. AND the first pitch of an at-bat is in fact a VERY good pitch to hit. I based a lot of these facts off the statistics of Major League hitters last season and of other seasons that I have researched. I used the following chart which I showed last week and I will show again this week:

Batting average by count for all MLB players in 2007:

0-0 = .344

1-0 = .341

2-0 = .351

3-0 = .394

0-1 = .324

1-1 = .327

2-1 = .338

3-1 = .368

0-2 = .166

1-2 = .178

2-2 = .195

3-2 = .233

As you can see, when hitters have two strikes on them they are not very successful. When they swing in non two strike counts, they have much greater success. At the end of last weeks blog I left you with a question. What count do you think gives up the most homeruns? My guess would have been 2-0 or 3-1, traditionally great hitters counts. The answer: 0-0.

WOW! This answer blew me away, but it does make sense. For one thing, every hitter is guaranteed to have a 0-0 count every at-bat. But the other reason is that big league hitters have figured out something that pitching coaches all over the world don't want hitters to know.

ALL PITCHERS ARE TAUGHT TO GET AHEAD OF THE HITTER!

Sorry to yell but this is so obvious. No pitching coach teaches his pitcher to fall behind (look at the chart above for the obvious reason). So if as a hitter you know the pitcher is trying his best to throw a strike with the first pitch, why on earth would you want to take it? Chances are high that you will get a strike, and if you swing at strikes you have a much better chance to hit.

I once went to a baseball clinic and heard a very well respected Division I baseball coach speak on pitching. For 30 minutes he went on and on regarding the importance of getting ahead of the hitter and throwing strike one. After a 15 minute break he then spoke on hitting and preached the importance of working the count deep and taking pitches. To me this made no sense. Clearly this guy must have been a pitcher at heart. Why on earth would you tell hitters to take strikes if you are telling pitchers to throw strikes early? Am I missing something?

The truth of the matter is that teams who see a lot of balls and lay off bad pitches are very successful. The Yankees and Red Sox are great at this. Rarely do you see their hitters swing at bad pitches. As a result they do work the count, by taking balls, not strikes. Their hitters get themselves into advantage counts ( 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1) a lot. That is working the count the right way.

For fun I thought that I would rattle off a few more facts for you that you might find interesting.

Again these are based on the 2007 MLB season and were found at Baseball Reference:

• The best count for hitting home runs was 0-0 giving up 853 dingers.


• The next closest count was 1-0 giving up 615. (clearly swinging early helps)


• Worst count was 0-2 with only 173 round trippers.


• 0-0 count gave up the most doubles, triples, homers and RBI's.


• The next most productive count in all those categories was 1-1.


• When a pitcher got ahead of a hitter 0-1 they struck out 21,644 batters! (now you know why pitchers want to throw strike one and why I am so against taking a strike)


• In contrast when the pitcher fell behind 1-0 they were only able to K 10,545 batters.

Clearly you can see that swinging the bat in one of the first three pitches that you see can make you very productive as a hitter(if those pitches are strikes). The deeper the count goes the more the hitter tends to tense up and try to put the ball in play. The earlier in the count you swing the looser you are and the more you try to drive the ball. So use this insider information, understand what the pitcher is trying to do and step in the box ready to swing early in the count and watch your confidence, batting average and production rise.

Matt Schilling is the Senior Director of On-Field Instruction at Baseball Factory, Schilling handles all on-field elements, including one-on-one training.

Schilling graduated from Coastal Carolina University, where he was an All-Conference and All-State player while being voted the fourth best second baseman in the country by the Smith Award Group. Schilling went on to coach at Coastal for five years, helping them reach the top 25. He is also a former Associate Scout with the Atlanta Braves.

Balanced Attack - Part 2

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

Last week I wrote about the importance of a “Balanced Attack” to the college recruiting process for high school players. Parents need to avoid the “showcase and college camp itch” when it comes to every invite received in the mail. Try not to allocate your family’s entire budget to these two categories. As I mentioned last week, showcases and college camps are important, but they need to be a part of an overall strategy that makes sense for your family’s goals and objectives.

At Baseball Factory, our staff constantly stresses to families that they need to look at four different areas of focus EACH year when determining their plan of attack to prepare for college baseball. Leaving out any of these four areas can create an unbalanced approach and leave you behind the curve.

For those parents that are scratching their head and are looking for some guidance, here are the first two areas to focus on when creating a game plan for the college recruiting process:

Academic Performance – This is #1 on the list by a long shot. An honest assessment of the student’s academic achievement needs to be performed. Make sure to get a copy of your son’s official transcript from the guidance office and calculate his core course GPA. Remember only the core courses (ie: Math, Science, English, History, etc) will count towards your son’s eligibility for NCAA programs. Check out NCAA.org for more information on this topic. Those lovely elective classes like baseball and weight lifting will not contribute one bit to his academic eligibility. Have him take sample PSAT, SAT, or ACT tests depending upon his year in school to see how he measures up. If the academics need improvement beyond what the student is capable of doing on his own through hard work, seek academic tutoring or standardized test prep courses. The reality is that the admissions process is wickedly competitive and the better STUDENT-athletes (notice STUDENT and not athlete is capitalized) have an admissions advantage every time.

Skill Development – As Steve Bernhardt wrote in his Building the Better Ballplayer Blog, parents need to seek professional instruction assistance for the areas of their son’s game that need improvement. It is easy to practice the areas of the game where the players are excelling. It is much tougher to work on your weaknesses and try to elevate them to a player’s strengths. Just think: instead of running off to another showcase and “exposing” a weakness for everyone in attendance to see, what if you used those same budget dollars to get professional instruction and improve your game? Doesn’t that make more sense? Well rounded players at the high school level usually make better players in college. Whether it is running speed, overall body strength, throwing mechanics, hitting mechanics, defensive ability, etc. get yourself some professional help and attack your weaknesses.

Next week, I will touch on the final two areas of focus for your balanced attack. If anyone can guess what the last two categories are, feel free to post them as a comment to get some discussion going!

Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

The Most Honest Evaluation?

Andy Ferguson: Another Day, Another Double Play

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Bernhardt urged players to create an honest evaluation of their abilities as their first step in a player development plan of action. In an effort to better arm players and parents to do just that, I wanted to expand on that concept a little bit.

Just as Steve mentioned, players need to identify both their strengths and weaknesses. I think one of the best ways to do this is to try and get your tools in order, from best to worst. Though my playing days have been over for some time, I will use myself as an example to help illustrate how to work through this process.

First, let me give you a little background information.

When I was younger, I could run a little bit and was a good enough athlete to play shortstop and center field. I was very fortunate to play summer ball under former University of North Carolina and current Cotuit Kettleers (Cape Cod Baseball League) skipper Mike Roberts – also father of Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts. I guess he did most of the evaluation for me back then, and determined that I would outgrow both shortstop and center field (plus Brian played shortstop then, and was WWWAAAYYY better than me there), so he moved me behind the plate when I was about 15.

I only bring that up to point out the value of the insight that an experienced baseball person can provide. I realize we don’t all have access to such people, but I urge you to seek an unbiased opinion of your abilities. You may not like what you hear, which of course I didn't when I got moved, but it just may work out for the better in your case...just as it did for me.

OK, back to self evaluation. Here are how my tools would have lined up in high school.

POSITION PLAYER
1. Power
2. Arm strength
3. Hitting ability
4. Fielding ability
5. Running ability

PITCHER
1. Control
2. Fastball
3. Curveball
4. Changeup

As is the case with many high school players, even though my personal best position was catcher, I played a lot of first base my sophomore and junior years. That was where my name got written into the lineup, so that's where I went. I caught my senior year, but only because our regular catcher hurt his throwing shoulder and was out for that season.

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TODAY'S DOUBLE PLAY
The best double play combo I played with during my career

What I was doing on this club, I still don't know for sure. I had already finished my redshirt year at NC State, and was still just 18 years old - the same as most recently graduated high school seniors. The 1995 Ohio Warhawks had four players that made it to the Major Leagues. Two are household names: Brian Roberts and Pat Burrell. Two other players bounced up and down and between a couple of teams: Brent Butler (2B with Rockies, most recently with AAA Tampa Bay) and Jon Adkins (RHP with the Padres, White Sox and Mets. Now in AAA with the Reds).

1. Brian Roberts
Played shortstop then, and through college before moving across the bag in professional baseball. Could really throw, so much so that he would take pre-game infield from darn near shallow left field - and still threw missles to first base. A relentless base stealer and sparkplug at the top of the lineup. During this summer he began to hit for more power, a trend that would continue through college and into professional baseball.


2. Brent Butler
Played second base at the time, but would flip flop across the bag every other game or so with Roberts during the 95 Warhawks season. He absolutely raked, just hit everything hard and all over the ballpark. Had right around the same home run total for that summer as Pat Burrell. Signed with the Cardinals as a third round pick in 1996, made it to the big leagues with the Rockies in 2001.
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It is important to look at how your tools, and the order you put them in, “profile” at your position. Profile is a scouting concept that essentially outlines what players at each position ideally have in their “tool box.” You may read “tool box” and think of it literally, but in scouting terms “tool box” is the little box on the scouting report where the tool grades are written.

In my case, my tools didn’t fit the catching position particularly well back then. They probably fit first base better, but still not a perfect fit. Actually, some other schools that recruited me wanted to consider me at third base as much as behind the plate.

Now, we will begin to look at tool importance by position. First, if you have any interest in the exercise, you should try to rank your tools in order from best to worst.

Position players: tools are hitting ability, power, arm strength, fielding ability, running ability

Pitchers: tools are fastball, curveball, changeup (if you have it), other pitch (like a slider, splitter, etc., if you have it), and control

Now that you have your tools ranked, let’s look and see how they fit at your position. I should point out that these tool importance charts are just my opinion, and they most certainly vary from person to person, team to team and school to school.

PITCHER
There really is no order for pitching tools, at least not like there is for position players. Generally, pitchers are split into two groups based on the tools they have: Starters & Relievers.

The biggest difference is the quality and quantity of their secondary pitches. Often times pitchers with quality stuff but lack of consistent control, or with questionable pitching mechanics, are considered better bullpen guys.

Starting pitchers are expected to get around a lineup two or three times, which gets tougher as hitters get better – the ability to throw strikes, and to do so with several different pitches is eventually a necessity.

CATCHER
1. Fielding ability
2. Arm strength
3. Hitting ability
4. Power
5. Running ability

FIRST BASE
1. Hitting ability
2. Power
3. Fielding ablity
4. Arm strength
5. Running ability

THIRD BASE
1. Hitting ability
2. Power
3. Arm strength
4. Fielding ability
5. Running ability

SHORTSTOP
1. Fielding ability
2. Arm strength
3. Hitting ability
4. Running ability
5. Power

SECOND BASE
1. Hitting ability
2. Fielding ability
3. Running ability
4. Arm strength
5. Power

CENTER FIELD
1. Hitting ability
2. Fielding ability
3. Running ability
4. Power
5. Arm strength

RIGHT FIELD
1. Hitting ability
2. Power
3. Arm strength
4. Running ability
5. Fielding ability

LEFT FIELD
1. Hitting ability
2. Power
3. Running ability
4. Fielding ability
5. Arm strength

Not to jump back on my favorite soapbox, but you will notice (at least on my personal tool importance chart) that running ability is never higher than third most important at any position. There are without a doubt certain college programs that value running ability very much, and I don’t entirely disagree since usually guys that can run are pretty good athletes. However, I believe that either hitting ability or fielding ability should be number one, depending on the position, since those tools are among the most basic components of any baseball player.

Jimmy Key, What’s He Like 45?

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

Remember that ESPN commercial? The one where ESPN drafted a sports anchor out of high school. The scouting reports were off the charts, but the kid just wasn’t emotionally ready. One of my favorites, and they’ve had some good ones, including the spelling bee, Ozzie Guillen call to the bullpen, and cannon fodder.

Anyway, back on topic…I started thinking about this commercial because I was noticing how many players drafted straight out of high school are off to a great start in 2008.

David Wright, 3B, New York Mets
.343, 12 runs, 4 homeruns, 19 RBI, 3 stolen bases, 1.165 OPS

Justin Upton, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
.384, 11 runs, 5 homeruns, 13 RBI, 1.091 OPS

B.J. Upton, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
.338, 14 runs, 2 homeruns, 16 RBI, 4 stolen bases

Nate McLouth, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
.375, 16 runs, 3 homeruns, 16 RBI, 2 stolen bases, 1.082 OPS

Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers
.305, 11 runs, 4 homeruns, 19 RBI, .923 OPS

All Baseball Factory/Team One alumni, by the way. There are many more young players lighting up the box scores and making a serious impact on their teams.

These players are all under 27 years old, but are quickly becoming the future of their respective ball clubs. At the same time, players like Mike Mussina (39 years old, 5.75 ERA and potentially out of the Yankees starting rotation), Frank Thomas (39 years old, released on Sunday by the Blue Jays) and Pedro Martinez (36 years old, on the DL with a 10.80 ERA) are taking a back seat as their careers wind down.

Keep an eye on the next batch of young stars drafted straight out of high school including Jay Bruce (21 years old), Cameron Maybin (21), Colby Rasmus (21) and Homer Bailey (21). You may see them this year in a starting lineup near you. In addition, check out the Sports Illustrated/TAKKLE Top 100 players, powered by Baseball Factory. Many of these top high school players will be first round selections in this year’s amateur draft.

Getting It Right the First Time – Part 2

Kelly Kulina: Your Link to the Colleges

Last week, I began discussing criteria to consider when evaluating the schools on your college list. The first two areas to consider were Academics and Location. This week we will take a look at three more points of interest when narrowing down your choices:

• Size – As I mentioned last week, bigger schools are not for everyone. Larger schools generally have much larger classes and less chance for face time with the professor. If you come from a small high school, you need to consider how moving to a larger school will change your experience in the classroom.

• College Environment – One of the biggest mistakes people make in the process is falling in love with a school before they’ve had a chance to see the campus in person. Players must spend time on campus and get a feel for the student environment. It is important to project how this environment will factor into the next four years of your life. Just by walking around campus, you can get a feel for what it is like to try to get around, especially during classes. Just like a coach won’t make a final decision based on what he sees in a video, you can’t make a decision based on what you’ve seen online!

• Cost – Every year, there are always players that find themselves at the end of the process without options because they failed to put down on paper what they can afford for college. It does no good to look at schools that realistically you will not be able to afford. Even if you excel in the classroom and on the field, there’s no guarantee that the bottom line is going to be manageable for all the schools on your target list. Be proactive and research different avenues with financial assistance, whether it’s academic grants or outside scholarships. You cannot rely on baseball to pay for your education. There are simply not enough scholarships available at any level to think otherwise!

Next week we will take a look at the criteria to consider when evaluating the baseball program.

Kulina is a former Associate Head Coach and recruiting coordinator with the University of Maryland. As a former recruiting coordinator for ten years in the ACC, Kulina has vast contacts and is widely respected throughout the nation. From 1989 to 2000, Kulina coached 46 players who were selected in the MLB draft.

A Plan of Action – Part 2

Steve Bernhardt: Building the Better Ballplayer

Last week I discussed the first two steps that young players should take in order to get better through player development. The first two steps were to create an honest evaluation and formulate long-term goals. This week I want to touch on the next two steps to successful player development.

Step 3: Develop a game plan – A game plan must be designed, put on paper and committed to by the player. This game plan must encompass all facets of player development and have a unique structure for both in-season and off-season training. The game plan should include specific weekly workout schedules that include training in all areas: strength, speed, agility, flexibility, mental preparation, arm strength, offensive skill development, defensive skill development, baserunning and game situations. Pitchers should have a game plan that includes specific mechanical work, secondary pitch work, command/control work and pick-off work as well. Each area will not be addressed every day, but each category should be incorporated into the workouts multiple times per week.

Step 4: Formulate short-term goals – Once the game plan has been set, short-term goals should be made. These should specifically target each of the areas and will act as checkpoints along the way for the player. As these goals are hit, new ones should be developed to continue the player’s development and get him closer to his long-term goals.

Check back next week, as I review the last two steps in the player development process: Executing the game plan through quality practice and performing in games.


Bernhardt played for five years in the Colorado Rockies organization. As Executive VP of Baseball Operations at Baseball Factory, he oversees all events and instruction. Bernhardt currently serves as an Associate Scout with the Colorado Rockies. He received his B.S. from the University of Richmond where he was an All-Conference player.

Brett Jackson - California Golden Bears

Justin Roswell: Where Are They Now?

Brett Jackson, former Baseball Factory and Team One standout, is shining at the next level. Brett is currently in his second varsity season for the Cal Bears who compete in the Pac-10 Conference. He is one of their top outfielders, hitting .331 with 22 RBI’s, and 9 stolen bases in 34 games.

Prior to Brett’s collegiate career, he was an exceptional high school athlete. In addition to his high school accolades, he attended several Baseball Factory events and Team One Showcases. As a matter of fact, he started out as a participant in the Baseball Factory B.A.T.S. (Baseball and Academic Targeting Service) Program—now the Signature College Recruiting Program. His outstanding performance at that event led our on-field staff to select him for the 2005 and 2006 Baseball Factory All-American Tournaments.

At the All-American event he performed very well and our scouting staff selected Brett for both the 2005 Team One West and Team One National Showcases. Those events gave the coaching staff at Berkeley the opportunity to see Brett perform. Eventually the Cal coaches recruited Brett to play for the Bears and offered him a baseball scholarship.

We would like to acknowledge Brett and his tremendous accomplishments as a student-athlete.

Check out Brett’s bio and current stats.

Justin Roswell joined the Baseball Factory in 2001 serving in the scouting, event coordination, and player development departments. In 2007 he became the Senior Director for Team One Baseball, the showcase division of Baseball Factory. As Senior Director, he leads the player identification process for all Team One Regional Showcases. Justin also runs the Under Armour Tournament Division. Justin graduated from California State University - Fullerton, where he received his degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on management.

Performance vs Ability

Andy Ferguson: Another Day, Another Double Play

“Why are all the scouts here to watch ______ (insert that guy on your team’s name here)? I’m hitting .500, and he isn’t even hitting .300. They should be watching me instead.”

Answer? Tools (no, not those over there...)

Having a .500 batting average does not necessarily mean a hitter has exceptional hitting ability. Now, don’t get me wrong, that is pretty darn good…we’d certainly all like to have guys on our team hitting .500.

This is basically the performance versus ability debate. I don’t have any interest in boring you with this, you’ve heard it before I'm sure. Instead, we’ll make it as simple as it really is. Tools are the ability, production is the performance. Ideally we would have both, but that doesn’t happen very often. There, easy as that. Make sense?

Though the ability to produce in games is the ultimate goal, the ability to produce at the high school level alone is not a sure sign that a player can or will produce at the college level (and certainly not at the professional level).

There is simply no way to account for a standard level of competition at the high school level. Since there is no baseline, there is really no way to compare players using most statistics (like batting average and earned run average). Thus, arguments based on these numbers are not even worth having.

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TODAY’S DOUBLE PLAY
Two more baseball pet peeves (I have lots...)

1. When outfielders throw to the wrong base, don’t know where to throw it, or throw over cutoff men.
Come on, let’s be honest here. All you really have to do as an outfielder is listen, and you’ll know where to go with the ball. Sure, it helps to have some feel for the game – that is always ideal – but in most cases, just throw it to the cutoff man. Trust me, he is there for a reason. Oh, and one more thing. On a sac fly (or any other do or die type throw) if you can’t carry it there in the air (most guys can’t, it’s OK), at least give your teammate a long hop to work with.

2. Striking out looking on fastballs away.
Maybe it’s just how I was taught, but I just don’t get how it happens so often. I know there are differing opinions, but I am of the theory that it is best to “look away, react in”…ESPECIALLY WITH TWO STRIKES. In other words, make sure you can handle pitches on the outer half, and simply react and try to fight off pitchers on the inner half.

A two strike approach should also involve choking up on the bat, and widening the stance – both help to shorten and simplify the stroke, making it easier to simply put the ball in play. If a pitcher can run a fastball across the inside corner and freeze me that way, I’ll tip my cap and have a seat – but seriously, think about it, there are just not that many pitchers that pitch inside AT ALL, let alone with two strikes. If I am looking away, it allows me to track the ball longer – since I am trying to hit the ball out of the back of the strike zone. That way, I have time to recognize spin on a breaking ball or at least fight off a pitch I think has a chance to be called a strike.
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But if not stats, then what else do we have to compare players with?

Answer? (Hint: same as last time) Tools.

I know what you’re thinking…“but what about that guy on my team that hits balls over the lights in batting practice? He hasn’t done much of anything in games this season, but scouts and coaches are always coming to see him play. Same with the pitcher on our team that throws 90. He doesn’t throw a lot of strikes, and gives up quite a few runs in each outing. If they can’t help our team win games, why would scouts and coaches want them for theirs?”

Answer: (Seeing a pattern yet? If not you will if you read the next word) Tools.

There simply are not that many guys walking around that can hit balls over the lights. Tools like that are rare, and give players potential to impact games in a big way.

For example, if that light tower power ever ends up in the same package with a good swing and hitting approach, that player has potential to hit a lot of home runs in the Major Leagues.

Back to production (we switched to that term instead of performance earlier) one last time before we wrap up. It is important to note that the ability to play the game is considered particularly important to most college recruiters (compared to professional scouts, who are looking more into the future). They do not have the luxury of letting players learn how to use their tools in the minor leagues before calling them up into action.

So, while we cannot deny production and performance as ideal for any player, ultimately the players with more in the tool box are always going to be scouted more. They may look a little crude now, and maybe they aren’t having all that much success right now, but those big tools give them more potential to play the game longer and against better players in the long run.

Andy Ferguson is currently the Senior Director of Baseball Operations with the Baseball Factory.

Ferguson joined the North Carolina State baseball team as a walk-on, and went on to solidify his role on a team that participated in four consecutive NCAA Regionals. He later coached with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and then served as an Associate Scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres.

Work the Count - Take a Strike

Matt Schilling: From the Batting Cage

"Work the Count."

"Take a Strike."

These two famous phrases that we always hear from hitting coaches have been around for a long time. While I partly agree with some of what "they" are saying, ultimately I believe that these are flawed, incomplete and misleading comments for hitting coaches to make.

For years I have been told as a hitter, "The more pitches you see, the better your chance to hit." I have also been told to, "work the count deep." So this would lead me to believe that batting averages on deeper counts SHOULD be better. These well accepted hitting philosophies must be right because I have been hearing them for as long as I can remember. In fact, they have become an unwritten rule in baseball. I personally have never bought into these ideas, mostly because I liked to swing at the first pitch. So I did some research and came up with some very interesting findings. The following numbers were obtained from http://www.baseball-reference.com/ and are based on the 2007 Major League Season.

Batting average by count for all MLB players in 2007:

0-0 = .344
1-0 = .341
2-0 = .351
3-0 = .394
0-1 = .324
1-1 = .327
2-1 = .338
3-1 = .368
0-2 = .166
1-2 = .178
2-2 = .195
3-2 = .233

Based on these numbers you can see that simply "working the count deep" and "taking a strike" is not necessarily effective. If it were, then the 3-2 count should be the best count to hit in and clearly it is not. The fact is, the less strikes you have and the more balls that you have the better off you are. Just another reason why it is so important to swing at strikes only. Also it appears that the first pitch of an at-bat is a GREAT pitch to hit! So why on earth would we want to take a strike? (unless of course the pitcher can't throw strikes)

Take some time to review these statistical facts and tune in next week for a deeper discussion on this topic. Oh, and one last thing, what count do you think gives up the most homeruns?