Ogo Baseball

[𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐳𝐞𝐧 @utahscout1219]

The Scouting Classroom #40

WHY SCOUTS LOVE BAD GAMES

Most people assume scouts enjoy watching great performances. Truthfully, some of the most valuable evaluations happen when things go wrong.

Anybody can evaluate success. The challenge has always been evaluating the response to failure.

Over twenty years in professional baseball, I learned that bad games often reveal more than good ones. A player can fool you on a night when everything is working. A couple of barrels, a home run, or seven shutout innings can send everybody home excited.

But baseball isn’t played on the best days.

Professional baseball is built on how players handle the other days. The days when the timing disappears. The days when velocity beats them. The days when they don’t have their best stuff. The days when confidence begins to leak.

That’s when the evaluation becomes interesting.

WHEN THE MASK COMES OFF

Failure has a way of exposing things success can hide. That’s when scouts begin paying attention to details that may not matter to the average fan, but can matter greatly over the course of a career.

• Body language.
• Competitiveness.
• Response to coaching.
• Emotional maturity.
• Ability to make adjustments.
• Accountability.
• Toughness.
• Leadership.
• Resilience.

Anybody can smile after going 4-for-4.

What happens after 0-for-4?

How does he carry himself after striking out with runners in scoring position? Does he point fingers or accept responsibility? Does he continue competing, or does he mentally leave the game?

Professional baseball guarantees failure. The best players in the world make outs seven times out of ten. Great pitchers get hit. All-Stars get booed. Future Hall of Famers experience slumps.

Nobody escapes it.

THE SECOND LOOK MATTERS

Some of the best reports I ever wrote came after bad performances. Not because the player played poorly, but because of how he responded.

A scout may leave disappointed after the first look and then come back weeks later to see if the player adjusted.

• Did he learn?
• Did he compete?
• Did he improve?

Those questions often separate prospects with similar tools, because tools may get two players to the same level, but character often determines which one keeps climbing.

SCOUTING THE PERSON

This is where experience matters.

Scouts aren’t simply evaluating swings, arms, and running times. They’re evaluating people. And people reveal themselves over time.

Sometimes the greatest compliment a scout can give isn’t, “He had a great game.”

Sometimes it’s: 👇

• Nothing bothered him
• He stayed present
• He never stopped competing
• He made adjustments
• The game sped up, but he didn’t

∙ Anybody can evaluate talent by itself…👇

The hard part has always been evaluating how talent responds when things stop going according to plan.

That’s why scouts don’t fear bad games.

Sometimes, they love them.

Because failure has a way of revealing things success never will.

And there is a difference!

#BehindTheRadarGun 🔎

[Next Level Baseball @nextlevelbb]

In game adjustments.
If a pitcher loses his fastball command.
Throw the breaking ball and most especially change up to try to reestablish feel.
Then come back to the fastball.
At times, pitchers will have a higher strike percentage with a pitch other than the fastball and that is difficult for some people to understand.

[Next Level Baseball @nextlevelbb]

Former college and professional player and Green Beret @BrandonGraves25 spoke with a group of our coaches this evening.
He was outstanding.
Green Berets understand teamwork and sacrifice.
He said something that could help a lot of D1 coaches in the NIL era.
Build dynamic relationships with juco coaches and tell them you don't necessarily want their best and most highly decorated player. You want their toughest player that can be counted on with the game on the line. Building a team with tough, gritty juco players is a winning formula, especially in the entitled NIL era.

[Jon Beck @CoachJonBeck]

How you interact with & treat the “best” player on the team vs. how you treat the “worst” player on the team is a testament to just how great of a leader you actually are. Please don’t fool yourself. Being the head coach & also in a position of power doesn’t make you a LEADER!

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

@LPBaseball2023 I promise you this... You run an amazing high school program, no one's leaving you or IHSA! Not everyone has that option.

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

@LPBaseball2023 Just curious, How much is that Arizona trip gonna cost your families?

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

@LPBaseball2023 Options are good! $1200 is less than "mandatory spring break" fees, uniform and "Donate to play" some schools have. Same amnt of games as HS spring season in IL. The players obviously asked for this. They enjoy the training, coaches and team there more than their school.

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

@LPBaseball2023 A hotel in Marion, IA is really cheap. Let parents decide where to spend their money. It's better to play than ride a bench in HS, for any reason. HS have "mandatory" summer ball during travel ball. I guess I don't see the difference. Other sports do it too.

[Paul Reddick @PaulReddick567]

Pitchers are slow to speak, slow to trust. They live in a unique world. They've learned others are not like the, so they keep to themselves.

As a coach, it took time to realize I had to build a connection befroe they would trust me or open up. They had to see I understood them

[Jamy Bechler @CoachBechler]

COACHES: Just because a player has a bad attitude doesn't mean you don't coach them up and find ways to inspire them. As long as they're on your team, it's your responsibility to help them grow, develop, and improve. Be encouraged. Keep persevering. Stay positive. Don't give up.

[Baseball Dudes Inc. 🇺🇸⚾️ @BaseballDudes48]

Coaches, Coach Confidence!! It’s not that hard. Help them believe in themselves if you’re looking to get the most out of them. When they play fearful because of what will happen if they make a mistake because of YOUR attitude, that’s on you. Fix YOUR approach to help theirs.

[Tom House 〽️ @tomhouse]

“He throws funky, but he gets outs.”

You want to work with this pitcher and your only job is to not get rid of the funk!

[Coach Hill @CoachMarcusHill]

Coaches, I don’t know which one you needs to hear this (it’s all of us btw) but this is a reminder to check in on your athletes today and remind them you love them and care more about their well being than how many hits they have this year.

[Tom House 〽️ @tomhouse]

I ask the best athletes in the world to only come to workouts if they’ve gotten as many hours of sleep as they need and a balanced breakfast. So why do we ask college and high school kids who are developing to practice on horrible sleep and no breakfast?

[Trent Mongero @CoachMongero]

Advice I would give the younger me, new into coaching: don’t live/die w/ every play, win, loss, umpire call. Be the same positive guy w/same body language always. Why? Because players deserve that from their coaches. The game beats them up enough, they don’t need us to pile it on

[Tom House 〽️ @tomhouse]

The greats choose a different life. Greatness is isolating and all-encompassing. Greatness brings hate and criticism. We idolize greatness but never see all the baggage and sacrifice it comes with.

If you want to be great, be ready for all that it brings.

[Anthony Silkwood @Silkwood_AJ]

The idea of rolling out talent and expecting to win college games, is over.

Building relationships with Players, being intentional with development, and investing into your players more than you expect them to invest into your program.

#Cobras🐍|| @Cobra_Baseball

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

https://t.co/X2GFrjKL7G

[Ogo Baseball @BaseballOgo]

@russcanzler None of that is true here. Literally, none of it.

[Tom House 〽️ @tomhouse]

In a week of workouts we will use baseballs, footballs, tennis balls, frisbees, golf clubs and baseball bats. Doesn’t matter if it’s a pitcher or a QB. If you’re not a multi sport athlete at least make your workouts multi sport!