We are approaching the dog days of summer when the heat and humidity tends to peak. Most players’ bodies are screaming for a vacation right about now. Most players’ bodies desperately want a few days off. Maybe a solid three days of rainouts to let the body rest.
I took my son to a local American Legion regional tournament game a couple days ago. I saw a catcher with a big league body stroll out to the field. Probably about 6’4″ and well over 200 lbs. My eyes followed him around to get an idea of his ability and make-up. Seemed to handle himself ok behind the plate. Couple good throws to second between innings. Looking good.
Then a couple things in the negative column.
After the innings he walked back to his dugout from home plate. Then, with a runner on 1st and 3rd, the pitcher threw a wild pitch that got away from him and went to the screen. His body language and lack of hustle made it obvious that he knew the runner on 3rd was going to score easy. He assumed, however, that the runner on 1st was going to stop at second. He didn’t. He kept on going to 3rd base and was safe pretty easily.
I’m not a scout but if I was, the young catcher would probably not get a second look from me.
Everyone knows that this time of year can be tough on players’ bodies. However, players have to look at it from a scout’s eyes. At this point, the player in question has probably played roughly 20 high school games and maybe 30 legion games. That’s around 50 total. If this kid can’t show enough energy to play the game right after 50 games, how in the world will he have the ability to handle a 140+ minor league schedule let alone a 162 game MLB schedule?
Most kids would kill to have a scout come to a game to watch them play. Unfortunately, when scouts are actually there, they shoot themselves in the foot with less than full effort.
If you are not a high-energy player, don’t expect a lot of attention from college coaches and scouts.
Note: I’m taking my son on a three day fishing trip so the next post will be Monday. Have a great week and best of luck to anyone still playing!
