Baseball Players Are Made, Not Born

The thing that always drew me to baseball over football or basketball is this: anybody can play. You don’t have to be born a certain size.

Being big and athletic helps. However, unlike those sports, baseball will still let a kid with some athleticism and a will to work become a high-level player.

If the goal is college, his training has one job: move the three measurable tools — running speed, arm strength, and exit velocity — as far as they will go. Test them. Write them down. Then train on purpose.

A D1 infielder is usually somewhere near a 6.8 sixty, 85+ from the infield, 90+ exit velo. If he’s at 7.3, 78, and 86, you now know the work. You are not guessing. You are not hoping a new bat solves it.

Get in the weight room. Size and strength separate high school from college more than people want to admit. Study the game while he’s playing it. A smart player with average tools beats a talented one who doesn’t know what’s coming.

He is not required to be the most natural athlete on the field. He is required to know where the tools need to be and to work toward those numbers. That’s a dad’s job to keep simple — not to overcoach.