The Study of College Baseball Recruiting
Baseball is offered at almost every college in the United States. Being recruited to play for them isn’t easy, though. There are over 470,000 High school athletes playing the game, and only around 80,000 of them go on and play college ball. That is less than 30%.
Colleges look deeper than just a student athlete’s skill level. They look at their academics like GPA, ACT and SAT scores, as well as extracurricular activities. Most colleges look for a GPA of 3.5 or better and require certain classes to be taken in high school, like two language classes.
College recruiters look for five main skill sets: throwing ability, fielding range, speed, base-running, and hitting for power and contact. For pitchers, they look at their ERA (earned run average) and they look to see if the pitcher has 3 pitches that get over 80mph.
Position players, such as catchers, are evaluated differently. They look at their skills in blocking, framing (catching the ball and holding it where it was caught), and their pop time. Pop times are the time from when you catch the ball to when the ball reaches second base. A good pop time would be 2.1 or lower.
In hitting, colleges prefer a 3rd basemen or 1st basemen to be the power of a team. Middle infielders and outfielders are more for base hits and speed. Pitchers are normally not the greatest hitters due to their focus on only pitching.
As far as divisions, it is divided into leagues. The National College Athletic Association offers D1, D2, and D3. D1 is the best of all, also they have the most students. There is also the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. NAIA is a different league and offers different scholarships. Junior Colleges have baseball also, but they are not really seen by scouts.
To sum it up, student athletes need more than just skill to play college sports. All sports are different with recruiting, but they all share the same assets. Most colleges offer the same sports. When you look at a college, look at their area, campus life, and also living space. If you really love the game, then go where you can.
