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7 things college coaches look for in a high school hitter:
Let me first start off and say, this process is MUCH harder for a college coach to evaluate than a pitcher.
I've talked to college coaches who say they need to see 15-20 ABs before they make a decision on a hitter.
And sometimes, they're still wrong.
It's hard.
1. Movement
There's high school hitters who have had good success but if they don't move well, a college coach will probably pass.
Here's why:
The pitching only gets better the higher up you go, so if you don't move well, the chances of you hitting well are very slim.
(When I say movement I am talking about mechanics)
So what does moving well look like?
Is it:
- Smooth
- Fluid
Or is it:
- Tight
- Jerky
Let's go over some 3 movements a college coach is looking for in a hitter.
Gather
Do they sway over their back leg or do they properly load into their back hip?
Launch Position
Do they land in a balanced position, or has their lower body already started to open up too early toward the pitcher, causing them to fly open.
Lunging
"Lunging" is a term used in hitting to describe a situation where a hitter drifts over the front side.
This happens when, after the initial move, the hitter's front leg and side don't stabilize. Instead, the pelvis keeps sliding towards the pitcher, sometimes, this is referred to as a 'hip slide' during the swing.
College coaches go off of past experiences.
Maybe a particular hitter is built similar to a former player they recruited and they didn't turn out well, so they'll pass on him because of recency bias.
(Because of recency bias, every college coach would benefit from reading the book: 'Thinking fast and slow', but that's a topic for another day)
2. Swing Decisions
Can you control the strike zone?
Let's be honest, nothing else matters if you're not swinging and strikes and taking balls. Especially when if the pitching you're facing isn't that good.
You can have all the power in the world, if you can't control the strike zone, it will never translate to the game.
3. Bat-Ball Skills
Aka do you hit a-lot of barrels?
Or does it have to be in the perfect environment for your to hit?
Good hitters hit everything:
- Slow Pitching
- Fast Pitching
- Good Pitchers
- Bad Pitchers
Hitter's hit.
4. Can you get to 2nd base?
I had a recruiting coordinator tell me he's always look for players who can get to 2nd base on their own.
There's 2 ways:
Power
Speed
You need one of those.
Note: Power doesn't just mean home runs, 2Bs work as well.
5. Strength
The biggest difference between a D3 player and a Power 5 hitter is often strength.
If player A can a ball 105 EV and player B can only hit it 90 EV, player A can mis hit balls and it still be at 90.
Looking the part matters:
I'm not saying I agree with this, but I can tell because I've seen it with my own eyes, how a hitter fills out there uniform plays a role.
6. Mental Game
The physical tools are the floor. You must have those to just get a look. But, in order to make a coach a true believer, you need to be able to answer these questions that they're asking themselves about you.
- Do you compete?
- Do you make excuses?
- Do you panic when you fail?
- Do you have a plan at the plate?
- Are you looking for ways to get better?
- Are you a good teammate when you're NOT playing well?
Those are all questions they're asking themselves about you.
7. Left Handed Hitters
If there's 1 thing that has taken me by surprise more than anything else, since I've been in the recruiting world the last 4 years, it's the obsession from college coaches over left handed hitters.
If you're a left handed hitter, you have a leg up on all the right handed hitters.
Here's why:
The majority of pitchers at the college level are right handed pitchers, so obviously a left handed hitter is going to be at an advantage there. But, that's not he main reason why college coaches love left handed hitters.
It is...
The bullpen.
At the college level you're not facing very many nasty left handed pitchers out of the bullpen late in the game. If a school has a good left handed pitcher they're usually a starter.
So late in the game, when everything is on the line, they would rather have a left handed hitter facing a nasty right handed pitcher.
I don't blame them. Facing a nasty slider for the right side is no fun.
This isn't to say that if you're a right handed hitter you're screwed.
Heck no!
I was a right handed hitter and played college baseball.
I'm just letting you know why a left handed hitter who many not be as good of a 'hitter' than a right handed one, is getting more attention from college coaches.
Conclusion
That's all for today, hopefully that helped you understand what college coaches are looking for when evaluating a hitter.
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