SteveThomas

@ChrisVannini And only 1 transfer.

Big news in college sports: The DI Cabinet has approved a new age-based 5-year eligibility model - Five years of eligibility, no redshirts or extensions - Clock starts at 19 yrs old or college enrollment (whichever is earlier) - Exemptions for pregnancy/military/mission

@GowagsKyle This is awesome. Is it tied to the high school you’re at?

Change is coming to Central Pa. School is slow to adapt but it’s happening!

@leftcoastbsbl MLBPA should propose 4 year first contracts then. Currently signed draft picks are under control for 6 years. If they stay at the 6 years control, then free agency is extended 2 years. I don’t see MLBPA accepting this.

Absolutely terrible for American kids. MLB just wants cheaper labor. They’ll still be able to sign as many non American kids as possible and create more complex leagues.

@ToeTheRubber26 @SMorrison_ Ya, no minimum signing bonus.

@SteveRealThomas @SMorrison_ Unless you’re a college senior :/

A $5,000,000 signing bonus isn’t $5,000,000. For many MLB draft picks, it might be the only guaranteed check they ever receive. Here’s what it actually looks like: Signing Bonus: $5,000,000 ∙Federal Taxes (37%): −$1,850,000 ∙Agent Fees (5%): −$250,000 ∙State Taxes (5%): −$250,000 Take-home: $2,650,000 Not $5M. $2.65M. Now the fun starts. What am I going to buy? ∙$1M home ∙$100K vehicle ∙$100K to family Nothing reckless. Just normal decisions for a 18 or 21-year-old who just got a life-changing check. But here’s the problem. Minor league salaries are minimal. Call it $30k-$40k. Arbitration isn’t guaranteed. Free agency isn’t guaranteed. And for most draft picks? They never reach either. We don’t know what comes next. To be clear, that’s not me being negative. It’s just the truth. Working with professional baseball players, we don’t build plans around projection or best case scenarios. We build around the guarantee. Around what we know to be true. That means: ∙Taxes reserved before lifestyle expands ∙Spending defined, not assumed ∙Capital set aside to cover minor league years ∙Liquidity preserved in case Career #2 becomes the conversation ∙Illiquid investments capped early If arbitration comes, great. If free agency comes, awesome. But the plan works even if neither happens. If you were advising a top draft pick today, would you plan for the $100M deal or plan like the signing bonus might be all there is?

@sionet1 @DavidLogan36 @leftcoastbsbl 💯 it’s the money.

@DavidLogan36 @leftcoastbsbl Hard to understand, is it the money from the sec schools?

Man, Oregon and USC getting decimated. I don’t know what’s going on but I really enjoyed watching him drop bombs.

@GowagsKyle Add runner stealing also. See it all the time even in MLB, ball in the dirt or passed ball and a stealing runner still slides in the base because never looked in.

Ran a youth camp today… I asked the question “How many of your coaches tell you to NOT watch the ball and just run?” Almost every hand went up. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ The intelligence must be between the lines. Let them make decisions and fail making them. Stop stealing their reps. Please!

@JaredB_BSBL Absolutely go swim your asses off and come to field tomorrow ready to play with the same enthusiasm as they had swimming. Plus, it’s great physical and mental conditioning.

12U travel baseball. Team goes 0-2 Saturday in pool play. Upset about the results, the Head coach tells parents and players; “players aren’t allowed to swim at the hotel pool tonight.” Thoughts?

@CC20rake @JeffStanek1 In your opinions, how much does the current level of pitching in the league as a whole have on the decreased batting averages?

I’ll hop in from the cheap seats Jeff - Plenty of people training people to become good at… training good. Not a lot of people I see trying to teach guys how to H-I-T. Hitting is an art. Chasing a swing or some data in a training environment are being preached across the industry. It becomes incredibly easy for young players to try and rely on those principles when it’s everything that’s being preached to them. There’s very few people talking to young players about the importance of a back side single, about how to compete with 2-strikes, about count leverage and when to pick your spots, etc. In short - more players training “swing design” and “outputs” because the internet is there for them when they start to struggle. That’s way easier than sitting with someone for hours on end whose had success at the highest level, and truly understanding what helped them deal with the failure/stress/anxiety that the game creates and how to deal with it.

Can someone explain to me how we can be THIS in depth with hitting mechanics, and yet still seemingly have multiple hitters in every MLB lineup hitting under .200? I'll start. Paralysis by analysis / information overload.

@KevinBurrellMLB @thelabbcs A lot more pitchers at the high school, college, and pro levels throw any of their pitches in any count. Hitters have to have swing patterns that allows them to have adjustability. Then can hunt velocities, pitch tunnels, or locations while having time to recognize what they want

As a baseball scout, there are two concerning hitting characteristics with HS & College hitters that stand out more today than ever before. 1) No Plan At The Plate Successful hitters don’t just hope to get a hit—they know what pitch they’re hunting, they exercise zone awareness, they know what part of the field they’re trying to use, they know how to work counts, and how they’re going to attack pitch to pitch. They have a plan, they don’t just “wing it.” If you fail to plan—then plan to fail. 2) Lack Of Competing In The Box Every pitch is a battle. Fighting off tough pitches. Refusing to get beat. Making the pitcher earn every out. Competing in the box isn’t about the “result”—a hitter can go 0-4, but have four quality at bats. Competing in the box is about your approach, focus, and effort every single pitch. Yes, swing operation and talent matters, however a “plan” and a “competitive” mindset in the box separate good hitters from the rest. Never forget . . Success is never owned. It is only rented, and the rent is due everyday!

@leftcoastbsbl @BaseballAmerica @JacobRudner I hope I’m wrong, but imo too big of a name for almost all west coast teams to afford. Unless he’s willing to make a lot less than he is as the hitting at Texas.

@BaseballAmerica @JacobRudner Is he looking to stay in Texas, come back West or is he open anywhere?

Troy Tulowitzki, five-time MLB all-star and current Texas assistant coach, has expressed interest in leading a program at the collegiate level, according to BA's Jacob Rudner. Tulo is one of 30 candidates on Rudner's list for this cycle: buff.ly/lT95EtJ

@leftcoastbsbl Very true. NCAA is partially trying to address it with the proposed age based eligibility 5 in 5 and only one transfer allowed.

If I’m an alum/donor/booster of a mid-major program, why should I continue to donate? If you’re fortunate to have enough money to donate to an athletics program, you’ve probably done well in life. You understand business and how to handle money. It seems like the ROI has never been lower. I’d hate to be a head coach and having to beg for NIL donations when my freshman all conference player is just looking to move up and out of the program. It seems like it’s damned if you recruit and develop great talent and they leave or damned if you don’t and you lose 40 games and you’re out of a job anyways. I can see donors getting really sick of this new way of college athletics really quick because there’s never been less ROI for the majority of schools than right now.

@tromblybaseball Don’t forget “players” that hope for days off or rainouts. If you don’t actually want to play or practice, get out of the way for those who want to.

Parents complain about coaches. Players complain about playing time. Families complain about tournaments. People celebrate when games end early. For a sport everyone says they love, there sure are a lot of people who seem miserable being around it.

Paul Skenes is an awesome human in case anyone was wondering. He was driving by the Ingomar Franklin Park Little League baseball fields last night and saw the lights on and just pulled on in. He was there over 2 hours signing, taking pictures and playing catch with the kids.

@bigleagueswings More up to the individual teams/athletic director/principals to carry out the penalty. The team or teams that they play for their first game next year should keep track also and if players are playing that are supposed to sit, then they bring it to CIF. Penalty would be forfeit.

Does CIF enforce this?

When I was with the St. Louis Cardinals, I saw Matt Carpenter do one of the strangest things. He always had a bat in his hand. Before the game. In the clubhouse. In the tunnel. Walking around the stadium. And he was constantly taking swings. No baseball. No tee. No pitcher. Just swing after swing after swing. We call them dry hacks or dry swings. One day I finally asked him about it. I said, "Carp, why do you take so many dry swings?" His answer surprised me. He said: "I'm visualizing success." That was it. I remember standing there thinking about that for a second. Because I had always viewed dry hacks as physical work. Matt viewed them differently. Every swing was a confidence rep. He wasn't just moving a bat. He was seeing himself drive a fastball into the gap. He was seeing himself stay on an off-speed pitch. He was seeing himself compete and succeed before the game ever started. That's when a light bulb went off for me. Think about it. Every player wants confidence. But most players wait for a hit before they allow themselves to feel confident. Matt was doing the opposite. He was building confidence before he ever stepped into the batter's box. By the time the game started... He had already seen himself succeed hundreds of times. So I decided to try it myself. When nobody was around, I'd grab a bat and take dry hacks. But this time, I wasn't just swinging. I was visualizing. I saw myself driving balls into the gaps. I saw myself competing with two strikes. I saw myself getting big hits in big situations. And over time, I noticed something. I felt different on the field. More confident. More relaxed. More prepared. And the results started improving too. Not because I magically became a better hitter overnight. But because I stopped waiting for confidence to show up. I started building it before the game ever started. So if youre struggling with confidence... Here's my "Confidence Booster Plan" I'd Do Tonight: 1. Dry Hacks (10 Swings) Visualize yourself driving a line drive into the gap. 2. Dry Hacks (10 Swings) Visualize yourself battling with two strikes and winning the at-bat. 3. Dry Hacks (10 Swings) Visualize your next game. See yourself stepping into the box confident, aggressive, and ready to compete. 30 swings. 30 confidence reps. One thing I've learned from Matt Carpenter: Most players practice their swing. Elite players practice confidence. Thank you for reading, Jermaine Curtis P.S. - If you enjoyed this and thought it was helpful, please share it. (When you share it, it tells me you want more content like this.)

@flowsdoc I’m Parent/high school coach. You’re in a different place than most. You can control a lot of the development and skills. Understand that the tournaments/games are testing the skills and development, aka game reps. With a decent club it can get expensive, but it helped my kids.

My youngest is about to enter the travel ball gauntlet in a couple of years… ⚾️ Out of curiosity: What are the biggest PROS and CONS of travel ball? What helped the most? What do you wish you knew before you started? Parents, coaches, and former players—let’s hear it👇

@CoachSwit Most HS programs do not have players in the weight room nor do they follow a solid recovery and conditioning program throughout the offseason and in season.

Many H.S. coaches run pitchers 90-110 pitches every week all season. Then playoff time comes and they’re back out there every 4th day for 90-110 more. Then they’re shocked when the velo drops and the arm isn’t as sharp. Pitchers don’t manage the pitching staff. Coaches do.

@KelliBartels @NorCalU1 Don’t know the case here, but have seen a school verbally commit to player and player verbally commit, but coach doesn’t send the paperwork.

@NorCalU1 If everyone signed the NLI or athletic grant-in-aid they are binding for 1 year. So how does a school pull the scholarship?

The ugly side of college baseball right now is the timing of releasing players and frankly not doing it the right way. Prominent guy committed and signed for a long time to a prominent Power 4 program finds out he gets released days before was supposed to go out there. The system is broke and we need to do better.

The biggest mistake I made when learning to hit a curveball... I treated every curveball like it was my pitch. So every time I saw spin, I swung. I'd swing and miss. I'd roll over weak ground balls. I'd get myself out on pitches I had no business swinging at. For years, I thought I had a curveball problem. I didn't. I had a decision problem. Because every curveball isn't equal. Some are mistakes. Some are strikes. Some are traps. Once I figured that out, everything changed. The goal isn't to hit every curveball. The goal is to identify the mistakes and attack those. Then let the others go. So if I were learning to hit a curveball today, here's exactly what I'd do. First, I'd put a glove on my top hand. Then I'd have a coach or pitching machine throw different types of curveballs. - Hangers - Curves below the zone - Curves off the plate - Curves that start as strikes and finish as balls - Curves that stay up My job wouldn't be to swing. My job would be to catch the ones I'd want to hit. And let the others go. Why? Because before you can hit a curveball... You have to identify it. This slows the game down and teaches your eyes what a hittable curveball actually looks like. Then I'd level it up. Now I'd grab a bat. Still no swings. If it's a hanger or a curveball I can damage: "I crushed it." If it's a bad pitch: "I'm taking." Now we're training the mind. We're learning to separate good curveballs from bad curveballs. Then I'd move to the final step. Now we swing. Same game. Same thought process. Only now we're actually hitting. Good one? Attack it. Bad one? Take it. One thing I've learned from 25 years of playing baseball: Most hitters don't struggle with curveballs because they can't hit them. They struggle because they keep swinging at curveballs they should never be swinging at in the first place. Try this tonight: ✅ 10 catches ✅ 10 call-outs ✅ 10 swings Record a video of yourself doing it. I'd love to see it. Thank you for reading, Jermaine Curtis P.S. - If you enjoyed this, and it helped, share it. This tells me you want more content like this.