By Doug Hall
Tennessee Director of Scouting

With today marking exactly two months until our inaugural event in Tennessee at Volunteer State Community College, it seems like a good time to discuss exactly what high school players from around the state can expect when they attend a Prep Baseball Report Tennessee event.

Prep Baseball Report Tennessee Events
Events vary in structure and format from open events to invite only events that include game play.  At every event, position players will be put through a pro-style workout that involves obtaining measurables on players that include a 60-yard dash and/or home to first base time, defensive evaluations that include using a radar gun to measure arm strength from a player’s position, pop times on catchers, and a player’s exit velocity off the tee that is a measurement of the player’s ability to generate bat speed.  Offensive evaluations take place during the player’s round of batting practice and continue if the event includes game play.  Pitchers are evaluated either during bullpen sessions or during game play with a radar gun being used to record the velocity of pitches.  Catcher receiving and blocking skills are evaluated during this time as well.  Position players are videotaped during defensive evaluations and batting practice.  Pitchers are videotaped either in bullpen sessions or throwing live in game action, depending on the event.

Player Profile
Each player that attends a PBR Tennessee event receives an online player profile hosted on the Prep Baseball Report website.  The player profile consists of the player’s height and weight, primary and secondary positions, high school, graduating class, and bat/throw.  Event information included in the player profile includes the player’s picture, stats from the event (measurables), scouting report, and video from the event.  Players who attend multiple events will have their profiles updated as they improve their measurables at each event.  CLICK HERE to view an example of a player profile on the Prep Baseball Report Website.

Post Event
Each player that attends a PBR Tennessee event receives an evaluation/scouting report that not only goes in the player profile, but is also featured in an article on the Prep Baseball Report website following the event.  Scouting Reports will typically be grouped together by position group with top players from the event being featured in additional articles.  Videos are edited to take the dead time out of them before they are placed in the player’s profile.  The video editing process typically takes a few weeks along with updating each player profile with stats from the event.

Player Rankings
PBR Tennessee will rank players by graduating class.  A player does not have to attend a PBR event to be ranked, but it certainly helps for us to be able to fully evaluate players at our events for inclusion in the rankings.  Additionally, Prep Baseball Report ranks players in the overall rankings which includes players from each state in which we operate.  State and overall rankings are updated four times per year.

Exposure
Prep Baseball Report events are designed to maximize opportunities for high school players to continue their education and baseball career.  The Prep Baseball Report website is subscribed to by more than 450 colleges all over the country giving them instant access to your video.  The website is a daily stop for coaches of all levels looking for players that may be a fit for their program.  Coaches have the ability to use our Advanced Search function which allows a coach to search the Prep Baseball Report database of players based on certain criteria.  For example, a college coach looking for a left-handed hitting SS who runs a 6.8 60-yard dash and throws 84 mph or better across the infield can instantly have every player in in the PBR coverage area that meets that criteria populate his screen when he enters that search criteria.  The coach can then go into each player’s profile and view his stats and video from PBR events attended.  PBR Tennessee events will also afford coaches the opportunity to see a number of players first-hand in one location.

Twitter
With hundreds of college coaches (if not more) that follow Prep Baseball Report on twitter, PBR Tennessee will use the social media platform to promote players via live tweets during events and to promote articles we run on the Prep Baseball Report website.  The use of twitter provides significant additional exposure for Tennessee high school baseball players. 

Spotlight Videos
PBR Tennessee will continuously run a different spotlight video on our homepage from videos we shoot of players at our events.  This is an additional avenue of exposure for players.  To view the current spotlight video shot at a recent travel ball game go to the PBR Tennessee website at www.prepbaseballreport.com/tennessee

Prep Baseball Report Gear
As an added bonus, each player that attends a PBR Tennessee Event receives a Prep Baseball Report numbered Under Armour jersey that identifies them during the event that they take home with them afterward.

Events Schedule
We currently have two events on the schedule for late August.  You can view those events by CLICKING HERE.  In addition, we are working on our fall schedule of events to be released soon.  If your goal is to play at the next level, let us help maximize your opportunities.  We look forward to seeing you on the diamond.