Prep Baseball Report

Provey's Pen: Build the Wagon


Colton Provey
Tennessee Scouting Director

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We’re back at Provey’s Pen with our second edition covering a phrase that I’ve used discussing recruitment and player development with high school athletes: Build the Wagon. The term “wagon” these days can be used in a multitude of ways, but for this we’re throwing it back to the pioneer days. In the early stages of America, families would load up in a wagon and venture out to seek new life (or in many cases gold or riches). Pioneers would load up the wagon with their belongings, pets, and essentials to take long treacherous journeys to push the edge of the frontier. The trips were incredibly lengthy (imagine covering 15 miles/day) with a never ending list of challenges and adversity that would come to fruition. These wagons would need to be strong, durable, and dependable as the pioneers would risk everything to reach their dream destination. 

Fast forward to 2022, there are not many trail wagons rolling around the streets of our nation as we’ve become much more efficient in travel. The same could be said for baseball recruitment, efficiency. Recruiting has evolved tremendously, as there is now more information available on prospects from all over the country (or world), and it is always just a click away. College coaches are more plugged in on prospects, especially given the 15 month period of strictly finding players through contacts, social media, and the internet. A recruiter can find one good clip of a player, and further research through a player profile, advanced metrics, or simply a DM to a player/coach. People often ask “How can I differentiate myself?” or “How can I get more exposure in recruitment?” It can seem to be a very complex (confusing, stressful, exciting, or you pick an adjective) situation for many players and families, but sometimes you have to go back to the essentials, which is the wagon. 

Wagons are designed to travel from one location to another, usually pulled by mules. If high school baseball is your current location, then your future destination is college baseball. Yes, some go straight to the MLB draft foregoing the college experience, but in Tennessee, that’s usually a handful of high schoolers per year. Everyone’s destination may be different for some it may be: to play in a Power 5 conference, D1 baseball, high academic D2/D3, the Juco route, or simply some just want a chance. To get to the college level, you’ll have to load up the wagon with your belongings and essentials (clothes, tv, xbox/ps4, ramen noodles, protein powder, toothbrush, etc.). The journey will be challenging, but the journey itself is the recruiting process. The path will be easier for some and more difficult for others, and quite frankly some will not make it. However, those that build strong, durable, and dependable wagons can reach their destinations.


Build The Wagon

The Chassis is the body of work from your playing days in high school and travel ball. It’s not necessarily your stats or how many times you were named to an all tournament team. It is the foundation of the wagon, and you build it in your everyday work. Skill work such as: ground/fly balls, batting practice, throwing ability, pitch execution, pitching mechanics, etc. It is not mindlessly going through the motions, but sharpening your tools and laying the foundation of the player you aspire to become. Tool development such as: hitting for contact, power production, running, fielding, and throwing. It is evaluating your best tools in your game and elevating your weakest to be a balanced player. Strength/Speed development such as: committing to the weight room, not skipping reps/getting extra reps, flexibility, explosiveness, etc. Work ethic and commitment can be affiliated into all these sub categories as it’s key for success. As the chassis is being built, then you’re translating your abilities into game situations, and competing against the opposition.

The Cover is the top of the wagon that houses everything and provides protection. This aspect can look very different for players, but the main point is this: Who are you surrounding yourself with or who is your inner circle? These are the people in your life that are going to be accountable, provide insight, and support you through thick and thin. It could be your closest friends, family members, or mentors. They will be your shield and guide during the process, but they can falter if the chassis begins to fall apart. 

The Mules are generally your coaches, trainers, or any specialist that are elevating your abilities for you to reach your location and goals. I’d even include myself in this category because 1. I’m from the Mule capital of the world and 2. I’m willing to pull the wagon for players in our state. Mules are patient, intelligent, tough, and persistent. They are a part of the working class, which can pull weight under extreme pressure, and they are more capable of withstanding external elements. The Mules' job is to pull the wagon from the location until the end goal is reached. Sure the wagon could be inoperable or the baggage is too heavy to carry, but the Mule will pull the wagon as far as one can. 

The Wheels are crucial because it’s hard to go anywhere without the wheels to turn. One can build the most luxurious wagon with all the bells and whistles to go along with the best mules to lead the path, but it just takes one bad wheel to come to a crashing halt. The wheels can be broken down into a few overlapping categories:

  • Academics: Self-explanatory, players hear it all the time “got to make grades to have opportunities.” Working hard in the classroom and preparing for standardized testing. 
  • Character: Quality programs recruit quality people. Honest, reliable, good body language, respectable, being a good teammate, etc.
  • Behavior/Decision Making: One bad decision/incident can cost you, so carry yourself well and  make good decisions. Always represent your family, hometown, or the programs you play for. 
  • Handling Pressure: Managing internal/external stress, time management, life issues/changes

A player can have all the ability in the world, but one weak area can be catastrophic in a player’s recruitment. Everything they worked for and built can crumble right from under them in a flash. Nick Saban once referenced being an “and guy,” not a “but guy,” listing out all the players on the field abilities followed by either an and or a but (Ex. “And he’s an honor student, focused in practice + voted team captain by his peers” or “But he’s not engaged in class, often late to workouts, + voted least reliable teammate”). Players often get caught up in what others are doing in recruitment or comparing to their own recruitment process, but the focus should be the process and building a sustainable wagon to reach your destination. The key is to check the boxes for the wagon and prevent giving college coaches reasons to NOT recruit you. We'll touch more on recruiting in the coming weeks, stay tuned...

 

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