During the college baseball search, players should be aware of a program’s tendency of recruiting incoming transfers. Some players may not find any issue with a high number of incoming transfers on a roster. Others may prefer to steer away from these programs, for a variety of reasons. There are a couple of things to think about before developing your stance on this.
College baseball programs with a high number of incoming transfers
If you are considering a program that has a high number of incoming transfers, you need to understand that more-developed, game-ready players will be added to the program on a yearly basis. Don’t get me wrong, competition for playing time is a positive thing, but this consistent injection of talent might impact your path to playing time, potentially late in the going. True freshman can certainly step onto the scene and take at bats/innings away from upperclassmen. We see it all the time. From what we’ve seen though, the scenario of upperclassmen losing playing time is more likely to happen with an arrival of an incoming transfer, who already has some collegiate experience.
Incoming transfers can be extremely beneficial for a program. In addition to the fresh talent and viewpoints, it reduces complacency within the program. Again, competition is a good thing and it motivates players to further improve. Additionally, a program’s ability to quickly address positional gaps, shows that they are nimble recruiters and can consistently field a solid team.
College baseball programs with a low number of incoming transfers
Programs with lower numbers of incoming transfers are generally more committed to the development of their freshman. The program is not only betting on its eye for talent at the high school level, but also the coaching staff’s ability to properly develop these players to become significant contributors. Players in this type of program generally have a more predictable path to playing time with fewer surprises along the way.
At the same time, these programs might have a tougher time filling in positional gaps, which arise from injuries, players transferring to other schools, and other unexpected circumstances. If the program is put in a situation where they need game-ready talent, they might struggle to make that adjustment.
How this impacts your college baseball search
Our data indicates that the situation is not straightforward. We’ve found that a lot of programs have a good balance of developing their freshman class and introducing transfer students. Having said this, there are still plenty of schools that sit on both ends of the spectrum.
This information will benefit you by enabling you to find a college baseball program that aligns with your preferences. The good news is that college baseball roster postings are easily accessible. The bad news is that measuring incoming transfers is tedious and time consuming. Some programs identify transfers on their roster page, but a vast majority do not. This leaves you with the option of manually cross checking rosters from the previous years.
That is where the TeamFacts Tool comes into play. We evaluate the key components of every NCAA baseball program, including incoming transfer data. We present these metrics in a user-friendly tool so that you can filter, search, and compare any NCAA baseball program.
College baseball programs are not all created equally. Similarly, every player has a unique set of circumstances and preferences. These two pieces need to be aligned for a player to increase their chances of an enjoyable college baseball experience. Evaluating a program’s incoming transfer tendencies is just one of many things that players should consider throughout their college baseball search.