One of the biggest missed opportunities we see from a recruiting standpoint is the utilization of college baseball roster data. It can be time consuming to thoroughly analyze a college baseball program, but roster data is free, easy to find, and can give you a pretty accurate overview of the program, from the outside looking in. There are also tools that have compiled all of this information into a database, which allow players to quickly navigate through every NCAA baseball program. If you are looking to save time, these tools are a great option and are relatively inexpensive.
One of the most important things to look at when doing this analysis is the projected number of graduating players, which will give you a feel for the number of players leaving the program by position on a yearly basis. As players leave the program, coaches have to fill in these gaps, so identifying these as opportunities would be a great place to start. This will allow you to focus on the programs that have a need to fill the position you play, and as a result, you’ll likely see a higher level of engagement from these coaches.
As a high school junior, this is even more useful because you have the benefit of getting a clear view of a program’s positional needs at a point where coaches haven’t already filled those gaps with an incoming freshman recruiting class. For high school seniors, it is probably best to take the graduating players information with a grain of salt because you don’t know if those positions have been filled by incoming freshman or transfers. Furthermore, with all of the volatility we expect to see with 2021 rosters, it’s hard to know how many players will take advantage of the “do over” year. Having said all of this, we think that having a general idea of the players graduating by position is still beneficial, even during these uncertain times, and can be used for guidance purposes during your college baseball search.
On a similar note, another helpful thing to consider is a program’s roster depth by position. By using this in conjunction with the players graduating by position, you can get an even better understanding of the positions that a coach is recruiting for. If a program typically carries 8 outfielders, and factoring in the seniors leaving, they have 5 left, you have a pretty good idea that the coach is recruiting for 3 outfielders. Additionally, it will show how many players are typically stacked up at a particular position. By no means are we suggesting that you avoid a program because there might be some competition at your position, but it is something that you should be aware of.
The college baseball search can be pretty challenging, so as a player, you must take advantage of the easy wins, A huge part of finding a suitable college baseball program is truly understanding the program, and college roster data can be a huge asset for that. Start by getting an understanding of positional needs, and then keep digging!
