Repeat this to yourself over and over if you have never been involved with pro baseball for even a second, “My college playing career means nothing at the professional baseball level.”
Good!
The reason why you need to say this over and over is that it will help you overcome one of the big mistakes made by rookie pro baseball players, especially those who barely became professional by making one of the lower-level independent leagues. You might be surprised at how many guys think that their past performance at a junior college or lower-level four-year college baseball program means that they are special and need to be treated like royalty by the team.
Here is the truth:
While your college stats may be impressive, and you even may have made amazing plays in “clutch” situations such as final at-bat heroics to win your league’s championship, it really means nothing. If a pro baseball manager, coach or GM is not contacting you then you likely will have to go an open pro baseball tryout to be seen by the teams. Also, once you reach the pro level it becomes more of a “what have you done for me lately” mentality if you are not a “draft bonus baby” where a MLB team has invested money in you and will give you time to develop. At the independent league level you need to show that you can help the manager win games right away.
This is tough for a lot of players to grasp. For so long these players have had their parents, friends, high school coaches, college coaches, local media, girlfriends and locals tell them that they are “pro caliber” that the players have the wrong ideas about their talent abilities. Even if they are terrific at their levels, the players then will be forced to compete against guys who are just as talented as they are. The pro team scouts, coaches, managers and third-party talent scouts have been around a long time; and they have seen just about everything a player can bring to the table.
They look at your college stats with some interest, but they are mostly interested in your mechanics. The pro level talent evaluators truly believe that, at the college level, you are inferior to the pro level players for these reasons:
- You either used, or faced players using, metal bats. This obviously changes the game
- You may be a “head case” due to ego or bad habits that were not eliminated
- You faced inferior talent in your conference
- You are used to being “coddled” by your college coach who hasn’t prepared you for the rigors of life in the minor leagues
- Alumni and your college/university have provided you with lots of amenities both at the stadium as well as outside of the stadium. Pro baseball, at the minor league level, often has worse stadiums, hard travel, never-ending travel (so it seems in August!), and bad food
- Budgeting your money, staying away from “shady” characters, and being able to talk to the sports media are skills rarely taught at the college level; but they are mandatory skills if you wish to have a multi-year career in pro baseball
- Many other reasons
Take this to heart when you go to any pro baseball tryout, whether it be an open tryout or private (invitation-only) tryout. Remember that all of your college baseball experience is great, but you have to deliver at the tryout and show off your mechanics like arm strength, foot speed, baseball instincts, etc.
Hopefully this helps you at any tryout and long after you sign your first professional baseball contract.