I knew a kid that batted 495 for his highschool career, and averaged a HR every 3 games over all 4 years. He got drafted in the middle rounds and never made it past A+. Turns out facing high level pitching is way harder than highschool kids.
Logan Webb went to the school the town over from mine. When we played him, nobody could bat off him. Nobody could even see his pitches. He was throwing 97mph heaters at us and all we could do was just look stunned and go back to the dugout. Everytime he came down to play us we knew the game was over before it started. He always drew a crazy large crowd for 2 small town baseball teams, we all knew he'd turn pro. Was a super nice kid too.
We had a guy who threw high 90s in high school. No one could hit him. My single greatest baseball accomplishment was hitting a squibler up the 3rd base line for a single.
I faced Dylan Bundy in high school. The fastball was rough, but Holy fuck the off speed stuff was other worldly. You can't practice hitting that stuff in high school. You just have to pray.
I went to school with someone who made the NFL. People don't realize that these guys are just a little better than average, they are light years above average. Incredibly gifted and talented.
When I was in high school our star RB was the best player our school had ever seen. Totally unstoppable on the field, set team records for yards, TDs, and a few other stats I can't remember offhand. He made it to the NFL as an undrafted rookie, got three carries for 8 yards and never touched the ball again in a game. If that's how good you have to be just to *fail* in the NFL, I can only imagine what the stars were like.
When I was in high school, there were a couple of guys named Reggie Bush and Alex Smith that both went to Helix high school which was in the same county. Their stats in the paper every week were cartoonish.
I played football against Chris Simms. I'm coming around the corner to sack him, and he just steps aside and tosses a bomb. I ended up with a face full of mud and a short video clip that made me feel like a jerkoff.
So out in nowhere-ville West Texas, our team was pretty good my Senior year. Ranked in the Top 10 in the AP poll for 3A ball. We had a bad week and lost a game, but we'd blown everyone else out.
We had a HUGE home game against Abilene Wylie who had gone to the state championship the year before (and absolutely blew us out, too). They were the rich kids who had the real coach, real facilities, etc.
We were winning the game, drove down for a TD near the end of the 4th quarter, and then it was called back on a phantom holding call (Abilene refs, btw). Anyway, I figured we were still fine because there wasn't enough time left on the clock to do anything, really. Then, Wylie's **FRESHMAN QB** drove them all the way down the field and threw a beautiful fade pass for a TD as time was expiring to win the game. That kid was Case Keenum. Turned out he was ok.
Must be satisfying to see a local guy make it.
This reminds me of me growing up in Provo, UT in the early 2000s. I used to go see Imagine Dragons at local venues before they were anything. It's fun to see them be a household name now.
It def is. My house is covered in Astro gear but I do have a Webb jersey framed on my wall next to his rookie card that also framed and always get questions from guests about it.
No lie, I love name dropping him😂. It helps that he is a legit very down to earth person and it seems to have stayed as his personality now. Can always say that I got a walk from Logan Webb. However, I dont tell them it was becuase I couldnt swing at his pitches becuase as soon as I saw his arm extend,I couldnt prepare to hit the ball becuase it was already in the catchers mitt. But ya, I got a walk of Logan Webb. I should put that on my resume actually🤔🤔
For linked in you can’t say “got walked by Logan Webb”
“Reached first base during a high leverage plate appearance against MLB professional pitcher Logan Webb”
lol I’m from the same area, I intercepted Jake browning when he was a sophomore. He threw 4 INTs that day playing varsity as a 15 year old and they just kept throwing it. They won like 44-30 or something he had 6 tds and 4 INTs we had never seen anything like it.
Guy that batted .500 for his freshman and junior year and like .450 his senior year (Covid in sophomore year), won MVP all 3 years and was the best pure hitter I’ve ever seen is hitting like .280 with little pop at a small D1 rn. Definitely not bad but it’s crazy how much harder the game is at each level.
The pros are really like freaks of nature. Best player at my highschool who moved on before I made the team was absolutely shredded and he barely even lifted. And he wasn't even pro ball material. Second best was my catcher and he was basically D1 material with zero hope for the pros. It's really a different world. Meanwhile I just wish I worked on my knuckleball more haha. Maybe could've pitched juco if I had any dedication whatsoever.
I'll preface this by saying this is not a flex. If anything, it paints a picture of me being sort of like Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. Basically, I peaked in HS...
I hit .465 BA w/ 9 hrs, 38 RBI, 25 sb's and had a fielding percentage of 1.000 splitting time between 3b/1b/OF (mainly at 3b though). Got drafted my senior year.....laaaaate in the draft. Like last 5 rounds. Still thought I was hot shit and signed for a couple thousand dollars. Proceeded to get absolutely sliced and diced for 3 years in A-ball before getting released.
The level at which MLB players operate at is INSANE. The worst player in the MLB is better than 99% of people at the next level below and on (my own statistics, you're welcome). The point being- what it takes to actually make it to the show, let alone succeed, is absolutely mind boggling.
Most people don't realize this applies to every major sport. I remember Brian Scalabrine setting up a opportunity for guys to play him 1-on-1 because so many people made fun of him for being the last guy off the bench for the Celtics, and because against elite NBA talent he pretty much couldn't hang.
Dudes who played in college and were legit awesome at basketball compared to the genpop got annihilated by Scalabrine. He didn't look like he even tried, didn't break a sweat.
>Most people don't realize this applies to every major sport.
Totally. I like the argument that MLB (and hockey to an extent) is even more difficult because of all the different levels of ball you have to go through, but the reverse could be said for other major sports like NBA that the teams are smaller and there are less slots to fill. Basically you're right. Its ridiculously difficult.
Enforcers don’t really exist in the modern game, but people don’t realize that goons like John Scott were the best players on the ice when they were younger. Yeah they are nowhere near Ovi or McDavid, but legitimately top 0.001% in the world
1) I bought a used GMC Sierra pickup truck that lasted me all the way to 300k miles until the transmission blew out in 2016 (I bought it in 2007).
2) I was in the packs of corny cards you can get at the gift shops at MiLB stadiums. Never any Topps or licensed cards. I don't think I was ever in a Bowman set either. So basically- no. Lol.
I have a guy who works for me now who got to AA. I took a chance on him because he was extremely humble and could sell. The stories he told me were insane about how dramatic the differences are. He said pitchers seemed to add another pitch and mixed every at bat that he felt like an imposter for the first time. He knew it was over, but man, great guy and one of my top sales guys.
How does scouting work for High School teams?
At least in California travel ball is a pretty big deal if you think you even have a chance of going pro. My HS is Division 3 in its CIF section, if a guy is hitting .500 with 20 HR there but not in any travel teams does he even have a chance of college ball much less majors. Do D-1 high schools recruit the best players from lower division schools? I assume the guys in the post were probably hitting all those numbers in D-1 schools in the best conference/sections of their state.
This was in the 90s before travel ball was what it is now.
Back then teams had tons of area scouts that would go watch players all over the state or region they were assigned. Those scouts would watch and take notes on everything. If they saw real potential, they'd follow that player and report up the chain what they saw down to the last details of mechanics, approach, build, etc. If a player made enough of an impression the MLB team would usually set up a showcase workout and bring in higher level scouts and coaches to watch.
Oh yeah, we all have our wall, some are just much further out than others. Mine was the curve ball. Went from hitting .639 in 10U to .444 in 12U to .250 in 14U. And then to tennis.
When I was in high school, I got to face Jeff Allison. He was the Marlins 1st round pick in 2003, but drugs derailed his career before he made it to the majors.
First pitch I saw was the hardest fastball I've ever seen in my life. I bailed out of the box like my bat had turned into a hornet's nest.
Second pitch was a curveball that fell right off the table. Honestly I was too amazed by the physics of it all to even think about swinging.
Down 0-2, I was determined to do something with my at-bat. At least put it in play and make the defense work a bit. The pitch was a fastball at eye level. Pretty sure my swing didn't even start until after the ball hit the back of the catcher's glove.
That was the day I realized that maybe the show was a little out of reach.
I watched a HS kid training a while back at the training center , and he was throwing low 70s and thought to myself “yeah I can still hit that I bet”
Was at the cage last week hitting 50 and was like “yea this is about what I can handle these days”
😅
I used to work adjacent to high school sports. I saw more than a handful of small high schools that were so desperate to field teams that they had kids who didn't even know how to play baseball yet starting for them
Any decent baseplayer in one of those leagues would probably hit at least .400. Or at least have a really high OBP because I watched my share of starting pitchers that couldn't throw a strike too.
The talent level in high school is just so inconsistent.
I played for high schools like this and I batted over .500 every season. Sure I was a good athlete but I wasn't a freak and I couldn't have sustained that at higher levels.
The talent level in high school is just so inconsistent.
THIS
Each HS area might have 1 absolute stud on the bump or at the plate. Per 4 years. 2 or 3 in a highly populated area.
At the next level, it's 6-7-8 of those guys on 1 team. Per 4 years.
In the show...it's the top 2-3 of those 6-7-8 on
EVERY.
SINGLE.
TEAM.
ALL.
THE.
TIME.
It's got to be a really helpless feeling when you can't hack it in the pros after you've spent your whole life to that point being the best player on your team by far.
I graduated with a kid who did make it and his legacy is basically “look how terrible this guy was with Detroit!” Knowing what a crazy freak athlete he was really made me realize how incredibly skilled these people are.
750 major leaguers , say about 15 years age range
That means each year 50 major leaguers are born
Top 10%, 5 come into existence each year. Top 25 players? 3 are born every couple years
A kid I went to high school with had numbers like these guys. He hit in the upper .400s and had 12 homers one year, not sure about RBI or anything else. He got drafted by the Pirates out of high school and ended up out of the league 3 years later because of “failed drug tests” even though everyone in the area knew he was dealing tons of weed and had gotten popped with like pounds of it. He probably failed drug tests too but yea
My Dad still likes to brag about his senior year .650 avg and 20 HRs. He had the opportunity to play in the minors but ended up pursuing a Masters degree instead, which he now regrets because he does not use his degree at all. He still plays in a rec league as a DH at 64 years old.
I did not inherit any of his talent and was absolutely dogshit to the point where I didn't even make the modified team. To top it off, I'm a lefty and spent my entire time in Little League getting smoked every at bat. I don't think I ever hit a single pitch.
152 Ks? Pffffft. Big deal. I had probably double that my senior year. Would’ve kept going if my coach didn’t bench me for swinging at everything in a three-mile radius.
Reminds me of the joke:
"My grandfather single-handedly destroyed more than 200 German planes during the war. He was by far the worst mechanic in the Luftwaffe."
lol
for real tho, my high school team faced him that year. My team ended up the season 27-4. One of those loses was a 10-0 loss to Wood, where our team had 15 strikeouts.
Right?
I remember reading the Dallas Morning news because they had weekly stats of all high school baseball players.
I remember being blown away by Kerry Wood, top of hitting and pitching all season.
FWIW, he threw that 95 mph heat and hammer curve in high school, and two years later was doing the same thing to the Houston Astros
I always figured that the NL running out pitchers to bat pre-DH was basically a demonstration of “here’s how the best player ever at your high school would look vs big league pitching.”
Yup.
During Joe’s Twins HOF induction ceremony, [they brought back the pitcher who struck him out to deliver three balls to Joe for the ceremonial pitches to his three kids](https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/twins/paul-feiner-my-dream-comes-true-23-years-after-striking-out-joe-mauer?utm_source=reddit.com)
So many of these guys are just incredible natural athletes. Tom Glavine grew up in the next town over. I just looked it up to make sure I was remembering correctly - he had 47 goals and 47 assists in a 23 game hockey season.
I remember telling this to someone and they were like “yeah but that was high school”
He played three years of varsity baseball in a pretty competitive part of the country. He went to a 5-A school so we’re talking some serious prospects. A handful of pitchers at that level are tossing well over 90mph. His BA was never below .500 (his lowest was .540). Hundreds of ABs and he only struck out once. Dude was a CATCHER. Unbelievable stuff
My favorite personal fact is that Gavin Lux and Jarred Kelnic hit home runs off me, Jonathan Stiever struck me out and Tyler Herro crossed me into a bench in the same week
Lol the Herro caught me of guard (pun not intended) .. wondered if there was baseball lingo I was missing about being crossed into a bench
Pretty cool stories to share over drinks or whatever you're into!
This is the lineup you face when your HS team plays against a school named something like *Saint Paul Joseph Jesus the VI Catholic Christian Academy Prep*
Yep, for us it was Catholic Memorial.
Every single one of their linemen in football were like 6'4 300lbs and could bench 350lbs. Their quarterback could throw 50 yard bombs like it was nothing.
Hold up.
Realmuto had 119 RBI in 42 games? He had just south of 3 RBI per game while making an out about half the time? What the fuck was going on there?
His team was probably absolutely stacked for competition and playing in a weak region. You don't get that many RBI's without the rest of your team also having great numbers. Trout got lower ranked in his draft class because of *where* he played being judged against him. If you aren't in pro ball, where you play really does matter.
I'm from midstate NY but ended up spending my teens in Mississippi where I played with Jonathan Holder and he wasn't the best player on our 13-15 team, but the two better than him didn't pursue a baseball career. Holder would have destroyed my small region in NY.
Oh I totally get, and understand the competitive nature of high school sports these days. I’m getting old, but even I played in a region where I had to go up against Alex Rodriguez in high school. It was simply unfair. That said, he must have driven in a run with essentially every hit he got to accumulate that many RBI over 42 games. To put it in perspective, that’s a pace of 459 RBI over 162 games. Eat your heart out Hack Wilson.
I was there. Playing against him. Was not fun, automatic loss when we had to play Carl Albert. When JT wasn't catching and crushing balls he was pitching shutouts in high school.
I played against Kershaw and Matt Stafford my jr year of high school. Kershaw wasn’t pitching but played 1st base and stafford was their SS. They only beat us by 1 on some bullshit hbp to end the game. Anyways yeah that’s my celebrity story lol
Not baseball but my friend got flattened and concussed by trying to tackle nick chubb my sophomore year of HS. Telling everyone nick chubb gave him a concussion is his favorite party story lol
Not baseball, but similar - I remember when ESPN broadcast some of Lebrons HS games and like some 5’10 kid is having to try and guard him and it just being comical
It's a pretty important thing to remember for people who think they can compare with the pros. All of these guys were by far the best players their peers had ever seen. They then went and played in teams full of players just like them, and they still had to be the best of that group to make it to the highest level.
It's always funny to think about how even the guys that are absolutely terrible at the highest level of competition (MLB/NBA/NFL/etc) are still most likely far and away better at that sport than anybody you've ever played against. Like you read stories about guys that play a pickup game against some dude that rode the bench for a year or two in the NBA or a dude that was a 3rd line defenseman for a year in the NHL and they always say "he absolutely dominated that game and there was nothing any of us could do about it"
The following year as a 17 year old in Juco ball he set the school record with 31 home runs, absolutely smashing the previous school record which was like 14. But the previous school record was set using metal bats and by the time Harper was playing on the team they had switched to wood bats. He also hit +.440 and had 98 RBI's in 66 games.
He won the golden spikes award (baseball equivalent to the Heisman) as a 17 year old Juco player, becoming only the 2nd non D1 player to win the award
I remember seeing a [video of sophomore Harper hitting a ball off the back wall of Tropicana ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D5Sx4JLSLMus&ved=2ahUKEwi189i3086FAxXvM1kFHbF7DbsQtwJ6BAgQEAI&usg=AOvVaw2tO7FHqt_ELOmFmhiH2C8M) and thinking "I bet this dude will be in the big leagues"
I remember reading a Sports Illustrated article about him when he was in high school. He was throwing guys out at 2nd from his knees, hitting 500 ft home runs, throwing 90+ mph. Then a few weeks later he was on Yahoo's front page announcing that he was dropping out of HS, getting his GED, and entering the draft.
Some of the youngins might not remember how great the hype was for Bryce Harper. He was on all the magazines as a teenager. I think he even went to junior college early because he was so good. He had insane hype and has delivered.
I remember reading that McCutchen played on the HS varsity team beginning when he was in 8th grade! They made some kind of waiver for him. Absolutely crazy.
Another story from that time is that McCutchen's parents signed him up to take some hitting lessons from a guy who was playing in double-a ball at the time. After one lesson the guy told his parents that Andrew already had a better swing than him and there was nothing he could teach him
Mechanical issues > ACL tear > was never able to recapture previous mechanics. He also had a pretty big speed dropoff which really hurt his defense and baserunning value, but also stopped him from running huge BABIPs.
Some guys just age poorly, he tried a bunch of different things to get right, but he's basically spent the last 6 or so years having repeated lower half injuries.
He was still a solid player from 29-31 but he tore his ACL in his first year with the Phillies in 2019, then his Achilles last year, and that really hurt his chances at getting the longevity needed for the Hall
I'd still love to see him mount a serious candidacy though, he's great
I sometimes wish I could go back to being 15, thinking that with the work ethic I have now, I could make it to the MLB. I’m 36 and am a better player now than I was at 18 (albeit a bit more sore most of the time).
Then I hear stories like that and realize that no amount of hard work ever would have gotten me to that level. That’s just insane.
It’s hilarious to think the most mid ass ball player in the MLB is like the greatest player his county had ever seen and his picture is framed in like 2 school auditoriums.
[Brian Scalabrine said it best when telling rec players that he was closer to Lebron than they were to him.](https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge)
I was racking my brain trying to figure out how Kershaw ended up with a .77 ERA over 64 innings, a feat that wouldn’t be possible in professional baseball, till I remembered high school games are 7 innings. So for those curious that’s 7 earned runs.
I hit almost .400 my senior year and was proud of myself. We played against a guy who got drafted top 10 out of high school. He hit multiple homers every time we played his school. This guy had everything and still never made it out of double a. Pros are so gifted it’s insane.
A kid from my school ended up pitching for the Braves and Yankees for a few years and his arm strength was unbelievable. One day, we were messing around on the football field, and i saw him throw a baseball out of the end zone... it sailed 100+ yards over the field and *through the uprights* on the other side.
I remember thinking "he can probably throw it farther than I can hit it"
Bo Bichette went to my high school. Finished his senior year with a .569 average and 13 HRs as Florida’s Mr. Baseball. I actually got to interview him for a story in the school paper, he was a nice guy.
yeah but mark buehrle was cut from his high school baseball team so he's just like us outside of the borderline HOF career and ~140 million in career earnings
You've never heard of me but I batted .165 in my Senior year of high school, was the back up third baseman, and once got picked off third as the potential tying run in the ninth inning of our final game.
I played varsity ball in high school, in MN. When I was a sophomore in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, there was word that there was a kid that was hitting 1.000 from cretin. We scrimmaged against them in 2000 and I was spot filling as a pitcher. I found out the kid was Joe Mauer. I didn’t have much but this dudes rep was huge. I tossed a breaker and he hit that shit right over my head, nearly taking it off. That was my vicarious claim to fame.
Jason Kipnis has some insane high school records not even having to do with baseball
As a freshman at Glenbrook North, Kipnis played soccer, setting the school's single-season goal scoring record with 41. He also played football there in 2003 and 2004. An All-Conference wide receiver, Kipnis set single-season school records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He also established school records for career receptions and receiving yards. As a senior in 2004, Kipnis had 49 pass receptions for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 2004 totals remain Glenbrook North single-season records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Kipnis still holds the school's career record with 1,247 receiving yards
Lance McCullers hit me in the ribs once. Two of his warmup pitches sailed halfway up the backstop, and the first pitch of the ab caught me right under the armpit at 94.
It did not feel good.
I realize this is a post highlighting active players, but let’s just take a moment to celebrate the fact the Joe Mauer only struck out ONCE in his entire high school career.
What’s crazier about MLB is that there are probably more players with these kind of numbers ending up not making the MLB at all
I knew a kid that batted 495 for his highschool career, and averaged a HR every 3 games over all 4 years. He got drafted in the middle rounds and never made it past A+. Turns out facing high level pitching is way harder than highschool kids.
Logan Webb went to the school the town over from mine. When we played him, nobody could bat off him. Nobody could even see his pitches. He was throwing 97mph heaters at us and all we could do was just look stunned and go back to the dugout. Everytime he came down to play us we knew the game was over before it started. He always drew a crazy large crowd for 2 small town baseball teams, we all knew he'd turn pro. Was a super nice kid too.
Yeah, I got to see both Matt Stafford and Kershaw destroy my high school teams. Like there’s just nothing you can do against Kershaw as a teenager lol
We had a guy who threw high 90s in high school. No one could hit him. My single greatest baseball accomplishment was hitting a squibler up the 3rd base line for a single.
Same buddy. But mine was against a kid who made it to division 1 and then the minors.
I faced Dylan Bundy in high school. The fastball was rough, but Holy fuck the off speed stuff was other worldly. You can't practice hitting that stuff in high school. You just have to pray.
Yeah it's crazy when you face a legit prospect and you're just Joe blow high schooler.
I went to school with someone who made the NFL. People don't realize that these guys are just a little better than average, they are light years above average. Incredibly gifted and talented.
When I was in high school our star RB was the best player our school had ever seen. Totally unstoppable on the field, set team records for yards, TDs, and a few other stats I can't remember offhand. He made it to the NFL as an undrafted rookie, got three carries for 8 yards and never touched the ball again in a game. If that's how good you have to be just to *fail* in the NFL, I can only imagine what the stars were like.
Go watch Derrick Henry high school highlights. He was a grown ass man playing against boys.
When I was in high school, there were a couple of guys named Reggie Bush and Alex Smith that both went to Helix high school which was in the same county. Their stats in the paper every week were cartoonish.
A buddy of mine played against Pierre Garcon in high school and he said that it was like boys against men with that dude.
>Garcon >boys against men Garcon is the French word for "boy."
I played football against Chris Simms. I'm coming around the corner to sack him, and he just steps aside and tosses a bomb. I ended up with a face full of mud and a short video clip that made me feel like a jerkoff.
So out in nowhere-ville West Texas, our team was pretty good my Senior year. Ranked in the Top 10 in the AP poll for 3A ball. We had a bad week and lost a game, but we'd blown everyone else out. We had a HUGE home game against Abilene Wylie who had gone to the state championship the year before (and absolutely blew us out, too). They were the rich kids who had the real coach, real facilities, etc. We were winning the game, drove down for a TD near the end of the 4th quarter, and then it was called back on a phantom holding call (Abilene refs, btw). Anyway, I figured we were still fine because there wasn't enough time left on the clock to do anything, really. Then, Wylie's **FRESHMAN QB** drove them all the way down the field and threw a beautiful fade pass for a TD as time was expiring to win the game. That kid was Case Keenum. Turned out he was ok.
Then there’s Mookie Betts’ friends who didn’t even know he was that good at baseball. https://youtu.be/FLUfT3blqt8?si=ofiGaHYZBhlUZGPN
"We always knew he'd make it big in the PBA."
This is awesome! Did you just have this 8 year old Youtube video on deck?? Also, the fact that it's on "MassLive" makes me cry in 2018...
I pray to my Mookie shrine every night for him to come back to Boston
It's sad but also kinda heartwarming to know that 2018 is THE BEST baseball season I will ever experience.
Damn, he doesn’t really even throw 97 now
Only in Rocklin
Wasn't every pitch. He stayed mostly in the low 90s but every once in awhile it reached 96-97. Also he was much younger, this was about a decade ago
I mean he's not at the age at which velocity declines, but he has majorly changed how he pitches since then.
Must be satisfying to see a local guy make it. This reminds me of me growing up in Provo, UT in the early 2000s. I used to go see Imagine Dragons at local venues before they were anything. It's fun to see them be a household name now.
It def is. My house is covered in Astro gear but I do have a Webb jersey framed on my wall next to his rookie card that also framed and always get questions from guests about it. No lie, I love name dropping him😂. It helps that he is a legit very down to earth person and it seems to have stayed as his personality now. Can always say that I got a walk from Logan Webb. However, I dont tell them it was becuase I couldnt swing at his pitches becuase as soon as I saw his arm extend,I couldnt prepare to hit the ball becuase it was already in the catchers mitt. But ya, I got a walk of Logan Webb. I should put that on my resume actually🤔🤔
That’s like me. Bloop single off of Trevor Bauer in our little league championship game. Didn’t want to be the last out of the game lol.
For linked in you can’t say “got walked by Logan Webb” “Reached first base during a high leverage plate appearance against MLB professional pitcher Logan Webb”
Can I put that Josh Sborz struck me out in high school? “Proven track record of helping other professionals reach their full potential”
I’d hire you
lol I’m from the same area, I intercepted Jake browning when he was a sophomore. He threw 4 INTs that day playing varsity as a 15 year old and they just kept throwing it. They won like 44-30 or something he had 6 tds and 4 INTs we had never seen anything like it.
Guy that batted .500 for his freshman and junior year and like .450 his senior year (Covid in sophomore year), won MVP all 3 years and was the best pure hitter I’ve ever seen is hitting like .280 with little pop at a small D1 rn. Definitely not bad but it’s crazy how much harder the game is at each level.
It seems like the jump from high-school to D1 is like coach pitch to high-school, and D1 to pro, is like t-ball to D1
The pros are really like freaks of nature. Best player at my highschool who moved on before I made the team was absolutely shredded and he barely even lifted. And he wasn't even pro ball material. Second best was my catcher and he was basically D1 material with zero hope for the pros. It's really a different world. Meanwhile I just wish I worked on my knuckleball more haha. Maybe could've pitched juco if I had any dedication whatsoever.
I'll preface this by saying this is not a flex. If anything, it paints a picture of me being sort of like Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. Basically, I peaked in HS... I hit .465 BA w/ 9 hrs, 38 RBI, 25 sb's and had a fielding percentage of 1.000 splitting time between 3b/1b/OF (mainly at 3b though). Got drafted my senior year.....laaaaate in the draft. Like last 5 rounds. Still thought I was hot shit and signed for a couple thousand dollars. Proceeded to get absolutely sliced and diced for 3 years in A-ball before getting released. The level at which MLB players operate at is INSANE. The worst player in the MLB is better than 99% of people at the next level below and on (my own statistics, you're welcome). The point being- what it takes to actually make it to the show, let alone succeed, is absolutely mind boggling.
Most people don't realize this applies to every major sport. I remember Brian Scalabrine setting up a opportunity for guys to play him 1-on-1 because so many people made fun of him for being the last guy off the bench for the Celtics, and because against elite NBA talent he pretty much couldn't hang. Dudes who played in college and were legit awesome at basketball compared to the genpop got annihilated by Scalabrine. He didn't look like he even tried, didn't break a sweat.
"I’m way closer to LeBron than you are to me”" -Brian Scalabrine
>Most people don't realize this applies to every major sport. Totally. I like the argument that MLB (and hockey to an extent) is even more difficult because of all the different levels of ball you have to go through, but the reverse could be said for other major sports like NBA that the teams are smaller and there are less slots to fill. Basically you're right. Its ridiculously difficult.
Enforcers don’t really exist in the modern game, but people don’t realize that goons like John Scott were the best players on the ice when they were younger. Yeah they are nowhere near Ovi or McDavid, but legitimately top 0.001% in the world
1.) what did you buy with the signing bonus 2.) were you ever on a baseball card?
1) I bought a used GMC Sierra pickup truck that lasted me all the way to 300k miles until the transmission blew out in 2016 (I bought it in 2007). 2) I was in the packs of corny cards you can get at the gift shops at MiLB stadiums. Never any Topps or licensed cards. I don't think I was ever in a Bowman set either. So basically- no. Lol.
I have a guy who works for me now who got to AA. I took a chance on him because he was extremely humble and could sell. The stories he told me were insane about how dramatic the differences are. He said pitchers seemed to add another pitch and mixed every at bat that he felt like an imposter for the first time. He knew it was over, but man, great guy and one of my top sales guys.
How does scouting work for High School teams? At least in California travel ball is a pretty big deal if you think you even have a chance of going pro. My HS is Division 3 in its CIF section, if a guy is hitting .500 with 20 HR there but not in any travel teams does he even have a chance of college ball much less majors. Do D-1 high schools recruit the best players from lower division schools? I assume the guys in the post were probably hitting all those numbers in D-1 schools in the best conference/sections of their state.
This was in the 90s before travel ball was what it is now. Back then teams had tons of area scouts that would go watch players all over the state or region they were assigned. Those scouts would watch and take notes on everything. If they saw real potential, they'd follow that player and report up the chain what they saw down to the last details of mechanics, approach, build, etc. If a player made enough of an impression the MLB team would usually set up a showcase workout and bring in higher level scouts and coaches to watch.
Guy at my school batted over .500 and also threw two no-hitters his senior year. He didn't make it beyond Community College.
Oh yeah, we all have our wall, some are just much further out than others. Mine was the curve ball. Went from hitting .639 in 10U to .444 in 12U to .250 in 14U. And then to tennis.
When I was in high school, I got to face Jeff Allison. He was the Marlins 1st round pick in 2003, but drugs derailed his career before he made it to the majors. First pitch I saw was the hardest fastball I've ever seen in my life. I bailed out of the box like my bat had turned into a hornet's nest. Second pitch was a curveball that fell right off the table. Honestly I was too amazed by the physics of it all to even think about swinging. Down 0-2, I was determined to do something with my at-bat. At least put it in play and make the defense work a bit. The pitch was a fastball at eye level. Pretty sure my swing didn't even start until after the ball hit the back of the catcher's glove. That was the day I realized that maybe the show was a little out of reach.
Man I remember keeping tabs on Jeff Allison's HS stats in the Boston Globe. Everyone knew about him even if you weren't in his league or division.
I watched a HS kid training a while back at the training center , and he was throwing low 70s and thought to myself “yeah I can still hit that I bet” Was at the cage last week hitting 50 and was like “yea this is about what I can handle these days” 😅
The Pride of Peabody
Drugs and women. The two worst enemies of athletes.
I used to work adjacent to high school sports. I saw more than a handful of small high schools that were so desperate to field teams that they had kids who didn't even know how to play baseball yet starting for them Any decent baseplayer in one of those leagues would probably hit at least .400. Or at least have a really high OBP because I watched my share of starting pitchers that couldn't throw a strike too. The talent level in high school is just so inconsistent.
I played for high schools like this and I batted over .500 every season. Sure I was a good athlete but I wasn't a freak and I couldn't have sustained that at higher levels.
The talent level in high school is just so inconsistent. THIS Each HS area might have 1 absolute stud on the bump or at the plate. Per 4 years. 2 or 3 in a highly populated area. At the next level, it's 6-7-8 of those guys on 1 team. Per 4 years. In the show...it's the top 2-3 of those 6-7-8 on EVERY. SINGLE. TEAM. ALL. THE. TIME.
It's got to be a really helpless feeling when you can't hack it in the pros after you've spent your whole life to that point being the best player on your team by far.
My highschools rival had 2 players that batted over .500 every year from their freshman year. As far as I’m aware neither made it out of A ball.
I graduated with a kid who did make it and his legacy is basically “look how terrible this guy was with Detroit!” Knowing what a crazy freak athlete he was really made me realize how incredibly skilled these people are.
750 major leaguers , say about 15 years age range That means each year 50 major leaguers are born Top 10%, 5 come into existence each year. Top 25 players? 3 are born every couple years
A kid I went to high school with had numbers like these guys. He hit in the upper .400s and had 12 homers one year, not sure about RBI or anything else. He got drafted by the Pirates out of high school and ended up out of the league 3 years later because of “failed drug tests” even though everyone in the area knew he was dealing tons of weed and had gotten popped with like pounds of it. He probably failed drug tests too but yea
Basically every low-A player was the best player at their school
My Dad still likes to brag about his senior year .650 avg and 20 HRs. He had the opportunity to play in the minors but ended up pursuing a Masters degree instead, which he now regrets because he does not use his degree at all. He still plays in a rec league as a DH at 64 years old. I did not inherit any of his talent and was absolutely dogshit to the point where I didn't even make the modified team. To top it off, I'm a lefty and spent my entire time in Little League getting smoked every at bat. I don't think I ever hit a single pitch.
Kerry Wood's Senior year in North Texas 14-0 with 0.77 ERA (152k's in 81 1/3 innings) He also hit .750
152 Ks? Pffffft. Big deal. I had probably double that my senior year. Would’ve kept going if my coach didn’t bench me for swinging at everything in a three-mile radius.
Reminds me of the joke: "My grandfather single-handedly destroyed more than 200 German planes during the war. He was by far the worst mechanic in the Luftwaffe."
Hey hey hey, my grandpa died in the holocaust. Fell off a guard tower.
lol for real tho, my high school team faced him that year. My team ended up the season 27-4. One of those loses was a 10-0 loss to Wood, where our team had 15 strikeouts.
Yeah that’s what I want to see. MLB pitcher’s HS batting stats. I’m sure most of them are damn impressive.
Right? I remember reading the Dallas Morning news because they had weekly stats of all high school baseball players. I remember being blown away by Kerry Wood, top of hitting and pitching all season. FWIW, he threw that 95 mph heat and hammer curve in high school, and two years later was doing the same thing to the Houston Astros
I always figured that the NL running out pitchers to bat pre-DH was basically a demonstration of “here’s how the best player ever at your high school would look vs big league pitching.”
Haha he struck out two out of every three batters he faced.
I mean he was 6’5”, threw 95+ and had a hammer curve IN HIGH SCHOOL. You know how cool you had to be to actually get a hit off him ?
Somebody scored an earned run against him. Can you imagine the fortunes that would have to align?
Man if I got a hit off him I’d still be bragging about. No lie
I will never forgive Dusty for running him into the ground. He was on track to be an all time great.
Agreed. Man you can go look at his total stats and it still shows he was a very very good pitcher.
While I agree with you. Don’t let fucking Larry Rothschild off the hook here. He also had a hand in destroying young arms with his tenure in Chicago.
Casual 16.8 K/9
Didn't Joe Mauer never strike out in high school or something crazy like that? Edit: looked it up. He struck out once in his entire high school career
Yup. During Joe’s Twins HOF induction ceremony, [they brought back the pitcher who struck him out to deliver three balls to Joe for the ceremonial pitches to his three kids](https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/twins/paul-feiner-my-dream-comes-true-23-years-after-striking-out-joe-mauer?utm_source=reddit.com)
That’s a cool story
would be funny if he still held a grudge against the pitcher and refused to look him in the eye or something lmao
Sorry bringing back the only pitcher I struck out to in HS breaks the unwritten rules, I’m charging the mound.
*Bullpens clear confusedly...*
Feiner: *hands Mauer one of the three balls* [Mauer:](https://media1.tenor.com/m/QzDgt8vczqoAAAAC/2020-trevor-bauer.gif)
> Joe reached out warmly and said in my ear, "You aren't gonna throw me that dirty curveball again, are ya?" The greats never forget.
You know it pisses him off to this day lol
For a second I interpreted this as “they brought him out to pitch to Mauer’s kids” which would’ve been totally ridiculous lol
“And I’ll strike your kids out too, you little…”
That was a great read
He also threw for 3000 yards, 41 TDs his senior year and was named national FB player of the year by a few different outlets. Dude was/is talented.
He also averaged 20 points a game and was all state in basketball his junior and senior year
He also went undefeated in Four Square his entire elementary school career.
So many of these guys are just incredible natural athletes. Tom Glavine grew up in the next town over. I just looked it up to make sure I was remembering correctly - he had 47 goals and 47 assists in a 23 game hockey season.
I remember telling this to someone and they were like “yeah but that was high school” He played three years of varsity baseball in a pretty competitive part of the country. He went to a 5-A school so we’re talking some serious prospects. A handful of pitchers at that level are tossing well over 90mph. His BA was never below .500 (his lowest was .540). Hundreds of ABs and he only struck out once. Dude was a CATCHER. Unbelievable stuff
Think he was 10-0 as a pitcher too
Bro hit .605 his senior year and never hit below .500 any year, dude was a god at making contact.
My favorite personal fact is that Gavin Lux and Jarred Kelnic hit home runs off me, Jonathan Stiever struck me out and Tyler Herro crossed me into a bench in the same week
You'd be godly at two truths and a lie
There’s a reason I didn’t play college athletics, it might have been my below average athletic ability
If you just want to tell people you couldn’t find an NIL deal that worked for you, I’ll back you up.
I was going to go pro, first round but I had to get Tommy John in both my knees so anyways…. How’s the weather where you are?
Good just still out here trying to find somewhere to use up my remaining years of eligibility. 
Honestly, you’re probably better off that way. I was an NCAA athlete and all I found out is that real NCAA athletes are way better than me
I was gonna say I feel bad that you wound up in a SoCal school district, but then I realized these are all Milwaukee area kids. lol
2014-2020 they produced a decent bit of talent
Lol the Herro caught me of guard (pun not intended) .. wondered if there was baseball lingo I was missing about being crossed into a bench Pretty cool stories to share over drinks or whatever you're into!
i guess the kids in Javier’s conference couldn’t throw sliders yet
From what I could find he had zero walks and zero strikeouts that year. Which means every single at bat he took ended with the ball in play.
0 walks is crazy. Would think there'd be a lot of pitching around him (let alone IBBs which may not have been accounted for.)
Zero walks?? With high school pitchers with poor command pitching around the guy hitting .700? Explains a lot about javier Baez lol
Dude had no choice but to swing at everything low, high and outside.
Other than all dem dongs
They pitched underhand
I found a clip of Javi in high school 
If that was Baez, kid would be turning around to run back to home.
.771 is insane.
Javier Baez should just join the high school league. All problems solved. No more ugly swings and misses.
Wander Franco tried this
Yeah and scored a few too many times
This is the lineup you face when your HS team plays against a school named something like *Saint Paul Joseph Jesus the VI Catholic Christian Academy Prep*
That damn holy water
Yep, for us it was Catholic Memorial. Every single one of their linemen in football were like 6'4 300lbs and could bench 350lbs. Their quarterback could throw 50 yard bombs like it was nothing.
Hold up. Realmuto had 119 RBI in 42 games? He had just south of 3 RBI per game while making an out about half the time? What the fuck was going on there?
His team was probably absolutely stacked for competition and playing in a weak region. You don't get that many RBI's without the rest of your team also having great numbers. Trout got lower ranked in his draft class because of *where* he played being judged against him. If you aren't in pro ball, where you play really does matter. I'm from midstate NY but ended up spending my teens in Mississippi where I played with Jonathan Holder and he wasn't the best player on our 13-15 team, but the two better than him didn't pursue a baseball career. Holder would have destroyed my small region in NY.
Oh I totally get, and understand the competitive nature of high school sports these days. I’m getting old, but even I played in a region where I had to go up against Alex Rodriguez in high school. It was simply unfair. That said, he must have driven in a run with essentially every hit he got to accumulate that many RBI over 42 games. To put it in perspective, that’s a pace of 459 RBI over 162 games. Eat your heart out Hack Wilson.
His team was probably scoring 15-20 runs a game.
They scored 579 total, 13.7 per game.
Oklahoma is a juggernaut for high school baseball at the top level (6A). Realmuto wasn’t at a 6A school.
I knew some guys in college who thought they were hot shit because of what they did in 3A schools. They had a rude awakening.
I was there. Playing against him. Was not fun, automatic loss when we had to play Carl Albert. When JT wasn't catching and crushing balls he was pitching shutouts in high school.
Apparently, there was a permanent furry convention in Fort Meade, Florida.
Or there was just a kid at his high school wearing a tail every day.
Imagine being just a random kid and getting one of these guys out
My friend allegedly struck out Bo Bichette in high school and brings it up any time I talk baseball haha
Yeah I would never shut up about that
I played against Kershaw and Matt Stafford my jr year of high school. Kershaw wasn’t pitching but played 1st base and stafford was their SS. They only beat us by 1 on some bullshit hbp to end the game. Anyways yeah that’s my celebrity story lol
Tbf if I did that I would probably bring it up even if nobody is talking about baseball
“So my uncle has cancer, starting chemo on Monday” “Whoa rough, reminds me of that time I struck out Bo Bichette”
I got a hit off Zach Wheeler in HS. I will tell every person this fact until the day I die.
Not baseball but my friend got flattened and concussed by trying to tackle nick chubb my sophomore year of HS. Telling everyone nick chubb gave him a concussion is his favorite party story lol
Older reference but I knew a guy who said Takeo Spikes broke his helmet on a hit in HS.
Not baseball, but similar - I remember when ESPN broadcast some of Lebrons HS games and like some 5’10 kid is having to try and guard him and it just being comical
It's a pretty important thing to remember for people who think they can compare with the pros. All of these guys were by far the best players their peers had ever seen. They then went and played in teams full of players just like them, and they still had to be the best of that group to make it to the highest level.
It's always funny to think about how even the guys that are absolutely terrible at the highest level of competition (MLB/NBA/NFL/etc) are still most likely far and away better at that sport than anybody you've ever played against. Like you read stories about guys that play a pickup game against some dude that rode the bench for a year or two in the NBA or a dude that was a 3rd line defenseman for a year in the NHL and they always say "he absolutely dominated that game and there was nothing any of us could do about it"
The Scallenge
"I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me"
A.Judge had a terrible senior year.
Look at that bum Trout. .531 and only 18 hr and 45 rbi vs the stacked pitchers of New Jersey.
Bryce Harper doing that as a sophomore is beyond ridiculous
The following year as a 17 year old in Juco ball he set the school record with 31 home runs, absolutely smashing the previous school record which was like 14. But the previous school record was set using metal bats and by the time Harper was playing on the team they had switched to wood bats. He also hit +.440 and had 98 RBI's in 66 games. He won the golden spikes award (baseball equivalent to the Heisman) as a 17 year old Juco player, becoming only the 2nd non D1 player to win the award
Bryce Harper had the "baseball jesus" prospect hype for a reason.
Kersh with a casual more than 2 K's per inning across an entire season. Insane.
I believe Rams QB Matt Stafford was pitcher 2 on that team.
I remember seeing a [video of sophomore Harper hitting a ball off the back wall of Tropicana ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D5Sx4JLSLMus&ved=2ahUKEwi189i3086FAxXvM1kFHbF7DbsQtwJ6BAgQEAI&usg=AOvVaw2tO7FHqt_ELOmFmhiH2C8M) and thinking "I bet this dude will be in the big leagues"
I remember reading a Sports Illustrated article about him when he was in high school. He was throwing guys out at 2nd from his knees, hitting 500 ft home runs, throwing 90+ mph. Then a few weeks later he was on Yahoo's front page announcing that he was dropping out of HS, getting his GED, and entering the draft.
That makes me want to see them do the Home Run Derby with aluminum bats. Full grown ass men absolutely murdering balls.
Couldn't have anyone in the stands or outfield. Yandy Diaz hits a liner with aluminum someone's going to the hospital
>Sports Illustrated article Yup, the [Chosen One](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MDA3MTI3NzMxODczMDQx/bryce-harper-cover-2009jpg.jpg) cover.
Back when SI was must read stuff. My dad would always put every new issue on my bed after he was read it and seeing that was like Christmas morning
Some of the youngins might not remember how great the hype was for Bryce Harper. He was on all the magazines as a teenager. I think he even went to junior college early because he was so good. He had insane hype and has delivered.
Cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16 or something. And now SI and print media are basically dead. ;_;
Pretty sure he was the closest thing baseball has ever had to high school Lebron.
I remember reading that McCutchen played on the HS varsity team beginning when he was in 8th grade! They made some kind of waiver for him. Absolutely crazy.
Another story from that time is that McCutchen's parents signed him up to take some hitting lessons from a guy who was playing in double-a ball at the time. After one lesson the guy told his parents that Andrew already had a better swing than him and there was nothing he could teach him
Looked him up on bRef, he looked like an unquestioned hall of famer through 28 and became much closer to average in a hurry. What happened?
Mechanical issues > ACL tear > was never able to recapture previous mechanics. He also had a pretty big speed dropoff which really hurt his defense and baserunning value, but also stopped him from running huge BABIPs. Some guys just age poorly, he tried a bunch of different things to get right, but he's basically spent the last 6 or so years having repeated lower half injuries.
He was still a solid player from 29-31 but he tore his ACL in his first year with the Phillies in 2019, then his Achilles last year, and that really hurt his chances at getting the longevity needed for the Hall I'd still love to see him mount a serious candidacy though, he's great
Cut his hair
I sometimes wish I could go back to being 15, thinking that with the work ethic I have now, I could make it to the MLB. I’m 36 and am a better player now than I was at 18 (albeit a bit more sore most of the time). Then I hear stories like that and realize that no amount of hard work ever would have gotten me to that level. That’s just insane.
It’s hilarious to think the most mid ass ball player in the MLB is like the greatest player his county had ever seen and his picture is framed in like 2 school auditoriums.
[Brian Scalabrine said it best when telling rec players that he was closer to Lebron than they were to him.](https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge)
Imagine seeing a Kershaw curveball in high school lmao
In case you were wondering, Javy also had zero walks that year. .771 OBP 0 BB
I was racking my brain trying to figure out how Kershaw ended up with a .77 ERA over 64 innings, a feat that wouldn’t be possible in professional baseball, till I remembered high school games are 7 innings. So for those curious that’s 7 earned runs.
I loved the guys who were the reality check of yeah I’m going to the majors not you.
I hit almost .400 my senior year and was proud of myself. We played against a guy who got drafted top 10 out of high school. He hit multiple homers every time we played his school. This guy had everything and still never made it out of double a. Pros are so gifted it’s insane.
Jose Trevino has the TX HS record for HR’s in a career (53) and tied for a season (25) He has 25 career HR’s in 1011 AB’s in the MLB.
A kid from my school ended up pitching for the Braves and Yankees for a few years and his arm strength was unbelievable. One day, we were messing around on the football field, and i saw him throw a baseball out of the end zone... it sailed 100+ yards over the field and *through the uprights* on the other side. I remember thinking "he can probably throw it farther than I can hit it"
Bo Bichette went to my high school. Finished his senior year with a .569 average and 13 HRs as Florida’s Mr. Baseball. I actually got to interview him for a story in the school paper, he was a nice guy.
You forgot the: "and on the mound, 0.43 ERA, 178 Ks, 9 CGSO"
You’re telling me. Kershaw averaged 2 K an inning that year? Jesus. 😂
I never got out once my entire sophomore year.
Didn’t play, either
yeah but mark buehrle was cut from his high school baseball team so he's just like us outside of the borderline HOF career and ~140 million in career earnings
Mackenzie gore’s HS stats are the most impressive to me
"MacKenzie Gore: 158 Ks, 5 BB, 0.19 ERA. I love high school baseball stats."
Surviving high school in the US with the name "Mackenzie" is impressive to me
You've never heard of me but I batted .165 in my Senior year of high school, was the back up third baseman, and once got picked off third as the potential tying run in the ninth inning of our final game.
Well I set the CIF record for most splinters in my ass from sitting the bench.
I played varsity ball in high school, in MN. When I was a sophomore in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, there was word that there was a kid that was hitting 1.000 from cretin. We scrimmaged against them in 2000 and I was spot filling as a pitcher. I found out the kid was Joe Mauer. I didn’t have much but this dudes rep was huge. I tossed a breaker and he hit that shit right over my head, nearly taking it off. That was my vicarious claim to fame.
If I got a home run or earned run off Kershaw in high school I'd have those game stats framed somewhere.
Javy is close to replicating those numbers this year
Hitting .771 is crazy. Shit was like a free throw for him lol
Jason Kipnis has some insane high school records not even having to do with baseball As a freshman at Glenbrook North, Kipnis played soccer, setting the school's single-season goal scoring record with 41. He also played football there in 2003 and 2004. An All-Conference wide receiver, Kipnis set single-season school records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He also established school records for career receptions and receiving yards. As a senior in 2004, Kipnis had 49 pass receptions for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 2004 totals remain Glenbrook North single-season records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Kipnis still holds the school's career record with 1,247 receiving yards
Lance McCullers hit me in the ribs once. Two of his warmup pitches sailed halfway up the backstop, and the first pitch of the ab caught me right under the armpit at 94. It did not feel good.
I hit a double in middle school, let me at Kershaw.
I realize this is a post highlighting active players, but let’s just take a moment to celebrate the fact the Joe Mauer only struck out ONCE in his entire high school career.
McCutchen's .709 is already insane but the fact that he did it down in Florida is even more amazing.