With the MLB draft in full swing, Coach Steve offers up some tips on what youth and high school baseball players can do to stand out.
and runs through Tuesday, features 20 rounds in which more than 600 amateur players will be picked. If that sounds like a lot of selections, in previous decades, more than twice as many players were chosen in 60-plus rounds., Major League Baseball has cut the draft by more than half. It’s now especially important for players at all levels to make the right moves to stand out.
However, knowing how to prepare to get noticed can be helpful to not only those with pro aspirations but to youth players who want to play in high school and high school players who want to play in college. USA TODAY Sports recently spoke with two high-ranking major league front-office officials – one from an American League team, one from a National League team – about ways baseball players of all ages can stand out.
Based on our discussions as well as insight I have gleaned as a high school baseball player and later a sports journalist and sports parent, here are steps you can take to steadily improve and perhaps even make it to an elite level:As a young athlete, you just need to keep active. Don't even think of specializing. Even if you play sports during the fall, spring and summer, don’t sit on the couch during the winter. Maintain your fitness year-round and try out more than one sport.
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now loving life as sports parents for a high schooler and middle schooler.
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