Saturday morning fun with a group of hardworking infielders getting ready for the high school season.

One of the easiest mistakes in scouting is believing the best player is the one who looks the part. Baseball has always rewarded appearances. The tall athlete, sculpted body, broad shoulders, easy batting practice power, and effortless velocity all matter, but they don’t always matter most. During my twenty years as a Major League scout, I learned the game has a way of humbling anyone who falls in love with the uniform before he studies the player inside it. Dustin Pedroia made evaluators uncomfortable because the physical look didn’t match the baseball player. He was listed around 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9, often under 170 pounds, with very little physical projection. Traditional evaluators could knock the body, size, short violent swing, aggressive approach, and fit him into a “slap hitter” profile. On a 20-to-80 scale, some scouts could bury him with grades like 20 power and 30 speed, then walk away thinking they had him figured out. They didn’t, because what many missed was the real player. Pedroia had elite instincts, exceptional hand-eye coordination, barrel control, baseball IQ, and a competitive fire that was hard to quantify on a report. At Arizona State, his contact ability was historic, with only 11 strikeouts compared to 43 walks. Boston trusted the swing path, makeup, and how long his barrel stayed alive through the zone. They drafted him 65th overall in 2004, and three years later he was the American League Rookie of the Year. One year after that, he was the American League MVP. What some saw as an out-of-control hacksaw swing, Boston saw as rotational power. He created torque through his lower half and core, allowing a smaller frame to produce far more impact than the eye test suggested. He kept his bat head flat and active through the zone, giving him margin for error even when he cheated to a fastball. The body didn’t scream impact. The barrel did. I remember being in Asheville, North Carolina, after I had started my pro coverage in that league in 2002. I was talking with some older gentleman scouts from the area, and they asked me about “Petey.” I had an okay breakdown on him from seeing him that spring, but nothing close to what he was about to show me. His Augusta team walked into the ballpark while Asheville was taking batting practice. They were still in their civvies, and Pedroia was the leader out front. He didn’t look like a typical pro ballplayer. He was 21, undersized, with a receding hairline, and if you were scouting the parking lot, you could have missed him. Then the game started. He led off, and on the second pitch, he drove a ball deep to left-center field. I got a look from the scouts beside me. Later in the game, he went deep again. Now we were all looking at each other, and it became comical, so we just started laughing. I was a little light on Mr. Pedroia. That is the lesson. The scout’s job isn’t to find the best body. It is to find the best baseball player, and those are not always the same person. The radar gun measures velocity, the stopwatch measures speed, and the showcase leaderboard measures snapshots, but the game measures something deeper. Things that don’t always show up on a showcase leaderboard, but win baseball games: 
 • Baseball instincts
 • Internal clock
 • Anticipation
 • Competitive toughness
 • Adjustability
 • Awareness
 • Feel for the game
 • Consistency under pressure
 • Barrel control Sometimes the player who fails the eye test passes the scout test with flying colors, because the uniform never tells the whole story. THE SCOUTING CLASSROOM: Stories Behind the Report  THE PLAYER WHO FAILED THE EYE TEST… BUT PASSED THE SCOUT TEST Subtitle: The uniform never tells the whole story. #BehindTheRadarGun 🔎

COMMITTED! Go Pacers! @GoPeaceSoftball @Mojo_Carolinas @FHSAthletics6 @FHS_LadyRams_SB @BooserJason @PeakP919

Every player I ever coached was asking me the same 3 questions. They never said them out loud. It didn't matter what the lineup looked like. It didn't matter what the scoreboard said. They just needed to know 3 things. And every leader, every coach, every parent is being asked the same ones. Here they are. Question #1: Can I trust you? Trust isn't given. It's earned. You earn it through transparency and honesty not when things are going well, but when things are hard. How I built it: • Do what you say you're going to do • Tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear • Show up the same way whether you're winning or losing You lose trust fast. You build it slow. Question #2: Can you make me better? This one is on you as a leader. They're not just asking about their swing or their stats. They're asking: do you see me clearly enough to help me grow? Question #3: Do you care about me? This is the most important one. And you can't fake it. You can't lead anybody if they don't believe you care about them beyond what they produce on the field. Three questions. No stat tracks them. But they determine everything.

Easton Boozer 2028 SS • Wake Forest HS Switch hitter has been very impressive. 2 good at bats from the left side, getting on base twice. Single here from the right side. Excellent mover at SS with athletic transfer and release. Easy carry. Plays with great emotion. @WFHSCoogs

My son got cut from the baseball team because we couldn't afford the uniform and fees. I was sitting in the car outside the field trying to explain it to him when Coach Thompson knocked on the window. "Heard what happened. Kid's got heart. I got an extra uniform from last season that should fit. And the league fees? Already covered it with the booster club." He ruffled my boy's hair and added, "Practice starts Tuesday. Don't be late." The coach's cleats were caked in red dirt. That man didn't just give my son a uniform — he gave him back his confidence. A youth sports coach in dusty cleats saw a kid who needed a chance and handed him one. Faith in humanity restored. Anonymous

As a ballplayer, this will give you goosebumps Taking dry swings in the hotel room and laying out your uniform like you were in 12u again Love this reply from Judge!

“dErEk JeTeR hAd No RaNgE” Yeah aighhtttttt #NYT #RepBX

Winter Workouts 👤 Easton Booser (2028 S/R SS) 💪 5'9 / 160lbs. 🏠 Franklinton, NC ⚾ @Diamond643Life 👨‍🎓 3.8GPA / Wake Forest HS 📈 85+ EV / 80+ INF / 7.0 Sixty 🚩 #uncommitted / @FlatgroundBats / @jakerobbins49 / @jrudd_scout

I wish I knew this as a player 👇 You don’t magically “flip a switch” in games. If you train stiff, you’ll play stiff. If you move like a robot in practice, you’ll move like one under pressure. Practice how you want to play 🌊

A few clips from the Fall. 👤 Easton Booser (2028 S/R SS) 💪 5’9 / 155 lbs 🏠 Franklinton, NC ⚾️ @Diamond643Life 👨‍🎓 GPA 3.7 / Wake Forest HS 📈 85+ EV Both Sides / 80+ INF 📈 7.1 Sixty 🚩 #uncommitted / @FlatgroundBats / @JRudd_Scout /@jakerobbins49

Infielders… don’t make simple hard. Meaning don’t throw on the run when the play does not call for it. Yes… be an athlete…. But every play does not require you to be on the run. And yes, fielding is primarily a one handed position. But there is a time when play calls for two hands. When the clock, speed of runner and type of ground ball dictates two hands in order to be efficient and increase odds of getting outs… ** ISSUE** There is a growing trend… not sure if it’s because of so many turf fields, or if players think it looks cool, but infielders are running through every ground ball, one handed, and throwing on the run…. WHEN ITS NOT NECESSARY. This absolutely makes routine plays more difficult. The game is hard enough on its own to add difficulty for no reason. To be clear…. Playing INF is primarily one handed. And we do have to throw on the run in many circumstances. As well as throw from all arm slots…All of that better be in your tool box for when it’s needed. My point is you should also have in your tool box the ability to set up and field, or use a 4 step or six step pattern, and use two hands when needed. The goal is to keep the simple…. well… simple. And be able to make the difficult play as well. That is an infielder a coach can trust!

100 % committed @Nic_Love6 @Gabitoo2712 @BooserJason @Diamond643Life

Had a good game today pitching and hitting. Pitching: 4 IP | 4 SO | 1 ER Hitting: 2-2 with a single and double @BooserJason @uncommittedBB8 @FlatgroundApp