Fastest path to becoming a pro Baseball player in 2024
Is it your goal to get drafted to an MLB team? Is it your dream to pitch or hit (or both like Shohei Ohtani) in the Major Leagues? Here are 6 steps to improve your odds drastically.
- “If you’re not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he’ll be ready to take your job.” – Brooks Robinson. The simple principle here is you must work more often and harder than anyone else. Think about it, kids in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, and other countries are putting in hours of work EVERY DAY. I have played in each one of those locations and those kids are indeed putting in more work than North American athletes do. There is a reason there are so many Dominican players in the MLB, especially when you compare the size of that country per capita to North America. Your competition is not just in your league, state, or even country.. your competition is global. And if you aren’t working harder than every one of those kids on a daily basis, they will take your spot and take your dreams. The response is straight forward. Put in work every day. If you are a pitcher, every day you can throw or do mechanical work. You can condition, work on speed and agility, strength train, work on mobility, flexibility, do arm care, work on balance, do research. As a position player, you can take live batting practice, hit off of a tee, take dry swings, do reactionary training, take ground balls, take fly ball, work on defensive footwork, strength train, condition, speed work, arm strength work.. You get it, there is so much than can be done every day. Put a daily plan in place. If you are not doing something every day to make yourself a better ball player and separate yourself from the others, you cannot expect to make it to the Major Leagues.
- “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110 percent all the time.” – Don Zimmer. Every time you practice, play, or train, you must give everything you have. Don’t let a day go by that you slack off. Push harder on your runs, have a plan and focus every swing you take, throw more and throw harder, take more ground balls with intent, be the first to the field and the last to leave. You need to go to bed every night and truthfully say to yourself that you gave everything today and made yourself better. Not only will those daily pushes turn you into a better athlete and ball player, scouts will see that and love that.
- “I’m not afraid to fail. I’m not afraid to fall over and make a mistake.” – Dustin Pedroia. Do not fear failure. Push so hard that you fail. Only then will you learn that your limits are much greater than you mentally believe. Only then will you know what you are truly capable of. Failure must become part of your game.
- “If a ballplayer is satisfied, he’s going to slip. You have to keep fighting to improve.” – Nellie Fox. Success can be a curse. Don’t let failure alone push you to work harder. When you have success, understand that the hard work got you there and the hard work will push you to be greater. Never slow down in your drive for improvement. When you give your Hall of Fame acceptance speech, that is when you can turn the gas off.
- “Nobody wanted me. Scouts told me to go to school, to forget about baseball. Coaches said ‘You’re never going to make it’.. you have to use that as fuel for motivation.” – Mike Piazza. When doubters, opposition, failure come your way, the biggest challenge is to stay positive and not quit. When you push through you not only prove to yourself that you can come back from negativity, but your brain develops a resilience required to play at the highest level.
- “Do more.” – Aaron Myette. North American players don’t do enough. They don’t take enough swings, ground balls, fly ball, throwing and pitching, physical training, mental training. Swing until your hands bleed, take ground balls and fly balls until your legs are shaking. Throw more off the mound, long toss more, work on your off-speed more. Train until you collapse. BEGIN mental training, as kids rarely even explore that. You get the picture. There is a reason Japan has the most World Baseball Classic wins. This is their work ethic daily. Japan will always be better than USA until the North American baseball player adopts this mindset.
