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TRod9186 (Tim Rodriquez)

MLB Tryouts

Some of my teammates and I from CSU East Bay went to the MLB Tryouts. We got there about a half hour before the time for sign ups. Then we stood around in line with about 75 other pitchers waiting to throw 5 pitches against a gun. Pitchers got two rotations, but the second rotation required you to pass the first test to make the cut. I hit 87 mph and wasn't even loose yet, but I was able to hit the target for strikes. I think that is why I made it to the second rotation. Some of the pitchers didn't make that cut and were dismissed from the group. After that the group was about half the number of pitchers and we went over to the other field to play in simulated game situations. The pitchers stood around talking while we waited for the OF evals to finish. Then they did the INF evals and we waited for them to finish their evals. Then we waited some more while the catchers finished their POP time evals. After that we where told that the position players would rotate from offense to defense in 8 player rotations. The pitchers would be called to pitch in whatever situation the last pitcher left the mound either with runners on base and a count. Later I was told that they were switching me from the front of the rotations to the last rotation of pitchers.

My friends that I rode up to Folsom with waited for me to finish my rotation even though they had pitched much earlier during the day. So I spent the majority of my day watching and talking with a lot of guys that I either played with or against over my career of 17 years in baseball. That kind of killed the whole monotony of the day getting to talk with all the guys you have played with or against starting with LL, Senior Ball and Babe Ruth, Travel Squads, Showcases, Tournaments, High School baseball, Junior College players from D1, D2, D3, NCAA, or NAIA baseball. I played on teams, or with guys in all those categories, and so I know a lot of coaches and players. Actually by the time it came to my rotation I had run out of things to do except repeatedly throwing to keep my arm loose. Spent some time with a Japanese player who had come all the way from Japan to try out. spent a lot of time talking about the differences in Japanese baseball, equipment, and players over there in comparison with here in the USA. He was pretty good pitcher as I watched him "K" two batters.

When it was my turn the wind had kicked up and it was blowing about 10-12 mph right at me as I took the mound.my arm was so tight I couldn't get it loose. So I can't state for certain how hard I was throwing or whether the radar gun was actually reading the velocity correctly, but someone told me I hit 89 mph with a couple of FB's and 83 with my slider. Never got to throw my change up since I only got to pitch to one batter. But I suspect if the wind wasn't blowing against the ball my speed might have been higher in the mph. Well that was the MLB tryout...not real tough, but I found it both boring, while having to wait so long between turns, and fun, getting to see some old teammates. . So after waiting all day to throw 5 pitches to one batter, would I do it over again? Well I hear that the team tryouts are more selective.

TRod9186 is Tim Rodriquez, a Senior student/athlete at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, California. To email: Click Here

Views: 170

Tags: MLB, Tryout

Tiffany Brooks Comment by Tiffany Brooks on June 10, 2009 at 12:05pm
Hey Tim,

Thanks for the inside look. That's fun!

What did the infielders do for their evals? How did they evaluate hitting? Just curious!

Thanks,

Tiff
Kyle Grucci Comment by Kyle Grucci on June 10, 2009 at 3:08pm
Thanks for sharing your experience, Tim! It must have been tough to stay loose all day. I'd be curious to hear about the hitter evaluations as well. Do you know if they signed anyone from the tryout?
Edwin Comment by Edwin on June 10, 2009 at 3:52pm
Good Luck and thanks for giving everyone a "realistic" picture of how things really are!
HENRY MUNEVAR Comment by HENRY MUNEVAR on June 10, 2009 at 4:35pm
WWW.HENRYSBASEBALLCLUB.COM 781 891 0621 WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY THE PRO INDEPENDENT LEAGUES????
MLPO.ORG Comment by MLPO.ORG on June 11, 2009 at 11:08am
Keep believing in yourself... Your opportunity will be before you soon - sieze it!
TRod9186 (Tim Rodriquez) Comment by TRod9186 (Tim Rodriquez) on June 29, 2009 at 12:22pm
To Tiff and Kyle:
The INF were evaluated by two scouts. One who had a clip board and a stop watch. and the other who was hitting the ball to the INF. The INF would field the ball and throw it to 1B which then was thrown to the catcher. I can't say for certain how the scouts were evaluating each INF but some didn't get the ball to 1B in less than 4.1 sec which is the time the scouts look for in a runner in the MLB after the ball is hit..I think that was what the scout with the stop watch was doing. Anyway after they had done the evals only about half of the INF made the cut.

Edwin thanks for your eval of my blog I'm sure I probably left a lot out.

MLPO hope your words come true for me.

Kael I can't give you an answer about how you could get to tryout with the MLB other than what is posted. I think you're going to have to travel to one of the sites in the Northeast.

Henry thanks for the invite.
HENRY MUNEVAR Comment by HENRY MUNEVAR on June 30, 2009 at 1:15am
BASEBALL=TRAVEL=$$$$$$=FAME=THE COVER OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. THE RED SOX PLAYERS HAD TO GO TO JAPAN A 18 HR TRIP BY PLANE. YOU MUST PACK A BAD AND TRAVEL. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!!! THAT IS IN A MOVIE, NOT IN REAL LIFE. SOME ONE MAKES THE CALL FOR YOU. YOU GO TO A STADIUM, WORK OUT WITH THE TEAM OR BEFORE THE TEAM GETS TO PRACTICE AND THAT IS THE TIME TO SHOW YOUR SKILLS. IF THEY LIKE YOU THEY HAVE A 6 TO 10 PAGE CONTRACT, A UNIFORM AND ABOUT $700.00 PER MONTH. THERE IS NO GREY AREA. THEY SIGN YOU OR THEY SEND YOU HOME. WWW.HENRYSBASEBALLCLUB.COM 781 891 0621 ONCE YOU ARE SIGNED DO EXACTLY AS THEY SAY. IF THE BUS LEAVES AT 2 PM. THEN YOU ARE THERE AT 1 PM. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES. YOU AND YOUR EXCUSES WILL BE ON THE NEXT GREYHOUND BUS BACK TO YOUR HOME TOWN. IN THE MINORS THERE ARE NO EXCUSES, THERE ARE 1000 PLAYERS READY TO TAKE YOURT SPOT. YOU WILL BE COSIDERED A TRESSPASER IF YOU RETURN TO THE CLUB THAT YOU ARE RELEASED FROM.

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