Baseball Showcase Guide & Best Showcases to Attend

Baseball showcases are events designed to provide players with opportunities to showcase their skills and abilities in front of college coaches, recruiters, and scouts. These events aim to facilitate the recruiting process by bringing together talented baseball prospects and representatives from colleges and professional organizations.

Baseball showcases usually follow a structured format that includes a combination of drills, workouts, and gameplay. Here’s an overview of how they typically work:

1. Check-In and Registration: Players arrive at the showcase venue and complete the necessary registration process, which includes providing personal information and often creating or updating their player profile.
2. Warm-Up and Stretching: Participants engage in warm-up exercises and stretching routines to prepare their bodies for the physical demands of the showcase.
3. Pro-Style Workouts: Players go through a series of pro-style workouts, which may include the following components:
   1. 60-Yard Dash: Players run a timed 60-yard dash to demonstrate their speed and athleticism.
   2. Position-Specific Drills: Each position group (pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders) engages in drills specific to their roles. For example, pitchers may showcase their pitching mechanics and repertoire, catchers display their throwing and receiving skills, infielders demonstrate their fielding and throwing abilities, and outfielders exhibit their range and arm strength.
4. Batting Practice: Hitters take turns batting against live pitching or pitching machines, showcasing their swing mechanics, bat speed, and ability to make solid contact.
5. Scrimmages and Gameplay: In many showcases, there are opportunities for players to participate in scrimmages or actual gameplay. This allows them to showcase their skills in a game-like setting, providing evaluators with a better understanding of their overall performance and abilities.
6. Metrics and Data Collection: During the showcase, various metrics and data points are often collected to provide objective measurements of a player’s performance. This can include measurements like exit velocity, throwing velocity, pitch velocity, and more. These metrics, along with other observations, are typically recorded and made available to recruiters and scouts.
7. College Coaches and Scouts (Not Always): College coaches, recruiters, and scouts from various levels of baseball (college, professional, etc.) attend showcases to evaluate players and identify potential prospects for their programs or organizations. They observe the players’ performances, gather information, and make notes for further evaluation.
8. Player Profiles and Exposure: Showcases often involve the creation or updating of player profiles, which include personal information, videos, stats, and other relevant details. These profiles serve as a comprehensive resource for recruiters and scouts to assess a player’s skills and track their progress. Additionally, showcases provide players with increased exposure as their performances, videos, and stats are shared through various platforms, such as the showcase organizer’s website, social media channels, and scouting databases.

The value of a showcase depends on the individual athlete’s goals. Showcases can be a significant investment but they offer a unique opportunity to gain exposure and generate interest from college coaches. Not all showcases are created equal. The I-95 Showcase, for example is known to be more of a money-grab than college prospect camps.

Attending college baseball camps, particularly those hosted by Division I schools, can offer a glimpse into the level of competition you might face at the college level. However, it’s important to understand these camps often serve as a revenue source for colleges and their coaching staff, so their motives might be more financially driven than you’d expect.

• Create a great highlight video
• Regularly communicate with coaching staff
• Play the game hard
• Follow up with coaches
• Ball out

While some showcases are open to anyone willing to pay the registration fee, others are invite-only. Perfect Game showcases have both. However, the invite-only showcases typically provide players with more recruiting value. Here’s how to get invited to a PBR and Perfect Game showcase.

PBR showcases offer a platform for players to showcase their skills and gain exposure to college coaches and professional scouts. Like PG, they have both invite-only and public showcases.

Related: Perfect Game vs PBR

Smaller and lesser-known schools often host their high school prospect evaluation camps too. These schools will likely have less competition, and allow you to get on a more personal level with the coaching staff.

Helpful Content

• Best D3 Baseball Schools
• Small D1 Baseball Schools
• D1 Baseball Schools in New England
• NYC Baseball Schools

Participating in showcases with multiple colleges present is another way to gain exposure. These types of showcases are valuable because there will be various eyes on you.

There are several camps, showcases, and combines where multiple college coaches or pro scouts attend. Here are a few of the best showcases in the US:

1. Perfect Game “National” Showcases
2. PBR “Top Prospect Games”
3. PBR “State Games”

Full list of showcases on NCSA