Taylor Valentine is currently an assistant coach at Centre College in Kentucky. He has coached at now a division three level. He has coached NAIA, Division One College Baseball, and USA Baseball. In this episode, we discuss some similarities and differences between the various levels. He talks about what he is doing with his play from a development standpoint at Centre College and what he is looking for in recruiting. Taylor also shares about USA Baseball and how they run things at USA Baseball.
SHOW NOTES:
[2:00] What would you say the most significant difference is in terms of the type of player that
Are you recruiting in NAIA and Division 3?
[3:21] Would you say that the power tool usually separates players more than anything else?
[3:50] What would you say about your guys' philosophy on the transfer portal?
[4:42] Are most of the guys in the transfer portal Division 1 players, or do you also find a lot of D2 and D3 kids in there?
[6:15] What's your time frame for recruiting high school players?
[6:56] How many players are you looking to bring in per class?
[7:27] Could you share the velocity, ranges, and positions a pitcher is looking for?
[12:11] how do you help them prepare for that from a development standpoint?
[12:33] Are you okay with players swinging at the breaking ball first pitch?
[13:01] I guess your coaching philosophy is more so be aggressive. Is that your
Guys hitting philosophy, or is it even more indepth than that?
[14:19] How do you help them understand what part of the zone they're really good at?
[16:57] Do the players understand those angles?
[18:35] What does game planning look like for you during the season?
[20:36] Are you coaching third base during the game?
[21:40] If you could go back and tell yourself one thing, what would you tell yourself the first game you ever coached their base?
[22:22] Is it hard to be the hitting coach and coach third base?
[23:41] How do you guys communicate with the players on where they stand throughout this season?
[27:25] What are your thoughts on pinchhitting?
[29:16] Do you give the guys who are pinchhitting any specific advice?
[30:50] During the summertime, what are your guys usually doing? Do you all go play somewhere?
[33:54] Would you say most players want to go play?
[34:48] What is your schedule during the summertime?
[36:36] What is it like being a part of USA Baseball?
[39:09] What does the plan look like for you next year? Do they tell you where they want you to be for the following year?
[40:15] Is there anything else you want to say to those listening or watching this?
Follow Taylor
Twitter: tvalentine_18
LinkedIn: Taylor Valentine
Listen on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/67vk...
si=05b21cbe91d74df7
Listen on Website: https://patrickjonesbaseball.com/recr...