This week in coach’s corner we receive baseball insight from The Ohio State University’s head coach, Greg Beals. Coach Beals previously had successfull coaching stints at Ball State and Kent State before taking over the Buckeye’s program last year. He was also a very good ballplayer himself, spending 3 years playing in the Mets’ organization before making the move to college coaching.
We appreciate coach Beals stopping by for this insightful look into, the best way for HS prospects to get his attention, hardest adjustment for freshman, how players can stand out when being recruited, how he’d describe a winning ballplayer, is Nick Swisher as cool as he seems and much more.
What advice would you give to high school baseball players looking to play at Ohio State University?
Well the first thing we need to figure out information such as where the kids are playing in high school or in tournaments so that we can make evaluations. The players we make offers to and give scholarships to are the ones we have gone out and seen play.
What is the best way for these kids to get into contact with you?
E-mail is the best way to reach the coaching staff and what really helps us is to have video footage to look at because for the most part the only thing an email is writing.
What are some good ways in which players can focus on showing their skills in such a video?
For the hitters what I look for is taking swings in the cages and doing drills while also showing us different defensive plays so we can see them from both sides of the ball. For pitchers we would like to see different angels of them throwing from the side and an angle of them throwing from behind home plate so that we can see the ball flight.
What are three things that high school players can do to stand out when you’re recruiting them?
The first thing they can do is have good grades because a good academic track record makes you feel a whole lot better as a coach.
Second thing I would like to see is a player that has a lot of energy and enthusiasm about what he’s doing because a love for the game can go a long way.
The third thing a kid can do is for us to see their competitiveness and a team player and I choose these three things because these are the areas that they have total control over. Of course we want to see how a player runs and hits, but sometimes you can go watch a player and there won’t be a ball hit his way the whole game.
You have changed the philosophy at Ohio State about quality at bats and how you look at batting average. Can you touch base a little about that?
The philosophy behind that is I’m trying to motivate the way our players to focus on the things that they can control and things that they can grasp a hold of. Normally players get motivated from the scoreboard or get motivated from their batting average, but I want to motivate and talk to them about things that are a little deeper than that. We keep track of quality at bats and hard hit average and have a point system that’s based off of, getting on base, moving runners, and driving runners in. That way the players have something to learn from even if they don’t get a hit because this is a game of failure and we as coaches need to find different ways of giving them feedback that is process driven and not just result driven.
What’s the hardest adjustment for freshman coming into your program?
Freshman need to learn to grind it out because they’re eighteen or nineteen and there are some twenty-two year olds in the locker room and in the games. It’s different in college because they aren’t going to hit .500 like they might have in high school.
How would you define a winning ballplayer?
That’s a great question. A winning ballplayer is a guy that has energy, confidence, and one whose game is very well prepared.
What separates the good from the great baseball players?
The difference between the good and the great baseball players are the guys that learn how to deal with the game and the ins and outs and ups and downs. The ones who can go 0-4 and it doesn’t ruin their confidence and doesn’t change who they are as a player while also doing the little things like playing good defense, throw to the right base, and sacrifice well.
Is Nick Swisher as cool to hang out with as he looks to be on tv?
What an amazing and down to earth person Nick is. He might come off as arrogant or cocky sometimes and that’s just him enjoying life. Also he helped out with our new Astroturf, which was amazing of him to do for us.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring ballplayers that want to take their game to the next level?
Practice, practice, practice. Players need to give themselves every opportunity and keep pounding on the door till one opens up and gives you the opportunity that you’ve been looking for.
