I’m currently training for an Ironman, which means I spend a lot of time on long bike rides on my trainer. Sometimes I’ll throw on a movie during those rides. The other day I turned on Moneyball—a movie I hadn’t seen in a while—and it sparked a flood of thoughts.
Watching it now, with the knowledge I have about how teams truly value players and how data and analytics shape careers, it hit very differently. There’s a scene I’ll link at the bottom of this article where the head scout confronts Billy Beane and explains why he believes Billy is completely wrong in how he’s building his roster. Regardless of how anyone feels about it, this is now how rosters are built. The trickle-down effect is real.
Roster construction starts at the professional level, flows into college baseball, and now high school players are being evaluated through many of the same data-driven lenses. So the question becomes: how do you beat the system?
The answer is simple—but not easy. I’ve proven year after year, with real draft results, that I know how to do it. In this article, I’m going to share the framework I use to develop players toward specific metrics that dramatically increase their draft value.
Example 1: Jacob Wilson
When Jacob first started training with me, he was already a well-rounded player. The common narrative around him was that he needed more strength—more size, more weight, heavier lifting, more power. He was long and lanky, and everyone had an opinion.
Jacob came to me with nine months before the draft. I asked him what his goal was, and he said he wanted to be a first-round draft pick. At the time, he was projected as a top-100 pick—not quite a first-rounder.
When I looked at the data points in his game, it became clear that the easiest needle to move wasn’t strength. His power had already “checked the box.” He had just come off a season at GCU with 12 home runs, which told me he had enough juice to satisfy evaluators.
What stood out instead was his home-to-first time. He was running a 4.4, which doesn’t qualify as fast at the professional level. If we followed the advice everyone else was giving—adding size and mass—we likely would’ve slowed that number down even more. Worse, it could have disrupted what he did best: elite bat-to-ball skills, high batting average, and consistent contact.
Jacob’s defensive metrics were exceptional. His arm strength across the infield was elite. All of that told me the missing piece keeping him from being viewed as a true five-tool player—what most first-rounders are—was speed.
So we made speed and lateral quickness the hyper-focus. Jacob eventually ran a 4.1 home-to-first. That single shift changed how he was viewed.
Jacob dominated across the board, but the lesson here is critical: in baseball, one weak metric can negate five strong ones and lower your value. Teams will use that one hole to justify passing on you.
Jacob ultimately became the 6th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, validating that eliminating a single limiting metric can completely change how a player is valued at the highest level.
In Moneyball, the goal was to find undervalued metrics that helped teams win. In the draft process, the goal is different—you need no holes in your armor. You must be well-rounded, but more importantly, you must identify the single metric that will most dramatically increase your value and attack it relentlessly.
I’ve done this with countless players.
Example 2: Bryce Rainer
Bryce came into the summer before his senior year not performing the way he wanted to. His draft projections were slipping.
He began training with me about ten months before the draft. After evaluating his game, the biggest limiting factor was clear: strength.
The velocity he was facing was too much for him to consistently handle in the box, and on the mound, his ability to maintain velocity came down to durability, size, and strength. We put him on a very specific, intentional program.
Bryce gained 12 pounds, got significantly stronger, improved his swing speed, and increased his throwing velocity. That strength foundation allowed him to dominate high velocity—something that had previously exposed him. That transformation culminated in Bryce becoming the 11th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers, a massive jump from where he was projected less than a year earlier.
Example 3: Boston Bateman
Boston also came to me about ten months before the draft. At the time, he was projected as the 188th-ranked prospect, with an estimated draft value of $285,000.
He had size, strength, and an unbelievable work ethic. The concerns centered around his ability to repeat his delivery due to his size, along with questions about his command and velocity. That summer, heading into his senior year, he was walking too many hitters and sitting 89–92 mph—far below his potential.
We turned over every stone, and the metrics I wanted him focused on were velocity and strikeouts. If he threw hard enough and struck out enough hitters, the walks would matter far less.
At the high school level, the best way to rack up strikeouts is simple: get strike one with a breaking ball, then overpower hitters. Boston set the California strikeout record. His strikeout-to-walk ratio improved enough that the walks no longer defined him.
He also held consistent velocity at 94–96 mph, touching 97. He followed the plan with extreme discipline and worked harder than anyone I’ve coached.
Boston was selected 52nd overall by the Padres in the 2024 MLB Draft and signed for $2.5 million—nearly ten times his projected value in just ten months.
Example 4: Quentin Young
Quentin is one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever worked with. His biggest flaw was swing-and-miss. Like Boston, his strikeout numbers were too high.
Our approach was to balance strikeouts with home runs. The swing-and-miss issues and lack of power output weren’t due to a lack of strength—they came from poor stability and inefficient energy transfer in the box.
We attacked this in the weight room, building stability that translated directly to his hitting. We also developed a very specific plan and mindset at the plate based on pitch location.
At Quentin’s level, high school hitters might only get 28 games in a season, and many at-bats involve being pitched around. That means you must capitalize almost every time you get a pitch to hit.
Every day in batting practice, we trained pitch locations and outcomes:
- Up and away: double to right-center
- Up and in: line drive to center
- Down and away: automatic take
- Down and in: home run
Quentin hit one home run his junior year. After committing to this process, he hit 14 home runs his senior year and became the 54th overall pick by the Twins.
The Bigger Picture
All of these examples come from the same mindset: certain metrics create value. If you can identify the metrics that matter most for you and train directly toward them, you dramatically increase your chances of being paid what you’re worth.
Too many players just work hard and hope they get rewarded. Hope is not a strategy.
We can control this process. We can train toward the metrics that move the needle. Every team now thinks the way Billy Beane did twenty years ago—he was just early. The game has caught up.
The players who understand this—and act on it—separate themselves.
Who This Is For
This article is for:
- High school baseball players with professional or Division I aspirations
- Parents who want clarity on how players are actually evaluated
- Players stuck in the “I work hard but nothing’s changing” phase
- Athletes who are tired of generic training and want a real strategy
- Anyone who wants to understand how draft value is created—not guessed
If you’re training hard but don’t know which metrics matter most for you, this is for you.
Call to Action
If you want to stop guessing and start training with intention, this is exactly what we do.
I work with a small number of athletes each year to:
- Identify the metrics that most impact their value
- Eliminate the one or two holes holding them back
- Build a targeted development plan that aligns with how teams evaluate talent
If you’re serious about maximizing your potential and putting yourself in the best possible position to get drafted, recruited, or paid what you’re worth, reach out.
Work hard—but more importantly, work smart.
