re: Close friend's kid got first recruiting letter

I received a letter from Mississippi State for football in the mid 80s when they were terrible. The letter I received had the most wonderful smelling perfume to my 17 year old mind. I went there for a visit and met a blue eyed blonde that was as charming as could be. I didnt get an offer......but those blue eyes and that full sweater would have been difficult to turn down. I cant imagine what those kids go through now.

Lefty 85 range will get you d1. 88-low 90s is draftable. Of course, your effectiveness, movement, and variety of pitches plays a major role.

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Sounds like just a generic letter

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This. The schools get the names/addresses from the tournament rosters, especially the major tournaments and for higher profile teams/programs, and they are basically camp invites, not "recruiting letters" in the technical sense (which, last I checked, couldn't start until a certain date at the beginning of Junior year). My youngest son, who's just finishing his freshman year in high school, got some letters before he entered his freshman year (likely from playing in a higher age group), which he thought was pretty cool so it does have an affect. My older son started getting letters as a sophomore but he didn't play in any national tournaments/show cases until after his freshman year.

Also of note, however, is that colleges are recruiting baseball players earlier. There's already a couple of freshmen players in my area who have committed to UCLA. My son's travel coach was recently talking about how the recruiting cycle for baseball is much earlier now due to the competition for elite players and the greater access coaches have to see players at younger ages.

[edit to add "not recruiting letters"]