Latest / Chasing Baseball Dreams / Episode #5: Justin Cryer | Don't Make It Bigger Than It Is

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Episode #5: Justin Cryer | Don't Make It Bigger Than It Is · Chasing Baseball Dreams

• Bobby Minor: And welcome to Chasing Baseball Dreams. Today I'm joined by I can honestly say this, Justin, one of one of the coolest people that I've met since I've began this journey as Chasing Baseball Dreams. But I'm joined by Mr. Justin Cryer from Maruchi Sports. He works in their MLB division, working directly with MLB players. And Justin, I'm not no I'm not gonna do this justice, but first of all, you grew up in a in a coach's household, your dad's high school baseball coach thirty plus years, your mom's high school coach. I think you said maybe your brothers were coaches. So you grew up in a house full of coaches, played at at Ole Miss, drafted 29th round, a couple years in in in the low minors, and got into coaching yourself yourself. You've also been a college coach, and then you've been, you know, here kind of doing what you're doing for several years. You're also a scout with the Astros. there's a lot there, man. But I want to again just say thank you so much, man, for stopping by. Justin Cryer: No man, I I appreciate it. definitely probably not the coolest guy you've met. I I would disagree with that. But I Bobby Minor: No, you're one of You're one of Justin Cryer: I appreciate that. yeah, I've been super fortunate. Career in baseball was very fortunate to be raised by by the family I was. baseball football coaches, and then have been extremely lucky to have a career that has led me to a real job, as I should say, still talking about baseball. And now probably the most important job I have is is coaching my 11-year-old son, and then we'll probably dabble in some. eight-year-old softball this fall. So I am that that's probably my most important one, but appreciate you having me on here and and it's been nice getting to know you and and follow your channel and it's been it's awesome looking forward to it. Bobby Minor: All right. So before we started recording, we were talking about at Ole Miss, you're saying you definitely weren't, you know, weren't the best player on the team. And y'all went to super regionals three years in a row, but you didn't literally did not throw an inning for two years. So that's a part of the journey. A lot of I think a lot of parents they get so hung up on D winner bust and the name on the front of the jersey, they don't realize, well, my son may go there and he may may not touch the field at all. So let me ask you this do you looking back, are you Are you happy with the path that you chose or do you wish that maybe you would have went to a mid major D one or you know or a solid D two, NAIA JUCO, any of those things to where you like you're actually getting innings? Justin Cryer: no, it's an awesome question. I I would like to think my my path has led me here. so I'm very appreciative and would I change anything? No. if I could go back and know the path and and obviously, you know, as a player and you know, scout and everything else, was it the smartest decision? You know, in twenty twenty six I would say absolutely not. I did I did sign with a junior college LSU unis, one of the you know Bobby Minor: yeah. Justin Cryer: powerhouse. From say Louisiana. And then felt like I was ready to go, you know, hop the SEC and literally sat the bench for over two seasons. Freshman year, red shirted, you know, we were really good. Next year wasn't gonna, you know, crack the rotation at all, but end up having Tommy John anyway. So that was another year out and didn't actually throw an inning until about midway. through my actual third year in college. So Bobby Minor: Well. Justin Cryer: a lot of time on the bench, a lot of practices, a lot of bullpins, a lot of, you know, believing in myself. and and looking back on it, there's several days that I for sure thought, like, I don't know if I'm in the right spot. but unbelievable coaching staff. I like to think how I was raised, you know, my dad was always like, No son, you're like, you're there and like we're staying there. You know, so kind of gutted it out, toughed it out a little bit, and you know, like I said, definitely wasn't the most talented player by any means. And I l I literally toughed it out, you know, and got my chance and, you know, it was just okay, to be honest with you. Was just okay. And then ended up, you know, kind of getting better and gradually became a you know the seventh or eighth man on a really good pitching rotation that was full of Lance Lynn and Drew Pomerance and Eric Fowler and Mark Coleman, you know, these these names that have had careers. so I pitched on the right team and you know worked hard enough to to keep giving a chance to get on the mound. Bobby Minor: Okay, good stuff. Do you think again this is all, you know, hindsight. Hindsight is twenty twenty. If you would have been playing in the landscape that that we see today with the portal and the transfer, you know, all that stuff, do you think you still would have stuck it out there or do you think that may have led you in a different direction? Justin Cryer: No, I I mean It's funny, I I have a brother who played at South Eastern. He was an all-American at Southeastern. so mid-major essentially school, especially ten years ago, now they've had, you know, been to several regionals. But I I say that because I think we would have been flip-flopped, right? I went to Ole Miss and didn't, you know, didn't contribute. So, you know, the landscape how it is, like likely would have been in the portal or had to figure out a place to go play. and he likely could have been in the portal to switch places with me. you know hit 320 with some homers at in a at a smaller school essentially so no i i don't i don't think that you know the landscape now i would have been i would have been a goner and trying to find a place to get innings just just knowing that it's you know it's really hard to find innings and at bats now and especially you know even even more I feel like the past four or five years it gets tougher and tougher and tougher to find those innings and at bats Bobby Minor: Absolutely. So I guess talk a little bit about you spent six drafts scouting for the Astros. Now, before I get into my question, can you explain like just simple simple explanation of the different levels of scouts? Because I think scout is a term that's kind of used loosely and you know you have associate scouts and and d things like that. So can you kind of give people maybe like a thirty second explanation of scouting scouting? Justin Cryer: Yeah, that's that's a that's awesome. yeah, I I hired as an associate scout for the Marlins, the Mark Willoughby. I lived in Louisiana. So Associate Scout, you know, works under an area scout, if you will. That area scout is the probably the most when someone said he's a scout, they're likely an area scout. So they would have a state or a territory. so an associate scout would may go, you know, see a guy or two that he couldn't get to, or maybe kind of a check-up on someone, and then area scout. is where I spent my time at and I covered Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, part of Tennessee and part of the panhandle. Would go, you know, watch college, high school, summer ball, any of that in our area, then report that to my cross-checker who would, you know, those are that's what a checker or cross checker is the next kind of step up from an area scout. And he would cover maybe three area scouts, you know, four area scouts. Depending on the organization. And then he reports up to a national cross checker who kind of you know maybe splits the country in half, or you know, whether they quarter it off, there's sometimes two nationals, four nationals, whatever. and then that goes up to the scouting director, you know. So the majority of people are area scouts, a team has anywhere from you know 15, 20. I think it's it's changed over the years, but we had a really awesome group in in Houston and and was on a great run with some. Awesome people in baseball. Now I've gone on to be GMs and assistant GMs, Mike Goliath, Sig Maydal, Gavin Dickey, Chris Gross, like those guys are have big roles at some big, you know, big organizations and scouting was a huge part of my life. I I love it. I still feel like I do it. all the way down to ten year olds to you know, just I like to go to the ballpark and you know, I have a great group of friends and then a bunch of group techs with scouts and college coaches and And I enjoy that part of evaluating and and you know I think the biggest thing with scouts, and this might be something you you know could share is that like scouts have to be convicted, right? Like I think a lot of people can just see the radar gun, look at the stopwatch, see the stats, but there's a conviction part of scouting of do you think he can play? What's his personality? That those are the things that I I like to, you know, pride myself when I was doing it, develop that relationship. And that's really the ultimate area scouts job, right? Know your area better than anyone else and watch as many players as as you think can contribute to that organization. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good. So are you mentioned at all in the book Astro Ball? Justin Cryer: I don't know. I don't know if my name's in there, but it's a g Bobby Minor: I've read it a couple of times. I as I I actually I just enjoyed the whole the story of the journey and how it all came together. So I'm gonna have to go read it again now and see are you in the book at all? So okay, so like I said, you spent six seasons scouting for the for the Astros, you're in the draft room, you're not, you know, so I mean a pretty major role. You graded guys like Bregman and Tucker. So you know exactly what scouts are looking for. You knew them before everybody else knew about them. so here's a here's something for parents. What are parents paying showcases and ranking sites for that a scout in the draft room doesn't care about at all? Justin Cryer: awesome question. You know, I I think the easy thing points to You know, all the metrics and the rankings from other sites, you know, not picking on perfect game or PBR or any of those organizations are they're great information collectors. and again, it's obviously been on fast forward of the you know the growth in in baseball and the organizations that guys can go to, but as far as what scouts don't, you know, doesn't really care or or the industry and the scouting part, Major League Baseball, doesn't really care what grade you have on perfect. Game doesn't really care what a perfect game scout writes about you. The information's accurate and you hope it is. But as far as any of the rankings, or if you're the eighth best pitcher in the state of California, none of that registers inside those draft rooms. It's very industry-specific to that team, right? And how they have you graded. But those sites are or anything you pay for in that. I think it's great to have information and you know availability for people to look at, but as far as a ranking or anything in that sense, I I don't think that's even registers on the radar at all. Bobby Minor: So, okay, Justin, so are you saying that you're not in the draft room and on your draft board you got two players and one scout saying, Hey, I think we should draft this kid next and you're not in there saying, Well, no, we should draft this kid next because he's ranked number twelve in California. That other kid's only ranked number thirty two. That's not happening. Justin Cryer: That doesn't happen. That does not happen. not at all actually. And that goes all the way down to this kid hit three twenty with fifteen and he hit two seventy with eight. it's an evaluation thing inside the room that a group of of scouts put together and developed their own, you know. profile any of those things you think comparison or this kid looks like this player at this age. so the the the perfect game ranking it's not just perfect game, right? We're not picking on them. That's not Bobby Minor: Right, right. Justin Cryer: what we're doing. But none of that ever happens in the you know, at least in the six rooms I've been in with Houston, none of that ever remotely came up. Bobby Minor: Do you see this is this is just kind of a baseball question in general? Because, you know, like I referenced the book Astro Ball, which, you know, if you read the story of the Astros, how they went from being like the worst team in in the major leagues like three years in a row to being a World Series champion back when Sports Illustrated predicted it. you know, a lot of that was was data driven, you know, obviously money ball and things like that. So I saw you saw this big push in Major League Baseball where it went from didn't matter that you've been a scout for forty years and what your eyes told you. This is what the numbers tell us. So everybody kind of just went off the deep end that way. Are you seeing a shift more now back? Cause like I see like bunning, for example, where, you know, the data used to say don't bunt, it doesn't matter, whatever. I see teams bunning sometimes multiple times in in one inning now. So you're seeing some things I feel like, you know, you know, the three true outcomes, you know, home run, a walker, strikeout, kind of get away from stuff like that, or guys that that hit a bunch of bombs but they're swinging miss is like like off the charts. Those guys aren't getting the opportunity. So I mean are you seeing the same thing? Justin Cryer: No, I I I think more more than ever in in the sense of call it the current era of how baseball's adopted the data driven model is starting to see a little bit of a pendulum swing back to you know some of the old school baseball terms if you will or scenarios or situations. Do I think that data or technology are ever going to go away in the game? Absolutely not. It's here it's an out you know amazing tool, outstanding tool, anything you want to say. But I I do think and you know credit to the Astros and and several other organizations even that we work with today. I I think the best organizations have a feel of baseball, you know, call it old school baseball thought process mixed with some type of new school slash technology and the ability to merge those two together is why I think Houston was was awesome to be a part of. I was very fortunate to see two sides kind of collide and us work together. because in our draft room we had a ton of guys who you know raised my hand old school baseball, didn't really know anything about numbers, came from a an era of baseball that I was like, you bun in this situation, you don't want to strike out here. so you take that you know those tools of numbers and mix them with the baseball mindset, and I think that's where you're seeing a little bit more come back. I I personally felt that in the draft this year that was. a ton of guys who may thought they you know get drafted higher than they were but there was some swing and miss concerns or some ball throwing concerns and I think teams are starting to you know swing back a little bit to the you know the value of how to play how to get on base not put free guys on because the game's hard right pitching's incredible hitters are better than ever so I I do think that it's it's it's swinging back a little bit to the tradition Baseball thought, but how do you mix the analytics and numbers in there? Is what's making some teams great, you know. Bobby Minor: Okay. That's good stuff. That's good stuff. So I know as a dad, like you said, like you fought travel ball for your own son. Okay. then something changed your mind. So kind of walk me through like what made you kind of dig in against it and then what kind of flipped the script for you because like most dads never question it. Like parents think that no, we have to get our son in travel ball, you know, when he's seven or eight. If not, he's gonna fall behind. So obviously you, you've been in the game at the highest levels. You weren't like, I have to get my son in travel ball as as soon as possible. So yeah, like what why are you kinda digging in against it and then what kind of changed for you? Justin Cryer: Yeah, I have a current he just turned eleven, so We as a family and also me coming from you know my fortunate path up to the point we started you know started T-ball and I I think where it kind of came at least to start with me is that the game of baseball is full of comparison, right? And and and in life in general. But right away is like I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the South where baseball's you know played year-round, arguably. And a lot of people were just, you know, they got we have a three-year-old, a four-year-old league in Baton Rouge. I elected not to do any of that. And we just practiced and we just played and I let I let my son drive how much I thought he was interested. I wanted him to be a, you know, the best baseball player he could ever be at five. but I kind of went on his path. He has loved it from the start. I've never one time all the way to, you know, today, have never pushed him to a point where I made him do something. So we started this. and I think just my seeing the the machine, the industry of how many these parents chase so much of it. And it's a long journey. So my thought was if at some point he's going to be a good enough player to be on the circuit, if you will, it's like I don't want to start that until I absolutely feel like I need to. so we played rec local T ball, five-year-old, six-year-old. We played in the church league at seven year old that was co-ed half coach pitch, half T ball. and he was one of the better players because he cared and I cared about it. And and I fought it. I was like man I'm not doing travel ball these people are spending their whole weekends there and even the guys at work and my friends are like just wait you know he's love he loves it. You love it. So, my my against it was some of it was time, some of it was that what difference does it make if he's playing a tournament at 7U or if we're practicing more than others and getting a few at-bats with his friends. the term have fun gets thrown out a lot. I think that's completely relative to the type of kid you have. so we went at it of like I I fought the comparison model where all my friends were over here playing six. Tournaments traveling a little bit, and then we were just hanging out at the church league for a little while or the rec. And then realized at 8U it was time to get out of a local league, and he loved it and he wanted to practice more and wanted to do it. And then 8U is our first, you know, I like to say first real tournament that we focused on getting involved in the beast, right? The machine. and and starting it and I think where where so many people get it is like it's just a comparison right it's it's a pure comparison thing and I actually heard heard you say this Nolan Kane's one my really good friends and Bobby Minor: okay. Justin Cryer: it's the comparison to the compete thing is what we focus Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: on you know and that that eats a lot of people up and it gets people started earlier than they should and I don't think there's a problem with starting at six you it's If your kid is ready for it and can handle it and loves it. If I re rewound the clock, my little man would be fully ready and and ready to do it and wanted to do it. but I didn't think he was at the time. If I knew that, I just I didn't have to push him and now we fast forward and he's completely enthralled with it, loves it, don't have to push him or force him. And I like to think that was because we we waited until I all he was ready to do that. Bobby Minor: So he's not behind all of those players that started playing travel ball when they were seven. Justin Cryer: No, and and you know, I think we all can sit here and say we don't know who's gonna be ahead or behind at ten and eleven, but I will tell Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: you that if we're if we're gauging it on you know What he's been fortunate enough to work hard enough to earn and get to. He's played in the PGI, he's played in the perfect game all state, he's played in some of the biggest tournaments in the country, and we didn't pick a travel ball tournament up till we were eight, you know? so it's he's not behind. And I think that anyone who feels like they are is probably needs to look at themselves and say, You're not gonna get behind if you work hard enough. Bobby Minor: So though thank you for sharing that. So okay, something that I said, you can tell me, Bobby, yeah, you're spot on, or Bobby, no, you're so far off base. So like I've I've said now and I I get it, in some areas, rec baseball, little league baseball is just it's just not good. And so you don't really don't have an option other than getting into travel ball early. But you know, let's say you have a player, you know, a player that's seven or eight. That's playing in a good little league. He's getting good reps. He's having fun. He's falling in love with the game. He doesn't start playing travel till he's eleven or twelve. Do you think he's gonna be but by the time he's fourteen, do you think he's gonna be behind those guys that started training playing travel ball at eight years old, playing eighty games a year? Or if he's a guy and he keeps working and keeps loving it, by the time they're fourteen, by the time they get to the big field, you know, swinging the drop threes, it's all, you know, it all comes out in the wash. Justin Cryer: I I I think it all comes out in the wash at fourteen and fifteen. Where where I think the The game has gotten faster, in my opinion, of the training's better, the mechanics are better, the numbers are better, there's more data and training accessibility at a younger age. So where where I like to think and and how we go about it on ours is I would rather practice a hundred times than play, you know, I'd rather practice a hundred times and play fifty games than play a hundred games and practice fifty. times and I think if you you know not that that's perfect or the right model but I I think if you went about it that way you have a better chance of at 14 when the field gets leveled off for everyone the puberty starts evening out some that if you've done that then you'll be prepared even if you've been playing in the local little league if you will or you you haven't you haven't been able to go to these big travel ball tournaments and play in hundreds of games if you You get your reps, good reps, and practice, play enough to understand situations, and you love it that when the field evens out, I think that's when it, you know, we kind of see what we have. And in the scouting world, it's like, yeah, they're cool. Even my little man, he's five foot four, five's five, and he's eleven, he's a little bit bigger than the field right now. So he's going to have success based on physicality. And I think we'll check back in when he's 14, but in the in the middle of that or in the waiting it's good reps a ton of practice and a ton of preparation to be ready for that big field when it hits there yeah Bobby Minor: So you already have you have a little Altuve in your house right now. Justin Cryer: I don't know yeah he's he's tall yeah he's tall Bobby Minor: Yeah. that's really good stuff. And I I think and I know you've said this before, like, you know, kid can play eighty games in the summer but not tell you one thing that he worked on last week. Do you think this is my theory, I like it's just with everything, like with social media, it's all about the highlights. And I think for coaches, it's it's it's a lot more fun, I think for them to to go out and play a ton of games. versus all the the tediousness of like, you know, we're gonna practice three times this week and we're not gonna play in a tournament for two weeks. You know, like it just it gets boring and people don't like boring. They want the exciting. They want to be at tournaments. They want to think that they're doing something that matters. And I also think there are a lot of guys that are coaching baseball that really don't know how to coach. And so if I you know I I'm I don't have the ability to really instruct these players and fully develop them. So we're just gonna play a bunch of games 'cause I can make out a lineup card. You know, I mean what do you think about that? Justin Cryer: No, I mean it's it's where we are, right? you just it's not to pick on it, but it's allowed anyone and everyone to coach. Probably not just in baseball, I would imagine it's like that in other places. Just that's what we're into, right? So yeah, I mean that the it it hurts my heart sometimes to to go to some fields and see the lack of coaching. and also close to me is that you know, my dad's a high school football coach right now, he's been a coach forever. One of you know, some of our closest friends here coach in high school, and to know that the kids and you know, I'm close to the 10 and 11 year olds, the lack of coaching they're getting, to know that they're gonna have to go make a high school baseball team one day is like it's not matching up, right? It's not lining up. And the easy way is because, well, we can all make a lineup card. Me and you can go make a lineup card out today, whether we know anything about baseball or not. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: You know, kudos to those guys who are volunteering their time. It's not easy. We know that. But I think the the lineup and play, you you know, thousand games is starting to show up in college baseball and professional baseball. And and I I I'll share with you I went, you know, I'm fortunate enough to go to spring training each year. And there was one team this year that said, man, it's I we're disappointed in some of the kids that we're drafting that they don't know how to practice, they don't know how to play, and they don't understand the game like they felt like they used to, right? So it's kind of like a call out of like they're used to rolling the balls out There playing 120 games a year, not getting coached, not knowing how to practice. so much of this, you know, baseball now is all individual based. Like everyone's got their own hitting coach and their own Bobby Minor: Mm-hmm. Justin Cryer: pitching coach, and you know, the just pick any team. The the Astros draft you, and then you gotta learn how to practice again, right? You gotta learn how to Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: you have to learn how to be on a team, you have to learn how to sit the bench. You know, I think that's the you know, this is passionate for me. I'm sure you can tell right away. Like it's Bobby Minor: yeah. Justin Cryer: it's it's hard because you know even even my son he's doesn't sit the bench, right? We have 11 players and we rotate them all. The most they sit the bench is one inning apiece, right? Because we're trying to make everyone happy and we should because they they they need to play and and all those things. But if you fast forward five years and he goes to Dutchtown High School, he's gonna sit the bench as a freshman. Like you know, barring something doesn't happen. And that requires a bunch of board practice. That requires showing up every single day, knowing you probably won't play. And I think that's where the quitting or the uninterest comes is because we we as an industry have created availability for everyone to play 50 games a year, 60 games a year at eight, nine, ten years old, and then the game of baseball is. boring man like it just it is right Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: it's it's hard and now high school coaches and college coaches and professional coaches are getting these guys that are not used to any of what they're trying to put into play and then you're asking them to go play as a group and win. So it's Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: it's it it's it's not always lining up to me. and it's not a call out to travel ball. I think it's great, right? There it's it's awesome in a lot of senses and there's some things that you know I don't know if they'll ever get fixed, but we all might have our own opinions on how it could. And the one thing I think that is lacking is coaching and practice. If you ask me, give me two things that you think it's it's the amount of practice time and coaching is what I think the could make it better. Bobby Minor: Well, and you think about it like we're talking about the current model. And and for the record, like I'm not like I get people to comment on some of my videos and say, you know, like I'm bashing people all the time and things. I'm not bashing anybody. I'm trying to highlight how this whole industry works, the machine works, so parents can understand and at least just make informed decisions, whatever the decisions are that they make. I'm not bashing on anybody. Like it's but I'm not I I don't really sugarcoat anything either. But Like a big part of this model now is you have to have national teams, you know, eleven you national teams, ten you national teams, nine you national teams, and most of those national teams are just made up of players that they fly in for tournaments. So they're not practicing together, you know, and and that just continues. So I think once you kind of get into that circuit, it really doesn't change. And that's probably one of the biggest reasons why. Now, have you well, when you're drafting for the Astros, have what Did this ever happen? Either players that, you know, they're fifteen, sixteen, even seventeen that weren't on anybody's radar, and then come, you know, come draft day, all of a sudden now, you know, these are guys that are on everybody's board. And then the number of players that at maybe fifteen, sixteen, seventeen that everybody thought like this kid's a can't miss just fizz like they just for whatever reason, drugs, girlfriend, whatever, legal trouble. They just they just disappear. Justin Cryer: Yeah, no, I mean I I think that's gonna happen continues to happen even now. I think the you know Rewind ten years happened more of like this kid wasn't really on the circuit and not a lot of people knew about him and then maybe junior senior year kind of came on. I mean I I personally was one of those kids myself. I went to fortunate enough to go to USA trials at fourteen and fifteen, never made the team, kind of you know, bigger than most, through harder than most. And if you think of those kids that are famous now, we talk about all the time, like he's been famous since he's twelve, right? All know the you know costas, and we we I can name you the 13 and 14 year olds right now that the industry's pegged as they're gonna be the next you know crop of major leaguers. some of them will and some of them won't. and that's the reality of it. I I do think you know the industry has gotten better at determining that a little earlier than it probably used to, but I think that's some of a credit to Kids are better, training's better, but also kids play more and there's more accessibility. So, you know, I went to the Louisiana 2D Select 30 tournament this weekend for the you know 2028s and the 2030s. and there's 2030s, 90-92 right now, right? Like that guy's probably gonna play in college. You know, so the industry's kind of pegging those earlier, but I think parents and us as a group get caught up and like he's gonna be he might be a first rounder. There's a ton of 2030s that are at the top of their class right now that if the draft was today, they that draft looks a way different in four years. And that Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: goes for some of the guys who are maybe middle of the pack and they might kind of escalate and come up. And I think that's you know could be a lot of things. Girlfriends, body changes, how hard they work, how much they love it, what you know injuries. There's so many things. And that's why, you know, I kind of have been preaching to my little man as much as possible is like you kind of gotta just stay in it, right? Stay in it as long as you can for what works for you. And it's hard not to compare, right? Like even me, I I am sitting here talking to you that like I want to do as least amount of comparison anyone else. But I also went to Houston for nine days at the end of the summer to play in the PGI event, which was awesome. Right? It was an incredible experience. I can also sit in the stands and look at myself and go, like, man, my kid's 10 and and like we don't even know what it's gonna look like in two years, much less four years, but I enjoy it right now and it's fun and it's awesome, and he's playing against some of the best competition. And I think that's what it is, right? And that's that's what'll you know shake out. Out as they're they get older, some of them are gonna work harder and develop faster and are just God-given talent better than others, and some are going to not be as talented but outwork and outwithstand the ones that are. So I think forever there'll be a you know, the cream will rise to the top, and then sometimes the just the most talented one just stays up there. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: but the industry shakes that out once they start to get you know 17 and 18. But it is earlier and earlier we're we're pegging kids of like he's gonna be a you know a top rounder if you will. and the industry's pretty good on it. They're they're hitting on it pretty good now, for sure. Bobby Minor: But even still, man, if you look back, just look back at at the one ones, the first overall picks in the first round over the past however many years, look at how many of those guys you would look at the list and say, Who is that? I don't know who he is. Like they just never, you know, these were one one guys that never never panned out. They just, you know. Justin Cryer: No, and and you know, something to kind of maybe insider view here is that, you know, once it gets in like the third and fourth round in the draft, to us and and it is an incredible accomplishment, people don't, you know, how how do I say this? Like, like may maybe even me, like, well he was alright player. Like he he he didn't make it out of A ball. Well, not talking about myself, but like players in A ball are the best on the planet. You know, we we take for granted because we're at these fields all the time The we don't realize how good at baseball, we're just talking about baseball, as the world is, right? So when you get into that Pro Bow world, those third and fourth and fifth rounders, sometimes teams are like, we hope he's an up and down type of player, right? It's like they're not drafting every player thinking he's going to be an everyday major leaguer. Do that, does every team want that? Absolutely. Are we scouting them and and trying to do it for that? Absolutely. But the reality is is that not not many of them are gonna make it. And that's even some of the ones players spent $10 million on this year. Somebody's not making it. You know, and I think I think that's what gets lost sometimes. And I I talked to a dad yesterday about like, hey man, like sometimes you know they wanted to know how they play on a team that gets recruited. He's 16 years old. How do they play on a team? And I said to be honest With you, the the coaches in the industry are gonna go where the players that should get recruited are. And if to be honest with you, your kid shouldn't be recruited right now. And Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: and it was like, you say my son's not good? I'm like, I'm not saying he's not good, I'm just telling you that right now he's not, and Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: that is a really hard thing to swallow as a parent, right? Like we both have sons, and like you have he's an awesome player, great player. He's Had to fight for a long time to be where he is. And I think that gets lost in the well, I mean, this guy went in the first round, he's automatically going to be a big leaguer. Like, no, it doesn't work like that. And I always like to tell people, man, the game is hard. The game is really hard. And the nine hole hitter at coastal Alabama Community College, that 99% of the people don't know where it is, is a really really good baseball player. Bobby Minor: You okay, so you you just said something that I was I'll this I was already kind of formulating my question. So speak to the parents out there, because I think a lot of parents that don't know think that in terms of talent, you have D1, D two, D three, NAI, and then junior college. And that's kind of that's the level, you know, and like that is so so off so crazy. Like as you have guy, tons of guys at the junior college level that could be P4 starters. And for whatever reason, you know, they went to gym. It could be grades. It could be, you know, they wanted to be draftable sooner. Lots of different reasons. Lots of guys at, you know, D three schools, NAIA schools, D two schools that could all play at the division one level. They're, you know, but they all everybody's path is different. So what would you say to that parent that thinks that that's kind of the pecking order relative to talent? Justin Cryer: Well I mean I It's it's definitely not a pecking order. I I think the the way the industry's built, it for sure comes off that way. And and to some extent it is, right? Like the LSUs in Tennessee's are usually getting the most talented best players. But what what bothers me so much is is you know, you go to a tournament's like, he's committed to, you know, Southern Arkansas. And I'm like, Yeah, that's that's a that's a really good school. Like like that they have real college baseball players. That throw ninety five miles an hour. and I think it's so much about now, you know, where I Double sided here, but you know, you hear it a lot, it's like, high school kids have no chance now, right? That's harder than ever to get into college baseball. To some extent it's hard, but what I will say is that for the ones that understand how good coastal Alabama community college or or pick any that you go and play, you now have a chance to prove yourself to to continue that you know trajectory up. If we if we set the bar as LSU, if you will. It's not always there's somebody at you know southern Arkansas that could give meaningful innings in the SEC, I promise you. Bobby Minor: yeah. Justin Cryer: and and I think that gets lost is that it's you know D1 or bus, right? Like the park I was at this weekend. It not that I'm intelligent enough or even an expert enough to but to listen to some of the parents want to get recruited by big schools, it it and I might be one one day. I don't know. It it blows my mind to know that like, man, like you talk to Northwestern State, like they have guys that pitch in the big leagues and play in the big leagues. Like it's it's okay, you know, and and if I could say anything to anyone that they hear and may think I'm dumb in all aspects, but it's like there's good players at every single college that's above high school. There's really Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: good good players and it is hard. It is really, really hard. So I I I think, you know, there is a pecking order. I mean the draft stats came out and there was, you know, four seventy percent of guys came from division one schools, right? I think, you know, the the the portals created that gap to continue to go. so I I I under Bobby Minor: Yeah. But it but the but the D all the D one guys that got drafted, how many of those guys started off at a junior college? Or you Justin Cryer: Yeah. That's Bobby Minor: know what I mean? Or started off at a D two or a you know, so Justin Cryer: You know, and I think it just screams to me as like, you know, if I had a kid who was getting ready to get recruited or is getting recruited, I would make a decision based on where I think he can play. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: Even though it's not fun to post on social media that he's you know eight of his buddies on the national team are going to SEC schools, but he's going to Northwestern State, but you know, he gets on the field quicker and then ends up at Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: Tennessee faster than the other one, you know, goes. So Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: I that's that's my that's my one sentence advice right now to go, you know, I told a parent this weekend, like, I would just go where you think he can play. You know. Bobby Minor: That's what I tell I used to always tell my son, Julian, I said, I want you to go, I want you to go to the best school with the best coaching, with the best opportunity for you to get meaningful innings from day one where they actually want you. But you see, a lot of a lot of parents don't realize that they will they will take your son, but that doesn't mean that they really want your son. And there's a difference. Like, you know, and that factored into Julian's decision right now of where he's gonna go. It's like, dude, you you gotta go where they really, really want you. Because it's yeah, I mean you you didn't throw an inning for over two years. It's not fun. It may be fun in a lot of ways being a part of the team and all that, but at the end of the day, I mean if you're a ball player, you want to play. So I let me ask you this, because you have an eleven year old. So what would you say to the dad of an eleven year old or mom of an eleven year old that thinks that, you know, this ranking or being on the right team that it actually means anything when they're seventeen or eighteen? And then what would you say to the mom or dad whose son isn't getting those opportunities and they think that he's behind? Justin Cryer: No, w the first off I think you know I I'm I am huge on this is that There's a real awareness problem amongst parents to start with, right? And and they all want to be on the biggest, baddest, major team possible. I I fall into that too, right? I I I agree. But I think where the miscommunication comes or or the the problems come of like the team jumping and the angry at the coach and all that is because most parents either think their kids are better than they are or they're not they don't understand their kids better than they are. They're usually fall right in the middle. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: Where the middle is right now is to a lot of people like, well that might be double A. And we're talking 11 U baseball here, so Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: well I don't want him on a double A team. Okay, well, but the triple A team and the major team didn't take him on my team and I want him I want him on the national team or the major team. Well the The the one first thing is like he might not belong there. So it kind of rewinds to what we just talked about. Would you rather be the 12th player on a triple A team and you get 40 less at bats in 60 games because that's just the math? Or would you rather be the 11th player on a team that's well coached, that might play majority double A, but he gets 40 more at bats and they practice more, right? I would Personally encourage parents to pick the one that they get more reps and more practice. Because the best coach is playing time. I'm a firm believer the best coach is playing time, especially at 10, 11, and 12. So the first you know thing I would say is that you're not missing out on anything, right? Because the 11-year-old Houston 1000 tournament that our team is gonna go to in March. doesn't really matter. Re realistically, we we want Bobby Minor: Right. Justin Cryer: to go do it. We want to play against better competition because we want to see where we stack up against them. I think those are fair and sometimes needed, right? But at the end of the day we're doing that because we want to be prepared and we want to see some of the better kids our age. And we have a group that is ready to go do that, whether it be because they're physically advanced or We've been fortunate to put a team together. So, but if we don't do that and we just choose to play in the Baton Rouge, you know, Tiger showdown start tournament, startup tournament, the at-bats are still the same. Anderson, my son's still gonna get 15 at bats, might be against Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: pitching. But the the point is that we're not we're not falling behind in any form or fashion, especially at 11 or 12. Other than Being able to post on social media that we went to the Houston 1000 tournament. Because I'm I'm probably gonna post about it, right? It's Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: just it's like I can speak where where the truth Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: is, right? Doesn't mean we're better than anyone, doesn't mean my son's better than anyone, but I think the first thing is you're not missing out on anything at 11 or 12. No matter what tournament you play in, if it's a tournament with real umpires that are calling balks and balls and strikes, you're getting at bats, you're getting innings. that's good thing. Those are great things right. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: The the second part of that of you know I I I think The awareness comes to fruition big time when you start talking about like, well, I want, you know, I want at some point for my son or my daughter to be on the the triple A major national team as they get older, I think that starts at home. I think it starts in training, and I think it starts with being in an in an understanding that is your son or daughter good enough to be on that team. And that's where that's where the the gray area comes, right? Where it's hard is that a parent goes watching games like, Well we didn't make the you know the elite national black team and we're on the white, red, you know, third team. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: Okay, well watch that team. Watch that team. Does your son move like those players? There's some there's some key factors along the way. So I I they're not missing out on anything for sure, but I I think to get to that point takes a lot of work, a lot of understanding, and ultimately you have to be aware as a parent is like you might want to post that they're on the triple A team or we played in a major tournament, but you might not understand the work and the time and the effort. And the talent that it is there. And also don't get so caught up that your son won't ever be there. That's the other voice I'd like to say. And where I'm I'm on the fortunate side right now, where I've already said he's physical, he's big, he throws 60 miles an hour, and he's 10, and he's 5'5. In three years, we might be right back in the middle of everybody having having, but we got to work harder, right? And I think. I think maybe what you were a little bit asking or something I could share is that right now, 11, 12, 13, you've already been through it with your son is like some kids are just bigger, stronger, faster right now. And they have a gap. And if if I could tell anyone anything, is like instead of worrying about what the top of that is, that's bigger, stronger, faster, that you have no control over. What you can control though is how how much you hit, how many lessons, if that's if you don't know a lot about baseball. How much you can practice, and how many game situations you can get to hopefully shrink that gap. Because at some point, that player is not going to just be eight feet tall and you know hit 800 foot home runs every time. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: There might be one or two of those guys. There might be an Aaron Judge, a Bryce Harper. They're on one hand, right? Those guys are on one hand. So the rest of them, our job as parents and coaches is to not let the gap get bigger because those guys aren't going to stop working either. But their physicality starts to level off. So you Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: we can control how much we work, how prepared are we, you know, what what our off-season plan looks like, all those things, and then then catch back up with them at 14 and 15. Then it becomes a real game again, right? Bobby Minor: yeah. And that's where I mean, I you know, when I say like nothing at twelve U matters, people think that I'm s literally saying that there's not a single thing that matters. Yeah, like does he love the game? Is he getting better? Is he getting reps? All of those things matter. I'm talking about again, whether you're the biggest, strongest, best 12-year-old on the best 12U majors team, or you're the smallest bottom of the roster guy on the worst 12U double-A team at twelve. None of that matters when you're 17 or 18, because a lot can change. So let me okay. I'm gonna ask you this and then we're gonna do we're gonna do in and out, my little rapid fire questions that I like. explain to people out there like what an actual scout team is, because I see like a nine you scout team, that is not that's a label that they're using. It's not a scout team. So that's something that I think a lot of parents don't understand. So can you explain what an actual 17U, you know, Padre Scout team is and what's what just because they have scout. as a part of their name what that doesn't mean. Justin Cryer: Yeah, I mean I I I think for The Padre Scout team, or or I was fortunate enough to have East Coast Pro when I was an area scout, so we had the Astro Scout team. that is players that come to a workout usually that we have to communicate with the parents to ask them to play on this team. a lot of the you know, for example, the Dodger Scout teams part of the Louisiana Knights organization. Those are a that's a group of of scouts that try to put together the best team available that kids want to come play. Some of them are, some of them are paying their way to be on the team. Let's just call it for what it is. Doesn't mean they're bad players. There's there is a a somewhat of a gap in there, right? Where there's there's really good players that could be on that team that maybe they don't know or didn't come to the workout. So you know I I would like to think that how we did the Astro Scout team is that we picked the best Available players we could from a particular area to try to get them to you know compete against other of the best you know players in that area or in this you know WWBA or the Jupiter tournament East Coast Pro area codes use those to put together a team that we would you know call and sometimes it's you know we got cool jerseys from the Astros, and the Padres give them jerseys, the Dodgers give them jerseys. the 11 use scout team doesn't like those. Those are fake, right? They're just calling themselves the scout team. but compiled of kids from different parts of the country, and they either fly them or ask them or pay for them to come and Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: do that. But I I do think there's there's some real scout teams at the high school level. and you know, some teams are doing really good job of of trying to get those guys associated with Pro Bowl a little bit earlier or that lifestyle. Bobby Minor: So but but kind of to clarify and guys simplify, like a true scout team is gonna be older age groups only and they're gonna have some sort of actual MLB affiliation with the scouts Justin Cryer: Absolutely. Bobby Minor: from an organization. Yeah, it's funny because I remember like when Julian was younger, it was, you know, double A, triple A, and majors. Majors was what a you know, you had to be a majors team, and then majors wasn't enough. So then they started using elite, you know, we're we're the you know, the Tigers Elite 12U majors team. And then you know, Tiger Scout team. And now I feel like the national teams get all the all the love. So all right, man. So we're gonna we'll we'll wrap up here, like what I like to call in and out. Just some, you know, little easy in and out. Four questions, all rapid fire, 15 to 20 second answers. So it's time for a little in and out with Justin Cryer of Maruchi Sports. So first question. So six draft scouting in the first few seconds of watching a player, what tells you whether he's got it or not? Justin Cryer: the way his body moves is number one, his physicality is number two for me. And I think the overall ability to see if he loves being there and is it too hard for him or or not. How much does he enjoy it, how his body moves, and and any of those physical tools that stand out are the first things right away. Bobby Minor: Okay. question number two, what do parents pour money into that never once will show up on a scouting report? Justin Cryer: Well, I work for a bat company, so I don't wanna shoot myself in the foot here, but I think there's a ton of products out there, a ton of accessories that never show up in any scouting report. I do think there are specific tools that can make your player better. but I think that's one thing that won't, and the next thing is paying to see what ranking your kid is. Those those two things usually don't show up on scouting reports. Even though I I I want us all to buy really good products, we all know that, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Justin Cryer: but the reality is It's usually a lot about the the Indian and not the arrow. Bobby Minor: All right. question number three, what's one thing that you saw in players that made it versus the ones that didn't make it? Justin Cryer: Work, hard work, right? One of my favorite players and the player that I'm the closest with today is Alex Bregman. Nobody's out outworking Alex Bregman. and I think that's the one thing is, you know, the love of the game gets, you know, confused sometimes, but you can tell right away and the ones that make it, they study it, they love it, they work, and and they care about everything. Bobby Minor: Okay. All right. And question number four, the slow roller. You mentioned you work for a bat company, a pretty big bat company. What's one thing a four hundred dollar bat can't fix? Justin Cryer: It can't fix a bad swing, right? I think that's the the easy answer, but it's also not gonna fix your love for it and how much you work with that bat, right? That's not that's not gonna fix it. It might it might look good in your bag, and I want you to have two of them in your bag, right? But it's not gonna fix a bad swing and it's not gonna fix your work ethic for sure. Bobby Minor: All right, so I was in and out with Justin Cryer. Justin, man, as always, I really enjoy talking to you. What's one one piece of parting wisdom, parting knowledge, parting words for the mom or dad out there right now that is just kind of confused by all of the craziness of the machine? Justin Cryer: Yeah, I mean I I I think this one's passionate for me and and if I could if I could put this into a a one minute thing instead of a long one, I will I think if you could do your best to make it not bigger than it is, right? I had a really close friend tell me that it really hit home with me as we're, you know, on tournament nine driving all over the place is that man, we have to do, you know, our duty as parents and coaches, especially the ones who've been able to play or coach for a long time, is that we can't make it bigger than it is, right? That that's not a big overarching thing, but Bobby Minor: It's good. Justin Cryer: not every at bat's huge. Right, not every tournament loss matters. not you know playing in the best tournament matters. Sometimes it's okay to take an extra week off. sometimes it's okay to not play a tournament, but to just scrimmage your team. So if I could tell any parent that it might be confused and you know it's fast, it's gonna stay fast. The industry moves at an incredible pace now is that try not to make it bigger than it is. And if you if you go at it with that way, you know that viewpoint, might have a more enjoyable journey. Bobby Minor: Good stuff, man. So we're gonna end it right there. Justin, as always, I really appreciate you. Justin Cryer: Yeah, no, dude, it was awesome. Thanks so much for having me.