IT'S NOT HOW YOU START

Evidence mounts that baseball players, especially pitchers, should aim to peak around age 20

- J.J. COOPER

Baseball parents generally have good intentions. They want to help their kids fulfill their dreams, and they are willing to do almost anything to help make those dreams come true.

They're just chasing the wrong dream.

Players and their parents want it all, and they want it quickly. Players and their parents are focused on being the best 15- or 16-yearold possible, which means doing everything possible to be the star of various 12U, 13U and 14U teams.

That multi-sport athlete who plays a bit of travel ball in addition to basketball and football? What are they waiting for? Don't they know that specialization at an early age is going to help them stand out quicker?

If you're great as a 12- and 13-year-old, you'll be a top prospect as a 10th grader. And that puts you in line to land a top-tier offer and commitment to a Power Four Conference school as a high school junior.

Those late bloomers? They may have to settle for offers at mid-major programs or even-shudder-a junior college.

But it's not where you start. It's where you finish.

And these days, the path to college success isn't nearly as linear as it used to be. Many of the best players were ones who blossomed later.

Take Paul Skenes. He's the best pitcher to come out of college baseball in years. But he was not a star as a teenager. He was viewed as much as a catcher prospect as a pitcher coming out of high school. He had topped out at 90-91 mph as a pitcher as he headed off to Air Force.