Transfer Portal Thoughts

I think nothing summarizes the current predicament of the transfer portal/college athletics as my reaction to watching the super regionals this past weekend. Multiple times I heard the ESPN commentators mention how young or “set up” a program was for future success. Almost every time those comments would be made I would scoff at it, thinking in my head “No way a lot of those guys stay at that program”. When in reality a large number of those players will be entering the transfer portal in hopes of finding a better home or better situation next year. Let me be clear this is not a thread where I am going to blame the players or bash their decisions. I simply want to acknowledge what a sad state we are in when a person who has worked in college athletics for almost 10 years has a gut reaction to assume a player or group of players are more likely to transfer than to stay at a program that is one of the final 16 teams playing this season. 

The current state of college athletics surrounded by the transfer portal I believe was formed around a great idea to create more freedom for players and coaches within the system. Inherently, it was also going to showcase the level of accountability the previous system had created. The transfer portal was and is a fantastic tool for those who the previous system was failing. Whether it was a player who coach had been fired/left for a new job, had been over recruited before stepping on campus, there are number of reasons where players should have the freedom to leave. However, we have created an abyss where institutions, coaches and players can take advantage of a system without guardrails to take what they want where they see fit. 

It’s not the players, coaches or institutions fault for the current state of college athletics. If you give individuals or groups the freedom to go find a “better” situation to put themselves in they are going to do it. Lets answer the questions everyone is asking:

- Has the transfer portal/NIL hurt college baseball? 
Yes, we have a current setting where players, coaches and institutions can move off and change their situation without really any repercussions. Players can hop into the transfer portal for any reason. Coaches can move off a player after a year in search for someone better. We have created a transactional system where we are encouraged to make quick decisions and have knee jerk reactions.

- Should both exist in college baseball?
Yes, I believe players should be able to leave their current situation if they fall into a list of exceptions (coach leaving, over recruited before stepping on campus, etc.). I also believe players should be compensated for the brand they create and provide to the institution they represent. However, getting offered a lump sum amount of money before even stepping on campus is not a brand based compensation, but rather a bid for services. 

- Is the Transfer Portal creating better opportunities?
Over 52% of NCAA baseball players that entered the portal in 2025 did not get back onto a NCAA roster the next fall. The portal may be helping the elite players at the top of the pyramid but, for the average player it is not beneficial. 

- Is unlimited transfers the problem?
If you change the current the system from unlimited transfers to a single free transfer while keeping an exemption list where a player can apply for future transfers creates more structure and measured decisions. 

- How do we fix NIL?
I believe a way to fix the current NIL structure is to get rid of third-party collectives and create a structure where players are directly shared media rights, ticket sales and sponsorship revenue. This would enable third party NIL deals to become true brand based endorsements. Another thing would be to force any NIL offer over a certain amount of money to be a multi year contract. This would create more long term commitment between players and institutions/entities. @Coach_DougGove

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#MiLB pitcher ⭐️s of the day, 5/20/26 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Channing Austin @BKCyclones 6.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K ⭐️⭐️ Gage Jump @AviatorsLV 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K ⭐️ Nolan Perry @vancanadians 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K 👊 Nate Snead @TC_DustDevils 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Angels prospect Nate Snead ran an 82% strike rate over six scoreless with High-A Tri-City tonight; he has allowed one run over his last three starts which have all gone six innings while running a 33.8 CSW%, he has not allowed a walk in his last 66 batters faced

#Angels prospect Nate Snead over his last 5 starts 27.2 IP 3-1 1.30 ERA 29 SO 4 BB

That’ll do @SneadNate

🐶🐶 @SneadNate

The Kelce brothers accidentally explained one of the longest-running training mistakes in professional sports in under 30 seconds. A pitcher's delivery takes 1.5 seconds. The rest period before the next pitch is roughly 20 seconds. A starter who throws 100 pitches in a game produces somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes of total physical exertion across a 3-hour window. The work-to-rest ratio is approximately 1:20. That ratio maps almost perfectly to the ATP-CP energy system, the anaerobic pathway that powers movements lasting under 10 seconds. Sprinting. Jumping. Swinging a bat. Throwing a 97 mph fastball. Every meaningful action in baseball lives in this system. Distance running trains the opposite system. Aerobic metabolism. Slow-twitch muscle fibers. Type I fibers that are smaller, produce less force, and prioritize fatigue resistance over power output. Elite sprinters carry 60-80% fast-twitch fibers. Elite endurance athletes carry 60-95% slow-twitch. A 2008 study on collegiate baseball players found that combining endurance training with power training produced measurable drops in power output. You are literally remodeling the engine in the wrong direction. Training the aerobic system when every sport-specific action runs on anaerobic fuel. The tradition started decades ago because games last 3 hours and coaches confused game duration with physical demand. A game lasting 3 hours does not mean the athlete is exerting for 3 hours. A pitcher standing on the mound between pitches is recovering, not working. The correct training analog is a sprinter who runs 100 meters, walks back, and goes again. Driveline Baseball, Eric Cressey, and every major sports science program has been publishing this data for over a decade. Strength coaches at the MLB level largely moved to sprint-based and med ball protocols years ago. But the foul-pole-to-foul-pole jog still persists at the high school and college level because the coaches who played in the 90s trained that way and never updated. The Kelces just explained it to 3 million people faster than any journal ever could.

Proximal to Distal

So many options, too many variables to think about, the never ending question for college pitchers, should you play summer ball or just train? #baseballtraining #pitching #training

𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 Nate Snead (2022, RHP/OF, South Milwaukee, WI) came up firing at the 2022 Upper Midwest Procase, launching 101 MPH from the outfield. Snead would go on to be drafted by the @Angels in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Tennessee. ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ʜᴏʟᴅᴇʀꜱ prepbsbl.com/46gDQ4E ᴘʀᴏᴄᴀꜱᴇ ʀᴏꜱᴛᴇʀ prepbsbl.com/4kLkA5l @PrepBaseball | @PBRobbyMagic | @SneadNate

Context is king. See the whole picture or keep athletes guessing.

Daily Q/A: Can I train mental toughness like I train strength? Absolutely! Like building muscle or speed, mental toughness grows through consistent exercises & routines. Elite pitchers utilize routines, visualization, self talk & daily habits to forge an unbreakable mind 🧠⚾️

Daily Q/A: What’s the “kinetic chain” and why does it matter for pitchers? The kinetic chain is how your body links and transfers energy up the body (legs, hips, torso, arm) to throw a pitch. It’s the engine of the pitch. Energy flows from the ground to the ball, like a whip.

Daily Q/A: "What is a common reason for hitting a plateau?" A common theme we see in athletes plateauing is simple, they are not recovering well enough. In training it is more common to not be reaching Supercompensation due to lack of recovery then not working hard enough.

Changing an arsenal or tweaking a pitch should always come from answering two questions, "How do I currently get outs?" And "Where am I leaving outs on the table?" Following the vast trail of information from answering those questions will give pitchers a better understanding of their identity. Which is the actual point. We need an understanding of identity to know where the change/tweak is needed. Not all pitchers need to chase IVB and not every gyro slider needs to become a sweeper. Context matters...

Without diving into context I wonder how many coaches would change something or more? Probably doesn’t fit into a mechanical checklist.