How to create a Baseball Player Evaluation Form (with template)

Here’s a guide to creating an baseball player evaluation form that meets your program’s or Academy’s unique needs.

We’ll cover:

1. Why Create a Player Evaluation Form
2. Break Down Key Skills to Evaluate
3. Include a Grading Scale
4. Add a Section for Comments and Notes
5. Incorporate Physical and Mental Attributes
6. Test the Form and Get Feedback

1. Why Create a Player Evaluation Form

Before you start creating the feedback form, it’s important to understand the exact purpose of the evaluation. This will shape the content of the form and ensure that you’re collecting the right information.

• Tryouts: Are you evaluating new players to decide who will make the team? In this case, the form needs to focus on comparing key skills and overall team fit.
• Season-long Development: If you’re tracking players throughout the season, the form should include sections that focus on improvement over time, such as adding multiple evaluation dates or progress markers.
• Position-specific Assessment: For example, pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders all have unique skills. The form should be adapted for different positions, focusing on the essential skills for each role.

2. Break Down Key Skills to Evaluate

Hitting

• Contact Ability: Measure the player’s ability to consistently make contact with the ball. This includes evaluating the player’s approach to different types of pitches (fastball, curveball, etc.).
• Power: Evaluate a player’s ability to hit the ball with power and drive it deep into the outfield. This can be measured by observing exit velocity or distance of hits during drills.
• Bat Speed: How fast a player can swing the bat through the strike zone. Faster bat speeds allow players to react to pitches more effectively, increasing their chances of hitting the ball hard.
• Strike Zone Awareness: Evaluate whether the player knows when to swing and when to let a pitch go. Players with strong strike zone awareness can leave bad pitches alone and wait for the right one.

Fielding

• Arm Strength: This measures how far and accurately a player can throw the ball from their position. Outfielders typically need stronger arms to throw to home plate, while infielders need quick and accurate throws.
• Accuracy: A player’s ability to throw the ball accurately to the target. For example, an infielder must throw the ball accurately to first base after fielding a grounder.
• Footwork: Good footwork helps a player move quickly and efficiently to field a ball. Evaluate foot positioning, balance, and agility, especially for infielders.

Pitching

• Control: How well the pitcher can locate pitches in the strike zone. A pitcher with good control can keep the ball low, change speeds, and hit corners.
• Secondary Pitches: A pitcher’s ability to throw breaking balls or off-speed pitches (curveball, slider, change-up). Having multiple effective pitches adds variety and makes the pitcher harder to hit.

Base Running

• Speed: Measure how fast a player runs from base to base. This can include timing a player’s sprint from home plate to first base.
• Agility: Agility helps players make better turns around the bases and avoid tags.
• Base-stealing Ability: This includes speed, but also knowing when to attempt steals, making good jumps, and reacting to the pitcher’s movements.

Game IQ

• Situational Awareness: Evaluate a player’s ability to read the game, make intelligent decisions, and execute plays based on the situation (e.g., when to bunt, steal, or throw to a particular base).
• Decision Making: Evaluate how quickly and accurately a player can make in-game decisions, such as where to throw the ball in a fast-paced game.

3. Include a Grading Scale

Using a clear grading scale will ensure that all evaluators rate players consistently. A common scale, such as 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, is easy to use and gives evaluators enough flexibility to distinguish between different skill levels.

Example: Create a chart or grid with the skill on one side and the corresponding rating on the other for each skill (e.g., hitting, fielding, etc.).

Hitting Power:

• 1: Lacks power, struggles to make solid contact.
• 2: Occasional power, hits mostly singles.
• 3: Average power, can drive the ball into the outfield.
• 4: Above-average power, often hits extra-base hits.
• 5: Excellent power, regularly drives the ball deep and hits home runs.

This helps evaluators provide quantitative feedback, but be sure to clearly define each point on the scale so that different evaluators interpret the scale in the same way.

4. Add a Section for Comments and Notes

While the rating scale provides a snapshot of a player’s skills, the comments section allows for more nuanced feedback. This section is especially helpful when evaluating potential or specific strengths/weaknesses that numbers alone may not capture.

For example, a player may score high on contact hitting, but struggle with timing on inside pitches. Comments can highlight such details that would be missed in a numerical rating. They also provide context for standout plays or situations that don’t fit neatly into the categories provided.

5. Incorporate Physical and Mental Attributes

In addition to technical skills, a great player is often defined by his physical and mental makeup. Including these attributes allows you to evaluate the less tangible qualities that are still critical to success:

• Work Ethic: Evaluate the player’s commitment, effort during practice, and ability to work on weaknesses.
• Attitude: Is the player positive and supportive of their teammates? Are they respectful of the coaches? A good attitude is essential for team chemistry.
• Coachability: Does the player listen to instructions and apply feedback? This shows a willingness to learn and improve.
• Leadership: Some players naturally inspire others and lead by example. Note if the player shows these qualities.
• Fitness Level: Fitness affects overall performance, including endurance, strength, and agility.

These can either be graded using a grading scale or left open for written comments.

6. Test the Form and Get Feedback

Once you’ve created the form, test it in real-world scenarios, such as a tryout or practice. This will help:

• Make sure the form isn’t too time-consuming to fill out.
• Verify that the scoring system provides clear and accurate results.
• Identify any sections that are unclear or redundant.

After testing, get feedback from other coaches and evaluators. Adjust the form based on their input to create a streamlined and efficient tool for future evaluations.

Baseball Evaluation Form & Progress Report Template

Here is a Baseball Progress Report Template that was created using Activity Messenger. Test it out and see if you like it.