By Eric Peterson, Drury University Pitching Coach

As coaches we are always looking for or to recruit great athletes. Players who have the ability to perform at a high level while having the ability to play multiple positions on the field are the proverbial “gold mine” of all sports. Add in the ability to make an impact on the mound as a pitcher, you are now living the good life as a coach! But how does an athlete become successful at being a two-way player? Do we lose two-way players early in their career because of misguidance? How realistic is it to put those expectations on that player? How are they physically able to meet the demands of not just one position but two? Why are there not more of these guys out there? Is there enough time for a full time high school or college student-athlete to get the repetitions he so vitally needs?

Over the next few hundred words, with the help of great baseball minds and stolen knowledge from some of the best coaches in the country, we try to answer those questions. I thought it would be appropriate to define the words we are discussing: “Two-way player”

“Two-Way Player”: an athlete who plays one (or more) positions on the field as well as pitches. I.E. A short stop and a pitcher. There are many players who play multiple positions but just a few amount who actually fulfill the definition of “two-way” player.

The general consensus among the coaches and players is that there has to be a level of god given talent and ability that goes into being a two way player. We all like to call that the “IT” factor. Talking with many coaches around the country, we all seem to return to one common factor, the game will let you know if you can be a two-way guy. The physical demands of playing more than one position are off the charts. So off the charts that information is rare and sparsely available.

It often takes years of high school and collegiate baseball experience to earn a coveted spot pitching on the weekend starting rotation. 3 maybe 4 pitchers will start on the mound over the course of a collegiate weekend series. Most of those pitchers will be upper classman who have been honing and defining their craft without the worry of playing another position. The reality is that more often than not a position player will make more of an impact on the field early in their career compared to a pitcher. The physical and mental timing of maturity is very different from one player to the next. This leads me to the question of how can or does a two-way player make it possible to perform at the highest level physically? As previously stated, the “IT” factor plays a huge role, but there has to be more to it. As Mike McCormick, pitching coach at Pacific University, explains, “It depends on what position they play, and what role you may use them on the mound.” “Train them as pitchers first throwing wise. Then at their positions monitor their throws from the infield or outfield.” Communication between player(s) and coaching staff is by far the most important factor. The player cannot feel like he has to hide what he is physically or even mentally feeling on that particular day. If this is the case, the potential for a two-way player diminishes greatly.

How does an athlete become successful at being a two-way player? Communication has been the most repeated word used while talking to other coaches and players. The lack of, is the most common link between their experiences of success and failure. The players and coaches who have made a conscious effort to talk daily and set specific routines are the ones who find the most success. Failure usually rides on the lack of physical and mental preparation. As well as the ultimate factor of the game telling the player if he can ultimately perform at the appropriate level.

This is my 8^th year of getting to coach and recruit student athletes at the college level and every year I see more and more one sport, one position, neutral every day players. The dynamic player is almost a dinosaur in college baseball. In my opinion, as well as many others, the unilateral reason is lack of encouragement, trust and knowledge of how to be a two-way player. It is common thought that a prospective student athlete “MUST” focus on one position to be the best he possibly can to get a college scholarship or play at the collegiate level. Some of that thinking is correct but most of it is out of touch with reality. Every coach who recruits is trying to project what position that specific PSA would be able to play on his or her team. If that PSA can play multiple position and one of those is pitch, that “athlete” will have little to no problems finding a place to continue his or her education. Johnny Cardenas, Head Baseball Coach at Stephen F. Austin, “We try and let the athlete decide if they want to go one way or the other. Doesn’t always work but we try.”

Is it realistic of a coach to ask or expect a student athlete to function as a highly efficient two-way player? Since I am writing this article I will say YES, emphatically! I agree to the ‘nth degree with Coach Cardenas with the idea of letting the athlete decide on their own. Give them the freedom to explore the option. As previously mentioned, the game will eventually spell the truth.

Perception is reality when it comes to recruiting. It is very realistic that this decision is often times made well before a college coach is involved. For example, If a college coach never sees a PSA hit or pitch, the perception is, they cannot or do not want to do both. There are many factors that lead to the emergence of two-way players, more often than not necessity is a key player. Due to injuries, lack of depth, MLB draft and academic eligibility the exploration of moving a player to the mound is put in motion.

I previously asked the question, do we lose two-way players early in their career because of misguidance? There are many factors that lead to the emergence of two-way players, more often than not necessity is a key player. Due to injuries, lack of depth, MLB draft and academic eligibility the exploration of moving a player to the mound is put in motion. The game of baseball is losing the best athletes to other sports, which is a well-known and stated fact. Baseball is also losing its best athletes within the game as well. Young players are being lead down a path of singularity. This guidance comes from parents, coaches, social media, major league baseball and failure. Players are being told by parents and coaches that they have to pick a specific position to “Master” it. It is not surprising that this is the case because of the contracts that are being garnered by major league baseball players are astounding. Social media has a big part in the demise of two-way player in the fact of public opinion that it just cannot be done. I might be wrong but the last great MLB two-way player was George Herman “Babe” Ruth! That was almost 100 years ago.

Okay, so Babe was the last true two-way hero, sad but true let us move on. I proposed the following questions to three current two-way athletes; are the physical and mental demands just too great? Is it too difficult? Is there not enough time? Their answers; “The physical demands not too great, if there is an understanding what our body is telling us.” “The biggest mental challenge is handling failure, not only do I pitch, I hit, I run the bases, I field the ball. There are a lot of chances to fail, to separate those failures can be difficult at times.” “There is enough time, you just have plan it out. Map it out each day.” “There is no wasted time at practice, in the weight room or in the classroom.” After speaking with each player I found that there was a common theme, they were encouraged to pitch and play a position, supported in their efforts and have a strong line of communication with their coaching staff!

Major League Baseball is obviously played at the highest level, with some of the best athletes in the world struggling to make a career. I completely understand the argument that it is too difficult to be a two-way player at that level. The problem is that we as baseball people tend to steal, borrow and emulate what the best is doing. We find ourselves saying, “try this, do that, don’t do it that way”, because the guys at the highest level are not doing it that way. I am guilty as charged! But where we get into trouble is that it does not always translate as we trickle down the levels of baseball. There are things that lower level players can do that MLB cannot. One of those is to allow players to be more marketable, stretch the scholarship dollars and create more opportunities to play the game we all love by encouragement, exploration and evolving our coaching mentality of the two-way player.

I will leave you with these questions; if the idea that they can instead of they cannot was more relevant, would we see less injuries like Tommy John? Would baseball be a better sport? Would there be more opportunities for our best athletes? Or has the game simply become unified at the highest level in thinking and theory that it has trickled down from level to level?

Thank you for your time and hopefully this sparks an interest in the baseball world!