College Baseball
College Baseball’s Role in MLB is Increasing
College players are reaching the big leagues faster than some of their minor league counterparts and colleagues, thanks to improved training and conditioning.
College baseball’s role in MLB is increasing. While not exactly a “new” role, over the past decade, college baseball has become an increasingly crucial source of MLB-ready players for teams. College players are reaching the big leagues faster than some of their minor league counterparts and colleagues, thanks to improved training and conditioning at college baseball facilities and higher-quality play at the college level.
Shift from Traditional
College programs now operate as elite, premium spots for developing hitters and pitchers. Many of these players are ready, or close to ready, to jump into roles in the big leagues right out of school. This is an immense shift from the traditional high school-to-minors-to-big-leagues pipeline. There are many reasons for the change, including more accessible, specialized training, increased use of video and game data, and a focus on pitching and hitting. To top it off, these players grew up with the increasing use of data-driven decision-making, video, and other technologies, along with specialized training, making it easier for them to integrate and/or adapt to new systems.
Better Facilities, Better Training
The top programs in college baseball today offer facilities superior to many that house MiLB teams. They provide physical training to tone players’ bodies and help prevent fatigue and injury. Players’ mental health is taken into account as well. Many of these facilities even offer dedicated coaching, from position-specific to hitting to base-running. Many offer pitching labs, allowing pitchers to hone their skills and hitters to improve their swings.
Add to that the access colleges have to the most up-to-date research data, technology, and more, both inside and outside the sports arena. As people learn to use research data, including analytics, some colleges may even have more at their disposal than many MiLB teams.
More Data and Video
As MLB relies more heavily on data-driven decisions across all areas, from scouting to gameplay, colleges, too, are taking a similar approach. Numbers like exit velocity, launch angle, pop times, and spin rate offer coaches an impartial, fact-based look at a player’s current output as well as his future potential. A video and a detailed breakdown of it help identify current issues and how tweaks could improve a player’s production across all areas. The use of all this up-to-date technology has helped make the players’ assessments more resourceful and specific. With more data and video readily available, and with analysts to assist, college coaches now rely on it more to make immediate adjustments and evaluations during training and gameplay.
New Style of Starting Pitchers
One change that has come to college baseball over the past 10 years or so is the ability of college pitchers to increase their arsenals. Pitchers used to have only two or three pitches in their repertoire when they came out of college or started in the minor leagues. Now the top college pitchers have four to five good pitches in their arsenals, and a few even have more.
Pitching coaches are readily available to assist in tweaking stance, release times, etc. Too, the physicality of pitching is taken into account. In an effort to build strength and stamina, training has become more critical, and the days of college starters throwing over 100 pitches are gone. Stringent pitch counts now replace them to keep arm strength up and injuries down.
Focused Bullpens
Another trend assisting pitchers is the focused bullpen at the college level. Bullpens in college were once considered for “less-talented” pitchers. However, bullpen arms are now being trained and used for precise roles, just as in MLB. There are left-handed specialists, high-leverage spot arms, multi-inning long relievers, and even closers. Learning and playing the differing pitching roles makes for a more well-rounded player. It also allows players to specialize in specific roles, ones that are in demand at the MLB level.
Hitters
Colleges are not only concentrating on pitching. Training, video, and data are being used to create better offensive players, especially at the plate. Hitters and hitting coaches are focused on more than just putting the ball in play. They have moved toward multiple swing paths, some designed for power, others for situational hitting. They work on swing selection and can adjust promptly during a game. Training has shifted toward developing improved bat control. This allows hitters to maximize their exit velocity while maintaining contact. The changes have led to an increase in home run numbers in the college game.
Impact
College baseball’s role in MLB is increasing and has given the league a boost in ready-to-go players. From 2023 to 2025, 84 players reached the major leagues within two years of being drafted. Only 87 players hit the same milestone in the previous seven years combined, 2015-2022. This upward turn appears to be the start of a trend. In the 2024 MLB Draft, the first eight picks were all college players, the most since the draft’s inception in 1965.
Players
Recently, several successful players have played in MiLB for just a couple of seasons or skipped it altogether and entered the big leagues right out of college. Pitcher Garrett Crochet skipped the minors entirely in 2020, jumping directly from college to MLB. He pitched well for some bad Chicago White Sox teams. However, after being traded to the Boston Red Sox, he won 18 games last season and threw the most innings in the AL. After starting the season at High-A Tri-City, pitcher Ryan Johnson made his debut last season for the Los Angeles Angels. Although his ERA was high in 2025, he is expected to compete for a high-leverage bullpen spot in 2026.
Paul Skenes, the number one draft pick in 2023, pitched in 12 minor league games before joining the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has since won 21 games and holds an ERA under 2.00 in his two years. Skenes won the NL Cy Young award in 2025.
First baseman Nick Kurtz played only 33 games in the minors before making his Athletics debut in the 2025 season. He became the first rookie to hit four home runs in a game. He hit 36 home runs in 2025 and won the AL Rookie of the Year award. Kurtz is also the winner of a Silver Slugger award.
Future Role of College Baseball
The route from college baseball to MLB continues to grow stronger. With college programs’ enhanced focus on readiness and their use of data-driven training and adjustments. We now see players leaving college more aware of what it takes to play at the MLB level. They are better prepared to do so immediately or soon. If the trend seen now is any indication, college programs serving as a primary proving ground for MLB are expected to continue and likely intensify over the next few years.
Jim Marshall
Jim Marshall has been writing about sports for over 10 years. He started his sports career in radio, co-hosting and producing several sports-talk radio programs in Phoenix. He has covered local, college, and national sports, but specializes in MLB. His articles have appeared in several sports-reporting sites, including our own Legends On Deck. Jim is also a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
