SCOUTING & REPORTING
Tool Grading Scale
_______________________________________________________________________________

Tools are the main abilities of a baseball player. Below are the tools that are traditionally graded out by professional scouts and college coaches.

 
Position Players
  
Pitchers
  
 
•Hitting Ability
   •Fastball  
 
•Raw Power
   •Breaking Ball  
 
•Fielding Ability
   •Changeup  
 
•Arm Strength
   •Other Pitch  
 
•Running
   •Control  

Our tool grading scale is based on the Average Varsity High School player. Over the last 15 years we have improved and adjusted our scale in order to allow us to accurately identify and effectively communicate the range of ability showed at the high school level.

Our main goals with this scale are: to provide the player with a realistic evaluation of his "present" abilities, and to provide college coaches with information they can use to identify and/or compare potential recruits.

Tools will be graded for all players, regardless of graduation year, on the scale below. This allows us to consistently evaluate and report on "present" ability. For Underclassmen, this allows us to establish a baseline from which we can evaluate and report on development and improvement of abilities.

Grade
Description
60 yds
Home to 1B
Velocity
(mph)
Catcher
Release
LHH
RHH
20
Poor
8.10+
5.10+
5.20+
69-
2.60+
25
Well Below Average
8.00
5.00
5.10
70
2.50
30
Below Average
7.90
4.90
5.00
71-72
2.40
32
-
7.80
4.85
4.95
73-74
2.35
35
Near Average
7.70
4.80
4.90
75
2.30
38
-
7.60
4.75
4.85
76-77
2.25
40
Average
7.50
4.70
4.80
78-79
2.20
42
-
7.40
4.60
4.70
80-81
2.15
45
Solid Average
7.30
4.50
4.60
82-83
2.10
48
-
7.20
4.45
4.55
84
2.08
50
Above Average
7.10
4.40
4.50
85-86
2.05
52
-
7.00
4.35
4.45
87
2.02
55
Well Above Average
6.90
4.30
4.40
88
2.00
58
-
6.85
4.25
4.35
89
1.95
60
Oustanding
6.80
4.20
4.30
90
1.90
62
-
6.75
4.15
4.25
91
1.88
65
Near Superior
6.70
4.10
4.20
92-93
1.85
68
-
6.60
4.05
4.15
94
1.82
70
Superior
6.50-
4.00-
4.10-
95+
1.80-

PLEASE NOTE: It is our policy that we only use information gathered at Baseball Factory and Team One events and/or
by Baseball Factory and Team One staff on our scouting reports. This is in our players' best interest, as it allows us to
maintain the integrity of our scouting reports by reporting only on what we see.

Tier Rating     |     Class Rating     |    Updated January 6, 2009