Why aren't there more popular high school mixtapes/highlights of future MLB players?
posted by u/GoodNinja18 · 2026-11-05 13:32 UTC
In the NBA, there are a few YouTube channels dedicated to posting high school or teenage prospect highlights. Even Luka Doncic or Wemby got their pre-NBA highlights posted everywhere. You'll see these mixtapes of players and it's like fans already see what their game is made of way before the moment they even register for the draft.
Yet in the MLB, you don't really see many popular mixtapes. Maybe Bryce Harper hitting a 500 foot bomb is the closest example? Or Mike Trout's high school highlights.
Why is that the case? Why don't we as fans in the social media era get to experience what a pre-MLB prospect's game looks like?
## Top comments
1. u/AutoModerator · 2026-11-05 13:32 UTC
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2. u/AntsyAnswers · 2026-11-05 13:37 UTC
I feel like Baseball prospects are way harder to project. First overall picks aren’t even guaranteed to make the MLB
3. u/werther595 · 2026-11-05 17:53 UTC
...and definitely not for years. You figure just about any player drafted out of high school will play 4+ years in the minors before he sniffs MLB, and a lot can change in those 4 years.
4. u/LilNello1 · 2026-11-05 13:40 UTC
https://giphy.com/gifs/Ro4ygeIQxuQZqwP5rF
5. u/No-Frosting-5347 · 2026-11-05 13:39 UTC
Baseball highlights are harder to showcase. The most exciting ones are usually fielding plays and those aren’t what’s going to get a player drafted/signed 95% of the time. Hitting highlights also require numerous cameras to show how far/high the ball was hit so that’s kind of limiting.
6. u/Mutabilitie · 2026-11-05 13:46 UTC
It's very difficult to predict baseball greatness. A lot of great athletes never get out of AA ball.
7. u/BoringNYer · 2026-11-05 14:13 UTC
Take a Heisman winner or an NBA MVP and they can't make it to the major league
8. u/JustCallMeMambo · 2026-11-05 13:37 UTC
because high school baseball players often become nothing. and basketball highlights are way more exciting than baseball, at any level
9. u/skldjhfksjhdfklj · 2026-11-05 13:52 UTC
Incorrect use of “mixtape”
10. u/BigRedFury · 2026-11-05 14:07 UTC
There are provably a few reasons.
Let's focus on the big one:
The very nature of baseball means a star position player can easily go several games without notching a highlight moment. It's not like football or basketball where you can run designed plays for your show ponies.
Making a play on defense is always contingent on the ball being hit to you and most of the time it's going to be a routine play.
Then at the plate, let's say player is a beast who hits a home run every 10 at-bats. Because HS games are 7 innings, that breaks down to one bomb every three games or so.
And how long does a home run last?
About 3-4 seconds of action if you start when the pitcher begins their delivery.
And to make that home run look interesting, you're going to need more than one camera angle so you're talking about multiple cameras recording every pitch a batter sees for a chance to get 10-15 second highlight (if you include the celebration at home plate).
Now multiply that by enough home runs needed to a two minute highlight reel of bombs and you're suddenly looking at needing to hire a small production crew for weeks at a time.
That's why so much footage of future stars ends up being a random home run captured on their parent's phone or GameChanger footage where you really can't see anything.
There are showcase events from organizations like Perfect Game and Five Tool that will allow photo/videographers to be on the field in foul ground to capture all the sizzle their memory cards can hold but even at the end of a weekend tournament they're probably not leaving with more than a minute of useable footage.
Meanwhile, most true showcase events are even more of a crapshoot. Innings will be 5 batters, no matter what happens. Position players are usually guaranteed 2-3 ABs and a couple innings in the field. Pitchers will get to get to face 10 batters.
The very nature of these games is to guarantee that scouts will be able to take a good look at the players they came to see and they don't need much time to make up their minds.
11. u/Temporary_Pie2733 · 2026-11-05 13:42 UTC
Individual plays are interesting, but nowhere near as useful as statistics over a long period of time for player evaluation.
12. u/j1h15233 · 2026-11-05 14:15 UTC
There’s a million reasons. Baseball is way less of a “highlight” sport and would generate less views for anyone wanting to put together highlights. Baseball players don’t have the same gathering of talent and major high schools and AAU circuits that would make it easier to track down top players. Top basketball prospects pan out way more often than baseball guys do. A basketball guy could have five highlights a game while you might wait two weeks for a baseball player to put together that many clips. The list just goes on and on
13. u/Ok-Prompt-59 · 2026-11-05 13:38 UTC
Don’t need tapes. If you’re good they’re already watching.
14. u/Virtual_Win4076 · 2026-11-05 13:46 UTC
Seems like the best players head for developmental leagues at young ages, I wonder how many actually play HS baseball
15. u/Top-Lavishness2906 · 2026-11-05 14:20 UTC
Don't forget about Yoenis Cespedes: The Showcase!
In addition to what others are saying, I think a lot of the "agents" in Latin America and the Caribbean have relationships with scouts, so they don't have to make an all out blitz to get them to take a look
16. u/ndheathen · 2026-11-05 14:42 UTC
Baseball players aren't breaking their opponents ankles on the field the way basketball and football players can.
17. u/Additional-Ad4085 · 2026-11-05 16:25 UTC
Because there are north of 27000 high schools in the US. Putting up highlights for all of those would just result in a lot of noise.
18. u/Iforgotmypasswordmeh · 2026-11-05 17:37 UTC
Because future NBA players in high school are much closer to making the NBA than the future MLB player that's also in high school is.
19. u/gorgalor · 2026-11-05 19:53 UTC
There are 2-rounds in the NBA draft. Dudes who make it are freaks of nature, both in terms of size and skill.
By contrast, my white boy 5'10" frame in HS could have legitimately been scouted and drafted by an MLB team, selected in the 30th round. But I would have looked just like all the other 500,000 HS kids who play baseball every year.
There's just nothing special to watch about a kid throwing 90's in HS that is spectacular or impressive. There are plenty of prospects putting out YT vids for scouts. Those are all self-produced. You're not going to have fans packing a HS baseball game because the star pitcher is throwing that day. But you're sure as hell going to go to a HS basketball game just to watch that one dude who is already 6'5" owning the court, single highhandedly winning the game for your team. Or, this other weird superstar freak of nature from another team everyone is talking about is playing against your team and you want to see what all the fuss is about.
Everyone is whipping out their phones sharing vids of that. Not some chunky average looking kid playing baseball hitting bombs.
20. u/North-Rhubarb1410 · 2026-11-05 20:20 UTC
While it is my favorite sport, the answer is that baseball is an inherently dorky sport. The most athletic and amazing baseball play doesn’t translate to the screen anywhere close to a simple crossover or dunk in basketball.