Who Is To Say What Body Type a Baseball
Player Is "Supposed" To Have?
Rick Johnston, Co-Founder & Director of Baseball Operations - The Baseball Zone
"Big and imposing"
"Shows athleticism"
"Long frame"
"Broad shoulders"
"Thick trunk"
"Runs like a gazelle"
"Easy and fluid"
"Long and lean"
"Strong as a bull"
These are just a few scouting terms that are constantly used when players are being
evaluated, whether considered draft potential or possible college type. Truly, though,
who really knows what type of body can play the game? Who would have ever thought
in the day of the big man, that you would ever see a Dustin Pedroia on the same field
with a Frank Thomas? Now think about this for a moment, Pedroia, standing all of 5’8,
165lbs and Thomas, otherwise known as the Big Hurt, standing an imposing 6’5,
275lbs on the same field together, competing at the highest level of baseball.
Pedroia may appear to seem like an aberration to the game of baseball, similarly to
Mugsy Bogues, who excelled in the NBA at a mere 5’3, to a Theo Fleury, who stood
5’6 and weighed in at 180lbs. We can go on and on and find smaller players or players
that maybe did not have the prototypical bodies that one would expect to make it to
the next level.
But then who really is to say what body can play? Nobody, period! It is easy to say his
body doesn’t play, or his arm doesn’t work well or the swing is choppy or his actions
are not clean, but what about heart, grit, passion and numerous other intangibles that
separates the true players. For example, look at CC Sabathia and Prince Fielder. Wow,