Success on field for 2016 Ontario Blue Jays
The Ontario Blue Jays program is not for everyone ... and 16-U Head Coach Sean Travers is totally fine with that. (Photo: Tyler King)
14 Dec. 2016
By Tyler King
Canadian Baseball Network
There are likely many people who will not agree with the Ontario Blue Jays (OBJs) hard-nosed approach to elite amateur baseball.
But despite what could be called a gradual shift in amateur sport away from the old-school, “tough-love” mentality to one slightly more gentle, it’s clear that for Sean Travers - the 16-U head coach and director of player development for the OBJs - an intense, results driven approach still has a place in his program.
Travers makes no apologies in admitting that his program is not for everyone.
“If you don’t want to the truth, then this is definitely not the place for you,” Travers told the Canadian Baseball Network. “The last thing we want is for somebody to expect to go to the University of Florida when they’re not even close to that as a player ... So we are brutally honest, with the player and the family.
“Now that being said,” Travers continued, “as a 16-year-old if your goal is to go to a place like Florida, then we’re going to tell you what you need to do to get it done.”
Although the program appears to exude an intensity that could be off-putting to some, there’s little doubt that, at least by certain measures, it is very effective.
Success for the OBJs is defined by school placements and scholarships. And with that as the benchmark, it’s nearly impossible to argue with their results.
“Our biggest goal is to get our kids placed [in college],” Travers said. “And since I came here in 2002 we’ve placed 100-percent [of the graduating class]. So we don’t want to mess with the set-up too much ... Each year we’re always right at the top of the programs in terms of drafted players.”
In other words, if you want to be a part of the OBJs, you had better be serious about baseball.
Because they sure are.
“If you’re looking for someone to string your dream along, that’s not what you’re going to get,” Travers emphasized. “You’re going to get the brutal, honest truth ...”
Fortunately, Travers and his staff rarely need to have those difficult conversations, thanks in part to their heavy investment and focus on scouting. They only want players who are both committed to the process, as well as talented - and for good reason too. The average player might not make it through the rigorous OBJ season, which, as Travers points out, is essentially 11-months long.
Their season starts at the end of August, when all players undergo a week-long intensive training camp. In the Fall they travel around the southern United States, ending with games in Jupiter, Florida. The players then get a few weeks off before they begin the first phase of their weight-lifting regimen.
Then, come January 1st, it’s right back to baseball practice.
A typical OBJ practice lasts three hours, and includes an hour of defensive training, an hour of weights, and an hour of hitting. All of this is made possible by the mammoth, 53,000 square foot indoor training complex (dubbed “The Clubhouse”) that the OBJ teams call home.
They practice at The Clubhouse until Spring, when they head to Vero Beach, Fla, for spring training. Then they come back home for their Canadian Premier Baseball League season (which, including inter-squad games and scrimmages, was over 45 games long in 2016). In July there is another trip to the U.S. before the whole thing starts over again.
Based on that training regimen, you can forgive Travers for being a little choosey with who the program recruits.
“The most important thing is that we get the most talented, the most dedicated players coming in here. You can have great coaches and all that, but you’re not going to win without talent. We’re fortunate enough to scout talent and usually get the guys that we want. Then it all works out.”
As Travers put it, if results and scholarships are the measure of success, then their strategy and schedule certainly worked again in 2016.
For starters, the 16-U team won the Fall South Carolina State Championship, the CABA World Series in Georgia, and their CPBL season. The 18-year-olds won the B.E.S.T. National Championship in Pensacola, Fla., as well as their CPBL season - to name a few OBJ trophies from the past year.
Travers was pleased that the program had six players drafted led by RHP Jordan Balazovic (Mississauga), drafted in the fifth-round by the Minnesota Twins.
The other drafted players were C Luke Van Rycheghem (Kent Bridge) 23rd round to the Minnesota Twins as well as alumni OF Jacob Robson (Windsor) eighth, Mississippi State to the Detroit Tigers; SS Daniel Pinero (Toronto) ninth, Virginia, Tigers and RHP Bryan Saucedo (Toronto) 14th, White Sox, Davenport.
The successful 2016 campaign followed the rise of OBJ alum Josh Naylor, who was drafted 12th overall by the Miami Marlins in 2015. But even with the hype that followed Naylor throughout his time with the OBJs, even he was not immune to the intense demands of the coaching staff.
“Josh and I had our times where we went at each other a little bit, when he wasn’t necessarily doing the things that I thought he needed to be doing,” Travers admitted. “But I think part of the success of Josh was that he had parents who understood that everything we said to him was for the best, and that we had his best interests at heart. They supported us 100-percent.”
The OBJ program is designed so that elite, dedicated players like Naylor and Balazovich can thrive. It is the pursuit of those types of players as to why Travers insists on the constant travel - even for the younger teams - to the southern U.S.
“Playing in the States doesn’t necessarily make much of a difference if you’re playing teams in Buffalo, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. They all deal with the same problems we do,” Travers said, referring to the harsh climate. “They don’t play a lot of baseball.
“So we go down into Houston and Florida and play the best programs and the best players in the country. That does a couple things. It lets our players know where they are, where they fit, and what they need to do to get to the next level. It also makes them raise their game, because they are facing much better competition. Guys are throwing much harder. Either they figure it out or baseball’s not for them.”
That last line may seem direct, but that is only because Travers is dead-set on seeing his perfect streak of college placements continue.
That is the reason why he continues to tweak and improve their new and already impressive training facility (he recently decided to add a second weight room), and why he is working so hard to develop partnerships with programs across North America, like the one they are set to begin at the end of December with the U.S.-based Program 15.
“Program 15 was started by a longtime major league scout and a bunch of people that were not liking where baseball was at, both from a development and a showcase standpoint,” Travers said. “It’s trying to change the showcase atmosphere that surrounds these high-school players and bring them back to playing real baseball.
“[Program 15] is going to offer mental skills preparation, on-field instruction; they’re also going to offer professional evaluations of players and get that information out to colleges. Almost everybody on their staff has 10-years of Big League experience.”
According to Travers, the program is “very aggressive,” which would seem to make it a perfect fit for the OBJs. Not to mention there are many north of the border - Travers included - who wouldn’t mind seeing the showcase format get a bit of an overhaul.
“I think people get fooled by that stuff,” Travers said. “[Players] think ‘I’m going to go to a tournament and go 6-for-6 and get my scholarship’. To me, that’s not the way it happens. You go to those tournaments, play against the best guys, get evaluated.
“In our program you’re getting evaluated every day by our staff, and we have a pretty good idea what school you should be going to. So we sit down and develop a plan to make that happen ... [Director of College Placement] Mike Steed does a fantastic job of matching guys up with their proper situations.”
So even though it may not always be easy, at least to Travers and the OBJ staff, there is clearly an underlying reason behind their hard-nosed approach.
No, it’s definitely not for everyone.
But, based on those results, it clearly is for some.
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