CageRat Sports

My freshman year of college baseball, our coach did something I've never forgotten.



He had every position player rank the entire roster, 1 through 20. Best player to last. And we had to include ourselves on that list.



Then he met with each of us, one at a time. He'd show us where we ranked ourselves. Then he'd show us where he actually had us.



I still remember the gap between those two numbers. It wasn't comfortable. But it was one of the most valuable hours of my entire career, because it forced something most of us avoid at all costs: an honest, unflinching look at where we actually stood, from someone who had zero reason to sugarcoat it.



I've spent the 16 years since watching this play out with other people's kids.



I've run a training facility. I've coached at the college level. And the single biggest thing separating players who develop and get recruited from players who stall out isn't talent, and it isn't money spent on trainers or recruiting packages.



It's whether someone in their life is willing to tell them the truth — and whether they're willing to hear it.



Most of the time, nobody wants that job. Parents don't want to be the one who tells their son he's not where he needs to be. Trainers who are paid by the family have a financial incentive to keep the relationship pleasant, not honest. Recruiting services are selling hope, not an evaluation.



So kids go years without ever getting the version of that conversation I had as a freshman — the one where someone who genuinely wants them to succeed sits them down and tells them exactly where they stand, gap and all.



Here's what I'd tell any parent, in baseball or anywhere else:



Self-evaluation matters, but it's not enough on its own — we're all a little blind to our own gaps. Find someone with no financial or emotional stake in flattering you, and ask them the question directly. Then actually use the answer instead of shopping around for one you like better.



It's uncomfortable. It's also the fastest path to real improvement I've ever seen, in baseball or in anything else worth getting good at.



I built a free tool that does a version of this for baseball families — an honest, objective read on where a player's tools actually stand against real college benchmarks, with no sales pitch attached. If you're a baseball parent and you've been wondering where your son really stands, that's exactly what it's for.



But even if baseball isn't your world: find your version of that ranking exercise. Ask someone to tell you the truth. Then do something with it.

Have a purpose during batting practice. Hard line drives that one-hop the outfielders create a direct barrel path with a repeatable barrel.

Most of the time I want him letting the ball travel and hitting it deep. The triangle I want my guys to hit to is over the opposite middle infielder’s head to right back at the pitcher’s head. That covers the outer two-thirds of the plate, and that is where the approach should be most of the time.

Pitchers, especially young pitchers, do not like to pitch inside. Looking away also forces him to see the ball longer and helps him pick up offspeed.

Driving it the other way is how you hit for average at a high level. That comes from a bat path that works behind the baseball and is on plane early. You can train that off a tee into a net. You do not need a lesson to start it.

If you want the rounds written out, they’re on the yard page:

cageratbaseball.com/yard

The difference between a steep swing and an elite barrel path comes down to one concept: getting on plane early.

A lot of young hitters chop down on the ball or dump their barrel late. This leaves them with zero margin for error against high-level velocity.

If your son is working off a tee into a net at home, don't just count the reps. Watch his entry into the zone. He needs a swing path that enters the hitting zone early and stays on that horizontal plane through contact. That consistency is what produces sweet-spot contact, not just high home-run hacks.

The barrel of his bat should look like it is following the ball.

Pair that structural consistency with a standard radar gun and a wood bat to track his raw power output honestly.

If you want to check his starting baseline, plug his top exit velocity numbers into our objective benchmarks tool at cageratbaseball.com to see where his tools sit today.

What gets measured gets improved.

If your son wants to reach his highest potential in this game, you have to start with an accurate, honest map of where his physical tools sit today. Not a commercial ranking list. Not a travel organization's biased review.

When college scouts evaluate talent, they look at three objective, physical metrics:

1. 60-Yard Dash (Speed)
2. Position Velocity (Arm strength)
3. Exit Velocity (Power)

If you are trying to track your child's athletic path without measuring these tools, you are managing his development completely blind.

Whenever you test exit velocity, skip the high-tech simulators. Always do it with a wood bat hitting off of a tee and a radar gun.

We built a completely free, objective tools metric calculator based on real college recruiting data so you can get an honest baseline of where his numbers actually stack up against the benchmarks. No hype. No corporate sales pitch. Just data to help you map his work to his goals.

Stop guessing. Run his numbers for free right here:

CageRat Baseball Free baseball recruiting metrics calculator for parents. Enter 60-yard dash, position velocity, and exit velocity. Grade emailed on the same scale Tad Reida uses. Not a recruiting service.

A parent’s best role during a hitting session isn't just pointing out a flawed swing path.

It's teaching your son how to manage the frustration of a bad round. It's helping him build the emotional tools to face failure, adjust his grip, and reset for the next pitch.

Help him map out the goal, then stand behind the net and give him the support to crush it. Development is a shared decade.

CageRat isn’t a facility and it isn’t a travel organization anymore.

I spent 16 years here helping players chase velo, reps, and scholarships. The part that lasted was the hours between fathers and sons. That’s the work for me now.

Your son doesn’t need another trainer. He needs you working with him. I’m a dad walking my own boys through this. I played D1, coached D1, and I still have my own concerns. I’ll cut the noise. You do the work with him.

This page is for that. Foundational development. An honest picture of college recruiting. A way to keep the game from coming between you.

If you want a starting point, I built a free evaluation of his tools. Same scale I use when I look at a player. Not a recruiting service. You put the numbers in. I send the grade to your inbox.

https://cageratbaseball.com/evaluate

What gets measured gets improved.

CageRat Baseball A free objective evaluation of your son’s tools. Input his numbers. I’ll send the grade to your inbox — the same scale I use when I look at a player to recruit or advise. Not a recruiting service.

New Springs Athletic Center softball and baseball group training. Call in, or come check out a free first session!

Good afternoon CageRat family,

Fifteen years ago, Allison and I founded CageRat Baseball, and nearly six years ago we took a leap of faith and purchased The Farm with a simple mission: develop young athletes, help them earn the opportunity to play in college, and — even more importantly — guide them toward becoming successful, purposeful adults.

We are incredibly proud of what this community has accomplished together. Hundreds of athletes have gone on to play college and professional baseball. We’ve watched countless young men and women turn their lives around both on and off the field. One of our favorite stories is the player who was failing out of high school, fought his way to a Junior College scholarship, transferred to a strong D1 program where he had a successful career, earned his Master’s degree, and is now thriving. Stories like his are why we went into this.

Many of you know that in 2023 I was given the incredible opportunity to return to my alma mater, Wichita State University, to join the coaching staff. Accepting that role meant relocating our family to Kansas — the right move for us, but one that has limited our day-to-day involvement at The Farm over the past couple of years.

That brings us to the news we want to share: yesterday we officially closed on the sale of The Farm Athletic Complex. This was an extraordinarily difficult decision. We have literally poured our lives into CageRat and The Farm for the last 15 years — from the early days when people thought we were crazy for buying a dilapidated Lynmar building, to watching it become the heartbeat of Colorado Springs youth sports. None of that would have happened without the belief and partnership of this community and our tenants (especially Team Colorado Volleyball, who took a chance on us before we even owned the building).

We are deeply grateful.

The new owners' vision for youth sports aligns perfectly with everything we’ve always believed in. We have complete confidence that The Farm and the Colorado Springs sports community are in excellent hands.

For our current teams, members, and families:

Nothing changes for you operationally.
Shane will continue to lead the baseball program.
The teams will continue to run as planned through the current season and beyond.
The training program will remain intact.
We apologize for any uncertainty or rumors over the past week. We wanted to wait until the transaction was 100% final and we had clear, accurate information before making an official announcement.

As for Allison and me — we’re going to take the next few months to catch our breath, focus on our six kids, and pray about what the next chapter looks like. Whatever it is, we’ll keep trying to make a positive impact on the people we meet.

Thank you — truly — for an unforgettable 15 years. CageRat and The Farm will always be part of who we are.

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

God bless, Tad & Allison Reida

Due to weather and road conditions we have decided to close and cancel all training classes for the evening.

Reminder - you can make up all missed classes at your convenience.

Stay safe and warm!