The Five Tool Baseball Podcast

Ep 177: Some player breakdowns after a month of live looks...

Dustin begins to empty his scouting notebook with thoughts on a long list of top players that he saw recently, including some MLB Draft prospects, uncommitted juniors, rising sophomores and even freshmen. 

Ep 176: Five Tool Festival Recap, Rice makes a hire, and Dustin is off to Vegas

We're back with a full recap of the Five Tool Festival and some thoughts on Rice's hire of David Pierce. Plus, Dustin is about to head to Las Vegas to compete in the first-ever National Fantasy Baseball Championship Champions League. 

Ep 175: FIVE TOOL FESTIVAL PREVIEW

It's Festival Week!

Dustin McComas finally has some of his voice back and previews the upcoming Five Tool Festival with notes on all 32 participating teams. 

Ep 174 (Presented by HITFORTH): TXHSBASEBALL Preview: Private Schools and 6A

Dustin McComas returns to help you prepare for the upcoming Texas high school baseball team with a preview of teams to follow in private school competition and top 6A teams. 

Ep 173 (Presented by HITFORTH): Area Code Select Notes

Baseball! It was unusually cold, especially at Daikin Park, but the Five Tool staff braved the elements to cover Area Code Select Central. Dustin shares thoughts, notes and more from the event, including one left-handed pitcher who stole the show.

Ep 172 (presented by HITFORTH) Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com

Dustin is joined by longtime friend and D1Baseball.com's Co-owner, Managing Editor and National Reporter Kendall Rogers. The two discuss:

- outlooks for some college programs in and around Texas
- what college coaches were saying about the sport at the annual ABCA convention
- upcoming roster limit changes and deadlines
- upcoming scholarship limit changes
- Is the sport going to continue getting older?
- growing popularity of college baseball
- the number and caliber of high school players who end up in D1 Baseball
- Much more

Ep 171 (Presented by HITFORTH): Hawaii Sandlot Classic Preview; Diego Pavia ruling/JUCO eligibility

Five Tool SoCal Director and Hawaii native Tim Arakawa joins to preview the 2024 Hawaii Sandlot Classic. The former Hawaii high school star discusses 20 names he's especially excited to see and also helps Dustin announce the 10 team captains for the event. 

Plus, the two dive into the recent Davia Pavia court decision... is the door now open for JUCO players to seek waivers and gain eligibility back? Are JUCO years no longer going to count? Actually, the court decision isn't yet final and only deals with one player. For now. But the implications suggest this could be game-changing.

Ep 170 (Presented by HITFORTH): JUCO Signing Classes; NCAA Roster Limit News; Rise of 2-Way Players

Dustin McComas is back and concludes the signing period coverage with discussion about signing classes of 20 JUCO programs in the state of Texas. He offers a report on A TON of players heading to the JUCO level and examines the rise of talent at that level. 

 

Plus, he shares some recent NCAA news about the future 34-man roster limit at D1 programs and when that is scheduled to go into effect. Could that lead to the rise of two-way players? And, of course, some Juan Soto discussion. 

Ep 169 (presented by HITFORTH): D1 Mid-major Recruiting Classes...

Dustin continues his Signing Period coverage with a breakdown of the D1 mid-major classes that caught his attention. The list includes Texas State, DBU, UTSA, Rice, Tarleton, ACU, ETBU and more. Plus, a discussion about turkey. 

Ep 168 (presented by HITFORTH): Big 12 2025 Recruiting Classes

More Signing Day coverage... the new-look Big 12.

Dustin highlights some of his favorite 2025 commitments heading to Big 12 programs and looks at the baseball future ahead for the league.