Free Baseball Tryout Evaluation Form (Printable PDF)
A one-page player evaluation form that rates thirteen skills on a 1 to 5 scale, with player details, an overall score box and room for notes. Coaches use it to run a fair tryout; parents use it to see, in numbers, how their player is growing from one season to the next.
Player block: name, age or league age, tryout number, date of birth, positions, bats/throws and a parent contact line.
Thirteen skill rows, each with 1 to 5 circles and a notes column: hitting contact, hitting power, bunting, baserunning/speed, fielding ground balls, fielding fly balls, throwing accuracy, throwing arm strength, pitching control, pitching velocity, catching (if applicable), attitude/coachability and hustle/effort.
Overall score box (out of 65), recommended team or level, evaluator name and lined notes.
US Letter portrait, one player per page, prints in black and white.
What coaches look for at tryouts
A youth tryout is rarely about spotting the finished player. Coaches are looking for tools that can be developed and habits that can't easily be taught. In roughly the order most evaluators weigh them:
Arm strength and accuracy. A player who can throw hard and hit a target can play almost anywhere on the field. It's usually the first thing tested.
Hitting mechanics and contact. Not home runs: a repeatable swing that puts the barrel on the ball. Power comes later.
Fielding fundamentals. Getting in front of ground balls, using two hands, getting under fly balls early.
Speed. Home to first and the 60-yard dash are the standard measures, but evaluators also watch how quickly a player reacts on the bases.
Attitude, hustle and coachability. Coaches watch what a player does between drills: whether they run everywhere, listen to instruction and shake off a mistake. Between two players of similar skill, this is what decides it.
How to run a fair evaluation
Same drills, same order, for everyone. Ground balls, fly balls, throws, a set number of swings, a timed run. If pitchers and catchers are evaluated separately, do it after the common stations.
Use more than one evaluator. Two or three coaches scoring independently and averaging the result removes most of the bias, especially when one evaluator is the parent of a player trying out.
Score immediately. Circle the number as the rep finishes, not at the end of the station. Memory blurs after about ten players.
Number players, not names. Give each player a tryout number on their shirt and score by number. It keeps the focus on what you saw.
Write one note per row. "Late on fastball", "arm plays at 3B": short and specific. Those notes are what make the form useful when you're building rosters later.
Total the score last. The overall score is a tiebreaker, not the decision. Two players on 45 can be very different players.
How to read the 1 to 5 scale
Score against the age group in front of you, not against older players or the pros.
Score
Meaning
1
Developing: not yet able to perform the skill consistently for the age group.
2
Below average: performs it sometimes; mechanics need work.
3
Solid: performs the skill reliably at the expected level for the age group.
4
Above average: consistent and noticeably better than most of the group.
5
Excellent: stands out, and would be among the best on any team at this level.
For parents: tracking your player's own progress
The form is just as useful at home. Fill one in honestly at the start of the season and another at the end, or ask a coach to. A player who moves from a 2 to a 3 in throwing accuracy, or from a 3 to a 4 in contact hitting, has made real, visible progress of the kind a batting average can hide, because averages swing wildly on a handful of at-bats in youth ball.
Keep the sheets together and you have a season-by-season record of every skill. That's exactly what MyBallPlayer does digitally: you log skill ratings alongside game stats and it charts the growth for you, so tryout day is a confirmation rather than a surprise.
Prefer not to add it up by hand? MyBallPlayer is a baseball and softball scorekeeper app for parents: log each game in about a minute and every average is worked out for you, season after season, whichever team your player is on.
Frequently asked questions
Is the tryout evaluation form free?
Yes. Download the PDF with no account and print one per player.
Can I use it for softball tryouts?
Yes. The skills are the same for baseball and softball. For fastpitch, score pitching control and velocity in the same rows and treat catching as applicable.
What is a good overall score?
There's no universal cutoff; it depends on the age group and the depth of the tryout. Use the total to rank players within one tryout, and the individual rows to decide positions and development priorities.
How many evaluators should score each player?
At least two, ideally three, scoring independently and then averaging. One evaluator per station also works well, as long as every player sees the same coach at that station.
Can parents use this to evaluate their own child?
Yes, and it's one of the best uses of it. Score honestly at the start and end of a season and compare row by row. The change matters more than the number.