Getting To Know Baseball Evaluator Brad Rao of Area Scouts – RI

I recently met up with Area Scouts – RI’s Bryan Murray to learn more about the opportunities it presents to Rhode Island baseball families. Bryan is the Regional Evaluator for Area Scouts – RI/MA, is a former collegiate level pitcher, a parent, and a true baseball fan. Area Scouts is focused on three tiers of the player development process – professional scouting evaluation, G.A.M.E. or Graded Active Movement Exam, and Area Scouts Ranking. Players get to work with coaches/evaluators who are former collegiate (sometimes professional) baseball players, trusted medical personnel, and a team of dedicated professionals whose goal is “to give every athlete in any sport the best chance of playing at the next level.”

Bryan was very enthusiastic about one of his Area Scouts Evaluators – Brad Rao. Rao attended Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, MA and then went on to play collegiate baseball at UMass-Lowell before enlisting in the Coast Guard. Brad has played amateur baseball from Texas to the Boston City Leagues to most recently in the Rhode Island Senior Mens Baseball League. Brad Rao has been hosting workouts with proper social distancing for a small group of kids for several months this year. He dedicates 2 hours in the afternoon for anyone who wants to strengthen their core and work on Shoulder/Arm health. According to Bryan, “Brad is a trusted Evaluator for Area Scouts and will be working with Upper Deck with all of the Athletes that want to join our Platform in that program.”

Here is Brad talking about why Area Scouts programs are important not only for today’s game but for years to come:

And here is Brad showing some youth baseball players to benefits of hip rotation as it pertains to positive athletic movements.

Area Scouts – RI Evaluators like Bryan and Brad look at a wide range of performance and strength aspects of a baseball player’s profile. Their goal is to determine strengths and weaknesses in the physical makeup of a swing, a throw, a sprint to first base. By analyzing the human performance angle of a player, the evaluators can determine, potentially, a corrected action to make a throw less stressful on the shoulder, increased range of motion in the hips to drive the baseball farther, and help a baseball player stay stronger, longer. Their G.A.M.E. exam was developed by Dr. Kevin McGovern and serves as a diagnostic tool for Bryan and Brad as they evaluate and work with youth baseball players.

It was great catching up with Bryan Murray of Area Scouts – RI to learn more about how Area Scouts can benefit Rhode Island baseball players. His team of evaluators is growing weekly and the program is already being used in top baseball facilities in Rhode Island, like Upper Deck Baseball Academy in Cumberland. If you would like to learn more about Area Scouts – RI, you can contact Bryan Murray at bryan@areascouts.com or by going to their website – Area Scouts RI.

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