# Why 50 Travel Ball Games + 50 Practices Beats 100 Games

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-valuable-agent-with-matt-hannaford-6966172/why-50-travel-ball-games-50-practices-beats-100-games
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-valuable-agent-with-matt-hannaford-6966172/why-50-travel-ball-games-50-practices-beats-100-games.md
Podcast: [Most Valuable Agent with Matt Hannaford](https://stenobird.com/podcast/most-valuable-agent-with-matt-hannaford-6966172)
Published: 2026-04-22T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://f19dff7d-cba9-4d19-b009-9fdbdd27ffc9.libsyn.com/why-50-travel-ball-games-50-practices-beats-100-games
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/f19dff7d-cba9-4d19-b009-9fdbdd27ffc9/v1_066_Justin_Cryer_MVA.mp3?dest-id=4634517
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/most-valuable-agent-with-matt-hannaford-6966172/episodes/why-50-travel-ball-games-50-practices-beats-100-games
Duration seconds: 3471

## Resource

Your son may play 80 games in a single summer, but he can't tell you what he worked on at practice last week. Sound familiar? Today's guest is Justin Cryer, former professional player, Ole Miss Rebel, former Houston Astros area scout, and now Director of Sports Marketing at Marucci. Justin joined Matt at Marucci's newly opened Hitter's House in Scottsdale, Arizona, during Spring Training for a conversation that hits on everything from player development and scouting to travel ball and parenting. And beyond his role at Marucci, Justin brings another valuable perspective to the table: he's also a travel ball dad and coach for his 10-year-old son's team. If you care about helping your son develop the right way, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Subscribe for the insider playbook on recruiting, the draft, and building your son's baseball career the smart way. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✔ What MLB scouts actually evaluate in your son — and why body type and character matter, sometimes more than the box score. ✔ The development-first framework: why you should flip the priority from exposure to development and what that looks like practically week to week ✔ Why Justin fought travel baseball for his own son — and what changed his mind ✔ What happens inside an MLB draft room that would surprise you — including why some top draft prospects can go undrafted ✔ Why making your son play another sport might be the best thing you do for his baseball career this year Justin Cryer is a former Ole Miss pitcher who spent five drafts as an area scout for the Houston Astros covering Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. He scouted Alex Bregman and put one of the highest grades in the organization on Kyle Tucker. Justin now leads Marucci's Marketing Department and gave us…

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## Transcript

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