How Double Ups Work
A Double Up is a second game or event ONIT recommends you add to a day you've already committed to: a nearby game, with a prospect worth seeing, that realistically fits around your confirmed schedule. The goal is simple: more prospects covered per trip, without adding miles or guesswork.
Double Ups are available in Amateur mode. Today, recommendations cover games; events are coming soon.
Every recommendation passes three checks before you see it:
Is it worth your time? The game has a graded prospect on your list.
Does it fit your day? You can get there and back around your confirmed games, with time to spare for traffic and parking.
Is it one of your best options? ONIT ranks everything that passes and shows you the top 4 (if available).
Here's how each step works.
Step 1: Finding games worth your time
Double Ups are built around your confirmed games for the day. Those are your anchors: the commitments everything else has to fit around.
Only confirmed games count. Unconfirmed games are treated as placeholders you're still sorting out, so they never block a recommendation. Canceled and postponed games are ignored.
Nearby games only. A game has to be within 100 miles of one of your confirmed venues.
Amateur games with a set time. International games and games with a TBD start time aren't recommended.
Something new. Games you're already scheduled for are skipped. So is any game whose top prospect is already playing in a game you've confirmed, since you'll see him anyway.
Who makes a game worth it
A game only qualifies if at least one prospect in it has a grade. The higher the grade, the stronger the recommendation.
Looks lower a prospect's priority without ruling him out. Each look your club already has on a player lowers his score by a set amount. That way, a highly graded prospect your club has barely seen rises to the top, and a player who's been seen plenty drifts down the list. Nobody disappears just because he's been seen before.
Step 2: Making sure it fits your day
A great prospect doesn't help if you can't get there. ONIT checks every candidate against your confirmed games on both sides of it: the one before and the one after.
How long games run. ONIT assumes a high school game takes 2 hours and any other game takes 2.5 hours. A doubleheader counts as two games.
No overlaps. If a game overlaps one of your confirmed games, it's not recommended.
Spare time after the drive. ONIT takes the time between games and subtracts the drive. What's left is your spare time. If the game is squeezed on both sides, the tighter side is the one that counts.
A cushion for the road. ONIT holds back a cushion for traffic, parking and getting settled: 20 minutes, or 25% of the drive time on longer trips, whichever is bigger. A 2-hour drive gets a 30-minute cushion.
Tight still counts. ONIT will still show a game that eats into that cushion by up to 30 minutes. That keeps close calls on your radar, like a game where you'd miss the first inning, so you can decide if it's worth it. Anything tighter is dropped.
Example
You're confirmed at a high school game at 1:00 pm, so ONIT expects you done by 3:00 pm. A college game 45 minutes away starts at 5:00 pm.
Time between games: 2 hours
Minus the drive: 1 hour 15 minutes of spare time
Minus the 20-minute cushion: 55 minutes to spare. Comfortable fit.
If that college game started at 4:00 pm instead, you'd have 15 minutes of spare time, 5 minutes short of the cushion. It's tight, but it still shows up.
Step 3: Ranking your best options
Every game that passes Steps 1 and 2 is ranked, and you see the top 4. ONIT ranks them by:
The best prospect in the game. The top prospect's score (his grade, adjusted for looks) decides first.
How much spare time you'd have. Between two equal prospects, the easier fit wins.
How close it is. Then the shorter drive from your nearest confirmed game.
Before showing the list, ONIT does two cleanups:
One game per prospect. If the same prospect is the headliner in two games, you only see the better option.
In time order. Your top 4 are shown in the order they happen that day, so they read like a schedule.
Each recommendation also tells you which confirmed game it's closest to, so you can see at a glance how it connects to what you're already doing.
Coming soon
Scouting reports
Double Ups will soon factor in the scouting reports your club sends to ONIT, alongside looks.
Reports will work like looks. Each report already filed on a prospect will lower his priority on a sliding scale, the same way looks do today. A player who's been written up will make room for one who hasn't.
Nobody gets filtered out. Like looks, reports will lower a player's priority without removing him from consideration.
Your data powers it. This works for clubs that send their reports into ONIT through our prospect report API. Each report can include who wrote it, so your scouts will see the name behind it. Talk to us if you'd like help getting your reports connected.
We'll tune how much reports count based on feedback from clubs once it's live.
Events
Double Ups will also start recommending events, like showcases and combines, alongside games. They'll go through the same checks: worth your time, fits your day, and ranks among your best options.
Tips for better Double Ups
Confirm your games. Double Ups only build around confirmed games. A day with nothing confirmed won't get recommendations.
Keep grades current. Only graded prospects can drive a recommendation, so ungraded players won't surface on their own.
Log your looks. Looks are how ONIT knows who's already been seen. Accurate looks mean fresher recommendations.
FAQ
Why don't I see any Double Ups today? The most common reasons: nothing is confirmed that day, no graded prospects are playing within 100 miles, or the nearby games don't fit around your schedule.
Why isn't my unconfirmed game blocking a recommendation that overlaps it? On purpose. Unconfirmed games are treated as placeholders, so ONIT won't hide a good option because of a game you haven't committed to.
Why did a game I expected not show up? It may have overlapped a confirmed game, been too tight to reach, or its top prospect is already playing in one of your confirmed games. It may also have ranked below your top 4.
Why is a player I've seen plenty still recommended? Looks lower a player's priority but never remove him. If he's highly graded and nothing better fits, he can still come up.
Why do I only see 4? To keep it focused. You get the strongest options, not every game in range.
Can I use Double Ups in Pro or International mode? Not right now. Double Ups are available in Amateur mode.