my son's freshman year is about to end....he finished with a .413 BA and .587 Slg%, for 3rd and 1st on the team respectively (he also finished with an ERA of 1.10 1st on the team).
The funny thing is, this team has always looked at my son as a pitcher, and last fall he would be lucky to get one at bat a game. Then during fall and spring camp, the Varsity coach took a liking to him (he is a 6'2" hard throwing and hitting 15 year old freshman...not to brag or anything), and told the coaches to play him more. So he finally got to play and quite frankly shocked the coaches, and has been sitting top 2 or 3 all year long in BA.....he's working on getting past the warning track power (he hit the top of the fence twice last week for triples), but we've only had one freshman hit a HR this year, so he's not alone.
My question is....without seeing him or his team play, why do you think he'd be hitting #9 in the lineup? The guy they have at the 4 spot has ONE extra base hit all year, and is batting nearly a 100 pts below my son at .315 and slugging of .340. I thought I understood the game of baseball, but this one is mind boggling. The HS coaches have a 100% no talking to coaches about playing time, positions, etc... rule; so I thought I'd talk to the baseball minds here.
I've heard everything from him being the 2nd cleanup (he has hit in the 8 spot all year long), to now being our 2nd leadoff hitter (nice term for the 9 hole, where they put him for the playoffs)....it's all mind boggling to me though. His plate discipline is top 2 or 3 on the team. He has the most walks, the most extra base hits, like I mentioned before, he's #3 on the team in average....he's not slow either...he's top 3 or 4 fastest on the team. I just don't get why you'd give one of your best hitters less opportunities from the plate.
They did win the league, and just won their first playoff game last night.....but last night was a prime example. My boy scored 2 of the teams first 4 runs, hitting from the 9 hole (HBP, then a single)....he scored both with 2 outs. It worked out because the leadoff is freaking stud....this kid lost his catching role because of a SERIOUS case with the yips (he literally could only get the ball back to the pitcher about 25% of the time), but has taken the leadoff role from one of the coach's sons because he earned it.....he punched in 4 RBI's last night.....the #8 and #9 spots had 3 of the teams first 5 hits.
Baseball is such a fun game to be a part of....it can be mind numbingly frustrating at times though. I coach my youngest boys travel team (why I'm barely on here any more), and at the 10U age, it's still fun....parents try and ruin the experience, but it's still fun for the boys. ln HS, it's politics and "may the best man win"....I'm great with the latter, it's the politics part I can't stand. I'm just happy the Varsity coach likes my son...hopefully that pays dividends this summer and beyond.
The funny thing is, this team has always looked at my son as a pitcher, and last fall he would be lucky to get one at bat a game. Then during fall and spring camp, the Varsity coach took a liking to him (he is a 6'2" hard throwing and hitting 15 year old freshman...not to brag or anything), and told the coaches to play him more. So he finally got to play and quite frankly shocked the coaches, and has been sitting top 2 or 3 all year long in BA.....he's working on getting past the warning track power (he hit the top of the fence twice last week for triples), but we've only had one freshman hit a HR this year, so he's not alone.
My question is....without seeing him or his team play, why do you think he'd be hitting #9 in the lineup? The guy they have at the 4 spot has ONE extra base hit all year, and is batting nearly a 100 pts below my son at .315 and slugging of .340. I thought I understood the game of baseball, but this one is mind boggling. The HS coaches have a 100% no talking to coaches about playing time, positions, etc... rule; so I thought I'd talk to the baseball minds here.
I've heard everything from him being the 2nd cleanup (he has hit in the 8 spot all year long), to now being our 2nd leadoff hitter (nice term for the 9 hole, where they put him for the playoffs)....it's all mind boggling to me though. His plate discipline is top 2 or 3 on the team. He has the most walks, the most extra base hits, like I mentioned before, he's #3 on the team in average....he's not slow either...he's top 3 or 4 fastest on the team. I just don't get why you'd give one of your best hitters less opportunities from the plate.
They did win the league, and just won their first playoff game last night.....but last night was a prime example. My boy scored 2 of the teams first 4 runs, hitting from the 9 hole (HBP, then a single)....he scored both with 2 outs. It worked out because the leadoff is freaking stud....this kid lost his catching role because of a SERIOUS case with the yips (he literally could only get the ball back to the pitcher about 25% of the time), but has taken the leadoff role from one of the coach's sons because he earned it.....he punched in 4 RBI's last night.....the #8 and #9 spots had 3 of the teams first 5 hits.
Baseball is such a fun game to be a part of....it can be mind numbingly frustrating at times though. I coach my youngest boys travel team (why I'm barely on here any more), and at the 10U age, it's still fun....parents try and ruin the experience, but it's still fun for the boys. ln HS, it's politics and "may the best man win"....I'm great with the latter, it's the politics part I can't stand. I'm just happy the Varsity coach likes my son...hopefully that pays dividends this summer and beyond.
