OF or 1B

Welcome to the site!  How big is he?  How tall does he project to be?  Does he hit for power?  How good is his OF defense?  Is he RH or LH thrower?  If RH, how are his infield skills otherwise?  What level of school is he targeting?

I think height/reach is valued.  Beyond that, colleges feel they can coach a kid up defensively to play 1b.  It seems to be a place they put good hitters, preferably with pop, that either have the size or don't crack the lineup elsewhere defensively.

Answers to my other questions will help us advise you specifically.

Colleges don't recruit 1st basemen, they convert players who can absolutely rake and have speed limitations to DH/1st basemen. They also recruit CFers mostly and corner OFers are also the last to be recruited. Keep working on hitting both for power and average and speed. Your son will be better off for it.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the responses.  They are what I expected.   He is He will keep working at OF as well. He's 6' 2" (likely that is all he will grow) and right-handed.  Some power.

It is just interesting that his HS coach clearly sees more value in defense at 1B than at the corner outfield spots. He will put much slower guys in the OF spots and keep my faster son at 1B.

It makes some sense to me in that 1B likely has multiple plays a game where defense matters (either in bounced throws, quick throws to other bases, fielding grounders).  My son gets to little foul pops in front of the 1B dugout or down the RF line that other 1Bs wouldn't get to.

A right-fielder my only have 1 or 2 plays a game where speed matters.

Just trying to challenge the conventional wisdom . . . 

Don't forget that the quality of throws to first improves as you move up.  So 1B becomes easier.  Depending on the HS, you may need a defensive beast at 1B just to get an out. Good luck. 

The difference is what is typical at the college level vs HS level.  Everyone on the college roster is a very good baseball player and can likely perform sufficiently well if moved to 1b.  Not the case in HS ball.  You nailed it.  Touches are high, so the position is quite important at the youth levels when not everyone can field or catch adequately but this diminishes as more proficient players become part of a team's makeup.

So, to answer your original question, it is the right direction to work on getting the 60 time down a bit, the velo up a few ticks, and work on both options defensively.  But mostly, continue to evolve as a hitter and showcase as an OF.  This will give him multiple position options (two or three OF spots and 1b) instead of just one.

Good point cabbage, plus the fields are typically very nice in in college with clean hops. 

The more positions you can play PLUS a bat opens a lot of doors.