@JucoDad posted:My son played in one of the most competitive districts in the HS baseball hotbed of southern Texas. There were perennial powerhouse schools and schools that gave baseball very little effort. It's hard to know much about your son's program from the info provided, but I would just say HS baseball should be fun for the athlete and parent. IMO if your son projects to play beyond HS, the growth will likely come from activities outside the HS program (unless your son is in an elite HS program).
I think we have 70-72 players about evenly spread Soph, JV, and Varsity. I think it’s solely so the coach doesn’t worry about complaining parents but maybe it’s fund raising. I’d say he is actually trying to let players develop but that would be contrary to reality. Our Soph team is essentially equal playing time. JV is same until district. Varsity is just a mess IMO. We live in a baseball hotbed btw with 95% of our kids (and most other schools too) playing year round travel ball before they enter HS
I‘m only a couple of years into HS baseball, but if wasn’t for the fun and social aspects of being involved with HS sports (for my son and me), I’d just pull him out and have him train like he does in the fall. He’d make bigger gains. Our HS doesn’t have a baseball weight training program, Zero lockers for baseball players, and generally football coaches handling sub varsity. So pretty much an ‘who cares’ sport despite 110 kids trying out every year. All the while, we have one of the better talent pools in our district but not great coaching.
I’ll also reiterate what I learned here and from my son’s various coaches pre-HS - be utility, be explosive or fast (base running and hitting), and if you hit you will play. All are very valuable assets that play well in HS.