Francis … What is going on with your son may be mental. Maybe he hasn’t adapt mentally year to year.
When my son made varsity soph year he batted 9th at the beginning of the season. The team was a perennial bottom feeder. Pitchers just threw him strikes. By mid season the team was in first and he was batting 2nd. He was now seeing strategic pitching. He was being pitched in a manner to prevent hitting behind runners. The team finished tied for second. They lost a tiebreaker to advance to districts.
Junior year the team was expected out of the gate to contend for the conference. They won it. My son was now batting third. He started the season 14 for 16 with three homers. Now he was being pitched around. He had to be patient. The #4 hitter hit grannies three times after my son was walked. When teams started pitching to him again he resumed being very aggressive at the plate.
Coming off a junior year hitting over .500 with power he didn’t see a decent pitch early in the season when the #4 hitter was slumping. He had to be real patient and take the walks. He did his big damage on the base paths until the #4 hitter got his grove back. They won their conference again.
All of this was mental adjustments. He had to adapt to how opponents were adapting to his development.
Has your son recognized he’s a different player than his first season? Has he made the mental adjustments? Has he adapted? Is he placing more pressure on himself? Has he relaxed without realizing it because he’s committed?