I think it absolutely did. Conversations of “what if” we’re big on both sides of the fence. My son was off to a great start. 12 inning, 26k, 1BB, 2H, 0ERA. He had mono last summer so this was really the first good look scouts got. He had 15+ scouts at both games. When everything shut down, he trained continually for a private bullpen that PBR set up. He metrics were really good and topped 95. We had several in home visits. My son set his number very high because he really did want to go to school. His college roster is very crowded and 8 returning seniors. That’s a concern. If you are drafted, you sit for another 8-10 months. That’s a concern. What if the draft stays small? Another concern. What if we lose more seasons or you have an injury?
Most scouts said they had only seen him twice (crosscheckers hadn’t seen him) and it would be tough to get them to the number. In the end, he could have gone if he was willing to come down on his number, and he wasn’t. Ultimately, he said he wasn’t ready. He has two friends who have shared with him how hard it is. Add in the isolation and watching his friends leave would have been tough. We dropped him off at school two weeks ago and he is lifting and throwing and experiencing a tiny bit of normal even though it’s far from normal. Did he make the right choice? Time will tell. He is at complete peace with it, so I am as well.
