Golfman -- you've received a lot of different perspectives here -- everything from Hang in there ... he may surprise you at 15-16 ... to My son never went through this, so maybe baseball's not his thing ... to Whatever you do, don't push him away from the sport.
And on and on.
I think we all understand your question. How hard should we push an 8th grader who has talent, but isn't currently self-motivated enough to do those extra things to improve his game.
There's no single answer. But I'm curious: Aside from agreeing with someone earlier that xBox is a moral hazard, do you find ANY of this helpful?
Yes. Hearing other people's experiences provides different perspectives. There is no one answer. Sounds to me like I'll lay off for a little while until school basketball is done. Then, I'll keep doing what I have been doing -- offering to help when he wants to, but not pushing it too hard. We'll see what happens as we get closer to spring.