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Reply to "High school: pitcher only or pitcher and position"

@DanJ posted:

@DD 2024  Your first paragraph has me scratching my head.  You state all that as if its some new trend.  My 2021 started playing travel ball at age 7 in the summers.  Played fall ball about every other year.  Just got down playing high school ball in the spring for the last 4 years, summer legion ball for 3 of those 4 years and travel ball last summer.  In the last 11ish years my son has played baseball (almost always at the highest levels available in our area and region), everything you've said has been the case.  So my response to what you said would be "of course you're seeing that.  Because that's how it's been for a long time."  Everything you said is as easily explained today as it was 10+ years ago when Ohtani was still in high school.

"I’m seeing two-way players in HS and high level club ball." - coaches want to win and don't have 25+-man rosters.  They also don't coach much at all.  So they grab the best guy for the job at the time in order to win.

"Seeing it at combines and camps." - My son basically stopped pitching once he got to HS to preserve his arm, but last February he added the pitching portion when he did a PBR showcase.  It was the winter/early spring of his junior year and he wanted to cast as wide a net a possible.  To come off as versatile as possible to increase his chances of getting offers.

"I’m seeing players describe themselves this way in their Instagram bios." - again, recruiting.  It's called marketing. And boasting.  Kids being kids.

"I’m seeing long-time club coaches allowing it." - same as I said above - coaches want to win.  They're not there to sort out who will be 2-way guys and who will be pitchers in the future.

"Parents talking about and supporting it." - this might the worst one of the bunch.  It's simply parents being parents.  Of course Johnny can do everything!  He always was the best!

Ohtani is no doubt capturing the imaginations of many, but unless he's somehow been able to inspire kids retroactively to back before he was even born, I can't imagine him getting credit for things are not at all new/different.

Thanks.

I am going to stop responding to this thread.

Because I'm being told my opinions, my observations, what I know to be true is invalid. Time and time again. From posters who make assumptions about me, my background and my involvement in high-level baseball and D1 sports based on their biases, their beliefs, what serves them.

No discussion to be had here.

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