Thanks 2016Dad, good to know it's not only us The coaching in spring and summer was a culture shock to him...no more babying and daddyball. I am also starting to think that so many (including me) are telling him that he is struggling that it is a snowball effect.
You might be on to something here. Tell him to just go out and play the game. Have fun and not worry about the results other than doing his best to help his team win.
My son's best friend has experienced something similar. Varsity starter as a freshman but didn't hit. Didn't hit all summer. Went to an event that he was selected to almost one year prior. No one knew him. No one knew his recent struggles they just knew how he performed almost one year ago.
First AB base hit, second AB base hit and off we go. Hit over .500 for the week. Probably had more hits in 8 games there than he had all summer in almost 30 games. Hopefully confidence has been restored.
Others may disagree but my guess this is a confidence and mental thing vs. anything major to do with his swing. It may become something major with swing if you let it. Every time my 2016 starts to struggle with getting hard consistent contact we emphasize the tee until he "finds it again". Then we move to flips and just progress from there. That might be one session or more but we never move to the next phase until he says he wants to.
Good luck and hang in there.