Our high school was "produce or sit." My son was benched for two games soph year before he started to hit and made all conference. Yet I still heard all the excuses and accusations from the parents whose kids sat about how their kid didn't get a fair shot.
My favorite was the dad whose kid started opening day soph year in the outfield. The kid went 0-8 with seven whiffs while making three errors in the outfield. One cost the team the game. Another player replaced him after game four and never stopped hitting.
It happened again the kid's junior year. Halfway through his junior year the kid quit. The father convinced him he never got a fair shot. About 0-16 with 14 whiffs and a bunch of errors. 16 at bats is stats in small numbers. But 14 whiffs is a noticeable trend. The father contonued to come to games just to bad mouth the coach.
What better shot could a kid get than starting the first four games of the season? I thought the coach had the kid's potential overrated. I never would have started him. But the kid got his shot.