It’s hard to say what the message is from the outside looking in. The player has to get a feel for where he stands heading into next year knowing there will be another class of recruits, possibly many of them JuCos and transfers.
A travel teammate of my son went to his coach mid season asking “what’s the deal?” He wanted to know why he wasn’t getting any kind of appearance even in lopsided games. He forced the coach’s hand. The coach planned on telling him in the season ending meeting there wouldn’t be a spot for him next year.
This was just before transferring without sitting out a year. He went 4-4 instead of 4-2-4 and sat out the year. The following year he injured his elbow and sat again. He saw a freshman stud catcher (his position) and threw in the towel. He spent three years in college and never got on the field.