To the original Poster....
He's an 8th grader? Most JV programs rarely pick up one or two 8th graders at most and those are GOOD players. And 9/10 the SIT...the BENCH. Of course these kids are also PLAYING on other teams. School ball comes FIRST, practice and games, but they get their own reps and work in away from the school field.
Maybe some of you are blessed with great JV and HS coaches...I'll be happy if the JV coach can throw BP 60ft.
I remember some parents getting all excited about JV ball last year. They asked me what the kids should be doing to get there etc...I asked them to go check out a few JV games, THEN get back to me.
They did. They didn't realize that the level of competition was where it was. It seemed to take the pressure off, and most of 'em did make the JV Teams.
But as several posters told ya already...you stating your kid basically can't get any better....well that's ****. Pure and simple.
Is he playing any other baseball beside JV? If not, get him in a Summer ball league or on a travel team after school ball is over.
And LET HIM PLAY. It's not your baseball it's HIS. And if you think he doesn't feed off your attitude that he should be playing every inning, you're wrong. He does. And this might be effecting his attitude around the coach and team when he's not playing.
Don't call Dad to stand there and look mean. Let your 14 year old son initiate the talks with the Coach on his OWN. SUPPORT him as a parent....that means listen to him gripe and tell him if he wants more playing time make sure he's always hustling, always in the game, always rooting his team on and have him ASK the Coach how he can get better for the team.
I played ball for a long while. When I was 13-16 there were SEVERAL kids that I knew would go far. They were GREAT ball players. I watched all but one fall by the wayside. Why?
Mainly because their parents had decided to make it THEIR baseball instead of the kid's and either the kid got an attitude with the coach or the kid got DISCOURAGED from hearing his parents be DISCOURAGED all the time. Either way...same ending..they gave up.
I played with a guy who ended up playing 4 years of D1 ball. He sat the bench his 8th/9th grade years on Varsity. Played SOME as a 10th grader on JV and very LITTLE on Varsity. Sat the bench pretty much all year as a Junior on the Varsity. His Senior year he was good enough to get college attention. He STUCK IT OUT for his TEAM and kept working hard so when he did get his shot, he used it wisely.