My son was injured last year and couldn't play in the field so I have no stake.
The starting 2nd baseman hit .000 for 2/3 of the season, struck out often (To be fair, IMO he was capable of hitting .200) and finished the season with a total of 2 hits, was a slow runner, was hated by the rest of the team, only hustled when the coach was watching, got out of the way of throws to second, and was a friend of the family of the freshman coach.
Funny thing is the freshman coach was a good kid (that may be my bias because he treated my son well) and is going to be a good coach someday.
There were 2 2nd basemen who were clearly better who both hit far better, ran better, fielded better and worked harder. 1 of them is the starter on JV partly because the rest of the team ran the 1st kid off the team during the off season.
Which reason does that fit?
Seems to me like you may be reacting to lots of parent complaints, possibly for a reason.
Tough, hardnosed kids with some talent is an excuse for playing favorites over the more talented kids who do their job, but don't go out of their way to pretend to fit the coach's style of play (suck up).
Did you ever consider that your second list is just a handy set of coach's excuses?
There are good parents, there are bad parents, there are good coaches, there are bad coaches. Most players get the amount of playing time they deserve, but there are those who get less than they deserve and those who get more.
Most of the time I'd go with the coach but there are a few times when the parents have it right.