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Reply to "Two Way HS Players"

The bottom line for me is that I cannot trust any high school coach my son played/plays for.  They're not really coaches.  They're high school math teachers that enjoy the game and like to play chess every day with some one else's pieces (our kids).  I swear all baseball coaches at my son's high school have incentive bonuses for any time they can get a kid to throw a complete game and/or throw a kid way longer than is smart.  Too many supposed old school coaches that point to guys like Gibson and Ryan and are hell bent on living in the past.  Personally, I'd love to see old school long outings come back into style, but I'd also love to see TJ's reduce, but both are pipe dreams at present.

My son was usually the #1 P on his team (or in the discussion from age 7 through 14U ball).  Once he got to high school, he made a concerted effort to gravitate away from pitching to ensure he has an arm to play MIF/CF in college.  And thank God he did.  I love pitching and really miss watching my son compete on the mound, but how many pitcher's "careers" DON'T end due to injury?  2nd and 3rd Tommy John surgeries?  No, thanks.  Big arms/velo are all the rage and kids are standing in front of radar guns by age 8 these days.  Call me and my attitude a wuss on the topic.  I'll live.

If your son has no desire to play passed high school, do whatever makes your son happy.  From what little experience and knowledge I have, it seems most college "2-way" players end up being POs fairly quickly once they get there.  They're baited in under the guise that they have a legit shot at being a true 2-way, when we all know there is no such thing as too much pitching.  Not 100% the case everywhere for everyone, but the odds point to 2-way players never seeing the field as anything but a P.  My advice would be to protect your kid's arm the moment his coach shows he has any inclination that arm health isn't priority #1 in high school.  It will go over like a fart in church, but biting your lip and allowing a high school to shred your kid's arm won't help your kid playing at the next level.

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