Anyone hearing/seeing more than the usual amount of Freshman this spring being red shirted?
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Many of the questions you ask are things that are out of your control. Why do you worry so much? How would it help to know? A player should show up prepared for compete and give it his best shot.
@RJM posted:Many of the questions you ask are things that are out of your control. Why do you worry so much? How would it help to know? A player should show up prepared for compete and give it his best shot.
1. Making conversation.
2. Thought it would be a good topic of conversation for anyone with a 2020, 21 or 22 because of the possible cascading impact.
Very few have been redshirted yet since there are more allowed on roster but there will be a lot of them before the season ends.
@PitchingFan posted:Very few have been redshirted yet since there are more allowed on roster but there will be a lot of them before the season ends.
That's my guess too. It's the easy way out of the roster mess situation.
Rosters may expand. But if a kid isn’t on the travel roster he may want to start thinking about a new baseball home or checking out club team ball depending on his desire to continue.
Just seems very easy to red shirt a freshman who doesn't have a baseball scholarship or much of one. He's going to stick around and finish the semester. And, what is he going to do next year? Try the transfer portal? What are the odds of a red shirted freshman with only HS experience getting a better deal with the portal? In the before time, Juco could be an option but those rosters are just as jammed up.
I was looking at a bunch of D1 rosters. A few had over 45 players listed, most were 36-40. Of course, no way to know if that includes freshman walk-ons unless you happen to know one personally. Interestingly, some rosters listed last year's freshmen as freshmen, some listed them as sophomores.
The classifications are all over the place. You almost have to look at the career stats and HS graduation year and factor in 2020 freebie to figure out how many years someone has left. Every school seems to have their own way to list their roster.
@Francis7 posted:Just seems very easy to red shirt a freshman who doesn't have a baseball scholarship or much of one. He's going to stick around and finish the semester. And, what is he going to do next year? Try the transfer portal? What are the odds of a red shirted freshman with only HS experience getting a better deal with the portal? In the before time, Juco could be an option but those rosters are just as jammed up.
Chances are a redshirted freshman who transfers is going to end up at a school that recruited him out of high school.
Here’s an ugly story ... Son’s travel teammate headed for a P6 (before Big East imploded). Head coach never saw him play. The recruiting was all on the assistant and good word from a connected high school coach/former D2 All American. The kid showed up in the fall. The head coach didn’t like his game. At first, the coaching staff tried to change everything about him. The kid was strong with raw power.
The kid didn’t make the travel roster. Halfway through the season and a couple of twenty run blowouts at home he didn’t get in the game. He walked into the coach’s office to ask “What’s the deal?” The coach told him by spring he had decided the kid had no future with the program and was going to tell him at the end of the season. One year down, no playing time.
Note: This isn’t the only kid I know who was told a semester later than he could have been told it’s likely over at that school.
Soph year he transferred to a local P6. He has to sit out a year with the transfer rule. Two years down, no playing time.
He returned academic junior year all psyched to compete. He found an all state switch hitter with a bazooka for an arm at his position. The kid’s arm was sore. But it was all or nothing time. He injured his arm and had surgery. Three years down, no playing time. End of baseball career. The kid left college despondent.
What a nightmare RJM
The ugly stories can be scary. They’re out there everywhere. The lesson is make a sound school choice. I felt the kid in the above story reached. Show up 100% physically and mentally ready to compete. Even then, it can still go south. So be 100% prepared to prevent a bad experience.
My kid went to a JUCO this year, easy decision. He was a 2020 with good interest from D1 coaches, but never got the offer.... even PWO. So it was D2 or JUCO. Hearing these stories make me happy that he didn't get that last minute D1 offer (most likely PWO), knowing his mindset at the time he would have taken it. He will be at his JUCO for 2 years, and he is maturing every day (baseball wise and life). I feel like we dodged a bullet and got "lucky" with no offers. He said the same exact thing..... that's maturity.
Sorry a little off topic, but the RJM story had me reflecting.
MNBBG
@MNBaseballGuy Reading your post was deja vu for me. My 2021 was just like your kid. Solid D1 interest that never resulted in an offer. His JUCO offer had a 30-day time clock on it so it's at least technically possible a D1 offer still could have come, but thank Jesus my son was ready to be done with the process and took the very good JUCO offer. He has a trajectory to be LOVED at the JUCO, but any D1 offer that would have come later would have had him on a LIKED trajectory. Everyone always says "go where you're loved," but I don't think it's ever been more true than it is today in the Covid era. It was really hard to let go of the bright lights of D1 (at least directly from high school), but today I am stupid thankful a D1 offer never came. That seems so bizarre to type out, but it's so true. But he did get lucky/dodged a bullet.
@DanJ so glad we never got the time clock on any of his offers. Just seemed like it would add stress to a situation that already had enough. His JUCO told him its his offer, and they will give him time. Said eventually they would have to make other MIF offers, but we had time. Also said if we commit and a D1 offer comes up that he loves, no hard feelings at all.... go for it. The statement these guys made that will live with me forever was something like, We understand you have not been playing baseball for 18 years to get an offer from (insert JUCO here), we know you fell short of where you wanted to be. We are here to get you there, and if that offer comes. We will be so excited for you
They had me hooked as a dad. 
MNBBG
With the Big Ten scheduling, it will take a hell of a lot of pitchers for 4 games a weekend.
I actually feel the time clock on my son's offer was more than fair. He was the program's first 2021 offer and the amount of money they offered him was clear on how serious they were about him. It was a very generous offer and they want guys who truly want to be there. The coach is a no nonsense guy and he'd rather lose a recruit than sit around trying to guess what'll any kid will end up doing on whatever time frame the recruit decides. Essentially, "we've offered you a very good offer which clearly says we really want you. But we want recruits who truly want us back." No coach wants to be a kid's fall back offer. The coach put zero pressure on my son whatsoever. He gave him a great offer and a fair amount of time (a month) to think it all through. He told my son there'd be zero hard feelings if he passed on the offer, but if he wasn't truly interested, than they'd want to get on with recruiting someone else and build their 2021 class. That's more than fair from my vantage point. Why should a kid get as long as he wants to decide? There can be only one answer - he wants to wait around and see if he can land a "better" offer. This coach has no interest in those types of kids. Nor would I. Baseball recruiting isn't a buffet where as a kid gets all his options laid out perfectly before him and then simply selects the one that benefits him most. Life is never that way with anything. Recruits and coaches are supposed to be in a symbiotic relationship. Respect and integrity is supposed to go both ways. That's the ideal, anyway. Also, my son is a MIF, which is another way of saying he's a dime a dozen. In the Covid era. Where 1,000 D1 kids are in the transfer portal. And money is tight for every program. Needing more than a month on a very generous offer sends a certain message. I can't blame any coach for rejecting that message. This isn't some pressure-ridden 72 hour clock where a coach is trying to force a kid's hand. It's about putting the program above any recruit.
@francis7
The team roster provide a flat dimension.
E.G 2021 Reinhardt Distribution by Position
Upon looking at the team roster turnover, you will be able to understand and estimate number of "new" freshman on the team.
Team Roster Turnover Outgoing (how many players from 2020 are not on 2021 roster)
Team Roster incoming identifies new players, note you can see a lot of freshman in the Total incoming column and 1 freshman in the incoming transfer column.
This means there is a player on the roster listed as a freshman that transferred in.
Team Roster Turnover Incoming (New Players) by position
This is the starting point.
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Patriot League is limiting both home and away game rosters to 27. This allows more room/social distancing in the dugouts. Rosters are set before the weekend and can't be changed (due to Covid testing protocols). So big rosters or not, red shirt or not, there's going to be a whole lot of players missing out on opportunities. It wouldn't surprise me if other conferences adopted this scheme for the same reasons.
Big 12 is 30 in the dugout, home or away.