Competence at a second position needed?

It is extremely important, there is always someone better out there and as competition gets better, from making a better travel team or playing for the high school team, it could be necessary to go to a secondary position to be able to receive playing time. Even in the MLB you hear stories all the time about a player that played somewhere and had to switch to a new position.

I think it is clear that having a second position is very important. You can't control who else may be ahead of you or behind you in high school. Lots of fine high school players may wind up on the bench because there is a "stud" at their position. Your odds increase with each position you can play.

My son, 34, is also a catcher for his high school team, but gets his share of work in the OF and at 1B during practice and summer/fall ball. For all of the teams he has tried out for it seem they notice his bat first, but his ability to play 3 positons also has helped him. It will be interesting during his first year in HS to see how much his coach will move him among the 3 postions.

One of the better players on our varsity team caught last year but will likely be the starting center fielder this year. One of our varsity 1B from last year will catch this year, and may play 3rd next year. In this case flexibility helped the players and the team.

Hope this helps

All I can say is that sometimes the position you play in HS depends more on who is in front of you more than anything else. (unless you are a complete stud and displace anyone in front of you)

A Soph in our program was a nice catching prospect but there is a Sr who is not going to get displaced and a Jr behind him. He figured out on his own that I better play another position if I want to break into the Varsity squad and he is now an outfielder, who they move between Vars and JV. He will be a starting OF'er next year on Vars.

All makes good sense. The challenge is that since moving to the big diamond, he gets put in the outfield because he has a strong arm, or third (same reason), and these are his least favorite positions. He used to enjoy playing 1st base. My suggestion to him is that he get a first basemen's glove and just start saying that his second position is at first base.

Don't get me wrong, he plays where the coach tells him to play. I'm just thinking he might improve his chances of playing a second position he likes if he is a bit more proactive.

Thanks.

To further this point, my son got a call last night from a very successful Connie Mac team and they asked him to play this summer. They are stacked in the outfield, his typical position when not pitching, but they needed a first basemen, which he can play. When he fills out college info sheets he honestly puts in P/OF/1st and they will be able to see him this summer in this spot as well.

When kids move to the large field it is quite typical to put the athletes with speed in the OF while they probably spent a lot of their youth ball in the infield. I am sure he will learn to enjoy the challenge of roaming the grass, it just takes time.

BOF, I'm sure you are right. He started the last 50 plus games he played as a catcher, and I think he just needs to work some more on another position to gain some confidence. His summer coach is already talking about having him play some at 1B this summer, and I'm guessing the high school coach will expect him to play more than one position.

Thanks to all for the sanity check.

Update: Son picked out a first baseman's glove yesterday and is now breaking it in. He will be listing his position as c/1b.

Thanks for the input.

If I can add one more thing too... A secondary defensive position is very important for a catcher that can hit, more than a 2-guy who's more of a defensive catcher. If he can rake, they will find a secondary place for him to play defense. Normally on the corner, so 1st base is a good choice. Just my .02 cents.

GED10DaD

GED, now that you mention it, I think his hitting is why his travel team coach wants to put him at 1st when not catching. He's a good contact hitter (especially in clutch situations), batted clean up on the school team, 6th on the travel team. Son wants the bat in his hands with 2 outs in the last inning.

He really liked 1st in LL, and has a positive attitude about brushing up on his skills.

Thanks for your 2 cents. Spending it.

My $.02...son made varsity as a freshman as starting catcher. He got hurt early in season. While he was healing, the Soph catcher started raking and that is about all he can play defensively. It is a good thing my son has been playing OF/MIF/P in addition to C all his life. He is now the everyday RF due to his arm and speed and he is now pitching quite a bit as well. You are right though...bat will keep you in the game. He is still catching some when the Soph needs a break, but not as much as he'd like. He loves catching, but understands the importance of being a team player. Hopefully he'll get more time behind the plate on his summer team.

posts are right, that extra dimension really can change alot, usually for the good.