Does getting non-injury redshirted help or hurt a player?

I had read about this kind of thing here, too.  And then I watched your first example happen, the player was told that he would redshirt his freshman year.  I didn't think it was a good sign, and it wasn't.  The pandemic added another wrinkle, but he did find another place to play, in a lower division.  So not quite the same.

How can it ever be good in today's environment....you're not playing, learning & developing on the baseball field.  With the transient and transactional nature of college sports today, it has to be an absolute sure thing that you'll get playing opportunities otherwise adjust to the college level that is a sure thing.   

Many years ago, I had this conversation with a few D1 P5 posters that it is better to downshift to D1 mid-majors or go JUCO for this exact reason.  At that time, playing time was very hard to come by.  Today, it is ridiculously hard to get on the field.  You have to know if you are part of the plan otherwise go elsewhere.  Parents and players need to turn on that bullsh*t detector to full blast when listening to offers.    Do your research, and know your value.  My son was offered at a D1 P5 as a recruited (SEC) walk-on with a significant academic scholarship.   Trust me, it was a very flattering conversation, tour and offer, but the HC had no skin in the game.   My son knew this wasn't a fit for his baseball talent, and he was way out of his league.  He walked away from it.  Saying "no", is always an option.   Clearly, he avoided the dreaded "redshirt" situation just by being realistic and practical.  Know thyself.

JMO.   

I think its a terrible sign as to ever getting on the field for the current school, but its much better than getting minimal playing time, wasting a year, and then getting managed out anyway.  This happened to one of my son's good friends.  There was a coaching change just before his freshman year.  The new coach reached out and assured the kid that he had a spot.  The kid got into two games very late in the year for two meaningless at bats and then the coach told him he should leave.  (Two years later the kid was all conference for a better team.)

Wow, This is just nuts.  So much to think about when trying to find a home.  I wonder, Francis, was there any sign that these two examples "were not loved?" when being recruited?  I hope things change for the better (somehow) for my 2027 when it comes time.

I personally know of 2 weekend starters this year that were redshirted at their P5 schools freshman year.  I think it depends on the program, their history AND the mental toughness/willing to workness of the kid getting the RS.

@Dadof3 posted:

Wow, This is just nuts.  So much to think about when trying to find a home.  I wonder, Francis, was there any sign that these two examples "were not loved?" when being recruited?  I hope things change for the better (somehow) for my 2027 when it comes time.

The position player was a 2016 HS grad. My guess there is that he overshot his landing. Like @fenwaysouth said. Probably should have went Juco from the start or a lower D1 or D2/3. But, I get it....everyone wants to say they are at a P5.

The pitcher is a 2022 grad. In his case, I think it was the COVID-19 logjam. Plus, to be honest, if you are a pitcher, as a freshman, you almost have to under shoot your landing if you want to pitch right away. Not too many college coaches are going to pitch a 19 year old unless he's a special talent.

By chance I was standing next to the dad of the state stud at the state championship game. The top pitchers in this small state usually end up at the same, often ranked Big East program. Hint: program used to be in the AAC.

i mentioned the history of the two previous stud recruits. He stopped bragging about his son going to a ranked D1 to the people around him. You know the scene. Studs dad holds court because he has everyone’s attention.

I told him the stud from two years ago got twelve innings as a back of the staff finisher in one sided games after being red shirted freshman year.

Last year’s stud wasn’t rostered freshman year. He’s now at a much lower level D1 (bottom half of conference rankings). I ran into the dad at the kid’s former high school. He said his kid was never given a chance. I’m guessing he got lit up in fall scrimmages.

By this point the dad is looking concerned. Then I explained programs like the ranked one his son will be headed to over recruits. They also recruit transfers out of the portal. I asked one question. As a coach of a ranked D1 program would you gamble your salary on a proven college transfer or an incoming college freshman? I closed with, did your son pitch at 17u PG Nationals? He didn’t.

I thought he was going to swallow his Adam’s Apple at this point.

The dad and the kid have no idea what the kid is getting into other than the hype he got in recruiting. Almost everyone throws 90+ at the next level on ranked teams. I watched the kid dominate a high school championship throwing mostly fastball with most hitters being behind it.

There are two things many players/parents don’t consider. 1) Competition from the portal. 2) Unless your living in a baseball hotbed when the player moves on to college competition is going to be much fiercer.

Lou Holtz once said a pretty girl from the hills of WV is still pretty in NYC. But there are a lot of pretty girls to compete against in NYC. The one pretty girl from WV doesn’t stand out anymore.

Had a look at the roster of a decent mid-major I know.  They list 8 freshmen, 6 sophs, 22 upperclass/grad.  Out of those 22, 17 transferred from other schools.

I don't think this particular school used to do this, but they do now.

@anotherparent posted:

Had a look at the roster of a decent mid-major I know.  They list 8 freshmen, 6 sophs, 22 upperclass/grad.  Out of those 22, 17 transferred from other schools.

I don't think this particular school used to do this, but they do now.

What is the school in question?  We might be able to provide their historical trend.

@RJM posted:

By chance I was standing next to the dad of the state stud at the state championship game. The top pitchers in this small state usually end up at the same, often ranked Big East program. Hint: program used to be in the AAC.

i mentioned the history of the two previous stud recruits. He stopped bragging about his son going to a ranked D1 to the people around him. You know the scene. Studs dad holds court because he has everyone’s attention.

I told him the stud from two years ago got twelve innings as a back of the staff finisher in one sided games after being red shirted freshman year.

Last year’s stud wasn’t rostered freshman year. He’s now at a much lower level D1 (bottom half of conference rankings). I ran into the dad at the kid’s former high school. He said his kid was never given a chance. I’m guessing he got lit up in fall scrimmages.

By this point the dad is looking concerned. Then I explained programs like the ranked one his son will be headed to over recruits. They also recruit transfers out of the portal. I asked one question. As a coach of a ranked D1 program would you gamble your salary on a proven college transfer or an incoming college freshman? I closed with, did your son pitch at 17u PG Nationals? He didn’t.

I thought he was going to swallow his Adam’s Apple at this point.

The dad and the kid have no idea what the kid is getting into other than the hype he got in recruiting. Almost everyone throws 90+ at the next level on ranked teams. I watched the kid dominate a high school championship throwing mostly fastball with most hitters being behind it.

There are two things many players/parents don’t consider. 1) Competition from the portal. 2) Unless your living in a baseball hotbed when the player moves on to college competition is going to be much fiercer.

Lou Holtz once said a pretty girl from the hills of WV is still pretty in NYC. But there are a lot of pretty girls to compete against in NYC. The one pretty girl from WV doesn’t stand out anymore.

Great points

@anotherparent posted:

Had a look at the roster of a decent mid-major I know.  They list 8 freshmen, 6 sophs, 22 upperclass/grad.  Out of those 22, 17 transferred from other schools.

I don't think this particular school used to do this, but they do now.

This is going to be the new norm I fear.  I’m not sure how many d1s will recruit hs players going forward.  Why would they, when they can get someone proven?  They don’t have to invest time or money into the hs player.

@Dadof3 posted:

This is going to be the new norm I fear.  I’m not sure how many d1s will recruit hs players going forward.  Why would they, when they can get someone proven?  They don’t have to invest time or money into the hs player.

At the D2 that my son went to, the selling point that we heard from everyone was "And, he only brings in 35 guys each year" (meaning that he doesn't over recruit).

Well, my son's freshman class had about 10 freshman come in and more than half ended up redshirting. I always assumed this was due to the COVID-19 logjam because it was the 2023 season.

But, now, I just checked their 2024 roster and there's A BUNCH of transfers on the roster - juniors, seniors and grad students - that were not there last year. So, obviously the coach has changed his M.O. and good luck to all those guys who got redshirted last year.

We scouted the school 2020-2021 before he committed and there was almost no one transferring in. Maybe one or two, tops.  Obviously, things have changed.

FWIW, it's a very winning D2 program with a nice field and I thought the school was really nice. So, I can see why some former D1s would want to slide down - especially if they live in-state.

I think the answer is "It depends", this guy (Kevin Kopps) was a freshman redshirt at Arkansas:

If a kid doesn't have the physicality to compete, but they project to gain size and/or strength, maybe it's a good thing? Although with the instant gratification of transfer portal, I guess it would take a lot of faith in that projection to see if it materializes.

I know my kid was glad not to be redshirted his first year of juco - with only 12 innings that year it's was a close thing...  

@RJM posted:

By chance I was standing next to the dad of the state stud at the state championship game. The top pitchers in this small state usually end up at the same, often ranked Big East program. Hint: program used to be in the AAC.

i mentioned the history of the two previous stud recruits. He stopped bragging about his son going to a ranked D1 to the people around him. You know the scene. Studs dad holds court because he has everyone’s attention.

I told him the stud from two years ago got twelve innings as a back of the staff finisher in one sided games after being red shirted freshman year.

Last year’s stud wasn’t rostered freshman year. He’s now at a much lower level D1 (bottom half of conference rankings). I ran into the dad at the kid’s former high school. He said his kid was never given a chance. I’m guessing he got lit up in fall scrimmages.

By this point the dad is looking concerned. Then I explained programs like the ranked one his son will be headed to over recruits. They also recruit transfers out of the portal. I asked one question. As a coach of a ranked D1 program would you gamble your salary on a proven college transfer or an incoming college freshman? I closed with, did your son pitch at 17u PG Nationals? He didn’t.

I thought he was going to swallow his Adam’s Apple at this point.

The dad and the kid have no idea what the kid is getting into other than the hype he got in recruiting. Almost everyone throws 90+ at the next level on ranked teams. I watched the kid dominate a high school championship throwing mostly fastball with most hitters being behind it.

There are two things many players/parents don’t consider. 1) Competition from the portal. 2) Unless your living in a baseball hotbed when the player moves on to college competition is going to be much fiercer.

Lou Holtz once said a pretty girl from the hills of WV is still pretty in NYC. But there are a lot of pretty girls to compete against in NYC. The one pretty girl from WV doesn’t stand out anymore.

Yep.  We had a poster on here 10-12 years ago that went through this exactly as RJM describes with this AAC program.   I got to know the parent very well as the son played for my former high school.  We knew a few of the same people.   

I explained as best I could what it was going to be like playing for a top baseball program based on some of my son's friends at ACC and SEC schools.  To quote one of my son's friends...."there is a dark underbelly to these programs that nobody sees".   The son had other alternatives during recruitment but opted to play in-state at Big U, and take on the challenge.  I don't know his reasoning, and I didn't understand it.   He was redshirted freshmen year and quit sophomore year.  I'm pretty sure he realized while in the program for 18 months this was a battle he wasn't going to win.  Reality snuck in.

@Dadof3 posted:

This is going to be the new norm I fear.  I’m not sure how many d1s will recruit hs players going forward.  Why would they, when they can get someone proven?  They don’t have to invest time or money into the hs player.

Currently, there are 2390 freshman  (based on 2023 fall roster)

263 out of 305 reported

19 out of 263 are partial roster (normally don't include freshman).

Remember a certain % could be post grad

Here are past Number.

2684 - 23 season

2614 - 22 season

2780 - 21 season

Note, as part of intake process CBI takes particular interested in the graduation class attribute, as for the value is not always be correct with respects to redshirting, transfer eligibility and players that were on develop or JV team.

@Francis7 posted:

At the D2 that my son went to, the selling point that we heard from everyone was "And, he only brings in 35 guys each year" (meaning that he doesn't over recruit).

Well, my son's freshman class had about 10 freshman come in and more than half ended up redshirting. I always assumed this was due to the COVID-19 logjam because it was the 2023 season.

But, now, I just checked their 2024 roster and there's A BUNCH of transfers on the roster - juniors, seniors and grad students - that were not there last year. So, obviously the coach has changed his M.O. and good luck to all those guys who got redshirted last year.

We scouted the school 2020-2021 before he committed and there was almost no one transferring in. Maybe one or two, tops.  Obviously, things have changed.

FWIW, it's a very winning D2 program with a nice field and I thought the school was really nice. So, I can see why some former D1s would want to slide down - especially if they live in-state.

Bottom line, coaches are going to bring in resources that make them better.

@CollegebaseballInsights posted:

What is the school in question?  We might be able to provide their historical trend.

Did it myself.  And I see that up through 2018, about 40% of their upperclassmen were transfers - I remember not being impressed with that, at the time.  But from 2019 on, the upperclassmen have been about 67% transfers (mostly juco).  So that pre-dates the pandemic and the transfer portal change.  Same coach throughout.

Parents, do your roster research!  It's not hard.

@anotherparent posted:

Did it myself.  And I see that up through 2018, about 40% of their upperclassmen were transfers - I remember not being impressed with that, at the time.  But from 2019 on, the upperclassmen have been about 67% transfers (mostly juco).  So that pre-dates the pandemic and the transfer portal change.  Same coach throughout.

Parents, do your roster research!  It's not hard.

It depends on the schools, the public data with respects to players with multiple transfers or the sequence is not as accurate.

Also,  we've noticed that schools will delete players from their roster when they leave the team during the season.

Even when they have statistics.

So far we've found 115 players from D1 rosters that have been deleted from their school's website

Usually not a good sign, like everything - it depends. The thing with RS is they don't have to tell you, it happens on it's own. Not many blowouts, you don't see the field. Next thing you know it's May and you haven't played.

There's a reason not many academic JRs/Srs redshirt. They are established within the program already, they are either starters, have a very specific role they play, or don't cost anything (walk on). These guys have already survived the bloodbath which is the first 16 months on campus. That means they are not roster numbers 30-40.

Who are roster numbers 30-40? The freshman. The sophomores who were given a summer and a fall to put it together. Basically anybody who the coaching staff doesn't have faith in to contribute in a meaningful way. The 6th OFer. The kid who can only play 1B and didn't hit well in the fall, the 4th catcher on the roster. The SS who can't make the adjustment to another position.

Sometimes it is not a terrible thing. Lingering injury that wouldn't necessarily qualify for MedRs, significant change in arm slot/throwing motion. Freshman SS sitting behind a senior infield.

I will say this. Getting redshirted is better than getting 4 ABs and burning a year.

@PABaseball posted:

I will say this. Getting redshirted is better than getting 4 ABs and burning a year.

That also happens more times than it should.

My son loved having AB's at Michigan and Iowa but wishes he could give them back to have a redshirt for his freshman year instead of burning a year. Lots of moving parts to his story but getting a redshirt for whatever reason is better than not getting one imo.

The college baseball landscape has changed a lot in the last 5 years and while it won't but the way it was because of the portal and NIL getting the covid years finally gone after this season (at least 98% of them) will definitely help.

The baseball redshirt rules suck compared to football (can play up to 4 games and still redshirt!) but it is what it is...

@used2lurk posted:

The baseball redshirt rules suck compared to football (can play up to 4 games and still redshirt!) but it is what it is...

Hopefully that changes along with basketball.

I always think of this kid. 2020 HS grad. He comes from a big state and PG had him ranked in the top 20 at SS.  The kid has athleticism and some skills.

Got a non-medical redshirt as a freshman in 2021.

He got less than 20 ABs in 2022 and 2023 because the school brought in a transfer that was older than him that played over him those years. And, the other spot for him was taken by a kid who got an extra year in 2023 because he was a freshman 2019 and got another year when COVID-19 hit in 2022.

So, now, he's in his 4th year of college, he's almost 22 years old, and he's played 2 seasons and has less than 40 AB on his career.

That's college baseball. You can have talent and skills. But, nobody wants to play a freshman. And, after you pay your dues and ride the pine as a frosh, then you have to deal with who is coming from the transfer portal.

The situation really screams out to kids: Go where you will be head and shoulders the best player on the field, if you want to play. Otherwise, you're in a dog fight and it's more than one dog in the ring against you.

The situation really screams out to kids: Go where you will be head and shoulders the best player on the field, if you want to play. Otherwise, you're in a dog fight and it's more than one dog in the ring against you.

It starts with make sure you’re aiming recruiting attempts at the right level. A kid may be delusional. But his travel coaches have to bring him back to reality land.

Another point is be versatile and hit. My son won a starting position the second half of freshman year after another player failed. He returned to find a JuCo All American at his position. He moved to another position

The next year he returned to find a Gatorade POY and a MLB player’s son at the two positions he played the previous year. He moved to another position.

By the time he was done playing he started everywhere but pitcher and catcher. Over his career he was the regular at 2B, SS, CF, RF and 1B. Versatility and hitting kept him in the lineup.

Even in high school junior year his coach told him he would start at short or center depending on who won a position. After being an all conference shortstop he was moved to center. Starting wasn’t an issue. He knew he was batting third.

Versatility provided players more opportunity and coaches more options. From 13u to 16u he played whatever position the pitcher came from except catcher. At 17u he was placed in center.

Some parents pound their chests their kid is the shortstop on the travel team. It worked out well for my son he played everywhere.

@RJM posted:

The situation really screams out to kids: Go where you will be head and shoulders the best player on the field, if you want to play. Otherwise, you're in a dog fight and it's more than one dog in the ring against you.

It starts with make sure you’re aiming recruiting attempts at the right level. A kid may be delusional. But his travel coaches have to bring him back to reality land.

Another point is be versatile and hit. My son won a starting position the second half of freshman year after another player failed. He returned to find a JuCo All American at his position. He moved to another position

The next year he returned to find a Gatorade POY and a MLB player’s son at the two positions he played the previous year. He moved to another position.

By the time he was done playing he started everywhere but pitcher and catcher. Over his career he was the regular at 2B, SS, CF, RF and 1B. Versatility and hitting kept him in the lineup.

Even in high school junior year his coach told him he would start at short or center depending on who won a position. After being an all conference shortstop he was moved to center. Starting wasn’t an issue. He knew he was batting third.

Versatility provided players more opportunity and coaches more options. From 13u to 16u he played whatever position the pitcher came from except catcher. At 17u he was placed in center.

Some parents pound their chests their kid is the shortstop on the travel team. It worked out well for my son he played everywhere.

Yup, my 2027 has a chance to make varsity.  He’s normally a ss/3b but there is a need for 1b.  So he is working out at that position.  He will have to compete to win it, but he has a shot.  I told him “the more positions he can play, the more valuable he becomes.”  I also told him it is going to come down to who can hit.  He has been getting some recognition from the varsity hitting coach who really likes him.  2 more mos.

@Francis7 posted:

I always think of this kid. 2020 HS grad. He comes from a big state and PG had him ranked in the top 20 at SS.  The kid has athleticism and some skills.

Got a non-medical redshirt as a freshman in 2021.

He got less than 20 ABs in 2022 and 2023 because the school brought in a transfer that was older than him that played over him those years. And, the other spot for him was taken by a kid who got an extra year in 2023 because he was a freshman 2019 and got another year when COVID-19 hit in 2022.

So, now, he's in his 4th year of college, he's almost 22 years old, and he's played 2 seasons and has less than 40 AB on his career.

That's college baseball. You can have talent and skills. But, nobody wants to play a freshman. And, after you pay your dues and ride the pine as a frosh, then you have to deal with who is coming from the transfer portal.

The situation really screams out to kids: Go where you will be head and shoulders the best player on the field, if you want to play. Otherwise, you're in a dog fight and it's more than one dog in the ring against you.

Remember, if you were a JUCO player, you retained your eligibility for 2 seasons (2020 and 2021)

@Francis7 posted:

So, now, he's in his 4th year of college, he's almost 22 years old, and he's played 2 seasons and has less than 40 AB on his career.

Did he play in summer leagues?

If the point of playing in college is to keep playing, and get a degree, then summer has to be included.

@anotherparent posted:

Did he play in summer leagues?

If the point of playing in college is to keep playing, and get a degree, then summer has to be included.

He did in 2022 and 2023. The results were not favorable. My guess is that not facing game competition for almost a year heading into the summer seasons did not help.

It starts with make sure you’re aiming recruiting attempts at the right level. A kid may be delusional. But his travel coaches have to bring him back to reality land.

This is actually not true in some cases. The travel coach and/or travel organization wants the kid to go D1 because they know it helps them get future kids and $.

My son committed very early to a D2 (because he thought it was the right fit). Just before he did his verbal, the head of the travel program had him talking to a number of D1 coaches and was semi-pressuring him to go that way. Eventually, I reached out to the guy (because we had a good relationship) and told him that my son wasn't one of those "D1 or bust" kids and didn't really care if a school was D2, if it was the right fit.

I really like the guy and we're still friendly but he then gave me a long "why not bet on yourself?" speech and how my son should go D1.

I wasn't an idiot and I knew this was about him wanting another "D1 commit" on his website to promote his organization. Being polite, I didn't say it to him though.

@Francis7 posted:

He did in 2022 and 2023. The results were not favorable. My guess is that not facing game competition for almost a year heading into the summer seasons did not help.

Well, then he did get more than 40 AB.  Summer baseball is part of the college baseball experience, especially for bench players.  It's a way to get playing time at an appropriate level, which should be determined by the college coach.

I entirely agree that if you don't play in the season, it's harder to get going in the summer.  However, this is always the bench player's situation - when you get an opportunity, you have to perform.

@Francis7 posted:

This is actually not true in some cases. The travel coach and/or travel organization wants the kid to go D1 because they know it helps them get future kids and $.

My son committed very early to a D2 (because he thought it was the right fit). Just before he did his verbal, the head of the travel program had him talking to a number of D1 coaches and was semi-pressuring him to go that way. Eventually, I reached out to the guy (because we had a good relationship) and told him that my son wasn't one of those "D1 or bust" kids and didn't really care if a school was D2, if it was the right fit.

I really like the guy and we're still friendly but he then gave me a long "why not bet on yourself?" speech and how my son should go D1.

I wasn't an idiot and I knew this was about him wanting another "D1 commit" on his website to promote his organization. Being polite, I didn't say it to him though.

What you are describing about your son’s travel ball coach is more common than not. IMO most of them are as delusional as their parents & players. And I am really tired of the “bet on yourself” mantra. I would argue that now is the time to “be smart about yourself.” Most travel ball coaches that I talk to over-promote their kids, exaggerate their abilities, and really don’t have a feel for the level of college play that’s appropriate for their players. As a result, these coaches have zero credibility. There are not that many travel ball coaches that are universally trusted anymore. As travel ball has exploded with too many players and too many teams, the number of coaches has increased accordingly - and the percentage of really good travel ball coaches has dropped significantly. JMO

@adbono posted:

What you are describing about your son’s travel ball coach is more common than not. IMO most of them are as delusional as their parents & players. And I am really tired of the “bet on yourself” mantra. I would argue that now is the time to “be smart about yourself.” Most travel ball coaches that I talk to over-promote their kids, exaggerate their abilities, and really don’t have a feel for the level of college play that’s appropriate for their players. As a result, these coaches have zero credibility. There are not that many travel ball coaches that are universally trusted anymore. As travel ball has exploded with too many players and too many teams, the number of coaches has increased accordingly - and the percentage of really good travel ball coaches has dropped significantly. JMO

It is not surprising, the 2019 study outlined the projected $$$

https://www.globenewswire.com/...alysis-Insights.html

There are sure to be situations you can't control, but more often then not I believe it's about what you do to get better during that redshirt year.  Are you 20lbs heavier, 4 tenths faster, finding more barrels during practice,,, and is your coach keeping tabs on you.  If you get redshirted because there are 3 other guys and two make up the depth chart and 2 are redshirted, and you are all doing the same thing to get better, how do you think the situation is going to change?

I do think pitchers are different and as said before, most freshman do not see more than a few innings at best unless a stud (and that means a stud at the college level) And that often they are recruited with some projection, but you better be bigger, stronger and throw harder when you get back to school, or you have now lost that "project-able" label for the "he's as good as he's gonna get" label.

I also see the points made where if you don't play, what's the transfer portal going to do for you?  Unless you are dropping a division and that coach likes that you were at least recruited at a higher level out of HS?

Summer ball is important, but that can be tough for a Pitcher, many programs have so many pitchers that guys not the top 2 get really low number of innings.  But right now summer ball seems to be more about promoting Senior/Grad transfers with an extra year or two of eligibility to make D1 rosters or higher level D1 rosters.  I think the rule is you have to have one year left of eligibility to play summer college league baseball (that's the rule at the cape anyway)

Freshman son who is with a top 25 program was told with a couple other freshmen that he "may" be looking at a red shirt this year.   The team was expected to lose more players to the draft than they did and one of those players is a guaranteed draft pick who is ahead of my son on the depth chart.  The coach told him that instead of wasting a year of eligibility on him for 4-5 AB's and some pinch running that it would be better for him to save that year to develop.  Hearing numerous stories both good and bad this was difficult to hear and not really sure how to take this.   Obviously he practices with the team but won't travel and now I worry with the season starting soon, how much practice and development will he really get if the team plays 4 days a week? 

@4arms posted:

Freshman son who is with a top 25 program was told with a couple other freshmen that he "may" be looking at a red shirt this year.   The team was expected to lose more players to the draft than they did and one of those players is a guaranteed draft pick who is ahead of my son on the depth chart.  The coach told him that instead of wasting a year of eligibility on him for 4-5 AB's and some pinch running that it would be better for him to save that year to develop.  Hearing numerous stories both good and bad this was difficult to hear and not really sure how to take this.   Obviously he practices with the team but won't travel and now I worry with the season starting soon, how much practice and development will he really get if the team plays 4 days a week?

IMHO, in this situation, where your son plays this summer will provide your family some insights with respect to how the coach may see your son.

If coach has been good at documenting player bios, check out where previous players that were redshirted played during the summer.

@4arms posted:

Freshman son who is with a top 25 program was told with a couple other freshmen that he "may" be looking at a red shirt this year.   The team was expected to lose more players to the draft than they did and one of those players is a guaranteed draft pick who is ahead of my son on the depth chart.  The coach told him that instead of wasting a year of eligibility on him for 4-5 AB's and some pinch running that it would be better for him to save that year to develop.  Hearing numerous stories both good and bad this was difficult to hear and not really sure how to take this.   Obviously he practices with the team but won't travel and now I worry with the season starting soon, how much practice and development will he really get if the team plays 4 days a week?

If he is given a redshirt the team will not be involved in his development. Unless he is very fortunate. Assume that is not the case. The team should have notified your son of their intentions BEFORE semester break, not afterwards. Then your son would have options. Now he doesn’t. IMO this probably means that they like your son enough to not want him to leave - but not enough to give him a uniform right now. And tbh, the coaching staff is right about not losing a full year of eligibility for 5 ABs. But in order for this to be a good plan for your son he needs to be on a good training program. So someone will need to design that and you will have to pay for it. I suggest in person training as opposed to online. Find a qualified hitting instructor near your son’s school. Strength training may be possible on campus for free but he will need a plan to follow. Same with nutrition. A redshirt year could prove to be beneficial for your son IF a good plan is put in place - which will require your involvement. Best of luck!

@adbono posted:

If he is given a redshirt the team will not be involved in his development. Unless he is very fortunate. Assume that is not the case. The team should have notified your son of their intentions BEFORE semester break, not afterwards. Then your son would have options. Now he doesn’t. IMO this probably means that they like your son enough to not want him to leave - but not enough to give him a uniform right now. And tbh, the coaching staff is right about not losing a full year of eligibility for 5 ABs. But in order for this to be a good plan for your son he needs to be on a good training program. So someone will need to design that and you will have to pay for it. I suggest in person training as opposed to online. Find a qualified hitting instructor near your son’s school. Strength training may be possible on campus for free but he will need a plan to follow. Same with nutrition. A redshirt year could prove to be beneficial for your son IF a good plan is put in place - which will require your involvement. Best of luck!

Great advice.

@4arms posted:

Freshman son who is with a top 25 program was told with a couple other freshmen that he "may" be looking at a red shirt this year.   The team was expected to lose more players to the draft than they did and one of those players is a guaranteed draft pick who is ahead of my son on the depth chart.  The coach told him that instead of wasting a year of eligibility on him for 4-5 AB's and some pinch running that it would be better for him to save that year to develop.  Hearing numerous stories both good and bad this was difficult to hear and not really sure how to take this.   Obviously he practices with the team but won't travel and now I worry with the season starting soon, how much practice and development will he really get if the team plays 4 days a week?

Sorry to hear it. Of course, the other part of this, that few want to talk about, is paying another year of tuition. Coaches are quick to give redshirts but not so quick to say, we'll pay for your extra year.

I concur about not getting development.  There were a couple of pitchers redshirted my son's freshman year (top 25 program as well).  They didn't throw bullpens at all unless on their own and they had to arrange their own catchers, which was almost impossible because the guys on the travel squad needed bullpens and catchers as well.  Everyone was gone or in games on the weekends.  In the case at my son's school, they were all at other places the next year.  I also think it's crappy to tell your son after school starts when the coach now has options, but your son doesn't.  Also won't say I'm the least bit surprised that the coach did it that way (without even knowing who it is).  So sorry you and your son are dealing with this.

To add, I would say tell him to just get ready for summer.  Be ready to go hard.  He will go to summer ball before a lot of other guys because of post season play.  If he has a great summer early on, he has a lot more options, whether it be transfer or stay.  Feel free to PM, as there can be some caveats to watch for.