My 2024 started on varsity in CF as a freshman. Made all the plays he should have and made some plays no one else could have. He is the best athlete on the team. He started the season batting cleanup and performed well.
His sophomore year he took all the preseason reps in CF but when another 2024 (who played JV as a freshman) joined the team 2 weeks before the season started he was automatically awarded the starting CF job. (The family provides the uniforms and is a big booster) There was no competition for the CF position and my son played RF all season (unless the CF was pitching). My son is a legit D-1 prospect and is one of 2 kids on the team that will be recruited by D-1 (catcher is the other)
My question is, going into his junior year, how should I handle the situation. Should I talk to the coach? Should I advise my son to talk to the coach? Should I just let the bull crap politics play out? He wants to play CF and is better with a much higher ceiling.
Thoughts?
Can your son tolerate playing RF vs CF for the first half of the season?
If not, he should speak to the coach.
But he should understand that by speaking up, he risks losing RF and the cleanup spot...
Coaches know what they're doing and why they're doing it. Although they may be expecting the question and will likely gain respect for your son if he asks, they still won't like to have to answer and may punish him for asking, esp if they've been forced or chose to make a political decision over a fact-based one. Likely that the situation is as uncomfortable to them as it is to you.
Also, this is not a situation where a parent should get directly involved. (You could one-up the other family by out-donating them which is stupid but I've seen it happen.)
Highly likely from my experience that it will play out that the CFer will underperform, maybe even cause the team to lose a couple games. Once his sub-par play become obvious, your son will be moved back up the middle, while the other kid and his struggles move to RF. Then, after all options for him on the field and in the batting order have been exhausted, and it becomes blazingly obvious that his playing time has been bought, he will return to the bench.