HS coach won't play son

Is this JV or V
If V does he also P for JV?

Hi Nick's Mom...you have gotten good advice, but the fact is no one knows what is in the coaches head.  He could be playing favorites, he could be playing upper level classmen to get them exposure for college, he could even be testing the team to see how they do with being sat.  *shrug*

 

All your kid can control is himself.  He should work hard, show the coach his determination, show he can be an asset to the team, show himself to be a good teammate by picking up kids who strike out, congratulating players who got out but moved the runner, and in general enjoy being part of a baseball team...and that's all he can do. He needs to accept that he may not play another inning this whole year, and any inning he does get to play should be cherished...there are no rules that say the coach HAS to play him. Once your son accepts there is nothing he can do to change the coach is when he will likely finally get the opportunity to play again. 

First of all welcome to the site. You are in a tough spot. So maybe I can offer you some words of encouragement. Lets talk about you first. You are hurting for your son because you want him to get what he wants to get. When our children want something we want to help them get it. When they are upset we are upset. And when we feel there is nothing we can do to help them, or we feel like we just don't know what to do that is not only frustrating it's painful.

 

What your son needs to know is that no matter what goes on on that field you love him just the same. That no matter if he plays a little, a lot, or not at all that has no bearing on how proud of him you are. Encourage him to continue to work hard. To go to practice each day excited about the opportunity to get better and to prove the coach wrong. Encourage him to keep a good attitude and not to sit around waiting for an opportunity but work to be prepared for it.

 

Stay positive he is tougher than you think. He will handle it much better than you. He will handle it better if you handle it well. The worse thing that can happen if you take the positive approach is that he doesn't get much PT this year. But he keeps a positive attitude and goes into the summer hungry to play and work even harder than he has before. You can use this as an opportunity to show him that when adversity strikes you hold fast. You stay positive and look for ways to turn it into a positive. Sometimes the things we think are horrible are the things that drive us to where we can go.

 

Let this build a fire under your son. Use it to build a fire under your son. Don't go the other way with it. When someone tells you your not good enough you have choices to make. Prove them right or prove them wrong. Use it as motivation or use it as an excuse to become bitter and have a bad attitude. Let your son continue to do what he is doing. Encourage him. Tell him to keep fighting. Tough times don't last. Tough people do. Good luck. Baseball is not a sprint. It's a marathon. Run the full race. Don't let today keep you from having a great tomorrow. Again, good luck.

       
       
+1 to this.  Please give us facts.  Real recorded pitch velocity.  Exit velocities etc.  Further I am going to be honest here.  I really thought this was a veteran poster creating a new identity just to be funny.  As I read it I found myself getting a good laugh thinking it was clever and I wish I would have thought of it.  When I got to the ss part then I knew it was a bit.  Then I wasn't sure.  And now I think this may actually be real.  Still I don't want to be sucked in by a late april fools joke!  But at the risk of getting duped I will play along.  Mom, get some of these numbers verified.  Objective data can do a lot to figure out where you really stand.  Statistics at this level are just about meaningless.  Maybe coach was being nice and giving him his at bats against inferior pitchers?  Who knows.  But an exit velocity is what it is.  A 60 time is what it is etc.  I am guessing you may not know what these things are.  60 is a 60 yard dash.  Exit velocity is how fast the ball comes off wood or bbcor bat off the tee.  Find someone with a stalker and either from behind a screen gun the ball coming at you or sit behind the cage and.gun it going away from you.  Let us know.

Or if you could take a look at PBR and see when they are running showcases in the area.  Attend one and they will give you all the measurable you will need.

I'll agree probably not the most diplomatic statement, but I'd give him credit for the "swag." 

While somewhat true, I would caution about how much a HS coach actually sees.  If you just do the math, coaches have very little time before games begin to evaluate players.  Therefore, you could be looking only at 20-30 hrs. of practice time.  With maybe 20 kids on a team, that is at best about an hour of actual skills time.  And in many cases, the penciled in starters will get more time than the backups. 

 

So not to put pressure on the kid, but realize that there is a very small window of opportunity to impress a coach and bump a "starter."  He may only have a handful of pitches to show he can hit, or a few balls to show he can field.  So he has to be ready to perform.  That is where the arriving early, staying late, and busting a$$ can play a part.   

If you come back with numbers will it change your situation with this coach in this situation? No. The coach has seen your son play. He knows how hard he throws, how fast he is, etc. He has told your son that he thinks these other guys are better by playing those other guys more than him. A coach speaks with his line up card. Now if you come back with outstanding numbers for a LH Soph - posters can say "Yep that coach is crazy." "Your son is good enough based on those numbers." And what does that do for you?

 

The fact is there is only one thing for your son to do. Go out every day and work to change the coaches perception of him as a player. When he practices, practice harder and better than everyone else. When he gets opportunities take advantage of them. Instead of waiting for an opportunity, prepare for it. The coach doesn't think your son is good enough to play anymore than he already is right now. Change that. Change the perception of him as a player. Or validate it. I would choose change it.

 

And if he doesn't change the coaches perception, fine. At least he hasn't given in. At least he hasn't quit. At least he has the summer to continue to work towards those goals, He can work towards coming back next season and shoving in everyone's face when he is the better option.

 

You coming back and giving us numbers does not change one thing. It only gives people here an opportunity to say "Those numbers indicate he is an average Soph" "Thoes numbers indicate the coach is wrong." When the fact is not being there at practice and at games to evaluate the competition he is up against and his own ability means we have no freaking clue.

 

What I do know is that he is in control of one thing. How he approaches the situation. And you are in control of one thing. How you approach the situation. YOU support him. Encourage him. Point him the right direction. Stay positive and tell him to fight for what he wants. And he needs to do just that. Mid 70's with command for a soph LH can be Mid 70's with command for a LH Jr with a bad attitude. Or it can be upper 70's with command low 80's and shoving it with a fighters attitude. How hard is he willing to work for it? How determined are you to stay positive and be his best fan?

 

Don't get discouraged and worry yourself to death over this. Tell him to get in there and keep fighting. Tell him to talk with his arm, glove, bat and work ethic. Prove the coach wrong. As a coach I love to be proven wrong in these situations. There is nothing better than to see a young man overcome the line up card. It makes the team better. It makes a program better. Again, good luck.

20-30 hours before the season begins?   That's at least an hour per player per coach for observation and evaluation before games start, in your scenario.  That's plenty.

 

My son's team plays 2 games per week now in season.  Parents of players who are 2 and third options off the bench don't see the hundreds of reps each player is getting on the other 4 days of the week, so they really have no sense of the total of what the coach is considering when he makes out his lineup card each week.

 

To the OP I don't have much to add to what's been said already, except:  Advise your son be the first kid to practice and the last to leave.  Be the first out of the dugout to get a foul ball.  Put the last rake in the shed.  Take charge of what you can control -- your own attitude, effort, and preparation.  Make sure you find a home on a summer team that will give you meaningful playing time.

Anyone mind if I throw out my philosophy again?

 

 

When faced with situations such as this, your son has two choices: Either prove the coach right, or prove him wrong.  It's up to him to decide which.  Either get so good he can't ignore you - or don't put in the work and prove he was right all along.

 

 

I like a little confidence myself....  Though if I just lost a game, trying to oversee the kids get the field cleaned up, and am trying to get home to my family I probably would have reacted similar to the coach.

once again, the sky has opened up and coach may has rained down his wisdom. 

Coaches, most coaches, might change their mind and make line ups out differently.

 

Most coaches can watch a round or two of batting practice and figure out who their best hitters are.  A round or two of infield and figure out who their best infielders are. Watch them throw and figure out who has the best arm.

 

Usually the top several standout and are easy starters.  Usually there are a couple spots that require making a tougher decision.  Left handed throwers don't have a future at positions other than 1B, OF, or LHP, so playing any other position is kind of out of the picture.

 

Sometimes we see coaches play kids out of their best position.  Sometimes it just happens because of need.  However we have seen a few of the very best pitchers in their state, that were not used as pitchers on their high school teams.

 

Anyway, it's really not very difficult to watch 20 kids play baseball for a couple days and figure out who has the most talent.  Though I must admit, there has been some very strange things happen.  One of the most talented kids in the country in the 2016 class did not start for his high school team.  In fact, he hardly played.  He would have been his HS teams best pitcher (93 with a very good breaking ball and great command as a sophomore) and he is an even better position player and hitter with power.  He will be a good draft pick in 2016.  He also is a good kid and team player who plays hard and loves to compete.  He actually was one of the stars of a highest level national summer team. Not sure if anyone would have known about him had he not played for that team.

 

So mistakes do happen, for one reason or another, but if a player has what it takes he can overcome those problems.  Talent sticks out like a sore thumb and there are many people that can recognize it.

I'm not sure an hour is really enough when compared to the years I have seen some kids grow and develop.  Some of us have seen the kids succeed and fail in multiple situations while they where growing up - a lot more than 1 hour.   If the kid is having a bad day, then what?  I don't know about your program, but in my kid's the backups are not getting 100s of reps. during weekly practice.  The "starters" get the majority of work.  The backups have limited opportunities to change the coach's initial impression.  So they better be ready. 

Can't get past fact that he's only LHP on team and has only gotten 5 innings.

how did he do in those innings?  Are there a lot of pitchers on this team that are studs and they don't need your son as much?

Just thinking if coach sees him as future P he would have sent him to play a few JV games to get him on mound. 

If son doesn't already, he needs to find P instructor locally. Sounds like P is only way for him to get to play in his HS. They always need GOOD LHP. Maybe he can get good enough to be the closer they turn to his Sr.. Yr.  

he still has time to work for that

good luck

Not sure what kind of practices you're used to, but they sound crappy. I would venture to guess that in 30 hours of practice (not factoring in scrimmages and games) my varsity kids have all gotten near 1000+ groundballs/flyballs and 1000 + swings. A lot of those on the field "game-like" reps. Subvarsity kids not identical numbers, but not too far behind.

 

 

I don't know if anyone could have said it better.  One of the best, most inspiring posts I have ever read.  Thank you!

I would add that Winter Workouts and Summer/Fall Ball, if the team has it, can have an effect too.

+1

The numbers (velocities etc.) Aren't for the coach.  The numbers are for you mom!  I suspect you may find you have some work to do.