Injury and showcasing

I wouldn't attend.  If he goes injured and hurts himself worse, that definitely wouldn't be good.  Showcasing when hurt, he won't be able to show what he can really do, so that doesn't help much either.  I believe you should listen to the doctor and shut it down.  Get healthy, and then showcase in the Fall.

Appreciate your response, doctor says he can't damage it any further and has cleared him to play. Not sure if canceling is an option at this point, so if we decide to go should we let the coaches know about the injury? If this was not his summer before his senior year we would absolutely not send him.  

Will his hitting standout? If your son can make himself noticeable without throwing I would look into this approach.

I believe it will, and he is also an athletic catcher a converted SS. The schools he is targeting he has a good chance of getting in academically as well, but of course being recruited always makes it easier. If he got accepted academically he would go with or without baseball so there is also the chance to walk on when 100% healthy. 

It sounds like your doctor is contradicting himself  - ok to play you can't hurt it anymore and shut it down (no PT but OK to throw - makes no sense?). You only have one arm.  If he is throwing hard enough to have the tendon pulling on the bone so hard that it's causing it to bruise, I would think the next step would be detachment / surgery to repair. I'd shut it down.

Please don't take this wrong, I mean no disrespect for your advice, but I am going with the doctors advice given he is part of one of the top Orthopedic groups here on the West Coast. I am not here asking for medical opinions on his injury. The plan is to shut my son down after this camp. My question was in regard to the letting the coaches know whether or not if he should let them know or not.  

So RJM, sounds like you are suggesting he let the coaches know he is inured. They already have footage of him throwing as well as some published Pop times.

I feel your pain.  

 

My son got a deep bone bruise from a 90 mph fastball to the wrist, early fall of his senior year, just before we were headed to the Arizona Senior Fall Classic, after basically an entire junior year lost to a back injury.  Really bad timing.  Just as he was getting whole during the summer, and getting back into the swing of things, after almost an entire spring on the DL, he starting to play like his old self again,  the fastball strikes.

 

We knew that he wouldn't be performing at 100%.  But he  had had so many setbacks by then that he really really l wanted to go to the Fall Classic and give what he could, especially since he could still play defense all out and run the bases all out.  Swinging a bat was really painful.

 

Needless to say, he did not perform up to his normal standards. Several coaches were there to check him out.  I was actually sitting next to one in the stands, who was telling the coach next to him that he was there to check out the right fielder, who was my son.      The school he will be playing for for the fall was also at one of his games.

 

After the Classic, we followed up with the schools that we had sent his schedule to, to express his continued interest.  We did explain to coaches about the bone bruise too and also mentioned that he would be shutting it down until he was fully whole.  Not all coaches responded.  Several who did wrote nice, sympathetic notes back, including the school that he ended up playing for.   One school followed up later in December with a personalized note saying that they were still in the market for a 2015 outfielder,  and that they wondered if he was healthy enough yet to come to the December camp.    (They had seen him at an earlier event, just before the injury, and he had apparently impressed them enough to get on the board, if not at the top of the board._ Unfortunately he wasn't and they moved in another direction. 

 

I still don't know whether we did him more harm than good by going.  Which doesn't really help you decide, I know.   One thing to think about is that although it's kind of late,  many of the High Academic schools that will be at the Stanford Camp will probably also be at the Arizona Senior Fall Classic.    If he's likely to be closer to 100% by then, you might think about that as a substitute.  

 

Hope that helps a little. 

 

Thanks for the info, yeah its been a bumpy ride so far. We are going to send him to the camp not even sure what the return policy is but this camp is not cheap. I am thinking since he will be spending a lot of time with the coaches it might be better for my son too be up front with them. Like I said earlier, he has a good chance of being accepted academically at his target school (its an academy BTW) and word has it they do have walk ons that make the squad. It would just be nice if he could get committed before that.       

It's not a good idea to hide injuries. Be honest. Contact the coaches of interest up front and explain the situation if he will go and hit but not throw. Explain where he is in his recovery. 

Thanks for the input RJM. I will talk to my son.

If you think that the DOCTOR is giving good advice, why are you asking? 

One thing that I have learned, unless the doctor has xray eyes, no one knows what is going on unless they go in and take a look. Even then, they could be wrong.

 

If it were my son, and my experience, he wouldn't be attending.

I'm not sure what coaches you are referring to, but we decided to have him switch from his primary position which is catcher to his secondary position which is 2nd base. He has  no pain from regular throws, only max throws like trying to throw runners out. 

edit..doctor, sorry, cell phone. 

 

Why wouldnt you want any coaches to know that your son has an injury? They are going to ask on a questionare if he has had injuries.

 

I am just not sure why you would want to take a chance of it getting worse. What if he fell, what if a player bumped into him, or he got hit by a 90+ FB. No player should showcase if he is not at his best, or close to.

 

Sorry, I don't get it.

 

JMO

 

Honestly I couldn't agree more based on the information you have given. I remember pulling my son out of a camp when he was not quite 100%. A year later he was recruited by the same coach. I had others on this site give me the advise to keep him out when he wasn't 100%. Can it really help him?

 

And another thing, is he a 2B or a C? If he is an average 2B, but a real good catcher, wouldn't you want him to be seen at his strongest position?

 

I know you may feel time is getting late, and you have the urge to send him. I just don't think it sounds like a good idea.  

Your son has been injured/out of commission since last Oct? Sounds like he's going to miss Summer ball too. Is plan to get him playing again in a Fall or attend more Showcases? 

Why would you ever take son to a showcase when he has pain.

keep us posted. Guess your going because you ve paid. Don't be disappointed if he doesn't show well. Not sure how this showcase is, but many have a lot of coaches present, but they don't necessarily have 1-1 conversations w players. Some will be pulled aside but not all. At least that's our experience. Unless son is big hitter, or is throwing heat it's hard to stand out. Good pop times for catchers can do it. Not sure what your sons recruiting as been like so far, but he still has time to be seen, esp later in Fall or at Christmas camps of his fav schools. It's frustrating to be injured when he's at critical time. Good luck

I hear what you are saying. There is more to catching than just pop times. He receives and blocks well. There is video of him throwing and recorded pop times at other events. The schools he has interest in have seen his tapes and knows he can throw. He has a good bat, gap to gap with ability to hit it out. It's the a Stanford camp and my understanding is that they have a lot of direct contact with the coaches. We have talked about it and weighed all the Pros and Cons. My only real question was does he let the coaches know. The consensus here on this site is yes so that is what he will do. If he does poorly (throwing) and does not get the interest from his targeted schools then he will try and walk on, hopefully he will be recovered 100% by then. He is not going to school to play baseball, but trying to get into a high academic school and if possible play baseball there. As I said earlier he is targeting the military academies because he wants to go there for the academics not baseball. That would be a plus,

Thanks for voicing your concerns. He has already played 6 summer games preparing him for the camp. His injury is not of the type you can hurt by falling of being hit by a pitch. We talked to the doctor a couple of times and he says he can play, it's not going to get any worse over a course of a week. Once this camp is over he will shut down a couple of months. 

Someone told me something a long time ago. That person is in the business of baseball and knows his stuff.

The last thing a coach or scout remembers about a player, is the last time he sees him play. 
In other words, its not what he saw in a video or yesterday but what he will see tomorrow.

Best of luck

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If he is hurt and cannot perform up to showcasing standards, he will not be helping his cause.  He will be hurting it.  Not a wise decision in my opinion.  Get healthy, and then go show his skills. 

In 2007 son was expected to be a late first round pick.  He did awesome in the ACC tourney with almost a complete no hitter to beat out FSU.  The next weekend at regionals, after pitching over 100 innings that season he was spent. He fell from around a 45 pick to a 71 pick.

This would be true of any player.  Coaches tend to disappear when they suspect or know injury. IMO, the injury described here doesnt sound good.  Possibly surgery someday.

 

 

If your son shuts down after this showcase, being a position player and not playing senior summer, its pretty obvious there is an injury. I know that you paid for this tourney, but if that is the reason why he is going, thats not a good reason.  Be honest and i hope that you do the right for your son.

Just went through this situation the past two days. Son separated his throwing shoulder playing hockey in February. Just returned to a throwing program a few weeks ago. Even though his shoulder wasn't 100 % we went to the showcase the past two days. He hit very well but his pops and velocity were below what he was capable of. His arm was very sore on day two and limited him. We had let some coaches know of his situation beforehand. I don't know how it will turn out as we just got home. It definitely hurt for any coaches who were not aware of his injury. We'll see what the others think based on any feedback we get.

Thank you for all the responses. My original question has been answered. As far as attending or not attending, is something between my son my wife and I and his doctor. Whatever decision we make we will accept whatever consequences occur good or bad. We are not going into this blindly but we will be honest with the coaches.

Good luck, but be honest w yourself.  You have said he's interested in military academies,and  academics more than baseball. The fact that son is showcasing w injury says otherwise. 

What does he want to do?

Seems strange that he misses HS season, has been dealing w Injury since Oct, dr says to shut down including PT, but he's played 6 Summer games and now it's apparently ok to showcase. Bit confusing to say the least.

You were given good advice, what u do w it is up to you. Be realistic and know it's difficult to get into military academies, even w good grades and skills. We ve seen this firsthand w teamate. Maybe you feel that this is his only chance to be seen by academies. 

There are good people on here who have expressed opinions/concerns for your son and his injury. Many have first hand experience and have been in same spot. You seem determined to go. So let the chips fall where they may. Hope son heals soon.

standballdad,

 

I'm a little late to the thread.  I understand where you are coming from as I had my youngest son (pitcher) get hurt at this time last year.  He couldn't showcase and it crushed him at the time.  

 

I realize there are differences between showcasing pitchers and catchers but I would urge you to not take any health chances for many reasons.  Your son will have additional opportunities because of his academics.  You shouldn't feel like baseball is the only leverage your son has.....he has other leverage through academics.   Because of those strong academics he'll have additional opportunities that others may not.  I wouldn't risk it, but focus on those schools that put a high value on academics along with baseball. These academic schools will take a chance on an injured promising recruit who wasn't available to showcase.  It is going to take some work on his part but I've seen it happen many times over because the academics stand out.   JMO.

 

Good luck.

So how did it go with the injury and all?

It went fine. Son had a good time and performed well enough taking all things into consideration. He ended up catching 4-5 innings a game and played some SS as well. He communicated to his coach about his shoulder so they were aware of it. The first day his throws were a little off, looked a little apprehensive too me. Next day he threw pretty well, velocity a little off but he looked good overall. He said coached had asked him if his shoulder felt better, said he looked a lot better than the first game. Son said no but he was more aggressive with it. His POPs were in the 1.9's. Coached asked what he normally throws at. He swung the bat well in games, he had 3 hits in 8 AB's but squared up a couple of other line drives but at the 3rd base and 2nd. His defensive play was good. We are now waiting for the evaluations to come out. They do a lot of the evaluations during the training sessions. This is a very well run camp, the kids were dragging the last day. 

Glad to hear the camp went well for C. It was great meeting you. Best of luck to C.

 

David 

Thanks David, sounds like J had a good camp as well. I read your post on the Camp itself and you were spot on in your observations. Good luck as well to J in his recruiting journey.

 

H

Just a follow up, son is being recruited by a top academic D3 that says he has a spot on the roster if he can get through admissions. Coach saw him at the Stanford camp. He is still in the process of getting into an Academy but now will have another option if he does not. 

That's great news. Good luck to him -- both on the military academy front, and with the D3.

Thanks 2019, son has been through a lot in the last year and a half but just kept on working especially on the academic side. If there is one thing I learned from all this, it's to keep the grades up and work hard on the testing either SAT or ACT. It truly does open more doors and opportunities.

If you're going to compete or showcase don't complain or talk about injury. No coach or scout is going to care, they will look at the other healthy kids that are competing instead.

 

If you're concerned about making the injury worse or having the injury leave a bad impression on coaches then don't compete for a while. The kid is young. If baseball is a priority and it doesn't workout after this spring then go the juco route.

 

 

 

 

Did you read the whole post? Not sure where you are coming from. As a matter of fact a couple of coaches emailed my son months after showcase and asked about his injury, so some do care.

Hopefully his grades r good and he ll  get to that D3 and have a good time. 

just realize when u come on here u will get replies u may not like. Many have experience w whatever is posted, and truly care. In your case it was about an injured player. Hopefully he's 100% now and has found a good fit. 

Thank You, he is over his injury and only looking to move forward. Its been a crazy journey.