Lots of highly ranked players at same position

The best plays ss, the others often play other positions, assuming they can hit.  On my son's college team former HS SS played third, second and right field.......

They will be playing second, short, third and center. Colleges typically recruit five kinds of players: pitchers, catchers, mashers, shortstops and center fielders.

If you look at a high school team probably most of them were shortstops at some previous time in their baseball journey. At each level the talent coming up from the previous level was probably playing in the middle if the field.

That makes sense!  Thanks again

Also bear in mind that some schools have to anticipate losing HS player commits to the MLB draft.

Most coaches build their teams up the middle. Most athletic players are SS's and 2nd basemen. Being strong in this area helps win games.

Yep.  As my son progressed through HS ball, the general consensus was college coaches are looking up the middle - catcher, pitcher, middle infield, center field and mashers.

 

The best SS will play SS.  The others will get moved to OF, 2B or the corners (3B/1B).

 

My son was actually recruited to a JuCo as a 1B, but he did play catcher, 3B and 1B through HS.  Got an offer to a D2 (where he is at now) on his hitting.

A friend/former teammate's son is a utility infielder in the majors. He was Gatorade player of the year as a shortstop in high school. When he got to the SEC he started at first freshman year due to a junior shortstop. He played short the next two years. The scouting report questioned his speed to play short in the majors. In four years of minor league ball he played 2b, ss, 3b, lf and rf. He's played all those positions in the majors including first.

First, they have to be better than Soph or Jr who already starts in their position. How many true Freshmen are starters at big schools? 

Even after changing some players' positions, it's not unusual for the top programs to be stacked with talented players; some of whom are going to see appreciably less playing time (at least, initially) than they've been accustomed to seeing.

 

An example: Just before my son's sophomore year, I decided to do a quick analysis of the backgrounds of the 22 returning players on his team. Of those 22, 19 had been all-state performers in their home state; and the majority of those 19 had been all-state as both high school juniors and seniors. In addition, 5 of the 19 had been voted their state's best player by either the Gatorade process or their state's NHSBCA members (or both).

 

This core group, augmented by an equally accomplished group of entering freshmen, took the team to the national championship series in my son's junior and senior seasons. The teams against which they competed in Omaha were no less talented.

 

The point here is that clubhouses at the top of any college division are going to be loaded with talent; and a player (and his parents) need to be prepared to enter an extraordinarily more competitive environment than they've ever experienced in their high school years. Most make the transition successfully; but, just as inevitably, some do not.

 

Many who make the adjustment realize that what they're up against is the often-mentioned but rarely fully-appreciated "narrowing of the pyramid." They know that, if their playing careers extend beyond college, that the competition for playing time and promotion is only going to become even more challenging. They reason that if they aren't cut out to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive college environment, they probably aren't going to experience much success as a professional.