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Actually it's more like the big guy and little guy playing together on the same team with a foot difference in height plus or minus 50 lbs.
Puberty is crazy at that age.
Son was under 5ft tall in 8th grade. Was the smallest on every team he played for. Now almost 6'1. Crazy how many people he past up when he grew. Things change fast.
@BB328 posted:Actually it's more like the big guy and little guy playing together on the same team with a foot difference in height plus or minus 50 lbs.
Puberty is crazy at that age.
I have a picture of my son standing on second base at Cooperstown when they were 12, next to a shortstop who was 6'1". He had a full beard and looked like he had a mortgage and was paying child support. My son was all of 5'5", now he's 6'6".
The question is: did your son turn 16 as a rising HS freshman?
I think the point of the video were the ages, not the puberty caused growth differences.
That said, the puberty caused physical differences are incredible. (Thinking back to 6th grade and being a head shorter than every girl!)
I guess you are referring to reclassing. In Northeast in our area we don't see alot of that. It's kind of rare unless it's for academic reasons.
That said you guys have some tall children. I am kind of jealous. Lol.
Son turns 18 a month before he graduates this year. So that made him 14 till a month before he finished his Freshmen year. I think if my math is right... LOL
I spoke at length with an SEC HC last week about their roster. 20/21 year old freshman are the norm; held back in kindergarten, in eighth grade, and (for a bunch) a PG year. That math is brutal for those who didn't follow that path - those who in past decades were college juniors are now competing as college freshman; very, very few of those who would have been traditionally aged freshman can match up physically, and hence, get recruited.
My son was only 5’4” in 8th grade. In basketball he played with 6’5” teammates.
What cracked me up was his 11yo season of LL all stars. He was 4’10. When they introduced the lineups he was standing next to a six footer. The six footer grew to 6’3” 220 in college. He played safety for a ranked football program. My son grew to be 6’2”.
@BB328 posted:I guess you are referring to reclassing. In Northeast in our area we don't see alot of that. It's kind of rare unless it's for academic reasons.
That said you guys have some tall children. I am kind of jealous. Lol.
I feel like reclassing is the new cool thing in the Northeast now. I know at least a dozen kids (parents) that have reclassed (should be in 9th this year) or are reclassing after this year (son is in 8th grade.)
Bryce Harper finished high school early so he could get a season of juco in before being drafted at 17. Trevor Bauer finished high school early so he could get three seasons at UCLA before being drafted at 20. If you actually have a shot at playing professionally you want to be accelerating your development not delaying it. And if you don't have a shot at playing professionally, what is the point of repeating grades. MLB teams have zero interest in 25-year-old seniors.
Auberon: short answer is NIL money.
I understand that a multi-year MLB career earnings dwarf NIL money; but because most college stars will not ever have a multi-year MLB career, NIL money is a compelling reason.
Playing as a 26 year old senior in front of packed SEC stadiums has a certain allure (plus the money) - and the HC's recognize that, capitalize on that, and sell that.
The players getting meaningful NIL money are the ones who have professional prospects. The top 25 NIL earners in college baseball are making an average of $45,000 per year (Source). Wasting a year of your life for a shot to make $45k if you end up in the top 0.2% of D1 baseball players? All these kids repeating eighth grade are delusional, or have delusional parents.
@theleica posted:I feel like reclassing is the new cool thing in the Northeast now. I know at least a dozen kids (parents) that have reclassed (should be in 9th this year) or are reclassing after this year (son is in 8th grade.)
Agreed, it is popular here
@auberon posted:The players getting meaningful NIL money are the ones who have professional prospects. The top 25 NIL earners in college baseball are making an average of $45,000 per year (Source). Wasting a year of your life for a shot to make $45k if you end up in the top 0.2% of D1 baseball players? All these kids repeating eighth grade are delusional, or have delusional parents.
Calling it a "waste of a year" assumes that you will have a career in something other than baseball. Some people want to work in baseball, even if not playing professionally. Having that kind of experience is valuable, in that case.
But you cannot possibly tell that about an 8th-grader. I agree that most parents are delusional. Even before the flood, there were two kids in our (small) town who were held back in 8th grade, for a different sport. While in high school, opponents' fans yelled "super-senior" (as an insult) every time they touched the ball. One went on to a P5, played 5 years (pandemic), had a good experience. The other went to a D2, I think, and vanished. So that's a 50% success rate - glass half full, or half empty?
My son was a late spring birthday, late physical bloomer. He was also in the gifted program at school from the grade it started.
When he was 5’’4” in 8th grade people asked if I was going to hold him back. I’m 6’1”. Mom is 5’8”. When my son was a 5 foot 12yo squirt his sister was a 5’10” 17yo. I knew the height was coming.
He was always the IT kid athletically despite his size. I played D1. His sister commited D1 when she was fifteen (girls physically mature sooner and get recruited early).
The idea of wasting a year academically was absurd to me. If he needed a year physically I figured it would be done on the back end at a top PG school. He didn’t need it.
He graduated high school still seventeen at 6’1” 175. He played in college at 6’2” 190.
To me, there's a viable alternative to holding a kid back pre-HS to gain some advantage in sports; do a normal timeline and use the post HS year(s) to do "baseball as a job" time.
I'd let the kid motor through grades at presumably a normal speed. Reason: no one can know pre-puberty what the dice will come up with.
If all the yeats of lessons, playing, training, eating, traveling, practicing, combine to make your player a potential college player, you'll know it by 10th grade. At that point you can decide about college timing. Want him to be bigger and stronger when he begins his college eligibility? Then take the two years (or one year or three) after he graduates HS and have him devote himself to baseball - as a job.
Any time left over after his daily baseball, can be used to work a PT job.
Huge advantage is if he stops playing somewhere along the timeline, he can move onto the next stage of his life. Huge advantage, he'll know real fast what collegeball is demanding, be able to totally focus on working to improve the skills needed, not need to focus on anything academic.
Basically, by postponing the decision in being older, you allow him to make this HIS decision. And, I believe, developing the skills you need in college is easier under the "baseball is a job" scenario than in kindergarten or middle school.
@auberon posted:Bryce Harper finished high school early so he could get a season of juco in before being drafted at 17. Trevor Bauer finished high school early so he could get three seasons at UCLA before being drafted at 20. If you actually have a shot at playing professionally you want to be accelerating your development not delaying it. And if you don't have a shot at playing professionally, what is the point of repeating grades. MLB teams have zero interest in 25-year-old seniors.
I saw an 11U Bryce Harper at Cooperstown win the 12U HR derby at the Champions week. He was a year younger (11 yo) than the 12yos there, and he was still the biggest and strongest "kid" there. There was a buzz about him even at Cooperstown back then, and he put on a hitting show. Really hard to hide talent like that. He is exactly a year younger than my son as they share an October birthday.
Its like Harper came out the womb as a grown man. Hard to believe Harper is starting his 13th season in MLB.