P.O. or 2-way every day player

Let me tell you a story.  Bum, Jr. was an undersized ballplayer but with good overall pitching and hitting skills.  In h.s., because he was lefthanded, he was told he would be a pitcher only.  It hurt, because I knew he had good bat skills.  About 1/2 way through his junior season the team was doing terrible.  They gave Bum, Jr. a plate appearance.  He jacked a homerun to right center.  Next at bat, a double off the wall to dead center.

I thought for sure he would go two-way after that.  Nope.  They decided he was too valuable to risk at the plate.  Despite a great batting average he got minimal plate appearances after that.

The last time I ever saw him hit as a senior in h.s. he pitched a no-hitter and hit three doubles in the game.

He ended his senior season with 139k's in 59 ip and set a state record with 21 srikeouts in a 7 inning game.  He won Gatorade State Player of the Year.

Did I mention he was only 5'9" and 170 lbs.?

Bum, Jr. is now pitching in the minor leagues in professional baseball.  I've often wondered "what could have been?" if he had been a two-way guy but the fact of the matter is he was pegged right.  Pitching -- not hitting -- was his strength.  

Let your son be.  He'll find his way.  It sounds like he is a very talented pitcher.  Perhaps if he's like Bum, Jr. someday he'll tell you "hey dad, I really love hitting but pitching is better.  I can watch the games most days, plan and prepare for my craft.. and.. I'm living a dream."  Enjoy the ride dad.

Big Country,

Tough questions for sure.  I have walked a mile in your shoes -  three times with my three sons.  Each situation was slightly different.  Based on what you shared it sounds like the Varsity coach will consider him as at least as a P and DH (next year) possibly a position player at best.  I strongly urge you to find the money somehow to get him some winter hitting reps or instruction.  This will allow your son to put his best foot forward in the Spring and you can see if he is a genuine two-way player in high school next year.   From that point you can take small steps to the next hurdle which would be travel baseball.

Where we come from a two-way player in high school doesn't necessarily translate into a two way player in travel baseball.  If he can translate that two-way high school player into a two-way player among elite travel teams then he might have a (long)shot in college to be a two-way player.  The two-way players I've seen in college are incredibly athletic.  All the same college recruiting rules apply, and it is difficult to make it to the next level.  There are never any guarantees.  But I have to warn you, just about every rising college player thinks they have the talent to be a two-way player in college.  Very, very rarely does it happen.

I'd stick with the pitching, and see how far you can take it with the hitting and position play.  If your son really wants to play  in college, his best chance statistically is as a pitcher (50% of the roster is pitchers).  I'd encourage him to work hard on all facets of his game, and it will become apparent which skills college coaches covet 

Good luck!

I remember when my son became a PO.  Always one of the better hitters and pitchers growing up.  As a freshman on JV, he was either the best or second best hitter on the team.  When he made varsity as a sophomore, coach told him he would never swing the bat for him.  About that time, his summer team made him a PO also.  But they had a ton of D-1 guys so that was easy to see.  It was harder on his mom and I than it was him.  He was cool with it, but we struggled to go to games and watch knowing he wouldnt play, since he got one start a week.  And you know how it goes, when an outfielder (his position) would make a bad play or strike out, mommy and daddy would always be thinking our boy could have got a hit or made the play.  And talking to other parents of POs, they always seemed to have trouble with the idea of their son only pitching at first.

But here is the point of my post.  When my son was a junior, after tryouts, I got him and asked about playing the outfield.  He made me understand that night.  He something along the lines of:  My future is as a pitcher.  I will only pitch in college.  If I spend time in practice, taking swings and playing the outfield, how is that going to make me a better pitcher.  I need to concentrate fully on being a better pitcher.--  So I accepted it.

I don't know.  It helped that he went to one of the bigger schools around so there was more talent to choose from.  If he went to a smaller school, I guess he would have been forced to play outfield.

I see so many PO's hanging on to their bat way too long.  Not accusing you of this, but it often is mom and dad that struggle to come to realize their kid is a PO.

Coaches want their best 9 hitters in the line up.  If your boy is one of them he will be hitting.  Period.  Coaches want to win.  

If he's not in the lineup, oh well.  

Embrace the life of a pitcher. 

As a former position player I sort of envied the routine of starting pitchers.  Their entire week is planned.  There is something comforting about that.  There is this ebb & flow of energy after starts then building up to the next one.  

And remember this, championships are won with pitching.  Your son has a chance to be "the guy".

Again, if he hits, good.  If he doesn't, good.  As long as he's having fun its all good.

Rich

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My 2017 had the good fortune this summer to play for a team that was coached by his HS varsity HC.

He started out with the team as a pitcher / backup catcher.  He even caught most of the games in their first tourney due to some injuries.

As the summer progressed though, he started getting more mound time and did well against some very tough competition.  By the end of the summer, the coach told him he was too valuable on the mound to wear out his arm catching.

My son was always a good catcher and consistent hitter, but he has accepted the fact that his best position is on the mound.  He's ready to focus on the things that will make him a better pitcher, rather than trying to also worry about a second position.

Great topic.  My son also is a pitcher but likes to hit as well.  He has been lucky enough to be a good hitter on good teams his whole life but did PO for 8 weeks this summer.  After that he will pitch and hit for his school but says pitching is his life he just hits for fun.  He does have to do a lot of work on his own due to limited practice time playing two positions.  I would say focus on pitching and if they need him to hit he hits if not he gets more time to work on his pitching.  Do not stop the pitching lessons.

My 2017 has been told by the HS coach that he will be a 2-way player in the Spring. I believe his future won't be as a PO, but who knows?  

It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

My lefty got a taste of being a PO this past summer.....LOVED every minute of it (oh, the life of a PO)....too much if you ask me..haha.  I was not happy that he did not pick up a bat all summer to keep up his swing for the HS season......It's all good though.  He knows, as well as do I, that his spot at the next level will be on the mound and he will embrace it.  As much as he loves playing CF, I don't think it would bother him one bit if he went PO in HS, but I am not sure his V coach knows what PO means

So, let him have fun in HS, and concentrate on what will take him farther on his journey during travel season....good luck

I will come at you from a bit of a different prospective having had my son go on to college and play as a two-way player. As a high school and travel team player, my son was always a 2-way player. Lots of effort, but he loved doing both.

Currently, my son is currently a senior at a D1 mid-major and a 2-way player (a starting OF, middle, to top of the order hitter and a closer). Lots of "extra" work goes into being prepared to do both. Quite frankly, neither of his coaches (hitting and pitching) think he gives enough time to them. The other issue becomes getting him properly warmed up to get in the games. There are more then a few times where the only warming up he did was throwing 5 or 6 pitches with a catcher between innings from flat ground in the OF (when he was moved to CF this year, it became warm-ups with a corner outfielder), and the the 8 you get from the mound.

While playing 2-way can be done on the next level, it is difficult. There are times, as a father observing, that I wish they had a made a decision to have him do one or the other.

I am going to go the other way on this.  My son had always been a pitcher and catcher for any team he played on, that was until last summer.  We joined a new travel ball team that was looking for both PO's and catchers.  After a few days into practices the coach approached me about making my son the primary catcher.  He felt that he could prepare him for high school better as a catcher than as a pitcher.  We agreed with coach and the process took off.  Besides the time he spent with his team he would go with the coaches older teams and work as the bullpen catcher.  Along with this he would go to open hitting 3 to 4 times per week to work on his swing.  Then weekends at the field alone working on his catching skills. Many times I have asked him "is this to much", and always the same answer "no, i not be the best catcher, but nobody is gonna out work me".  So for a year this goes, we live in Florida so baseball is year round.  Now he is a freshman in high school, gearing up every practice, for both jv and varsity.  With all this said the most important thing for me as a dad is he is having fun.  He's in the game, gets to walk up to the batter's box and hear his team mates and fans call his name out with words of encouragement.  He's living his dream as a 14 year old.

I catch myself wondering if he will be good enough to play college baseball, but the truth of the matter is he's having fun.  And yes I wonder also how different it would have been had he   taken the other route as a PO.

Good luck to you and your son, I hope he makes the best of what he does and has fun doing it.

My son deals with this issue as well.   Didn't catch a single inning as he pitched all spring as a freshman for his HS team.  Thankfully was getting ABs on JV when not pitching.  Then comes summer and he is primary catcher for his travel team and pitched very rarely.

I have always been of the opinion that kids that were successful pitchers when they played youth ball could come back into a pitcher's role later much easier than say someone who was a PO for the first few years of HS and then get asked to start hitting again.  My personal experience and I think my son's own experience that when you go a significant time without hitting reps it is tough to get caught back up.  Would be curious what others thought of that as well.

Thought I would chime in on this topic. Our 2015 son is a pitcher but also plays infield, mainly on the left side. Early in the summer he topped out at 90, sitting 87-90 and pretty much stayed there all summer. During the summer tournaments, such as PG, he would start a game on the mound and the next game he would play infield. we wonder at times if his velo would've increased a bit later in the summer if he had been a PO. he knows he will most likely be a PO at the next level but is not willing to sit now knowing he can play both ways now and absolutely loves the game. As parents we feel his velocity is being sacrificed by not getting proper rest but know he wants to play the game all the time while he still has he opportunity. Any opinions

If a kid can hit, 14 is too early to give up on hitting.

By age 16, if his pitching is clearly what was taking him places, then by that time the  "pitcher only" approach would make sense, at least for exposure baseball.  Even then there's no reason he shouldn't still hit for his school team, if he has the capability to carry his weight in a varsity lineup.  For a recruiting exposure team, the "pitcher only" route is for guys who maybe can hit at the HS level, but who (a) project as college-level pitchers and (b) don't really project as college-level hitters.  For those guys, I have often found myself explaining why they won't hit and why they should embrace that approach.  At the proper time, it's a wise decision for a lot of players.

But 14 is just too young to get pigeon-holed, IMHO.  For one thing, there are still plenty of 2-way guys in college ball.  Plus, for all you know, he may stop gaining MPH on the mound, and if he finds that out after not challenging himself as a hitter for two years, it may turn out that hitting was really his best shot and he missed it.  After all, it's not like every kid who's his team's best pitcher at 14 goes on to anchor his HS team's starting rotation.  Plenty of guys stop progressing as pitchers, yet continue progressing as hitters.  Not to mention, sometimes arm injuries become a factor.

Now that your son is a sophomore, it's probably too late to reverse course for him.  He's now into the recruiting time line.  And if he's still advancing as a pitcher, it may be that even if he'd been hitting the past 2 years he'd be "pitcher only" at this point, at least on his travel team.   

But for others thinking about this at age 14, I wouldn't recommend committing to a fork in the road that early.  At that age, there is still time to play all phases of the game for the fun of it, to experiment with new positions, and to play to learn.  Instead of trying to guess the future, let things play out as they will, while your son's body decides which strengths it will develop the most.

I would also add, I don't regard his having pitched in tournament championship games at age 14 as a good enough reason.  Youth travel tournament championship games are about as special as trophies are to Little League players.  Everybody has had a bunch of them, to the point they mean little or nothing over the long haul.  If I were present for a conversation like the one your son's coach had with him at 14, I would have thought he was looking to build his team for the here and now, possibly at the expense of your son's future opportunities.  I hope that doesn't prove to be the case for your son, but still don't recommend that the gamble of an early decision to shut down one option be taken as a general rule.