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6 replies

Pitching and Positional Playing in HS

M MakingMemories10+ posts
I have a brother who will be a freshman next year. The position he most excels at is pitching, but still has an above average bat and glove.
He has a friend who is a sophmore for the same HS he will be going to next year. And in his first season of tryouts he told the coaches at tryouts that he was a pitcher and was sent on his way with the pitching coach for evaluation. Good news is he had made the team that year, bad news is that in that year and this year they only want him to pitch and was never able to even tryout for a position other than pitcher.

Do most schools take this approach?
Is this a common situation for HS pitchers to face?
How do you feel we should approach this next season...
Should he tryout as a positional player and tell them later he pitches too, but has a smaller chance to make the team? Or should he just go with what he is best at and give him a better chance to make the team at an earlier age?
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meachrmmeachrm100+ posts
Am I correct in assuming there are other teams he will play for during the year? Summer teams, AAU, Fall Leagues, etc? If so, he can play his positions on those teams. Trust me, if he plays well at a position and hits well for those other teams, word will get back to the HS coach that he has more than just a pitcher on his hands. Your brother won't have to say anything. He's still young. Worry about next year in 12 months. Whatever he plays, he should just have fun and do the best he can in whatever role he is given. Things will work out. Have faith.
W wogdoggy500+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by MakingMemories:
I have a brother who will be a freshman next year. The position he most excels at is pitching, but still has an above average bat and glove.
He has a friend who is a sophmore for the same HS he will be going to next year. And in his first season of tryouts he told the coaches at tryouts that he was a pitcher and was sent on his way with the pitching coach for evaluation. Good news is he had made the team that year, bad news is that in that year and this year they only want him to pitch and was never able to even tryout for a position other than pitcher.

Do most schools take this approach?
Is this a common situation for HS pitchers to face?
How do you feel we should approach this next season...
Should he tryout as a positional player and tell them later he pitches too, but has a smaller chance to make the team? Or should he just go with what he is best at and give him a better chance to make the team at an earlier age?


some do..BUT i think you will find it is different with every club depending on position depth and talent.My son will pitch and then play short when the sss pitches otherwise he plays third.The coach really does NOT like to play pitchers IF he doesnt have to.
BOFBOF10,000+ posts
Some coaches like to run programs like this and some don’t. Some have a mixture of both. The best way to fight this is to be able to absolutely rake. As they say if you can hit they will find a place for you. This usually means that you will have to be able to hit for average and power. My suggestion would be to politely ask the coach if you could at least be in a hitting group during practice and show him your ability. If you show him, over time, that you can hit then he will likely find a spot for you to at least be able to hit. Like the others have said if this does not work out there is always the off-season. Be aware however that to do this you are going to have to outwork everyone on the team as hitting well means you have to swing the bat every day and you will also have other demands placed on you as a pitcher. Good luck!
Stats4GnatsStats4Gnats10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by MakingMemories:
…Do most schools take this approach?
Is this a common situation for HS pitchers to face?...


I’d say no, most schools do not take that approach, but that it isn’t at all uncommon.

As has been already said, things depend a lot more on the situation rather than the coach’s personal preferences.
P playball20115,000+ posts
Unfortunately, our coaches have that mentality. They think they can look at a 14 yr old and tell what he can/should do for the next 4 yrs. Each player should be looked at with an open mind. Usually by Jr. yr you can tell the kid who is really a pitcher only. By then the kid may not want to bat o play elsewhere anyways. If a kid is a pretty decent pitcher at 14, doesn't mean he will be great at 17 with power hitters. He may have just been a good athlete who is better position player. I agree that you should be playing somewhere other than HS esp. if you play more than one spot. Sometimes HS coaches have 20 on a team and they don't have time to see who really has what skills-they make their best judgement and place players. Some will make changes, some stick with same core players no matter what. A few always get "lost" in the crowd.
I IEBSBL1,000+ posts
My opinion is that if a coach does this they are taking an opportunity away from a player. No coach knows at age 14 what will happen to a player over the course of the next 4 years. The other thing is this, if you look at most high school rosters the heart of you line up is scattered with guys that also pitch because typically they are your best players. In my 11 years of coaching I have never had one of my pitchers ever hit under the 5th spot of our lineup. Can you imagine if Todd Helton's of Mark Kotsay's coach in High School had told him he could only pitch?

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