question about travel to away games (D1)

There are a hundreds of reasons why coaches do things regarding who travels and who does not. It is pointless to try to figure it out....particularly for a parent who has no knowledge of what is going on. JMO. 

For D1, the NCAA  limits the number of players who can travel only during the post season to 25. Before that, conferences limit the number of players, usually also to 25.  Before conference play starts, the is normally no rule-based limit.  However, many programs self-limit the number traveling in order to save money, or to minimize study interruption.

Most teams have a bullpen schedule which is individual for each pitcher.  If a pitcher's scheduled bullpen falls on a travel day, he may be asked to travel even though it is known that he won't enter the game. That way he can get in a bullpen with a pitching coach.

As BOF says, there are many factors that go into these things.

Thanks for the rules on travel limits. And good point about the bullpen - hand't thought about that. Any additional insights are greatly appreciated. I hope it didn't sound like I was complaining - just trying to educate myself as a parent!

Harco, my son is also a freshman pitcher, although at a DII.  After this very short period of time, I am already learning that it is pretty much fruitless to try to get into the mind of the coach to figure out why he does what he does.  Haha.  The best I can hope for is that my son learns ANY information a little in advance so that we can plan on whether we should travel to the games or not.  I know it will not be complete information, if he is relieving, there is no way to predict game situations and whether or not he will get in.  But in the bigger scheme of things, I am already giving into the realization that I may never figure things out and neither myself nor him have any control of what's going on, other than him working hard to perform.  I think it is part of letting go.  I'm OK with that, just let me know before you're getting on the bus to let me know you're traveling with the team.

The reasons are often logistical in nature (short of the fact that your son hasn't earned in his way into that top 25 yet).  Bringing too many players results in more buses/less comfortable bus rides, more players sharing beds or what have you in a hotel room, more money spent on meals, etc.  My coach would occasionally bring an injured upperclassman on road trips, but short of that very rarely would we bring players that weren't on the active roster to away games.

bottom line   the player must  earn the right to travel