Summer Teams

Generally, players are steered and/or placed by their college coaches.  Generally, those coaches will want to see their freshmen show up on campus in the fall and be the player the coach/es thought they were.  Then, they will address placement for summer ball (typically late fall-ish ??).  There are definitely exceptions and variations, anywhere from earlier placement to no involvement in placement at all.  

You/your player will want to find out specifically how his school handles things.  But, IMO, he should first focus on showing his best self in the fall (to the extent possible in the world of 2020).  At some point when his is somewhat comfortable and settling in, he can start by asking some of the returning players (preferably sophs who just went thru it last year) how it is handled there, if it hasn't already come up from the coaching staff by then.

I know yours is a P... there is always plenty of demand for P's in summer leagues and plan A is most likely to change for P's depending on how much mound time they get during season.

Hey Cabbage,

Your response was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

If your kid doesn't find out by mid-October, he probably needs to talk to his coach and find out.  The easiest conversation is with the older guys who are returning and ask them how it is handled at their school.  Son knew early on where he was supposed to go this summer until C**** (I've decided it is a curse word now) struck.  The returners can tell him how his school handles it.  Very few schools leave it up to players now.  Most have a connection with 1-3 leagues and place kids or give the players a choice.  My son had a choice between California, upper Midwest, and local.  He chose local.  None of them played. 

@LuvMyKids posted:

Hey Cabbage,

Your response was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

Unless your son has come to school as a top prospect, it will go exactly as Cabbagedad described.

Yep, go with what @cabbagedad said.  My 2021 son's JUCO coach-to-be outlined that very process during my son's visit/offer.  We actually saw him last weekend again and asked if it's possible to get my son on to one next summer instead of legion and/or travel ball.  Looking to face as much college pitching as possible before he gets on campus.  The coach was upfront in saying it's not likely though.  And that makes sense.  Especially in the wake of Covid.  Actual college players deserve those spots before my high school kid does.  

One thing that is learned (by players and parents) is that college baseball is a grind. Until you go thru the first year you don’t really understand that. Sometimes a kid needs the summer to rest and get healthy. Plan to play in the best Collegiate Summer League you can get into, but keep an open mind about whether playing any summer ball at all is the right thing to do or not. 

Thanks to everyone for their response. My son brought the subject up with his coach yesterday. Much of what was posted was dead nutz on......

Although the school is not categorized as a HA, it has very well respected STEM programs, why my son chose the school. Most of the players are majoring in STEM fields.

The coach made it clear that no two players are alike.

Several of his players will co-op during the summer and he doesn't want to get in the way of the opportunity.

He also doesn't force anyone to play summer ball, summer is the players time to do what they want.

He does want to see the underclass pitchers that didn't get any  or very little bump time, get some summer innings.

He is more than willing to help find a roster spot for you, or help get you on a team of your choice.

He said in a perfect baseball world, everyone would get some reps during the summer, but hes not going to stand in the way of other life goals.

While my son was contacting the schools that offered that he had chose another school, one of the PC that recruited him heavily told him he coached a summer team in NY and that if my son was interested he would have a spot for him.

Thanks again everybody

LuvMyKids,

I realize I'm a little late to the conversation.   My son was a STEM major for 4 years at a D1 HA.   Like your son's future college coach, my son's college coach gave him (and the other players) the option of playing summer college baseball.  He was lucky to get enough reps and innings during the regular season that he felt he didn't need to throw additional innings.   My son needed to earn money (private college was $$$$) and he needed work experience.   He did engineering internships every summer and threw enough in the summer to get ready for the Fall college practices.   My point is that it can be done.   However, there is an ugly down side.  If the coach sees a player taking the summer off and not improving year after year that can cause some serious friction, and leaves the player without a leg to stand on.   My son had a teammate that went through that, and his rope was very, very  short.   In the long run, the summer engineering internships were absolutely worth it for my son.

Good luck!