Take the fall off to get bigger and stronger?

My son is doing the same thing. Finished up last weekend and he said he wants to spend more time in the gym since this summer didn’t allow for much. Might guest play but not committing to teams and tournaments.

My son didn’t play from the first summer travel game post junior summer due to injury. He didn’t pick up a bat until March 1. The season started March 15. He was in the lineup. He still hit well. It took until about May before he had power again. If you have a good stroke and can hit missing time isn’t the end of the world.

He tore his MCL and PCL in June. Then he fell and separated his shoulder (surgery required) in the fall during rehab.

Even when my son played fall ball he didn’t see live pitching from the end of October to March 1st. In January he would start taking BP a couple of times a week against Pro Batter.

https://probatter.com/

I would recommend pitchers pitching from the beginning of the high school season through summer ball not pitch in the fall. Otherwise, their season is longer than fully physically developed professional pitchers.

Son took fall off from live playing the fall of his sophomore year (2019). Covid aside, his spring/summer of 2020 saw marked improvements in strength and overall health/durability. Definitely was a plus for him. Given a time machine, absolutely would not change it.

My son took August - December off to play HS football.  The break served him well and he had a blast playing football.

Given that your son is committed, and you know his situation better than anyone then I think it is a wise choice.  Everybody's situation is different and you've kind of got to figure out some of the nuances on your own.

My son committed the summer before his high school senior year, and he took the fall off from baseball because the family needed a break after 20 months of recruiting visits and activity.  Plus we needed to focus on other family members...mostly his younger brothers.   We also set aside the fall season as a time to visit additional schools if needed.   There is a time when enough is enough, and you've got to make a difficult call.   Don't think twice about YOUR call.

JMO.

My son usually skipped fall ball until this year. He used that time for strength and conditioning. The rest probably saved his elbow from serious damage. I think the combination of growing and the S&C gave him jumps to from good HS to college metrics. 

My son usually played in a low-key local fall league, with kids from his high school.  It was really fun (and isn't that the point?) and helped build relationships with the HS varsity - one year they almost won the state tournament.   He also played with his old local travel team sometimes.  Kept him in shape for the couple of tournaments he played with his summer team.  But he played because he loves to play baseball, any baseball.

I realize that ARCEKU21 is asking about skipping the high-level events in the fall, which is presumably useful for the draft.

No reason to spend unnecessary money. Take the fall off and if you really want to spend money get him with a group of other committed baseball guys and have them go to a trainer in a group.

Other than that, gym membership and hit up the coaches of the school he's committed to and get some of their workout programs. Let the kid spend his weekends with his friends instead of some random tournament.

My son took last fall off (going into freshman year in HS) but he was going to play this fall, until his shoulder/elbow acted up.  The end of July he was diagnosed with rotator cuff and bicep tendinitis.  Doctor told him to take a week off, do some PT and throw lightly for a few days before the USA Baseball NTIS Champions Cup - that just happened this past week/weekend.  10 pitches into his 1st inning, his arm just gave out.  Finished the inning but didn't throw anymore for the whole event.  He has decided to take fall ball off to get back into the gym (stopped going mid HS season and this summer for some reason), properly rest his arm, do PT and hopefully start throwing mid-October so he can attend a few camps in November/December.  He started HS football as QB in January, went straight into HS ball and then summer ball.  He throws hard and his frame just can't keep up with that much velo and torque right now.  Arm health is the ONLY goal!! So, he'll not be playing fall ball.

My ‘22 through 70 innings this past spring, but will likely not pitch next in college. He was fortunate to play on a summer team with enough PO’s that he only threw 3 innings. His HS plays a 15-18 game fall schedule and his coach already asked him how many innings he wanted for the fall. Son said “12-15 should do it coach and get me as many AB’s as possible before I go to Jupiter.”