What to do about getting cut as a junior?

It is not a big deal if he doesn't hang his head and refuses to give up.  What he does is works out like crazy this spring and attends all types of showcases and tryouts over the summer for exposure.  If a coach asks him for his high school stats, you explain it just like you have here. 

 

Baseball is a game of musical chairs and some guys get left without one for legitimate reasons.  Your first job is to find a coach out there who is interested and see if that is a fit for your son.  Encourage your son.  He is not defeated by a long shot.  Formulate a plan with him and execute it.  Do not let others opinion of him defeat his love of the game.  Keep a positive attitude, keep working to improve all facets of the game, get him in front of college decision-makers, and let the chips fall where they may.

Larry Bowa got cut every year in high schol.....went to a Juco for two ears ...was not drafted.....got picked up as free agent...and as they say "the rest is history"

 

That is a great story.

Work hard and keep getting better. 

 

At least in California there are leagues during HS season for kids who are not playing HS ball. There are all kinds of reasons so you can explore and see if there is one of these in your area. 

 

Play summer ball and then go from there. 

According to Larry Bowa in his book "I still hate to lose", the baseball coach cut him because he though he was too small and baseball would interfere with his high school basketball team that Bowa played. 

Larry did play American Legion and worked hard. 

I wonder if Bowa would make the MLB today at 5'-10" and 155lbs (his playing stature)?   

Just curious, if a player is a Jr., and does not make Varsity what r chances of making a good Summer team?  If it were my son I would have him look into D2 or Juco maybe in local area. 

We have never had any coach, talked w 6 ask about HS stats. 

Playball,

I guess I'm feeling a bit argumentative after a tough loss yesterday (my poor wife) but I don't  really agree with your comment.  In our area, there are lots of good HS players who will have multiple summer options but would find it extremely difficult to make the roster on one of the Calif. D2's or most of the JC's, both of which are loaded with kids who were county, area or state stars.  Much easier to find a summer team.

 

Newyorker,

Welcome as a poster!

That is an unfortunate circumstance for your son.  In our program, some years it makes sense to cut juniors who don't project as contributors at V.  This year is different.  After losing a very large group to graduation, we will have at least two seniors who will play important roles with V after playing JV last year. This is circumstantial to a degree but mostly because these kids didn't give up (and we recognized what was likely transpiring when considering cuts and placement last year).  And, BTW, where these players ultimately proved themselves was during the HS summer program.

 

I'll point out a few things that come up here often.  As a player works his way up the ladder, the game presents more and more hurdles.  He must truly have the passion and desire to keep jumping them.  If he has that, along with some talent, he has a chance to continue succeeding.  The fact that he was cut as a junior under the circumstances you describe does not necessarily mean he does not or will not have the talent.

 

Not only does every player face more and more hurdles, but every player usually gets at least one major reality check where he realizes he has to really step up and commit at a level beyond where he's ever been.  Often, that is when he first steps on the field at college.  For your son, it just happened a bit earlier.  That could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.  If he decides to go for it and is able to beat the odds (by making it back as a senior next year or via another avenue), his escalated efforts now can only help his chances of playing college ball later. 

 

Best wishes!

 

 

He would have been heavier if he was a player in this generation.

 

Altuve probably is about 165 although he's only 5'5" on his tippy toes.

Does your son pitch?  If he doesn't i'm sorry this will probably turn out bad.  I could give you the 1 in 1000 story but you have those already.  If he has a live arm develop it, the best shot he has is pitching right now.  Tell us the strengths your son has and maybe you can work him into the "I cant let this kid go" catagory.

 

Your son not playing Varsity ball as a junior is not a gawd awful terrible thing.  And, no, your son doesn't need to become a pitcher (If he isn't already) to succeed.  College coaches understand the high school baseball situations.  While they may ask what happened, they don't rely on high school coaches or even showcase coaches to pick their teams.  We have met several college coaches who have told us this.  And, there are plenty of players in the MLB who didnt make their high school team.  

 

Per Cabbagdad....."every player gets their reality check".  This is your son's.  So...check number 1: does HE really want it.  2. Which of the 5 tools does he have, and which can he achieve?  3. Is he willing to do the work    

 

The good news is with no high school ball right now, he has time to hit the gym and get the training towards his tools. Just make sure his reps are quality reps, not practiced flaws.

He will be fine as long as he takes the opportunity to learn from it and not get discouraged. His not making the team is really no different than making the team and not getting playing time. He needs to take this time to get stronger, more efficient at this position, swing the bat, study the game and make sure the mental side of his game is continuing to grow. If you do not already have them get him, "The Mental Game of Baseball", and look up Winning State Baseball.

My assumption is since they cannot field a Freshman team they r not a powerhouse school, but a smaller one-as many around here cannot field Fr teams either. I'm also assuming he played JV last yr. if a coach thinks your a good player they will find a place for you on varsity. No one is saying he cannot play college-somewhere if he doesn't make HS team, but it's difficult.

Did they tell him to keep working and try again his Sr year. That can be telling. We also did not get info on his Summer team and how he has done there, as well as had he had any interest from colleges at any level. 

Jr. Year is an important yr/age w recruiting.

Not making Varsity is not a bad thing, but unfortunately for him they did not send him down to JV to work on his skills. Now he is on his own training until Summer starts. He's not even practicing w a team. Hopefully he has been conditioning and was ready to take field and play. Guess he can take lessons for hitting or pitching or whatever he needs help with.  I would have him ask HS coach what he needs to work on and if he was not playing much on his Summer team last yr then things just became clearer. Guess I won't comment anymore or give advice until we have More specifics.

I refuse to believe in the glass being half empty theory.  I have faith that newyorkbaseball and his son refuse to believe that either.

 

The father posted looking for encouragement for his son.  His son can play in college.  College recruiting requires two things.  It requires decent talent and exposure to the type of programs that are looking for his talent.  It does not require overwhelming talent it requires decent talent.  This young man can use this setback to develop his talent.  He can use the time developing a plan for exposure this summer.  Not making the team may be the blessing this young man needed to go all in on pursuing his dream.  He can be ready this summer when the "right" pair of eyes are watching him. 

 

I've been reading a book called "It's Your Time" by Joel Osteen.  An outstanding book on encouragement.  What we need in this country are more adults who encourage youngsters to pursue their dreams.  Setbacks are opportunities.  Now get busy, use the temporary setback to your advantage, and make the dream happen. 

I posted on a previous thread so I will only hit the high lights. A player of mine was cut 6-9 grade. He was over weight and need to get more athletic. After getting cut freshman year he finally took every ones advice and took the next year getting in shape and working on his skills. He is now a senior and will be our #1 pitcher and starting 1B. Your son has two choices, he can give up or he can work on making himself into a player the coach can not do without. If he dedicates his time to his goal only good will come from it. Good luck!

I'll fall back on what I always say in these situations...

 

There's only two things that can happen

 

1) Prove the coach right.

2) Prove the coach wrong.

 

Whichever one happens is up to the player.

This scenario of a player not making Varsity and the replies that generally follow comes up pretty regularly.  What I don't see in the above responses is any acknowledgement of the painful but obvious reality that not making the Varsity team IS a "bad thing".  I agree it's not necessarily the end of the road and I agree that a player can certainly use this negative event as motivation to take his training and preperation to a higher level (the level it perhaps should have been this past off season?).  But I think it's proper and important for the player and family to operate from a standpoint of evaluating reality... and I think a useful question is to take a good look at the level of preparation that preceeded this year's try-outs. The player has been cut by a Varsity coach/staff... that's a significant occurance. The first question I would get very clear on is... Why? What specifically was their evaluation?  The staff and coach could simply be wrong in their assesment, but I would first seek to understand what that assesment looks like... ie I would evaluate the evaluation along with my HS player.  I would then help my son regroup and decide the best next steps. That could definitely mean training to make necessary improvements and prepare for summer season and another run at Varsity next year.  Conversely, it could be time to reevaluate priorities and goals.  This doesn't mean baseball needs to be over, but could look something like playing the summer on a good team... but maybe not a high pressure travel scenario. In other words playing for the enjoyment of the game without much concern for next level exposure. Maybe there are other endeavors to invest time and energy toward. If the player, in the face of being cut, remains entirely focused on continuing to develop his game... then by all means, keep keeping on! Stories like the one shared above by Greatgame can happen... and we all know how Michael Jordan was cut from his HS hoops squad.

 

Two things specifically that I disagree with from above responses:

 

1. D2 and JUCO teams are NOT appropriate to the conversation. As someone noted already, these teams are made up largely of standout HS players. The player from the OP needs to focus on this summer and on making his Varsity team next Spring, that's his next level currently.

 

2. Not all HS programs forbid by rule juniors playing JV, but regardless of rule... I believe jrs generally don't belong on JV rosters. If there's a freshmen team, then MAYBE.  But JV really is developmental play for underclassmen and important as such. Parking a Jr there takes reps away from an underclassman and hurts the program. A Jr needs to be able to help the Varsity at least off the bench, back up a position or two, and be able to workout at the varsity pace... Not hold his own or even lead at the JV level. JMO.

My son plays for a school with over 3,000 kids in it.  Varsity is extremely competitive with a very picky coach.  A teammate of his made varsity as a junior, then demoted to JV during season, and cut as senior.  He is now playing D1 baseball.  Get bigger, and better and concentrate on the summer.

I think the last four posts (starting withCD's "glass half full" message) make for a pretty good blueprint for your son... three different messages of positive encouragement and a detailed plan that includes a realistic assessment of the current situation (Soylent). 

 

PS - OK, HV's add was a great one as well!

 

Go get 'em.

 

 

" This doesn't mean baseball needs to be over, but could look something like playing the summer on a good team... but maybe not a high pressure travel scenario. In other words playing for the enjoyment of the game without much concern for next level exposure."

 

This is exactly what my son did when cut his Soph year.  He made the decision that playing competitive ball was not what he wanted to do going forward.  Trust me when I say I was shocked because up to that point all he wanted to do was play Travel, HS and then college ball.  He ended up having the time of his life the next two summers playing on in-house and a LL all star team.  He is now a college frosh (not playing ball) and this incident is but a blip in the past and he is a healthy well adjusted kid. As he says sometimes dreams are meant to remain dreams.

Another option is a transfer to another school. A friend of mine has a son who wasn't able to make Freshman team here but transferred to a nearby HS & starts on JV & plays some varsity as a Freshman. Difference is caliber of players at the two schools. Family had to rent a place in district to happen so it's a financial sacrifice. Not sure my own would have been willing to leave his friends but seemed to work out pretty well for this kid.

R u serious or being sarcastic? Kids a Jr not a Freshman. He has friends, may be involved in other sports, clubs, etc. 

so did this Freshman transfer right after he did not make team in Jan? Renting a second place to change schools for a sport sounds crazy. If this kid was good he could get on a good Summer team and try again for HS team. 

 

I am not really sure about the advice here because the OP has given no info other than son didn't make V.  

What position does he play, how many at that position, some info about the team, is it a top team in the area with lots of talent?  Has your son been evaluated as a player?

 

One thing I have learned in this game,  players should not play down, unless for injury of course. Just like the lower level teams in pro ball are for development, the same concept is for JV, its about development to be ready for V. There is a reason why many programs that cut players from V will not let them go down to JV and I think that is probably #1.

JMO

 

 

 

Depending on the state, there are consequences if you transfer from public-to-public and specifically if one transfers for "athletic" reasons.    Here in Virginia, unless the transfer is for a number of specific reasons, the student is ineligible for one year before he/she is eligible to play any sport. 

 

And as the player in the OP is a Junior, a transfer between public schools would, under the circumstances described above, not be feasible.

 

A transfer to a private school does not fall under the VHSL rules. 

 

 

 

I'm going to assume since the OP's name is newyorkbaseball, that they are in New York.  In NY, enrolling in a Private or Catholic school would not be an issue, assuming they would take you this late in the game.  For a public school, there would have to be a permanent change in residence or he'd have to sit out a year.

 

 

In our area u can play if u transfer as long as u did not play Varsity at previous school

wouldn't it be cheaper to get a bunch of lessons to get better?  

Curious have any of the kids who transferred turned out to be phenoms   Who got drafted or went to top schools for baseball?

I've heard of kids who attend private schools specifically because they have a good program in their particular sport but never anyone who transferred because they didn't make team. 

My sons school is fairly small (400 total enrollment).  There is no freshman team and like your school, freshman and sophomores make up the JV team.  

If a junior couldn't make our Varsity team then it would tell me that the player has played as far as he can with his abilities.  At some point the game ends for everyone, some sooner than later.  

Wow I didn’t think I would get so many replies.  Thank you all for taking the time to post. I’m going to try to reply back  to as much as a can.

 

My son is definitely not a quitter by any stretch of the imagination. Its not the first time he’s been cut and we knew going in that with limited spots it was going to be tuff. I think the fact he made the team last year and then didn’t this year, with a good try out kind of stung. There is a lot of talent on the team and my son was quick to point that out. Its just how he plays the game. Its like he’s a fan of the guys he plays with and try‘s out against.

 

My son does play travel ball. He’s been doing that since he was 13. He’s been playing spring, summer, and fall ball since he was 10. I can’t get him to play any other sports, and we’ve tried. The travel team he plays for now do a lot of showcase tournaments. This past fall they played teams like the Evo Shield Canes, and Chandler baseball both national ranked. His coach (Kevin Haverbusch)actually played 12 years professionally between the minors(A-,A+,AA,AAA) and independent ball. His travel coaches where surprised he didn’t make the team, which was nice for my boy to hear. Jokingly they asked if he was trying out for Florida state. Coming from dad things like that don’t seem to have the same impact as hearing it from your coaches. Plus post like some of these are good for him to read.

 

As for switching schools we thought about it going into high school but we just couldn’t afford it. Catholic/Private school are like paying for collage. Those schools are call pay to play around here because everyone makes the team.

 

He does take lessons. He hits and pitches every week with his team coaches. Does fielding when we can afford it. And does speed and agility with his own money.

 

My son really loves this game. He does anything and everything he can to get better. He’s by no means a stud. He’s just a scrappy kid who enjoys playing the game.

 

As for specifics with try out. Each player was only aloud to pick two positions. My son picked the same two he did last season, with the hopes that the coaches would remember he played many positions for the team last spring. So he put down pitch/1B. He does play 2^nd, 3^rd and right field as well. He played 1^st, 2^nd , right field and pitched last year for school. He earned the shot at second base from team practice. The tryout was only two days in the gym. They fielded one day and pitched, then hit and fielded the second day. I think the team was pretty much picked before tryouts.

 

As for enrolment, our school is not small, nor is it low on funds. I think they cut the freshman team so the superintendent could give himself a larger raise, guy makes 6 figures. Our tryout freshman year for JV was over 100 kids. Last year it was a little more then half that, this year I’m not 100% sure.

 

I’m not sure if I replied to everything but its getting real late. I’m posting a link to a You Tube with a few videos of my boy playing.

 

Has son been assessed at a PG Showcase or any college showcase? 

Did son get impression that coach wants him to try out again next yr?

I think that will give people a much better picture of what is going on.

Thanks for being direct and to the point, not telling us how wonderful he is and how so much better he is than everyone else  and how he deserved to be on the team. I appreciate that!

I would suggest eliminating your sons personal information at this time you can send anyone the link privately if interested.

JMO