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hitithere
13 Posts |
 Posted - 10/27/2014 : 10:47:22
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I know that in the younger age groups (13u younger) 95% of teams bats the entire roster. Does this philosophy change beginning at 14U?
The challenge is remaining competitive against teams that only bat 9-10 especially in bracket play. Typically on non-major teams you have 3-5 decent hitters with production falling off for the rest of the team. This becomes a problem when the 3-5 decent batters are having an off day.
How does this change happen? Is it too late if the team was built based on everyone plays/bats? |
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DecaturDad
619 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2014 : 13:36:30
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| What our coach did was told everyone there would be equal playing time in pool play. We still only batted 9 or 10. But every did get fairly similar playing time. Then for bracket play, the best players received more time. "best" was determined in part by what happened during pool play. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2014 : 15:26:28
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My son is on 12u and they don't bat the entire roster.
Sure, there may be a substitute half way through the game and then kid #1 sits out of field and batting, and kid #2 then fields and bats; but for the most part we don't bat our entire roster. |
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gwin9
122 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2014 : 00:19:04
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Yes, at 14U, the philosophy moves to batting nine. Especially on the high AAA/major teams. The lower caliber teams will continue batting the entire lineup. Typically...
It ultimately boils down to what your coach tells you at the beginning of the season. If this is a concern, you need to be asking the coach if they are batting nine or a continuous lineup.
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nastycurve
244 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2014 : 11:01:57
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I agree with gwin9, the lower caliber teams bat the whole lineup. From a coaching and mathematical standpoint, you want your best hitters to get maximum plate appearances so you usually see 9 batters or 10(9 plus the extra hitter). Coaches also employ the DH,EH,XH(second extra hitter) in order to maximize power, contact and speed throughout the lineup.
By age 13 or 14(11/12 actually) if you are truly trying to compete you should be batting 9 or 10. If you are on a team and are one of the players consistently left off the lineup for whatever reason, either find another team in the same classification that your player fits a need on or swallow your pride and drop down where he can play and develop and then try out for another team once he outgrows his current situation. You don't have a lot of time, even when you see many years in front of you. Place your son on a team where he enjoys playing, learns, develops and most of all PLAYS. He needs to compete, yes, but he also needs reps to get better. |
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ItsGodGiven
70 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2014 : 23:00:11
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| I agree nastycurve, but a lot of your 14u kids are not ready to be labeled as PO's. Most of your top teams will carry 13-15 players. If your top teams are maximizing at bats for their top hitters that leaves 4-5 kids riding the pine every game. That's a lot of "role players." It's really hard to find 10 elite players that can all pitch, hit, and play defense....so most your high level teams with 13-15 players will have a few kids that donate outs. There's no way around it. Also, I think at 14u and up you don't mind sacrificing a little offense for defense. You will also always have parents who will sacrifice the development of their child or "reps" just to be able to say they play on a certain team or organization. If your going to travel long distances to play ball your kid better be playing and getting reps. If your son is not getting reps what's the point in all the hard work he puts in during the week? Make sure you find a coach that can clearly communicate your child's role on the team. |
Edited by - ItsGodGiven on 10/28/2014 23:17:13 |
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nastycurve
244 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2014 : 11:55:22
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Lot of good points there IGG, I'm not saying 9 or 10 players and the rest PO's. To clarify, I'm saying your son should be in the mix consistently. If he pitches a game, understand he may not play the next game, or may just be a hitter the next game. I think one of the main problems of transitioning from the younger ages to the older ages is that parents are used to their kid playing every game all game and don't understand the true team concept. By no means am I saying run if you aren't playing every inning, but if you are spending more time in the dugout than on the field you might want to explore other options.
"You will also always have parents who will sacrifice the development of their child or "reps" just to be able to say they play on a certain team or organization." <---- I agree with this wholeheartedly. In the same way that you don't see statues of committees, you don't see draft picks and scholarships of teams, they only hand those out to individuals. A scout or college coach would have more confidence in his individual evaluation basing it on 80 top competition perfect game at bats for "team whatever" over 20 top competition perfect game at bats for "Team High end- High cost baseball". For your son's enjoyment, development and continued ability to play, find the best team where he actually gets to PLAY, not just play on. |
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T13
257 Posts |
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billbclk
164 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2014 : 15:32:10
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| College Coaches and Pro Scouts do not show up looking to see if the "6-4-3 Astros" can beat the "East Cobb Elites" in the Near Perfect Game World Series. They want to see as many players as possible in the shortest time possible. Play as many as you can, bat as many as you can per game and winning hopefully will happen when the players make it to the next level. |
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nastycurve
244 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2014 : 13:34:33
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| I think tournament directors should hand out 4 foot tall trophies to each player on every team that joins in the tournament. That way all the players will know they are special and that merely showing up is worthy of an award... sheesh, is it possible to have anyone that believes in competition anymore? Players are part of a team, individuals have to do their job for the team to be successful, some are better at things than others. That's why companies have sales, HR, Management, custodial positions etc. Everything is not equal, but together everyone shares in the success. I guess everyone on the team should pitch also, whether they are good or not, the team should celebrate little johnnys "courage" for stepping up on the mound and throwing 53 balls. |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2014 : 19:39:49
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| It's the "pay to play" mentality coupled with the rec ball league minimum participation rules they're use to. Nothing is special anymore. |
Edited by - rippit on 11/03/2014 21:05:56 |
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rippit
667 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2014 : 19:42:52
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| I will add however that the greedy organizers and coaches just trying to line their pockets by putting 20 kids on a roster aren't helping. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2014 : 13:45:17
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Bottom line is you get what you are willing to put up with.
If you are dying for your child to have a 6-4-3 jersey and you pay your 2K+ money and he only plays when the team is up by 10 runs and he's the runner for the catcher/pitcher...well if you are happy with that jersey then let these people be happy with the jersey.
If you are looking for your kid to play, be a contributor, and actually LEARN some things about baseball and he can't do that on the 6-4-3/ECB type team then don't be there.
You can tell in week one of practice if your kid is going to contribute...where does the coach put him, how many other people are in that position, how may positions is your kid being tried at, what is the caliber of player at that same position because while you may have rose colored glasses when it comes to your kid you can tell what kind of player those other kids are....and if you can tell little Johnny isn't going to be a real player then cut your losses and check out the other teams still looking for players.
In my opinion, there are parents who want their kid to learn how to play, and there are parents who want to say their kid knows how to play. The older the kid gets the more the great divide occurs; and batting 9 is just part of that. |
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14u and older; bat entire lineup?
