A Pawn in Game of Life

[LEsoftballdad]

And yeah, love them both, classics.

I knew you were a man with class.

 

[daywalkerdad]

While I think it is important batters face the best pitching possible as much as possible for timing and seeing secondary pitches. I am not for sure it is as important for pitchers to constantly face the best hitters. It is not as if they will gain 5 mph or 3” of break on a curve. It does have value for the pitcher to learn what works and what needs to be worked on, and mental challenge. It is theoretically possible for a pitcher to develop purely in practice/lessons with just a few games against Elite competition.
The main exception is if the HS catcher is on that team. More time together could be very beneficial.
The other is if the coach is wanting the pitcher to call their own pitches. That is not going to happen.
In other words I could see a coach saying to a batter you need to play on this team so you see top notch pitchers you mainly see in games.
To a pitcher saying you need to work on hitting spots, changing speeds, additional break, etc. Or a coach recommending a pitching coach. These are generally practice not game activities.

 

[_MIA_]

While I think it is important batters face the best pitching possible as much as possible for timing and seeing secondary pitches. I am not for sure it is as important for pitchers to constantly face the best hitters. It is not as if they will gain 5 mph or 3” of break on a curve. It does have value for the pitcher to learn what works and what needs to be worked on, and mental challenge. It is theoretically possible for a pitcher to develop purely in practice/lessons with just a few games against Elite competition.
The main exception is if the HS catcher is on that team. More time together could be very beneficial.
The other is if the coach is wanting the pitcher to call their own pitches. That is not going to happen.
In other words I could see a coach saying to a batter you need to play on this team so you see top notch pitchers you mainly see in games.
To a pitcher saying you need to work on hitting spots, changing speeds, additional break, etc. Or a coach recommending a pitching coach. These are generally practice not game activities.

I agree with this. All things equal there is an advantage but if she is a PO it is not as important. Using MLB as an example, I think there is less of a bias towards pitchers coming from warm weather states/countries (where the competition is better and they get to play more games) than position players. Especially if you go back 20 years or so when cold weather pitchers really only pitched in competition in April-August. Growing up in MA I played with/against maybe half a dozen kids who made MLB or high MiLB and they were all pitchers.

 

[Rick M]

It is not as if they will gain 5 mph or 3” of break on a curve… To a pitcher saying you need to work on hitting spots, changing speeds, additional break, etc. Or a coach recommending a pitching coach. These are generally practice not game activities.

All good points. DD gets plenty of reps on JV whether coach wants to use her on varsity or not. Even though the JV games are bad, the whole kinetic chain of pitching involves too many timing points to just throw with no intent. In other words, she’s making good pitches even when it’s 10-0 against a hapless team.

It’s more of a social issue. When you’re the varsity player who keeps getting ’sent down’ to JV, the varsity players treat you like a lesser player and the JV kids get sore that you’re taking playing time. She’s having a tough time feeling like she’s a part of either team.


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[Carty]

Just my thoughts on this.

First, there is something to be said about teaching about commitments. That being said, where is your daughter as far as pitching. It seems there are pitchers that may be better and that is the reason for the HC dropping her down to JV to get time. Who is coming next year as well. IMO, if next year your daughter is one of the two strongest pitchers, the HC will give her circle time because he needs to win.

"As for teams creating opportunities, I’m moving more towards believing the TB team doesn’t matter much either. DD is at the age where her friends are making verbal commitments, and she doesn’t know anyone who credits their TB team. They all attended camps, sent videos, and arranged to guest play at showcases where they knew their target schools would be in attendance."

For most girls I totally agree with this statement. Your daughter (and parents) should enjoy her time in HS and TB, and pick the school she really wants to go to.

 

[PJR202]

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful replies. It’s entirely possible that HS coach thinks he’s doing the right thing, that his preferred TB team is better coached and has better players. Just two things kinda stick in my craw:

1. The aforementioned animosity that I know exists between the two coaches.

2. If HS coach really thinks DD is deficient, why would he go out of his way to secure her a spot on a higher-level showcase team? He won’t give her the ball in a HS game.

I did mention that five of her varsity teammates are on her TB team, which I understand makes it sound like a town travel team. But the other eight all play varsity at other schools. The ‘preferred’ team has a similar makeup: four girls from one HS and seven mixed from other schools. That’s just the way teams tend to come together in our area.

Coaching may be a bit of a wildcard. I’ve had my own differences with current TB coach, don’t really know the other coach. But DD has been going to a top Tincher-certified pitching coach for seven years, she and I completed the Paulie Girl online courses through intermediate together this winter, and every coach in question is an old baseball guy. None of them will help her one iota as a pitcher.


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I agree with the above. Other than the aspects of cost/time for the family, this is one of those calls she should make herself. It's a good life lesson beyond softball.

Out of 18 on the HS team we have two that actively play travel and one other that did it for several years. There are no travel players on the MS team at the moment. The team/parent/coach dynamic has to be a lot more complex and I can only imagine how frustrating it can be. Our county rival program has a lot of travel players and it sounds like a Game of Thrones level mess of backstabbing and subterfuge. It makes it tougher to win, but I'm kinda thankful we're in the position we're in.

 

[Rick M]

Out of 18 on the HS team we have two that actively play travel and one other that did it for several years. There are no travel players on the MS team at the moment… Our county rival program has a lot of travel players and it sounds like a Game of Thrones level mess of backstabbing and subterfuge.

Can confirm. Our varsity team is 18 players who play only softball, year round, on a variety of travel teams. There are eight incoming freshmen next year who are the same. Every move the HS coach makes ruffles feathers, it’s the main reason I didn’t make a fuss about this. Hard to understand why he’d want to create drama where there was none.


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[overwhelmeddad]

Can confirm. Our varsity team is 18 players who play only softball, year round, on a variety of travel teams. There are eight incoming freshmen next year who are the same. Every move the HS coach makes ruffles feathers, it’s the main reason I didn’t make a fuss about this. Hard to understand why he’d want to create drama where there was none.


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Nobody loves drama more than HS girls, coaches, and parents. Sorry...kinda, but not really. LOVE Blazing Saddles!!!

 

[Rolling Hard]

"None of them will help her one iota as a pitcher."
There is more to coaching a pitchers than just mechanics. There is encouragement, building confidence, focusing, and pitch calling.

 

[Northball]

... I am not for sure it is as important for pitchers to constantly face the best hitters. I

I think the value for the pitchers is learning their riseball that fools 95% of untrained batters suddenly doesn't fool 80% of the best hitters. Being in a small town area, I see lots of "big fish in a small pond." Their eyes are opened when they go to college, where there's nothing but big and bigger fish.