What defensive positions are the hardest to fill for HS coaches?

[sluggers]

I am going to disagree. All good softball players can play outfield.

I agree...they may not be a great outfielder, but that can play it good enough to embarrass themselves out there.

 

[CoachJD]

Simple question. Do you think the number of skills you need to master to be good is the same for SS and 1B? Yes or no. Forget about athleticism..not talking about that. Maybe it is more or less the same and really the degree of athleticism needed is just different..I personally don't think so.

This is such a silly question and isn't even worth the debate.

There is a reason formerly good 3B/2B end up moving to 1B as they age. There is a reason the very, very best defensive infielders play shortstop. There is a reason why the very best 1B typically don't play elsewhere.

Let's put this another way: Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel or Adam Everett or Andrelton Simmons could very, very easily be an all-world 1B. Freddie Freeman would possibly be the worst shortstop in the history of baseball.

People think saying the position is easier means it takes no skill. Of course it takes skill. And there are techniques that have to be practiced. But they're skills that most ballplayers can acquire if they don't have them naturally (other than bag footwork, I'm honestly not sure what special 1B skills even exist). And we know this to be true because we have over a hundred years of evidence of players moving to first as they lose defensive ability via aging.

 

[CrazyNani]

Agreed fast is relative until you are sub 3. Lots of kids seem fast at the level they play and then high school comes or higher level travel and they’re not and no one taught them to hit. At our level your not fast until your sub 2.8


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From the right side?

 

[_MIA_]

There is a reason formerly good 3B/2B end up moving to 1B as they age.

I agree with you but am not sure this proves the more “skill” argument..unless we are counting athleticism as a skill.

The real question is if you had two untrained Carlos Correas (since he is tall we can eliminate any “too small a target” arguments) and train one to be a SS and one to be a 1b, would it take longer for SS Correa to be really good or 1b Correa?

 

[Vertigo]

I am going to disagree. All good softball players can play outfield.

I think speed comes into play here, though. I’ve seen players who have no trouble catching balls hit in their general vicinity but it takes an OF with speed to get to those gappers and also a very good player to know when to time up a diving play in the OF. Especially a ball that gets to the fence - having a player with speed in the OF might be the difference maker in that hit being a double vs triple.

 

[_MIA_]

I think speed comes into play here, though. I’ve seen players who have no trouble catching balls hit in their general vicinity but it takes an OF with speed to get to those gappers and also a very good player to know when to time up a diving play in the OF. Especially a ball that gets to the fence - having a player with speed in the OF might be the difference maker in that hit being a double vs triple.

With the size of the field, if a fastpitch team has a really good CF they can cover up a lot of inadequacies of the corner OF.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I think speed comes into play here, though. I’ve seen players who have no trouble catching balls hit in their general vicinity but it takes an OF with speed to get to those gappers and also a very good player to know when to time up a diving play in the OF. Especially a ball that gets to the fence - having a player with speed in the OF might be the difference maker in that hit being a double vs triple.

Most good softball players have some speed. Even the great larger players are surprisingly quick. There are exceptions. But the idea that a good SS can't play OF is false. SSs have to be able to run down flyballs in short CF and the 3rd baseline. They have to drive for them too.
Let me say this, if your DD plays softball, she absolutely needs to learn how to shag flyballs and you are doing her disservice if she doesn't learn how at a young age. The idea "my daughter is an infielder, she doesn't play OF" is a huge mistake in developing a softball player. I see 16 y/o players that have college aspirations that cant shag flyballs because they never learned because "they are infielders". Huge mistake. Colleges want athletes. Athletes can play outfield.

 

[Vertigo]

With the size of the field, if a fastpitch team has a really good CF they can cover up a lot of inadequacies of the corner OF.

Yeah - except the elusive slice hit that always has a way of finding the extreme right or left corner of the field.

 

[_MIA_]

Yeah - except the elusive slice hit that always has a way of finding the extreme right or left corner of the field.

True.

 

[Vertigo]

Most good softball players have some speed. Even the great larger players are surprisingly quick. There are exceptions. But the idea that a good SS can't play OF is false. SSs have to be able to run down flyballs in short CF and the 3rd baseline. They have to drive for them too.
Let me say this, if your DD plays softball, she absolutely needs to learn how to shag flyballs and you are doing her disservice if she doesn't learn how at a young age. The idea "my daughter is an infielder, she doesn't play OF" is a huge mistake in developing a softball player. I see 16 y/o players that have college aspirations that cant shag flyballs because they never learned because "they are infielders". Huge mistake. Colleges want athletes. Athletes can play outfield.

I agree that you can take most good athletes and teach them to play the OF with a good amount of reps. However, I don’t agree that you can just pluck a good SS from your IF at the HS level, put her in the OF, and expect her to be as good as the player who always plays the OF. Yes, she definitely could be serviceable in a pinch but without the reps, reading the ball off the bat in the OF will take some time if she’s never played OF before.