Pitchers & other positions

My DD is 9 and will moving up to 10U in the spring with her team. It is a highly competitive rec team looking to make the transition to TB. She has been playing 1B since she started and is now been pitching for about 6 months. She is also a solid hitter. I told her of this concern that at a certain point she might have to make the decision to play one or the other. She replied that she just wanted to be in the game. I told her that if she continued to work hard that her coach (whichever, even later on into high school) would find a way to get her in the game.

Sluggers had some excellent points.

Try not to fall in love with 1B … as the position isn’t always filled by the most qualified candidate … e.g., a solid hitter that may not be of strong athletic ability relative to the level of play. On the left-side of the field (e.g., 3B, SS) you’ll find the need for athletes that develop the proper skills … such positions are more difficult to get nudged out of by someone of considerably lesser athletic stature … and a ‘quality batter’, with sub-par athletic ability, isn’t as likely to take that particular spot away from you. Outfield skills are also a good place for an athlete, and represent positions that are difficult for a ‘quality batter’, with ‘lesser athletic stature’, to fill.

Well, she's definitely very athletic. It may be that in the end she will choose to be a position player, I don't know. We're going from a low-level B team this year (never won a tournament; I think we lost like our last 12 games in a row) to a newly formed A team (part of an existing organization) this year. One of the reasons we're doing that is so she won't necessarily be the most advanced player on the team. I know that some of the girls have already been playing 10U for 2 years; one has been playing 12U. I'm glad she's going to have to some healthy competition among her teammates, I think it'll be really good for her development as a player. Mostly I'm just trying to mentally prepare for what may be coming down the road. I think in 10U she's going to get to play both so this is not an immediate concern, just something I was thinking about this morning. That seems to get less and less common down the line, and it is definitely something she and I will need to discuss when determining what direction to go in as things get more specialized. This was only our first year in TB and it was 8U so I'm definitely still learning the ropes, big time.

GRCSftbll: Don't be so reasonable and thoughtful. This is softball, for heaven's sakes. Learn how to start a fight in a parking lot while eating a brat.

grcsftbll said:

Well, she's definitely very athletic. It may be that in the end she will choose to be a position player, I don't know. We're going from a low-level B team this year (never won a tournament; I think we lost like our last 12 games in a row) to a newly formed A team (part of an existing organization) this year. One of the reasons we're doing that is so she won't necessarily be the most advanced player on the team. I know that some of the girls have already been playing 10U for 2 years; one has been playing 12U. I'm glad she's going to have to some healthy competition among her teammates, I think it'll be really good for her development as a player. Mostly I'm just trying to mentally prepare for what may be coming down the road. I think in 10U she's going to get to play both so this is not an immediate concern, just something I was thinking about this morning. That seems to get less and less common down the line, and it is definitely something she and I will need to discuss when determining what direction to go in as things get more specialized. This was only our first year in TB and it was 8U so I'm definitely still learning the ropes, big time.

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Well good news is that she has at least 4-5 years of playing/development time before she has to worry about that. Just relax and let her play/practice.

FiveFrameSwing said:

Sluggers had some excellent points.

Try not to fall in love with 1B … as the position isn’t always filled by the most qualified candidate … e.g., a solid hitter that may not be of strong athletic ability relative to the level of play. On the left-side of the field (e.g., 3B, SS) you’ll find the need for athletes that develop the proper skills … such positions are more difficult to get nudged out of by someone of considerably lesser athletic stature … and a ‘quality batter’, with sub-par athletic ability, isn’t as likely to take that particular spot away from you. Outfield skills are also a good place for an athlete, and represent positions that are difficult for a ‘quality batter’, with ‘lesser athletic stature’, to fill.

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All very true in the older age groups (14U and up). In the younger age groups, 1B is probably one of (if not your best) players. Outs at 1B are just too important, so 1B has to be able to catch all throws to them both good and bad.

Enjoy the ride. I wish I could do it over with DD. Boy would I do some things differently!

Interestingly, my daughter's played more 1st than anything else. She's kind of a stud there, but enjoys short stop more. However, she says she'd rather pitch than play short if she had to choose (I don't think she will now, I was just curious what she'd say) so playing pitcher and 1st might be a pretty good option down the road. She's got a killer stretch and can scoop a bad throw like nobody's business.

my dd is great on the mound but has been taught to be a utility player primarily at ss or 2nd but basically can play any position other than catching with hopes that for college she gets a look at.

Have her work on as many positions at this age as she can -
The probability of her remaining a #1 pitcher through her career is slim and the chance of pitching in collage is even smaller.
A friend of ours was the Pitcher of the year in her highschool conference in northern California.
She did not pitch in collage and wasn't even a pitcher on her travel ball team (that may be because Monica Abbot was their #1 but Still)

Even if she is the #1 all through - a good team wants to have the luxury of plugging in players so if she wants playing time it's a simple formula: play lots of position and hit the crap out of the ball.

I am no expert but I can certainly give you my insight as a parent of a 16U pitcher. My daughter is one of 3 pitchers on her team. Although she gets the most innings (between 40-45% with the balance split between the other 2 pitchers) she sits when she's not pitching. Occasionally, she'll play 3rd or outfield but those are rare. She doesn't bat much (2 reasons - one, she's average at best and two - our coach prefers not batting our pitchers). As for the other 2 pitchers on the team, one is a good hitter - or used to be anyway and the other too is average at best.

Let's talk about the one who was a good hitter - She used to be one of our best hitters and would constantly bat 3rd but because she's a pitcher, she doesn't get to play much anymore and her hitting has suffered. She now bats 6th or 7th. Since she gets the fewest innings, she's usually a DH. Once every blue moon, she'll play 2nd. A few days ago, her mom told me that she's decided she doesn't want to be a pitcher anymore - the reason is, she wants to play more. I completely understand her frustration.

As positions become more specialized, playing time becomes more specific. My dd wants to be a pitcher more than she is concerned about play time. She figures that as long as she's effective, she'll pitch. FYI. For years, she played 3rd but as the opportunities to play 3rd became less frequent, others who played that position regularly surpassed her in skill. Today, she's simply not that interested nor skilled in playing 3rd.

My opinion is, the players will eventually find a position that they play best at and will continue to primarily play that position only until such time someone more skilled comes along and steals the position from them. This applies to all positions and not just pitching. I saw some of this in 14U and it's definitely here to stay at 16U.