Is "star utility player" even a thing?

[Momo'sDad]

*Please move this to the appropriate forum section if I've misplaced it*

I'm not at my wits' end, but I'm in the vicinity.

DD has been on a pretty solid team for a few years. She's been given numerous opportunities in the best sense of the word to develop her overall game. She can legitimately play all 9 positions competently and has played C, 3B, and OF at the 'A' level. On her current team, she has received ample playing time at each of those 3 positions. Her coach has kept her in the lineup, even during pretty long slumps at the plate, because she has a penchant for driving in runs in tight games with 2 outs.

Her mother now believes I'm holding her back. "Why can't she learn to play SS??" she asked. I love my daughter's game. She plays hard, plays smart, and is a terrific teammate. When she makes errors, she comes to me that evening or within the next couple of days and asks what she may have done differently on a given play. She never makes excuses about the ball getting lost in the lights or her glove letting her down. She owns her errors, which is good, but she can also take them pretty hard in the moment, especially if the team doesn't get a good result and she believes it was all her fault. Helping her team succeed is important to her.

BUT - and this is simply one dad's opinion based on observation of other talent players out there - I don't think her game translates to being an exceptional SS at this level. She has a quick glove at 3B, but doesn't have the same type of explosiveness on her feet that the best middle infielders have. I do believe that young athletes can improve their agility and develop explosiveness, but that's something they need to commit to doing if it's not natural.

What I've seen from the best teams out there is that most players will have a primary position and then get a few innings at a secondary position. Am I wrong in saying that we should not be encouraging her to try to add a 4th position to her rotation? And to be clear, it's not the player asking for this. It's the parent pushing it. If she was batting .600 or even .400 with lightning speed, maybe I could envision the possibility of being recruited as a utility player, but those situations seem pretty uncommon.

Note: The player is 14u (2020) and hopes to play at a large school. She would like to be an OF in college, but believes being a catcher may help her in the scholarship game.

 

[Eric F]

I agree with your assessment that many (most?) players have natural tendencies that lend themselves to certain positions. For example, my DD is fairly quick on forward/back movement, but doesn't have great lateral range. When she's not behind the plate, her best fit is 3B. She has played 2B, and a little SS, but girls with better lateral range become the clear choice pretty quickly.

 

[djcarter1966]

If she really has he ability for catching I would concentrate on that. You are basically describing my DD. She can play any position and last year at the JV level did everything but pitch and got several game winning hits and she was the team MVP. She is at a lower level so not really looking at a scholarship but if she really had the interest to completely sell out to the sport we would be focusing on catching. The other side of the coin though is you said she is not real fast or even hitting .400 sounds to me this is the place to focus on, if it's been said once it's been said a thousand times if you can HIT I'll find a place for you to play. I'm not sure about the college level especially a big school seems like half the outfield is HS shortstops, coaches want speed in the outfield...another reason to focus on catching your said she was not really fast...there are not many slow OF in big name programs. Catching and 3B is not a bad gig.

To your question I think there are two types of "Utility players" girls that can crush the ball so their utility is at 1B and 3B. or girls that have skill and speed a lot of slappers but they don't half to be high OBP and a good middle IF skill or OF speed types

 

[Cannonball]

My dd grew up playing all positions but 3B and Catcher. In the recruitment video we made, we made it too long because we didn't know where/what position she would be recruited. Still, several college commented that they thought that she was highly recruit able because she could play so many positions.

 

[grcsftbll]

I always think of it as a good thing when girls are solid in several positions. I think by 14U there is so much specialization, a girl who can truly play several positions well is quite an asset. If she doesn't care about SS why does your wife care about it? If she wants to play SS, sure, see if you can get her in for a pool game or something if the coach is amenable. But if she's happy why mess with a good thing? That's how I see it anyway. Too often (and I am guilty of this myself) I think we parents can get overly invested. I'd LOVE to see my DD play SS more - I think she's awesome there. But the coach has her at 1B when she's not pitching ftmp and she seems ok with it so I'm just trying to let it go (though I admit, when she played SS in the championship game at our last tourney I was pretty pleased). My husband tells me sometimes I'm a little TOO into softball. Whatever, dude.

 

[JAD]

Being able to play multiple positions can be a plus, but very few coaches recruit a utility player who cannot hit. If she is lighting fast they may recruit her as a base runner hoping they can teach her to slap or bunt down the road. If she has great grades and is eligible for academic money there are some coaches who will take a chance on her, but my best advice would be to put down the glove and pick up a bat and get busy....

 

[Easton33]

Being able to play multiple positions can be a plus, but very few coaches recruit a utility player who cannot hit. If she is lighting fast they may recruit her as a base runner hoping they can teach her to slap or bunt down the road. If she has great grades and is eligible for academic money there are some coaches who will take a chance on her, but my best advice would be to put down the glove and pick up a bat and get busy....

Absolutely correct. My dd plays SS/3rd/catcher/and pitcher but in the end I tell her it doesn't matter where she plays cause if she is bringing it at the plate, they will find a position for her.

 

[Lenski]

Note: The player is 14u (2020) and hopes to play at a large school. She would like to be an OF in college, but believes being a catcher may help her in the scholarship game.

You play at a large school by bringing a HUGE bat. Forget about focusing on another position.......focus on hitting. The large schools are verballing 2019's and 2020's now.

 

[quincy]

DD is a utility player, just throw her out there. Is she great at any position, probably not, but she is pretty good at all of them.

I think I can coach a player up at any defensive position or have another player cover for them.

Hitting is the key.

50% of college players were SS their entire career.

(MS last year DD was at 2nd, not sure why but the IF changed all the time and DD was either pitching or at 2nd. They tried to get her on the bench but it did not work well so they just put her there and took their chances. It was nice not needing to look over the entire field to see if she was playing)

 

[canyonjoe]

If you even remotely thinks she's not a short stop she isn't. It takes a special skill set that only a few can really be good at. I agree with others that hitting is the biggest thing. I had a girl on my DD's team( I was not coaching that team) who I asked one day where she likes to play the most and she said, "Anywhere that gets me in the batting order".