What to do?

Question
Hi,
    First off, thanks for the great answer and I'll answer your new questions.
    I have a little bit of heat when I need to. My placement is O.K., I need to work on my pitch selection. I haven't pitched since little league, 4th or 5th grade. I've been practicing. I am accurate but placement, I'm probably O.K. on that. All I can throw is a 2 and 4 seam fastball. I want to develop a curveball and changeup over the offseason. I could probably start a couple games. I would be the type of pitcher that comes in to seal the game. Even in little league, I never started over 3 seasons of pitching. I always came in and pitched 1 or 2 innings. I now can probably pitch 3 or 4 innings. I love to pitch. I am very quiet and shy by nature. When playing sports, I am very vocal, and love to be the center of the game. I love pitching because that is the main part of the game. It's the main position. I would rather have to pitch against a very hard oppenent because an easy team is no match, a hard team, is a challenge. In my opinion, you learn from mistakes and problems. Playing against a great oppenent would teach me how to play amazingly well against bad oppenents and pitch better against good oppenents.

    My favorite position is probably catcher or pitcher.

    I don't know what the team is strong at or weak at. From what I saw at my summer camp at the highschool is more of a fielding team than anything. At the camp, we scrimmaged and I went 2-3 with 2 ground rule doubles and a strikeout. I was one of the best hitters their. I went their in my transition from 8th grade to 9th grade. Their were only about 5 better hitters than me. 4 were 9th graders(10th graders now) and the other 1 moved out of district.

    The kind of hitter I am(righty batter). In my middle school I batted about .350 and my on base % was about .460. My average game was 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 strikeout, 1 walk. Now in my fall rec league I'm probably batting .075 maybe. i strike out a lot now. I'm goin in the off season to a hitting clinic to work on that problem. I for the most part am both power and contact. No homeruns during the season. only one double. The rest were singles. I want to work on power more to become a homerun hitter.

    My swing was great during last baseball season. Now I'm uppercutting and not picking up my front leg. When I go to the baseball clinic, I will work on uppercutting and try to go back to my normal hitting routine.

    I am not the fastest guy on the planet but I did get a lot of stolen bases. In 11 games, I had 15 stolen bases. That's a lot for a guy who is 5'8" and 175 lbs. I never got thrown out trying to steal a base. I was a pretty good base runner. I usually know what to do on passed balls and how to run the bases.

    I know what to do in certain times. When I was catcher, the coach told me with a man on third and a man on first. If the guy on first tries to steal don't throw to second. The guy on first was the slowest person I've ever seen in my life. He stole but he knew I wouldn't throw it so he walked. I knew I could have had him thrown out by at least 5 steps but I didn't throw because it was cautious and the coach told me to. When we got back to the bench, my teammates said why didn't you throw it, he would have been out. I play very cautious baseball. This other time while playing first base, a ball got past me another slow guy was going to second base and their was a guy on third, I didn't throw it because if he missed the ball, that would have been a run for them. They again gave me crap for it."why didn't you throw it, he would have been out?" I thought I was doing the right thing. I might have been wrong, but thats how I learned to play baseball as a kid.

    Yes, I plan on using the school weight room during the winter but I haven't yet. Once I get free time, I'll go after school and check it out.

Thanks,
Ray
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Followup To

Question -
Hi,
    I am trying out for my freshman baseball team in the spring, I play catcher, firstbase, all outfields, can pitch and play third base. I am not the greatest fielder but would love to play third because I have a strong arm. I really want to play baseball. I have 2 local sports academies filled with minor leaguers and major league retirees, what should I work on most to play highschool baseball. Hitting, Fielding, Pitching, and or outfield. I plan on taking classes their but I don't know what position to train for. I just figured do a mix of all 4. What do highschool coaches look for mostly during tryouts?
Thanks,
Ray

Answer -
Ray,

Thanks for the question.  I hear this a lot of players who can play a lot of spots, what do I work on?

Here is what every high school coach wants:  hitters, hitters, and more hitters!

and,

Pitchers who can throw the heat, or left handers who can throw anything.  It is funny, but a lefty will get more looks than a  right hander everyday.  I am right handed and got looked past often because of several lefties.  My son is left handed and will get a lot of looks because he can throw hard, make the ball move, and he throws left handed.

As for you, ask yourself a few questions about pitching?  How hard do you throw?  Do you have really good control?  Can you throw the pitch where you want to when you need to?  Do you have good movement on your pitches?  Do you have the stamina to be a starter, or are you more of a one-three inning guy?  Answer these and reply back to me and I will let you know about the pitching.  Oh, also, do you love to pitch?  Do you want the ball when you are playing the tough teams?  Do you think about what pitches to throw and what pitches can you throw?

As for training, get professional lessons on your hitting.  Without good solid swing mechanics, you will not be a consistent hitter.  As for fielding, it is easy to work on infield and outfield drills.  You just need a lot of repetitions.  Ask the coaches and instructors what drills to do and then get your baseball buddies to go out and work on them together.  With my son, we work out 3-5 days a week.  We hit everyday and pitch 3 days. On days we don't pitch, we work on outfield drills and first base drills.

Here is my next question.  What other quality players are on your team.  Is there a stud third baseman who can field throw and hit.  If so, you may want to think about outfield or catcher.  If the team is weak at third, work on it.  

Regardless, you should work on everything, but now is the time to start thinking about a position.  If you are going to be a good pitcher, get professional instruction on it.  A good pitching coach is invaluable to your development and success.

Finally, a smart coach will also look for a good catcher.  A great catcher will pay his way through college, whether he can hit great or not.  If you want to catch, get some instruction on that too.  Catching is very difficult and there are a lot of mechanics and footwork involved in being a good one.  If you have a strong arm, catching is a promising position.

Choose what you really have a desire for, but keep in mind what I said about the other players.  What positions give you the best chance to play regularly.  Think about it.  

Let me know about the pitching questions and also these:

What is your favorite position?

Where is your team strong and weak at?

What kind of hitter are you?

How is your swing?  Do you swing down at the ball or with an uppercut?

Are you fast/a good base runner?

What is your baseball IQ?  Be honest, do you have good instincts, do you know what to do when certain things happen?

Are you working out, lifting weights, working on your strength?

Reply back and I will get back to you as well.

I am happy for your enthusiasm and excitement and your desire to improve.  I believe you are taking the first steps to become a strong player and that starts now.

Coach Boss

Answer
It sounds like you are on the right track.  I will say this first and foremost, if you love to catch and can do it well, you will always have a position.  A good catcher is so important to a team and it's pitchers. If you love to play catcher, I recommend working on it.  

As far as pitching, when you move into a high school level, you do have to have more than a fastball, even if it is a good one.  A good pitching coach is invaluable to working with you on this.

With the hitting, it takes every day work to develop a good consistent swing.  My son hits daily off a batting tee in the back yard.  He pounds about 200 balls off the tee into a  net.  He uses plastic balls for this and it makes a big difference.  Last season he hit .418 with a .556 on base percentage.  I attribute a lot of it to the tee work.

It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders.  Now you have to go out and show your ability. Work hard in the offseason and stay focused.  Success in baseball games next March and April starts today!!!  

Good Luck!!!  Let me know how you are doing

Coach Boss