As the new youth baseball season gets in high gear, managers and coaches are faced with the same dilemma they encounter every year. Mainly, where do they play every player and what position is best suited for each individual and what helps the team?
If you've correctly distinguished and evaluated your players, you should be able to identify who's got speed, arm strength, defensive prowess, aggressiveness and, at younger levels, who's afraid of the ball. Offensively, you're looking at hitting and bunting skills, baserunning knowledge and where each player fits in the lineup.
Once you've established these parameters you've got to figure out whether to go with a set lineup or move players around so they can learn different positions. Both have their advantages and disadvantages based on what type of players you have, how well you can teach and how well they can adapt and learn in the course of the season.
Having a set defensive alignment breeds familiarity for the players and they settle in comfortably in learning their respective positions. As a manager you don't have to necessarily worry about players being out of position or where to go on each play.
On the flip side, moving players around lends itself to all the players learning new positions, no one getting pigeonholed in a position they don't like and instruction takes precedent over winning. This should be the focus on younger levels of play. As players get older and their limitations and skill level are identified, certain positions are eliminated because they simply can't play those positions in a competitive environment.
As the season rolls along, having the better skilled players on your team play different positions is an advantage for them as well. Assuming some of them may be selected to an All-Star team at year's end, they might find themselves in a different position on that postseason squad. There can only be one shortstop, one centerfielder or one catcher. Familiarizing them with other positions will help them in the long run.
I've watched numerous All-Star games where a regular season team's best player, who played first base, now finds himself playing left field. It happens every year and countless number of errors are made in the outfield. You can't blame the player. He just hasn't played out there a lot and doesn't know how to go back on a ball and finds himself with longer throws, which he's not used to.
Additionally, in the course of the year, you also want to keep the players happy, the parents happy and at the same time provide a safe haven for each player. This means little Johnny may want to play a certain position and his parents think he's the next Hall of Fame candidate, but because of his skill level he may get hurt.
For example, putting a player at first base who can't catch thrown balls very well is not a smart idea. Ground balls and line drives tend to get to third base a lot quicker, so putting a player there that isn't very quick at fielding them wouldn't be a prudent move.
What it all eventually comes down to is your basic philosophy as a coach and what your objectives are for the season. You can choose to go with the set lineup or move players around. Either way isn't wrong, and you'll know, based on the level of play you're coaching, what best suits everyone involved. Just remember to keep the player's best interest at hand and you should have an enjoyable year.
Rich Taylor is the CEO and head instructor of California Pitching Academy and a scout for the New York Mets. Reach him at rjtaylor23@yahoo.com.
Rich Taylor Rich Taylor is the owner, head instructor and CEO of California Pitching Academy. He is a former pitching coach at Pepperdine University and Chicago White Sox scout. He founded the West Coast Baseball School. He has more than 20 years of youth coaching experience and wrote the book “Molding the Young Pitcher.” His regular column appears twice a month. Send him an email.
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