It's been a busy few days of baseball since Thursday with three practices in four days. We've been blessed with excellent baseball weather during this stretch--even Saturday's 8 AM session, which began with frost on the ground, had our Red Wings peeling off their sweatshirts long before 9 and enjoying some early spring sun.
Coaches Gage, Shapiro, Patsios, and I have been very pleased with the progress we've seen since we started last Saturday. The scrimmage portion of today's practice revealed some impressive gains in pitching and hitting. Our pitchers are settling into much more consistency and we are seeing much more consistent contact at the plate--good improvement considering we've had only a few practices. The boys are really knocking the rust off in a hurry!
We really like the attitude of this team. The boys work hard, they listen, and they take practice seriously. But they have a lot of fun, too. It's been exciting to watch them get to know each other, enjoy each other, and come together as a team.
At the end of practice, Coach Shapiro and I talked to the team about requesting positions. We definitely do want to know each player's favorite positions. We have been asking players where they do and do not like to play. We are also getting a pretty good sense for the strengths of each player, and we are thinking about where on the diamond those strengths can best be put to use.
That said, we want every player to learn the skills and responsibilities of every position. The player who loves catcher will also get some innings at center field. So, in thinking about who will play where over the course of the season, we have two priorities: (1) everybody plays a little of everything, and (2) everybody plays a lot of what they like most. Making this work for every player during every practice and game is a bit of a puzzle. We ask that players refrain from making specific position requests during games, scrimmages, and practices. Please do not ask to play shortstop. We will make sure we know that you like to play shortstop, and we will put you there often and whenever it makes sense for the team as a whole. It might not be this inning, but it will happen.
So, this is our "don't ask, we'll tell" rule. In order for this to work, though, we need to make sure we really do know where each player likes to play. When you have a spare moment, please send me a quick email indicating your son's 3 favorite positions (including pitcher).
Thank you for all of your support so far this season. We're off to a great start!
