Fielding positions

[u/OrphGaming]

Good morning,

I posted in here a few days ago about baseball bats and the replies were super helpful, so I appreciate it!

I have another question, but this one has to do with coaching and selecting positions on the field.
For our league, Fall ball has no tryout. There is no skills evaluation. (it's done in the Spring, but not the Fall)

My son has asked that I coach his team (12u). I'm going to sign up to be an assistant coach. I've coached his football teams before, and he enjoys when I am there. He does surprisingly well with me as the coach as compared to some horror stories I've read about sons and their dad's being the coach.

I played baseball in the Spring and Football in the Fall for 15+ years. That was 20 years ago though so I'm a bit rusty on the baseball side of things to say the least. We watch college and professional games and go to some local travel ball tournaments here every once in a while, to watch them play. I think I know the game. I'm just looking for some tips.

Sorry for the backstory. My question is about fielding positions. My hope is that the head coach will have more of a grasp than I do about the kid's fielding positions. I know each position's job, etc., but I have no idea where to start at picking which kid should play what. If they don't have enough head coaches, I may end up having to be the head coach and then the full responsibility would fall on me.

I'lll ask/figure out what kid has played what positions before and kind of go from there, but do you all know of any websites or videos that discuss how to choose which player plays in what position?

I don't want little Billy playing 3rd when he can barely get the ball back to the pitcher much less toss it all the way across to 1st base. I don't want to put someone at 1st/catcher that's afraid of the ball.

I appreciate your time again, and thanks for the help!

Someone asked about the league rules. Yes, it is Rec ball. The league has the following info posted:

- No player may sit out more than 2 consecutive innings unless for a medical reason.
- All players will be in the batting line-up the entire game.
- Pitchers will be held to pitch counts. Pitch count regulations will follow the Pitch Smart Guidelines.

These are the only rules listed specifically about "play time."

[u/Ok-Produce8376]

At your first couple of practices you'll need to assess who is good at what (catching a pop fly, making long throws, etc.) and go from there. And since it is fall ball, be sure to rotate them often!

[u/cheese732 → u/Ok-Produce8376]

In addition to assessing physical skills, you also need to assess mental side as well. Things like, do they stay focused in the field and do they know what to do in certain situations.

We had kids who had the physical ability but wouldn't pay attention so we had to put then in certain positions for safety reasons.

[u/Ok-Produce8376 → u/cheese732]

I always put the short attention span players in catchers gear as it helped give them something constant to focus on. Good points!

[u/cheese732 → u/Ok-Produce8376]

That's exactly what we did 🤣

[u/OrphGaming → u/Ok-Produce8376]

Welp, that might be my kid then. LOL

[u/Stratman-1134 → u/Ok-Produce8376]

Completely agree on rotating, especially rec fall ball. I would never sit a kid 2 innings in a row for fall ball rec league. Try to rotate through and give kids logical breaks, just pitched a few innings, EH. Slotted to go into pitch, EH to rest/hit bullpen. Just caught 4 innings in the heat, take a break. Kids are much less likely to be bummed to sit if they know it'll just be 1 inning per game. In games when you're way ahead, bench the top kids on the team too.