How Many Players on a Basebal Team: Well It Takes More than Nine!

When you're just getting into travel baseball it can be really difficult to decide how many players on a baseball team you need. With that, I'm here to tell you that yes, you need 9 players out on the field, but you're going to need closer to between 12 and 15 to really be competitive. 

As we all are aware, there are only 9 positions on the baseball field, and in an environment where parents are paying for their child to participate, most want to see the maximum amount of playing time for their child. The reality is that in order to be competitive at the travel level 12 is the minimum to be successful and really closer to 15 is optimal. The reason for that number is due to the potential for injury, sickness, other obligations, player growth and development, and a myriad of other intangibles. 

Being successful is about developing the players, doing that allows them to continue to mature and grow they have the knowledge to be better athletes. What happens in the heat when you don't have enough pitchers? How about a catcher that has to pitch the following day (bad decision); or the star shortstop that breaks a finger? Life happens and having a good stable of players allows you to continue to improve upon the talent you have and grow those who might not be as strong as the others.

In the end, you'll need to do what is best for the organization, the team, your parents, and players and we hope that you'll keep a larger team at a lower cost than to have a smaller team that could be in jeopardy.