As far as playing with his friends? That's not a big concern IMO. If he has a future, his friends should be encouraging him to improve and work with a team that will help him succeed.
I've seen this for over 10 years in softball - I have no reason to believe it's any different in baseball. Eventually, the other kids will catch up, or he will take that last step and be phenomenal.
I have a question for you. What I didn’t get from the article is whether or not there is an age limit in place determining the level the kids can play.
I know very little about baseball and softball. I’m going by the rules and policies in place for volleyball (rec, club and school), soccer (rec, travel, school), lacrosse (rec, school), basketball (rec, school). For example, in Club volleyball, a kid regardless of age has to “play up” meaning the kid has to play on the team that’s in accordance with her skill level even if she’s 13/14 and the rest of the team is 17/18. Happened to my oldest. She was always the youngest by 2 or 3 yrs. But in school ball, she had to play according to the school policy/rules so even if her skill level was varsity(7th/8th grade) she had to play jv if she was in 5th grade. High school is different in that when she was a 9th grader, she was playing Varsity anyway, etc.
In Soccer (rec council), another one of my kids has to play in the 12 yr old year league regardless of her skill level...she isn’t allowed to play in the 10/11 or 13 yr old league.
So my question is what’s the policy or rules for this particular league? Is he permitted to “play up?”