And just as I said....

[lamont]

Gridley is still our SS- you don't move a guy with 2 years experience that's good at his position

[msstate7]

That he is... long year though

[lamont]

He's not going anywhere- and Belmont better hit because the kid from Washington is breathing down his neck

[huffy]

U right. Gridley is real good.

[msstate7]

2 plays gridley didn't make that Alexander makes with ease

[huffy]

I forgot to add the *** but I feel like you got the idea, 7.

[smootness]

Gridley won't end the year as our SS.

[lamont]

Gridley isn't going anywhere

[msstate7]

Gridley isn't going anywhere

And we'll be arguing about it all season haha

[Tbonewannabe]

He's not going anywhere- and Belmont better hit because the kid from Washington is breathing down his neck

Belmont was our best hitter tonight and is our best defensive infielder. Gridley and Stovall need to fight over 2nd.

[Bucky Dog]

Where was Cody Brown?

[sleepy dawg]

And we'll be arguing about it all season haha

yyuup.... it has begun.

[lamont]

Belmont was our best hitter tonight and is our best defensive infielder. Gridley and Stovall need to fight over 2nd.

He had a good night- but Gridley is going to be our SS

[BrunswickDawg]

And we'll be arguing about it all season haha

Got to argue about something since Cohen isn't bunting anymore.

[smootness]

He had a good night- but Gridley is going to be our SS

Isn't this the exact kind of thing you blast Mullen for? Playing a less talented guy because he's more experienced?

[msstate7]

Isn't this the exact kind of thing you blast Mullen for? Playing a less talented guy because he's more experienced?

It's about like if the braves had brought up Swanson and played him at 3b bc we had aybar and no real 3b. The best SS has to be at SS and worry about 3b later. Defense at SS is more important than 3b imo

[I seen it dawg]

In 2 yrs grid has done nothing to cost us games. Belmont hasn't proven anything at this point except he's awesome defensively in high school and some scrimmages. He may end up being great. But he has to prove it. One game doesn't prove it. Let's see him be consistent and stay healthy. Grid has already been both for 2 full years.

[msstate7]

In 2 yrs grid has done nothing to cost us games. Belmont hasn't proven anything at this point except he's awesome defensively in high school and some scrimmages. He may end up being great. But he has to prove it. One game doesn't prove it. Let's see him be consistent and stay healthy. Grid has already been both for 2 full years.

You must have forgot the beginning of last season... in particular the ball he got in short left almost at 3b vs vandy to save a run. Alexander started at SS last season and lost job bc of bat, not glove.

[I seen it dawg]

He started what a game? Grid is gonna have to play his way off of ss and rightfully so. Just deal with it and get used to it.

[basedog]

In 2 yrs grid has done nothing to cost us games. Belmont hasn't proven anything at this point except he's awesome defensively in high school and some scrimmages. He may end up being great. But he has to prove it. One game doesn't prove it. Let's see him be consistent and stay healthy. Grid has already been both for 2 full years.

+1

[msstate7]

He started what a game? Grid is gonna have to play his way off of ss and rightfully so. Just deal with it and get used to it.

He started 19 games at SS last season and 1 at 2b (tried to come back from injury and left early)

[msstate7]

And you guys are right... gridley has done nothing at ss to cost us games. The problem is he hasn't done anything to win games defensively at SS either. Luke can win games with his glove. And the difference in offense?

In '16...
Gridley ops = .685
Luke ops = .675

[CadaverDawg]

I don't see AC moving Gridley. Not after the preseason praise he gave him. And while I don't think Gridley has great range...I don't think he needs to be moved. Gotta have him in the batting order, and unless you switch him & LA, or put him at 2B and Stovall at 3B, I don't know where you move him. Plus, he hasn't been practicing those positions, nor have Stovall or LA. So best case scenario is leave them be since this was one game against a top 15-20 opponent.

[CadaverDawg]

And you guys are right... gridley has done nothing at ss to cost us games. The problem is he hasn't done anything to win games defensively at SS either. Luke can win games with his glove. And the difference in offense?

In '16...
Gridley ops = .685
Luke ops = .675

Then you need them both in the lineup. That's all that tells me. You don't take a solid bat like Gridley out of the lineup when you clearly don't have great hitters this year. Don't make a bad problem worse by removing one of its' better pieces

[basedog]

He started 19 games at SS last season and 1 at 2b (tried to come back from injury and left early)

Dude, take a break sometimes. You talking about last year? Who gives a flip?

New Coach, new team, new year. One game and you bitching about a player already?

[hailstate17]

They're not getting moved. Cannizzaro wants both in the lineup. Gridley can't really play third. Gridley is a solid ss. I don't know what the deal is against him. Also I would almost bet you that he's going to hit 300 with a good amount of doubles and 4 homeruns this year

[msstate7]

I don't see AC moving Gridley. Not after the preseason praise he gave him. And while I don't think Gridley has great range...I don't think he needs to be moved. Gotta have him in the batting order, and unless you switch him & LA, or put him at 2B and Stovall at 3B, I don't know where you move him. Plus, he hasn't been practicing those positions, nor have Stovall or LA. So best case scenario is leave them be since this was one game against a top 15-20 opponent.

I know I come across as a gridley hater, but that's just not the case. Again, gridley's ops was .685 last season... not good. Best scenario for the team is Stovall at 2b, Alexander at SS, and Bragg or Skelton man 3b and hit.

About gridley's .685 ops... Cody brown's ops was .786 and he sits. If you ops below .700, you've got to be elite defensively, not adequate

[CadaverDawg]

They're not getting moved. Cannizzaro wants both in the lineup. Gridley can't really play third. Gridley is a solid ss. I don't know what the deal is against him. Also I would almost bet you that he's going to hit 300 with a good amount of doubles and 4 homeruns this year

I'm with this guy ^^

[CadaverDawg]

I know I come across as a gridley hater, but that's just not the case. Again, gridley's ops was .685 last season... not good. Best scenario for the team is Stovall at 2b, Alexander at SS, and Bragg or Skelton man 3b and hit.

About gridley's .685 ops... Cody brown's ops was .786 and he sits. If you ops below .700, you've got to be elite defensively, not adequate

Well Cody Brown doesn't play infield, so...

Gridley is nowhere Near as bad defensively as y'all try to paint him. Not a ton of range, but a good SS. If he can get to it, he makes the play

[msstate7]

They're not getting moved. Cannizzaro wants both in the lineup. Gridley can't really play third. Gridley is a solid ss. I don't know what the deal is against him. Also I would almost bet you that he's going to hit 300 with a good amount of doubles and 4 homeruns this year

His career ISO is .065... I wouldn't hold my breath on power coming

[msstate7]

Well Cody Brown doesn't play infield, so...

Gridley is nowhere Near as bad defensively as y'all try to paint him. Not a ton of range, but a good SS. If he can get to it, he makes the play

Range and arm are what make a good SS

[CadaverDawg]

I know I come across as a gridley hater, but that's just not the case. Again, gridley's ops was .685 last season... not good. Best scenario for the team is Stovall at 2b, Alexander at SS, and Bragg or Skelton man 3b and hit.

About gridley's .685 ops... Cody brown's ops was .786 and he sits. If you ops below .700, you've got to be elite defensively, not adequate

Oh, and quit using last year's stats. It's a new season, with a new hitting coach, and players with more experience.

[CadaverDawg]

Range and arm are what make a good SS

Then he has enough, bc he's pretty good. He isn't great. But far from a liability at SS. We have FAR bigger defensive issues than Gridley, yet you are stuck on him for some reason. He isn't moving, so I guess I don't get the point

[CadaverDawg]

His career ISO is .065... I wouldn't hold my breath on power coming

He had at least 1 HR last year, and several extra base hits. Again, Gridley was nowhere near a liability at the plate last year, so why are you ripping him? We don't have another infielder to put there without opening another weakness at 3B. And there's no way of knowing that Gridley won't have a better year than Stovall AND LA, bc Gridley is solid. You're hung up on him

[PlattsburgDawg]

He's not going anywhere- and Belmont better hit because the kid from Washington is breathing down his neck

If the kid from Washington ends up playing 3rd base, we are in major trouble. I am all for him DH'ing, but trust me he isn't there defensively yet.

[msstate7]

He had at least 1 HR last year, and several extra base hits. Again, Gridley was nowhere near a liability at the plate last year, so why are you ripping him? We don't have another infielder to put there without opening another weakness at 3B. And there's no way of knowing that Gridley won't have a better year than Stovall AND LA, bc Gridley is solid. You're hung up on him

Lack of range and arm at the most premium defensive position.

Career OPS (398 ABs) is .663. In the cape this summer, he OPS'd at .588 (31 games).

Where do you guys get this idea he's gonna suddenly be a silver slugger, slick fielding SS?

[msstate7]

Cadaver, I argued that Holloway should've been the guy in the preseason. My reasoning was that Mullen obviously thought Holloway was the best option and that was good enough for me. I was wrong and so was Mullen... aeris was the best of our RBs. This is a similar situation imo. Luke is a backup SS to a lesser player

[CadaverDawg]

Cadaver, I argued that Holloway should've been the guy in the preseason. My reasoning was that Mullen obviously thought Holloway was the best option and that was good enough for me. I was wrong and so was Mullen... aeris was the best of our RBs. This is a similar situation imo. Luke is a backup SS to a lesser player

Lol, well I argued for Aeris & against Holloway and was right, and now I'm arguing for Gridley. Haha

[CadaverDawg]

Lack of range and arm at the most premium defensive position.

Career OPS (398 ABs) is .663. In the cape this summer, he OPS'd at .588 (31 games).

Where do you guys get this idea he's gonna suddenly be a silver slugger, slick fielding SS?

Who said he was going to be a slugger? You're talking about one of our best bats...think about that. It doesn't matter how good or bad he is according to your stats, he's still one of the best we've got...so you don't remove him. It's that simple

[hailstate17]

Not very similar in my opinion. It would be like if you lined them both up at running back or put Holloway in the slot. Look Alexander might be a litttle more talented. But tell me if we take Alexander off third base. Who is playing there? We're trying to make a catcher into a third baseman, but think Gavin Collins with less homeruns and lower average. (At this point in his career) then we have another guy who can't hit or field, but he has a ton of potential. Y'all want to put him on the field? Last night was our best infield. The only difference I would like in the lineup is Cody Brown and Poole in the lineup for marrero and blaylock

[CadaverDawg]

Not very similar in my opinion. It would be like if you lined them both up at running back or put Holloway in the slot. Look Alexander might be a litttle more talented. But tell me if we take Alexander off third base. Who is playing there? We're trying to make a catcher into a third baseman, but think Gavin Collins with less homeruns and lower average. (At this point in his career) then we have another guy who can't hit or field, but he has a ton of potential. Y'all want to put him on the field? Last night was our best infield. The only difference I would like in the lineup is Cody Brown and Poole in the lineup for marrero and blaylock

Yep

[msstate7]

Not very similar in my opinion. It would be like if you lined them both up at running back or put Holloway in the slot. Look Alexander might be a litttle more talented. But tell me if we take Alexander off third base. Who is playing there? We're trying to make a catcher into a third baseman, but think Gavin Collins with less homeruns and lower average. (At this point in his career) then we have another guy who can't hit or field, but he has a ton of potential. Y'all want to put him on the field? Last night was our best infield. The only difference I would like in the lineup is Cody Brown and Poole in the lineup for marrero and blaylock

I wanna see Skelton and Bragg battle it out at 3b. I wanna see Stovall and gridley battle it out at 2b. I don't think an infield of gridley, Stovall, and Alexander is good enough offensively to contend

[msstate7]

Now above all else, I want to win, so I hope gridley kills it the rest of the year and we win big. I'm not holding my nuts on gridley

[lamont]

Gridley starting the season batting in the 3-hole should tell you what Cann thinks of his bat

[msstate7]

Gridley starting the season batting in the 3-hole should tell you what Cann thinks of his bat

And marrero DH'd in the 5-spot. That's an ISO of .053 in the 5-hole and .061 in the 3-hole. Add them together and you .114. Last year here were our ISOs for guys at top and middle of lineup...

Kruger -- .206
Collins -- .214
Lowe -- .142
Hump -- .182
Rooker -- .255

Putting 2 guys with a combined ISO of .114 in the 3- and 5-holes doesn't make it right. Single hitters in RBI slots isn't a good idea imo

[I seen it dawg]

So we got somebody right now, taking out rooker bc he is here, that you gonna fill in for the other 4 guys in your list??? Kruger, Collins, Lowe, and Humphries.....who in our program right now are those guys? Who? Somebody has to hit in those spots...

[smootness]

I wanna see Skelton and Bragg battle it out at 3b. I wanna see Stovall and gridley battle it out at 2b. I don't think an infield of gridley, Stovall, and Alexander is good enough offensively to contend

I tend to agree with this. I'm not sure Bragg is good enough, either, but Skelton might be.

Gridley is fine; he's decent at getting on base, and he's solid, if unspectacular, defensively. But I don't know why people seem to think he's above questioning his starting status. Defensively, he's basically mid-career Jeter - no, he's not bad, and he might not hurt you there, but he's not really helping much. We have a better option defensively in Alexander, so why is it an issue that some think we're better off going that route?

And while you know what you'll get from him offensively, he just won't ever have much pop, so he'll need to bat around .330 to be an asset there. Alexander may not be quite as reliable right now, but he does have a higher ceiling with the bat.

I want to move them around early on. Play them in several spots. Play Gridley at SS and 2B, play Alexander at SS and 3B, play Stovall at 2B and 3B, and put Skelton and Bragg in there some, then go with what works. What would be the problem with that?

[smootness]

Is Denver McQuary somebody who might have a shot to hit some? I know he came in primarily as a pitcher, and he's got a bunch of potential there, but can he hit well enough to play some positionally?

[msstate7]

So we got somebody right now, taking out rooker bc he is here, that you gonna fill in for the other 4 guys in your list??? Kruger, Collins, Lowe, and Humphries.....who in our program right now are those guys? Who? Somebody has to hit in those spots...

Yep. That's why guys like Bragg, Skelton, Poole, and even Cody brown need ABs. We desperately need some guys with pop.

ETA... 1 game in so there's obviously time. I hope to see Bragg or Skelton start today

[I seen it dawg]

There's only 27 outs a game chief. Only so many ABs in those 27 outs. It's why everyone needs to ****ing relax on the lineup after only 9 innings. AND a new coach who we have no ****ing clue what he's gonna do. How bout giving our program more than 27 outs before going total shithead.

And...the Lowe guy was a guy we had no clue about after one game...

[I seen it dawg]

And we played a damn probable 1 seed at the end of the yr. We didn't play Coahoma.

[hailstate17]

And the only difference in the game was they got two clutch hits when we didn't. Who knows what that game looks life if mangums linedrive was 3 feet to the right or left. Who knows what happens if Stovall doesn't run through the stop sign. My point is we are a young team that looked a little tight.

[preachermatt83]

This is getting silly. Grid at SS is our best bet... Bragg playing 3rd would be a bust bc he won't hit .200. He's just not ready. Mererro should never DH. Ever. Cody Bryan should start ahead of Blaylock in the of, however he's been working at 1st so if Cole is playing 1st then DH Brown.

[preachermatt83]

Yep. That's why guys like Bragg, Skelton, Poole, and even Cody brown need ABs. We desperately need some guys with pop.

ETA... 1 game in so there's obviously time. I hope to see Bragg or Skelton start today

Why in the crap would you want Bragg starting? Have you watched him hit live pitching much? He's not ready.

[msstate7]

This is getting silly. Grid at SS is our best bet... Bragg playing 3rd would be a bust bc he won't hit .200. He's just not ready. Mererro should never DH. Ever. Cody Bryan should start ahead of Blaylock in the of, however he's been working at 1st so if Cole is playing 1st then DH Brown.
DH should be rooker. He makes me nervous every ball hit his way

[preachermatt83]

DH should be rooker. He makes me nervous every ball hit his way

If u do that then Cody brown needs to be in Lf.

[preachermatt83]

Can knows far more than I do but if I were making the lineup it would be
Mangum-CF
Belmont-3b
Rook-DH
Gordon-1b
Brown-LF
Gridley-SS
Stovall-2b
Poole-LF
Skelton/merrero/lovelady-c

[msstate7]

Why in the crap would you want Bragg starting? Have you watched him hit live pitching much? He's not ready.

Bc he can do something we need... hit with power. I don't think a start vs western Illinois is gonna ruin the season. Besides, I said Skelton or Bragg... I want some more pop in the lineup. Blaylock, marrero, lovelady, Stovall, gridley, and mangum gives us 6 single hitters in the lineup

[Todd4State]

I tend to agree with this. I'm not sure Bragg is good enough, either, but Skelton might be.

Gridley is fine; he's decent at getting on base, and he's solid, if unspectacular, defensively. But I don't know why people seem to think he's above questioning his starting status. Defensively, he's basically mid-career Jeter - no, he's not bad, and he might not hurt you there, but he's not really helping much. We have a better option defensively in Alexander, so why is it an issue that some think we're better off going that route?

And while you know what you'll get from him offensively, he just won't ever have much pop, so he'll need to bat around .330 to be an asset there. Alexander may not be quite as reliable right now, but he does have a higher ceiling with the bat.

I want to move them around early on. Play them in several spots. Play Gridley at SS and 2B, play Alexander at SS and 3B, play Stovall at 2B and 3B, and put Skelton and Bragg in there some, then go with what works. What would be the problem with that?

The problem with that is I then get to read about our fans complaining about the lineup not being the same everyday. I'm all for trying different people for the record.

[msbulldog]

There's only 27 outs a game chief. Only so many ABs in those 27 outs. It's why everyone needs to ****ing relax on the lineup after only 9 innings. AND a new coach who we have no ****ing clue what he's gonna do. How bout giving our program more than 27 outs before going total shithead.

And...the Lowe guy was a guy we had no clue about after one game...

PREACH!

[smootness]

The problem with that is I then get to read about our fans complaining about the lineup not being the same everyday. I'm all for trying different people for the record.

Well, that's a dumb criticism, though. Just ignore it.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Can knows far more than I do but if I were making the lineup it would be
Mangum-CF
Belmont-3b
Rook-DH
Gordon-1b
Brown-LF
Gridley-SS
Stovall-2b
Poole-LF
Skelton/merrero/lovelady-c

Agreed that Can knows more than you. Because you have two guys in left field, and right field is empty.

[dickiedawg]

It's called the outfield shift, get with the program

[Gutter Cobreh]

Agreed that Can knows more than you. Because you have two guys in left field, and right field is empty.

Cut Preach some slack...he's used to filling out church league softball lineups. There they play 4 outfielders, with 2 in left field...

[preachermatt83]

Agreed that Can knows more than you. Because you have two guys in left field, and right field is empty.
Lol. Cody in RF. Not left. My bad.

[preachermatt83]

Cut Preach some slack...he's used to filling out church league softball lineups. There they play 4 outfielders, with 2 in left field...

Ha! Nice!!

[Noxdog]

Ha! Nice!!

My understanding is he played above HS so he knows a thing or 2.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Lol. Cody in RF. Not left. My bad.

I just couldn't resist

[preachermatt83]

My understanding is he played above HS so he knows a thing or 2.

Thanks Nox.