Moving Forward at C, 1B, and DH

[StarkVegasSteve]

So what do we do at these positions moving forward? I believe we're going to need Hines bat in the lineup to be the best version of our team so we really have 3 choices

1. Start Hancock at Catcher, put Hines back at 1st, and either DH or play Chance in the field. You would just DH whoever's spot he's playing in the field out of all likelihood.

2. Do what we saw today and start Highfill at Catcher, Hancock at 1B, and Chance DH's with Hines on the bench.

3. Start Highfill at C, Hines at 1B, and you DH Hancock.

Unfortunately benching Hancock is not going to be an option. They gave him that captain's C and they won't bench him unless it's the last option they have. There's also the fact that he's exiting the weekend with a .545 batting avg. As much as I hate to say it because we're going to need Hines to produce for us this year, we may need to roll with what we saw today next weekend. Because I don't believe benching Chance is an option either. He's batting .583 exiting the weekend and hits the ball to all fields.

[MetEdDawg]

This is a good problem to have, but it's a problem for keeping talented kids happy.

Hancock isn't going to get better at catcher. Highfill is clearly the better defensive option.

But like you said. Hancock is a captain and isn't going to get benched. Hines being on the outside looking in sucks. He's got a lot of talent. But I'm not sure Hancock can play catcher and if Highfill can hit, it will be hard to bench him.

That means Hancock has to play 1B if he's going to play or he does to DH and you bench Chance who went off this weekend.

[Homedawg]

Hines is gonna play way more than he sits. Hancock is better at first, at present than Hines. I think you'll see a musical chairs like we did in 89 w so much talent offensively. One guy out of 3 or four gonna have to sit every day. Might be who is pitching. Who we are facing. Lots of factors. I think Clark will sit some as well. Highfill has a better arm, but we lose offense..... it's putting the right pieces together to maximize what we have. Larry, Alford, Ledbetter and Jordan are gonna play everyday. Hancock is going to be in there too. Ss doesn't factor into this but only two options- Mershon and foresyrhe.

[ZedFedder]

Hines hit 300 and had 16 bombs as a freshman. If we sit him, that?s stupid. Hancock is a career, what, 260 hitter?

[cheewgumm]

Highfill has to catch - we can?t have 12 SBs in a weekend.

Hines can?t sit - he?s our best hitter

Hancock also a good hitter ?> DH and playing first every now and then.

Done and done

[662dawg]

Hines hit 300 and had 16 bombs as a freshman. If we sit him, that?s stupid. Hancock is a career, what, 260 hitter?

We are not sitting Hines. Lemonis said as much.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Highfill has to catch - we can?t have 12 SBs in a weekend.

Hines can?t sit - he?s our best hitter

Hancock also a good hitter ?> DH and playing first every now and then.

Done and done

Then what do you do about Bryce Chance? Who statistically after the weekend is our best hitter.

[maroonmania]

Highfill has to catch - we can?t have 12 SBs in a weekend.

Hines can?t sit - he?s our best hitter

Hancock also a good hitter ?> DH and playing first every now and then.

Done and done

I would be willing to bet in the whole 100+ years of MSU baseball history that we've never had a game where we gave up 12 walks and 11 stolen bases in the same game like we did yesterday. Giving away 23 free bases is beyond ridiculous to anyone, much less a bottom feeder. So no, I don't see anyway Hancock can be our regular starting catcher.

[662dawg]

Then what do you do about Bryce Chance? Who statistically after the weekend is our best hitter.

Only thing I can see going forward is Luke catches every 3rd or 4th game & then grabs some of Chance & Clark's at bats here & there. That's about all that can be done IMO.

[chef dixon]

I'd say most likely scenario is Chance slumps and sits more often than the others. It's 3 games v VMI, he's going to have young player growing pains

[CaptainObvious]

The weak link is at shortstop. But Hines has to play. If not, you might see him in Powder Blue next year. And that would suck. Fox has to work more with the pitchers holding runners to protect Hancock and Hancock has to catch. You sit the freshman catcher and play Hines at 1st.

Give Hancock the occasional day off behind the plate with Highfill. If Chance slumps, we have options for DH. We literally have no way to get Forsythe off the field with anyone other than Mershon.

WHO else on this roster can play SS?

[Commercecomet24]

The weak link is at shortstop. But Hines has to play. If not, you might see him in Powder Blue next year. And that would suck. Fox has to work more with the pitchers holding runners to protect Hancock and Hancock has to catch. You sit the freshman catcher and play Hines at 1st.

Give Hancock the occasional day off behind the plate with Highfill. If Chance slumps, we have options for DH. We literally have no way to get Forsythe off the field with anyone other than Mershon.

WHO else on this roster can play SS?

Kinda the way I see it too.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The weak link is at shortstop. But Hines has to play. If not, you might see him in Powder Blue next year. And that would suck. Fox has to work more with the pitchers holding runners to protect Hancock and Hancock has to catch. You sit the freshman catcher and play Hines at 1st.

Give Hancock the occasional day off behind the plate with Highfill. If Chance slumps, we have options for DH. We literally have no way to get Forsythe off the field with anyone other than Mershon.

WHO else on this roster can play SS?

And that's one of the problems as well because I do tend to agree that Hancock probably is still going to have to catch but it's bad when your pitchers have to worry about the guy behind the plate every time someone gets on. I agree we have to hold runners better but Hancock still has to be markedly better behind the plate than he was this weekend.

[AlSwearengen]

I don’t think Chance will DH ahead of Hines. He might hit for a higher avg than Hines, but he won’t hit near as many HR’s. I would imagine Chance will get a lot of ABs though, especially against lefties, assuming he continues to hit.

Lemonis has said Hines can play OF some, so we might see Clark get a break if he is slumping. Lots of variables.

Hines defense at 1B and Hancock’s defense at C is gumming up the works, so it will probably lead to lots of different lineups.

[cheewgumm]

I forgot about Chance .

We have a dilemma

[Todd4State]

I doubt Chance sustains this level of play.

So he eventually will be the one who sits.

Highfill will need to rest some though. He's a freshman and this year is going to be a grind for him. Which means Hancock will have to catch some.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I forgot about Chance .

We have a dilemma

Offensively it's a great problem to have and if Hancock can not allow 11 SBs a game, maybe knock it down to 3-4, then we'll be fine defensively as well.

[Cowbell]

Some of you same guys complaining about recruiting yesterday are now wondering how we can play all this talent in a lineup at once....LOLZ....but we can't recruit or develop..

[StarkVegasSteve]

Some of you same guys complaining about recruiting yesterday are now wondering how we can play all this talent in a lineup at once....LOLZ....but we can't recruit or develop..

In the defense of those people, myself included, none of these players are pitchers. No one has complained about our hitting.

[CaptainObvious]

Some of you same guys complaining about recruiting yesterday are now wondering how we can play all this talent in a lineup at once....LOLZ....but we can't recruit or develop..

Ha! We have no star quality pitcher that has been recruited by this staff. The previous staffs, recruited star quality pitchers and left the current staff several golden arms, who are no longer on the team. We have 1 hole in the day to day line up and nobody capable of filling it. We have multiple outfielders and not enough positions to get them in the lineup. We have a plethora of Designated Hitters and only 1 slot to fit them. If any of the extra outfielders or DH?s could play SS, we could fix the 1 major hole in the lineup.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Some of this will work itself out. I remember the first week last year when everybody though Corder was going to be a stud.

[Saltydog]

Here's the easier solution; Hines at 1B and Highfill at C. Then rotate Hancock and Chance based on the lefty / righty matchup.

[Saltydog]

Ha! We have no star quality pitcher that has been recruited by this staff. The previous staffs, recruited star quality pitchers and left the current staff several golden arms, who are no longer on the team. We have 1 hole in the day to day line up and nobody capable of filling it. We have multiple outfielders and not enough positions to get them in the lineup. We have a plethora of Designated Hitters and only 1 slot to fit them. If any of the extra outfielders or DH?s could play SS, we could fix the 1 major hole in the lineup.

Where's the pitching talent? I'll hang up and listen?

[maroonmania]

In the defense of those people, myself included, none of these players are pitchers. No one has complained about our hitting.

Exactly, this discussion is about pitching and defense. So while we have plenty of hitting we very much lack in reliable pitchers that can throw strikes and defenders that can make basic plays in the field and control runners. Besides the issues at Catcher, the left side of our infield was really bad over the weekend. That has to get fixed.

[Saltydog]

Exactly, this discussion is about pitching and defense. So while we have plenty of hitting we very much lack in reliable pitchers that can throw strikes and defenders that can make basic plays in the field and control runners. Besides the issues at Catcher, the left side of our infield was really bad over the weekend. That has to get fixed.

I'm not worried about Lane's D, it'll be there but Alford's does concern me a little. Maybe it's just the jitters from opening weekend because he was outstanding in the field in the fall...

[Cowbell]

Ha! We have no star quality pitcher that has been recruited by this staff. The previous staffs, recruited star quality pitchers and left the current staff several golden arms, who are no longer on the team. We have 1 hole in the day to day line up and nobody capable of filling it. We have multiple outfielders and not enough positions to get them in the lineup. We have a plethora of Designated Hitters and only 1 slot to fit them. If any of the extra outfielders or DH?s could play SS, we could fix the 1 major hole in the lineup.

Loftin and Lo were both highly recruited and could have gone pro., Gartman, Dohm, and Nixon were star transfers. We actually did very well in the off-season.

[662dawg]

Loftin and Lo were both highly recruited and could have gone pro., Gartman, Dohm, and Nixon were star transfers. We actually did very well in the off-season.

Add Forsythe to that freshman list. And I think Ynetma, Hardin & Davis are going to help a lot this year as well. Besides Hunt, Stinnett & Holcomb, the staff looked pretty decent this weekend. And I think we'll be able to rely on Pico at some point.

[The Federalist Engineer]

The "Captain" thing is not an elected position that is specifically provisioned in the US Constitution

It's just a "C" patch on the shirt. The captain can be a 1st base coach or the head cheerleader on the bench.

Hines has to play

Highfill has to catch, but needs a backup or PH at times

Hancock and Chance can platoon or play the best hitter as DH

Maybe Hancock catches but need an enhanced runner management, boring and will bother fans, but necessary

[smootness]

Hines will be in the lineup basically every day and can only really play 1B, though he's not great there. Highfill is clearly our best defensive C. Hancock also has a very valuable bat, is fine at 1B and struggles at C. Chance showed some real promise in that first series, can play OF but isn't that great there. These are all true statements.

I don't think it's that difficult a problem.

Hines will play DH or 1B basically every day; Hancock will play some 1B, will DH some, and will catch every once in a while, leaving him in the lineup most games; Highfill should be the primary catcher but it's ok if he sits some; and Chance can DH when Highfill or Hancock sits and can play a little OF here and there, giving him plenty of action.

And if Hancock struggles offensively or Chance makes himself invaluable, then they play less/more.

The only real problem comes if Highfill doesn't hit at all. Then we have a serious issue at C.

[R2Dawg]

We are not sitting Hines. Lemonis said as much.

Good. We gotta get the young talent on field and ready for a championship run before they leave. Him on bench or transfering ain't going to cut it.

[R2Dawg]

The "Captain" thing is not an elected position that is specifically provisioned in the US Constitution

It's just a "C" patch on the shirt. The captain can be a 1st base coach or the head cheerleader on the bench.

Hines has to play

Highfill has to catch, but needs a backup or PH at times

Hancock and Chance can platoon or play the best hitter as DH

Maybe Hancock catches but need an enhanced runner management, boring and will bother fans, but necessary

True, wasn't Riley Self a C one year but didn't start?

[R2Dawg]

Loftin and Lo were both highly recruited and could have gone pro., Gartman, Dohm, and Nixon were star transfers. We actually did very well in the off-season.

Agree. I think our pitching minus that game 2 fiasco looks pretty good. When are some of these failed experiments going to end?

[KOdawg1]

You can't sit Hines. He's your best returning hitter. He's gotta DH or figure out 1B.

I think Luke probably gets another shot at catching but unless he grows a new right arm, teams are gonna steal at will on us.

There's no way you sit Chance right now. He'll probably cool off and at that point, things get a little clearer, but until then, you gotta let him hit.

So basically you just switch guys in and out until something clicks.

I'd like to see Mershon when he's healthy. It's one weekend, but 1-11 and 2 errors out of the shortstop position ain't gonna cut it.

Lots of moving parts and some emotional decisions will need to be made. But Lemonis can't afford another season like last year, so I expect him to make those difficult decisions.