Might if you protect him with Kruger right behind him.
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I think so. When you can't count on your offense to consistently produce runs, then you can't allow so many runs due to mental mistakes IMO. Giving runners extra bases or any base from being unsure of where to go with ball, whose responsibility is what, etc. will kill you if you can't produce offensively consistently.
Normally you want your best overall hitter in the 3 hole. That way he has some folks in front of him to drive in but he also comes up to bat as often as possible. But if we want to force people to pitch to Kruger over the long haul of the season we are going to have to find a solid hitter to put behind him. With what I had heard in the preseason Lowe was going to be that guy but so far he hasn't produced much. Then we moved Rooker to 4 but he had a bad weekend himself.
Lots of talented freshmen that need time in lineup.
I agree, put Collins in the 2 hole, if not him, put Magnum. Lowe hit some balls very hard this wknd, but they just went right at people. He will turn it on i believe. If/When thats happens, leave him alone. Let him get comfortable and play the game. We are 1 hit against UCLA from winning. Even with 200 K's. We are one hit away from winning against OK. Could have been a great wknd. Still was a good one tho, we played some very good teams.
What is wrong with yall!? Collins is the 3rd worse hitter on the team statically look it up. He has made 3 or 4 more errors than those stats show because they score generously and he is a cancer! He has been suspended 3 times and tossed out of a game already. He has done nothing to help the team for 2 years. The best thing he could do is sign a free agent deal at the end of the year and quit taking up a spot on our roster that could be occupied by a better player/person.
Collins in the 2 hole. Jesus
The biggest thing you want in a number two hitter is someone that handles the bat well. In other words doesn't strike out a lot and is able to put the ball into play because then you can utilize hit and run plays with a fast runner a little bit better. Plus, you ideally get two runners on for your power guys to drive in, and two runners > one runner for a power guy to drive in. The two hole guy doesn't necessarily have to be a guy that bunts well.
So for us, someone like Gridley, Cody Brown, or Mangum would be a better fit in the two hole than Collins.
About Collins and third base. Some people have talked about guys getting reps and that sort of thing- Collins missed most of the fall with his hand and that's possibly why we are seeing some of the errors- mental and scored- from him over there. I also have to wonder if he really wants to catch and that could explain some of his behavior issues this year as well as his play at third base. And that's just conjecture on my part.
The reality is we went 1-1-1.
The other reality is last years team wouldn't have even been in any of the games at all would have lost all three rather than be in a one run win/lose swing situation. And as I said that's encouraging to me given how I don't think this team has come even close to peaking yet.
I thought last year's team started 13-0 and had beat Arizona twice, which is usually a good team but not so much last year. Then somehow lost 18 of last 21 games. To me losing 18 of 21 sorta implies things aren't too great in the clubhouse. That's losing a lot of games. I don't know for sure though.
Looking at all 3 teams we just played, it seems kinda hard to figure out how good they are. We'll have a better feel in next couple of weekends I believe.