That 89 team was the most disappointing team ever for me. Loaded up and down the lineup with depth and good a good pitching staff.
I was shocked when we lost that region.
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I don't think they would be looking at Frei at 2B like they are if they didn't think that was a real possibility. O'Connor's attention to detail and decision making on where the pieces of the puzzle fit are far superior to Lemonis's. What I mean is he is going to figure out where guys go most likely and then they're going to be putting in a lot more work at whatever position in the offseason to be ready for the regular season.
Yeah. He's one of those guys that finds his way into the lineup. He's not going to play in MLB. Might not even be a Mississippi Mud Monster. Seems like a dude that is going to just settle down after playing at MSU his senior year probably.
Honestly, I bet he has a really good year. He's going to be a guy that probably drops in the lineup because of what we have added. A guy batting 6th-7th that is hard to strike out and has a little bit of pop that has been in a ton of SEC battles is what you want in that spot. And I was impressed at how much he improved defensively last year.
Bauer pitched again today. It is fall ball I will go ahead and say that so take this with a grain of salt. But his first inning he was dominant. Again. He pitched another inning and gave up a couple of hits but no runs. Third out was a guy that was thrown out at the plate.
So all of that said- at this point it looks like he is a guy that is a 1 inning guy which to me means he is a candidate to be a closer. As I said it is a scrimmage but we'll see how he progresses. But I'm starting to think that he has a real chance to be our closer this year. Or at least one of them.
The snippet that i saw a week or so ago was that Beliveau had not gotten a hit as a hitter; but he had also not given up a hit as a pitcher and that he was looking pretty good.
We looked at him in the infield last Fall and it didnt work out. It may this year after another season but again I'm skeptical. It's not surprising that BOC would look at it and see- doesnt mean it's going to work out.
But when we play RHP's- he will be on the line-up card
As far as defense goes for most any position in the field except for maybe catcher I feel like it's mostly about reps at that position more than anything. And if a player puts in the work they can become adequate at any position in one offseason.
One big criticism I had of Lemonis and his last staff was the lack of attention to detail in general and that translated over to defense. Also, at times he had a hard time identifying where to play players and Frei is a good example of that. It's hard to just put a player somewhere in the middle of the season and ask them to be adequate. I think those went hand in hand last year.
Now, O'Connor I think is the opposite. And because of that I think our overall team defense is going to noticeably improve. So, just because Frei didn't work out at second base last does not mean he will necessarily not work out there this year.
That could very well be our MIF but I think that comes down to how quickly Woodson adjusts to the SEC pitching more than anything. And Woodson is certainly capable.
Noah Sullivan has been working out a lot at first base too- and if he can win that spot then we could put Frei at DH potentially.