I want some of your opinions on a baseball question...

[Will James]

It doesnt matter then who bat 3 or 4.

Diasgree..

[Coach34]

Right, but if 1st base is open (i.e. Detz doubles).

We've played 11 SEC games- and I think Detz has 1 double in those 11 games. That's not a real big concern for me at this point

[mic]

Detz is where he should be.. draws alot walks (Im sure team leader) and gets on base..

[mic]

and back to the 4 hole.. Until Rae can pass Pritle in the HR department both have 2 it really doesnt matter. and I think Pritle has more extra bases than Rae.. And like i said with his speed he has half dozen bags so far better chance to drive in renfroe with 2 outs than Wes he def puts the ball in play more.. Rae missed some games and some AB's early in the season which hurt so maybe he will get hot and start showing more power then Im all far him in the 4 hole.. And u cant put Slaughter there he doesnt play every game and when Nick plays he def isnt a 4 hole guy. A better arguement to me is putting Wes at 5 and Bradford at 6..

[engie]

Right, but if 1st base is open (i.e. Detz doubles) they are still most likely going to walk Hunter, especially with Pirtle behind him. He is the guy with the biggest stick so we need him to hit. If Rea was behind him in that situation they'd probably think twice about walking him knowing he's got serious potential to park one and really make you pay for pitching around Renfroe. They know Pirtle is only going to hit one out if he hits it right on the money - he is a Frazier/Bradford type hitter who has just squared a couple up this year.

This is a two-edged sword.

If Detz doubles and Renfroe is coming up, they are likely to put him on no matter who is hitting behind him right now. He's simply "that much" better than our next best hitter. For every bit more likely that Rea is to really drive a ball, he's also far, far more likely to K or GDP, whereas Pirtle is less likely to K or GDP, but also less likely to really drive one. It's pick your poison at that point. Either way, a single scores the run right there.

Left field is a way bigger problem than 3b is for us offensively. Our two starters in left have a combined 2 doubles in 127 ab's -- Frost has 2 2b and a 3b in 39 ab's...

IMO, we should be practicing both Detz and Frost out there right now. If Detz is anything better than a total liability out there, he should be starting in left with Porter DHing...

[WPDawg]

Have we tried Porter batting cleanup this year? What are our liablities with Porter or Detz in LF which allows them both to be in the batting lineup?

[maroonmania]

and back to the 4 hole.. Until Rae can pass Pritle in the HR department both have 2 it really doesnt matter. and I think Pritle has more extra bases than Rae.. And like i said with his speed he has half dozen bags so far better chance to drive in renfroe with 2 outs than Wes he def puts the ball in play more.. Rae missed some games and some AB's early in the season which hurt so maybe he will get hot and start showing more power then Im all far him in the 4 hole.. And u cant put Slaughter there he doesnt play every game and when Nick plays he def isnt a 4 hole guy. A better arguement to me is putting Wes at 5 and Bradford at 6..

I'm OK with your general point, and given Pirtle's improvement at the plate I can live with him at 4th I guess, but I just don't see equating the "potential" of Rea to hit a HR with Pirtle. First, Rea has probably played in less than half of our games so he's way behind most of our regulars in ABs and is just now getting into the swing of things. Also, I know one of Pirtle's HRs was against a SWAC opponent. If I am playing MSU I would definitely consider Rea as much more of a HR threat than Pirtle. Of course, by the same token, Rea is also much more of a double play candidate than Pirtle would be.