Quote Originally Posted by HoopsDawg View Post
It's really not that bad of a take. Hatcher hit .321 in 2019 with 106 ABs. He hit .311 last year with 61 ABs. And his exit velo is near the top of the team when he squares one up. He has swung at some balls out of the zone, he's had some bad luck, and he hasn't hit well this year. But I understand why our coaches have continued to play him. Clark has not been ready to this point. And Cumbest has shown enough to warrant moving anyone around.

It goes back to Landon Jordan. If Jordan hadn't quit, I would want him at DH with Hancock at 1st base.
Nobody is saying that Hatcher should never to play again or that he was horrible before. But in a short college season with a team full of competitive players, you must cultivate a culture of performance and merit.

It actually creates trouble to be lax on accountability. Why couldn’t LJ be given a guaranteed position, he hit 350 two years ago and was outhitting many starters in 2021? It’s not like Hatcher was an All American or All SEC.

This is not the post office, seniority is not supposed to matter. If you are not getting better, then you are getting worse. Enough cliche, but its actually healthy for the program to be merit and performance oriented. It teaches the freshman and non starters that they can continue to work and push the starters.