Interesting baseball note....

[HoopsDawg]

sorry if already discussed but it looks like Luke Reynolds has made a big impression at 3rd base to the point that Britton has been moved to 2nd.

[preachermatt83]

Again I say, If Britton is not playing 3rd base this spring then it is just dumb. Britton is an MLB 3rd baseman

[engie]

Already getting started with the preacher knowing more baseball than Cohen early this year...

The problem is the assumption Britton is one of our best 9 overall players, which is far from a given at this point.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I wouldn't be too concerned with what position everyone is playing right now. There's always tons of shuffling in the fall.

That being said, Reynolds is supposedly very good... And he's only a sophomore in eligibility, I believe.

[bulldogcountry1]

Again I say, If Britton is not playing 3rd base this spring then it is just dumb. Britton is an MLB 3rd baseman

To be fair, Cohen did say that Britton was better suited at 2nd. Yeah, I was surprised to hear that too. Cohen likes to tinker and have players that are prepared to play multiple positions, but that's not really what he said to address the question.

All I can say is Reynolds must be showing out, defensively.

[msstate7]

Again I say, If Britton is not playing 3rd base this spring then it is just dumb. Britton is an MLB 3rd baseman

Britton is very good at 3b defense, but he won't sniff the show with his bat unless he's REALLY improved offensively

[Jacksondevildog]

Cohen will continue to trade better defense over offense as long as he is our coach. Our teams are built around pitching and defense and I think our infield, defensively this year, will be very good.

[messageboardsuperhero]

To be fair, Cohen did say that Britton was better suited at 2nd. Yeah, I was surprised to hear that too. Cohen likes to tinker and have players that are prepared to play multiple positions, but that's not really what he said to address the question.

All I can say is Reynolds must be showing out, defensively.

This is what people need to realize. Baseball rarely ever goes "exactly as planned" throughout the course of a season. Injuries happen, players underperform, etc. Cohen likes to make sure that pretty much all of our infielders that can play multiple positions.

Alex Detz played 3B, 1B, and DH'd in his career.
Britton has played SS, 3B, and 2B.
Heck has played SS and could easily play some 2B too.
Holland could play SS and 2B.
When Kyle Hann was here, he played SS, 3B, and 2B.
Hell, even Adam Frazier (maybe our best SS ever) played some 2B too.

Almost all of these infielders we have are going to play multiple positions during the season- therefore, they will play multiple positions in the fall to get ready for when things get weird for us (which they always do). Don't look too far into where anyone is playing after one week of scrimmaging.

ETA: The only real "position change" that I take anything out of so far is Humphreys to the OF- which I see as a big positive. But at the same time, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him play a little 3B or 1B this year either.

[Homedawg]

This time last year people would have gone crazy at the the thought of Britton at third. Just relax Cohen knows what he's doing!

[Todd4State]

I know the staff thinks highly of Reynolds and they want to get his bat in the lineup. The outfield is crowded to say the least.

Unless a move comes out that is confirmed as permanent- like Humphreys to the outfield- I wouldn't put a lot of stock into it. We won't know until SEC play what we are going to look like.

[maroonmania]

The only part I find odd about moving Britton is that his arm is much more of a plus than his fielding ability. Arm strength is not nearly as important at 2nd base but fielding consistency is paramount. I don't see Britton to second base as a good move at all if it were to stick.

[Todd4State]

The only part I find odd about moving Britton is that his arm is much more of a plus than his fielding ability. Arm strength is not nearly as important at 2nd base but fielding consistency is paramount. I don't see Britton to second base as a good move at all if it were to stick.

True about arm strength, but he also has pretty good range. I'm not 100% convinced that this is a permanent move though.

At least if it doesn't work, we know Britton can play third base.

[MsStateBaseball]

I think what Cohen meant is Britton is a 2B in pro ball. He is putting him there to "push" other players too, I think. We all assume it will be Britton, Holland, Heck and Rea. Of course Heck, was very good defensively last fall and pre-spring but yet Cohen didn't play him until a few games in. Why? I don't know. Heck is a damn good ball player.

I do suspect that Reynolds will be DH some and play in the field later in games. I saw him in Jackson and he doesn't have the arm Britton has. If Britton goes into an offensive slump, then Reynolds may play 3B for an extended time.

I really don't see leaving Heck or Holland out of the middle infield, that would be a big mistake.

[engie]

The only part I find odd about moving Britton is that his arm is much more of a plus than his fielding ability. Arm strength is not nearly as important at 2nd base but fielding consistency is paramount. I don't see Britton to second base as a good move at all if it were to stick.

Which is assuming he would be our #1 at second base -- and that his arm is better than Reynolds' arm -- a couple of things that are far from guaranteed at this point in time.

[Todd4State]

One thing to think about with this is the possibility of double switches during games. I don't know exactly what we will do, but we may start Britton at second and Reynolds at third to get our best power lineup out there and then late in the game move Britton to third and bring in Holland to get our best defensive guys out there.

[AlSwearengen]

Already getting started with the preacher knowing more baseball than Cohen early this year...

The problem is the assumption Britton is one of our best 9 overall players, which is far from a given at this point.

This is a key statement. Britton is going to have to pick up where he ended offensively to get into the lineup. He will get every chance, but he has to start out hitting the ball.

[DawgPoundtheRock]

How many times did Cohen start the same lineup last year? Not many, and as I recall, we were well into the SEC season before it happened at all. lse)This is fall ball. It's time to experiment.

Is there any chance that Humphreys (or somebody else) takes over first base full time and Wes sits?

[MsStateBaseball]

Looks like Wes has got it this year.

[preachermatt83]

How many times did Cohen start the same lineup last year? Not many, and as I recall, we were well into the SEC season before it happened at all. lse)This is fall ball. It's time to experiment.

Is there any chance that Humphreys (or somebody else) takes over first base full time and Wes sits?

And this is a huge reason why we under performed last year too.

[preachermatt83]

Already getting started with the preacher knowing more baseball than Cohen early this year...

The problem is the assumption Britton is one of our best 9 overall players, which is far from a given at this point.

I don't care if Tony Larussa is coaching, having britton's arm wasted at 2nd is stupid. Period.