re: Defensive Issues - Baseball

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BALONEY! Berry has never shown he is capable. Thompson has never shown he’s better than a below average SS. Doughty has shown himself capable at third or 2nd - just barely - but he is no SS, and said as much when folks thought switching Thompson and Doughty was the answer. Doughty is a well below average SS in the SEC.

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I guess your stance is that neither Berry nor Thompson are D1 level players from a defensive standpoint. What should we have done? What do we do now?

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I guess your stance is that neither Berry nor Thompson are D1 level players from a defensive standpoint.

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Nope! I didn’t imply that. I emphasized the SEC; you’ve switched to “D1” there is a big difference. Thompson is an SEC level player, probably at 3rd base. He fields well and has a canon. He’ll blow some throws, but he won’t get the opportunities that SS requires, so that will help.

Berry? Sheesh! I doubt he is a D1 player at any position besides DH. He looked terrible in RF. He is an abomination at 3rd. His fielding is so bad I would not put him at first.

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What do you see as the issue?

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I don’t know. Clearly Berry is an issue. Thompson and Doughty are both playing worse than last year. CPM worked hard on defense, and CJJ works hard on hitting. Maybe emphasis in practice? I’m not sure Thompson has the ability to be consistent with his throws. If they can fix that, though, they would have something.

Did you see yesterday when we had guys on 2nd and 1st (Thompson). I think it was Jobert took 3rd when he saw an opportunity, and friggin Thompson doesn’t take 2nd. WTH? I wonder if he just lacks concentration.

These are all questions the coaches should already know the answers to.

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I don’t know.

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That's where I'm at. I don't know what to do now. It started with the way we opened the season. Now it's literally going to take a miracle or just sheer will on the part of the players to fix.