re: Finalizing Lineup Moving Into SEC Play

Same amount of strikeouts as Thompson and Dugas. Beloso doesn’t offer you versatility like he does. CJJ has given him 14 ABs all season. Don’t know why people just think he’s going into the line up this weekend. Tre is one of the best 1B in college. I don’t see them moving him back to OF with white heathy. This kinda puts beloso in a tough spot.

He will probably hit around the same avg. but he was second on the team in HR last year as well only behind crews. The upside in power will most likely win out.

Maybe Tre LF, with Jones 1st and Beloso DH At times

1. Kling -RF
2. Morgan - LF
3. Crews - CF
4. White - 3B
5. Beloso - 1B
6. Jones - DH
7. Dugas - 2B
8. Neal - C
9. Thompson- SS

I have Jones after Beloso to mix up righties and lefties.

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Dugas does not need to be 9th. If Kling takes the leadoff spot, please give me Dugas behind Tommy White. Right now we haven’t found anyone to protect White in spots that he could be pitched around.

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I appreciate your take on protecting White, but I hope we can do it with someone other than Dugas. I love Dugas at 9. I have always been partial to treating the 9 hole hitter like a 2nd lead off batter.

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Milazzo is much better defensively.

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Neal has done nothing bad enough to support this take.

For this team to be at it's full potential, Neal will have to be the catcher in the home stretch and going into postseason play. That is why you let Neal keep playing a lot and work through the adjustment period at the plate. He is still getting on base, just need to let him work through the swing and miss a little bit.

There's a great strategy to having a good hitter at number 9, it's like having a second leadoff hitter. This should give Crews and White more RBI opportunities

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And hitting Dugas behind White both protects White and gives Dugas, a former SEC RBI leader, more RBI opportunities.

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Dugas doesn’t offer White any protection hitting behind him. Nobody’s pitching to White because they’re scared to face Dugas.

But to be fair, there’s nobody you could hit behind White to offer him protection except Crews. And they’re not doing that. White’s protection will come from people on base in front of him. He’s gonna get pitched to with less than 2 outs when people walk Crews and hope White hits onto a double play. Which will lead to a few, but probably a good bit more home runs and bases clearing doubles.

I’m fine with Dugas leading off or hitting 9th (or anywhere, really, except 2-4), but I understand your wanting to hit him 5th. There will be innings where the 1st 2 guys get out, Crews doubles (or singles/walks and steals 2nd) and they pitch around White to get to whoever is hitting behind him. I’d like Dugas in that situation as much as anybody. But 1) I don’t think Jay is gonna have 3 RH guys hitting in a row 3-5, and 2) he’s more likely to hit with either no one after a White home run or White on 2nd after a bases clearing double than the guys on 1st and 2nd scenario I laid out earlier.

Like I said, I think White’s protection is gonna come from the top—specifically Crews—and he’s gonna lead our team in RBI by probably 20+. I don’t think the 5-hole is gonna be the usual RBI spot it is in most lineups this year. It may actually be the worst spot in the lineup for RBI.

Dugas can offer protection to younger guys like Jones, Neal, and Kling, though. SEC pitchers are probably gonna rather challenge the true freshmen than the 5th year SR. in late inning close games. But I’m fine with him leading off and starting the game with a bomb, double, or HBP. But if he does move back there, he’s gonna have to be more patient and draw more walks. Seems after he hit so many home runs so early, he started expanding his strike zone and chasing a bit more than he was before.

But if he does settle into the 9-hole, I don’t think you should feel like that’s some sort of slight or that it means Jay thinks he’s only the 9th best hitter on the team. There will be a strategic reason for it, especially in a lineup this deep. I think it will be to 1) protect probably Neal or have a guy that can punish pitchers for walking him, and 2) to be the 2nd lead off guy and after the lineup turns over pitchers would have to likely face Dugas, Kling, Morgan, Crews, and White in order. A whole lot of power and not a lot of swing and miss in that stretch.

And they would make the mistake you’re making. Dugas was the leading SEC rbi leader, not team, SEC. Please pitch around White to get to Dugas when the games on the line. Most of y’all have a memory of Nemo!

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He shouldn’t hit any lower than 6th.

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Maybe not. And in a normal lineup, I don’t think he would. But this is not a normal lineup. I do like him 5th tonight against a LH starter. No big deal to have 3 straight RHers in that situation.

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do like your point about him offering protection to guys like Jobert or Jones. Especially Jobert. Jobert needs to see fastballs and with Dugas sitting a spot below him a pitcher is going to have to throw strikes to guys like Jobert or Jones.

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I think Dugas can offer protection hitting behind anybody on the team besides Crews and White. Nobody can protect Crews. White lead the college baseball in home runs last year and Crews is still getting nothing to hit.

And I don’t think anybody is protecting White from behind. He’ll get pitched to with nowhere to put him and/or with the hope of him grounding into a double play. But that doesn’t mean Dugas can’t make teams pay dearly for pitching around White.

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As far as the second lead off in the 9 hole I still think Thompson is the perfect choice.

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I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I don’t think Thompson is getting on base enough right now to be the “2nd lead off.” But I’m not sure that’s Jay’s philosophy for who he hits 9th. I just know he doesn’t appear to like his weakest hitter there for whatever reason.

I think Kling has the highest ceiling at lead off, but as a freshman, I could see him in the 9-hole to begin SEC play and Dugas leading off. He not only protects Kling after the lineup rolls over, but I love the energy he brings to start off the game. It fires the whole team up when he has a lead off double, obviously a lead off home run is a nice way to start the game, and so is a HBP. He just needs to be more patient, not chase as much as he has lately—and work the count and take his walks like he was doing to start the season. Although, that may have been due to his eye issues.

But I think the lineup will change throughout the season as we see how the young guys handle SEC pitching. Morgan, Crews, and White at 2-4 are probably the only staples that will remain.

And to the guy above who says I must have forgotten about what Dugas has done in prior clutch situations, I absolutely have not. I don’t know that I’d want anybody else up with the game on the line in the late innings.

Scary