re: Pitching and fielding looks damn good for the first weekend

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If Jones hits a dinger every game, I'll overlook the errors.

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On that play the error was charged to Braswell. His throw hit the runner. Although it was still a very good play even to come that close.

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Jones only makes people nervous because we’re used to seeing the most athletic player in baseball at first the last three years.

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That's certainly part of it. And while people think 1st is an easy position to play (and it probably is, relatively), it's certainly not "easy." You don't have to be a great athlete, but it does require really good footwork. And I'd suggest Jones is a pretty damn good athlete at that size--not many dudes that big who can catch at that level, and catchers have to have great footwork.

So I think he's got the tools, and like you said, he'll be fine. He just needs reps. Unless you're charging on a bunt play or moving over to be the cutoff man to home from the RF, most of the 1B's action is right around the bag. But you have to be able to move your feet to get in position to receive throws from tons of different angles. Facing the catcher on the inside of the bag on a slow rolling bunt. Facing him on the outside of the bag on a strikeout that gets away from him and takes him into foul territory to get hitter trying to run it out, taking throws from the other 3 infielders and all the many different angles they're getting the ball to you depending on where they wound up fielding it and are throwing from, fielding a ground ball to your right and whipping your body around to get lined up to make a throw to 2nd to get the runner advancing from 1st, etc...

You basically have to have the footwork to be able to move around all 360 degrees even though you'e never really straying too far away from the bag. And like I said, being able to catch at his size lets us know he's capable, it's just gonna take reps to build those skills in all those different situations. But he'll get there as the season progresses, and I imagine he'll be MUCH improved by the end of the season. And being a big target and already being able to scoop balls out the dirt will help tremendously as he gets those needed reps. I played the left side of the infield my whole career, but had to play 1st in high school and Legion ball occasionally when our regular 1st basemen went in to pitch. The biggest thing for me was when I finally realized you don't stretch until the ball is thrown. You stand on the edge of bag with basically both feet and square up with the infielder fielding the ball and wait to stretch until you see where the throw is going to take you, and then step towards it. It prevents putting yourself in awkward positions where you're having to reach back off balance because you stretched too early and the ball didn't come in at the angle you were expecting. Once Bear understands that intellectually, it will become a lot easier physically, and after months of reps receiving balls from all kinds of the funky angles he'll get throughout the season, I imagine he'll wind up being not just a serviceable 1B, but a pretty damn good one. Again, just needs the reps.