re: Skenes hitting would make the lineup terrifying

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We have guys that can fill that hitter’s role just fine

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So the Angels

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The goal is a national championship

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Agree

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exposing your best pitcher to unnecessary risk that would cause him to miss significant time does not increase your chances of making that a reality.

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hmmm

I'm not sure. The risk doesn't bother me much. If he really has a bat that would hit 1-4 in our lineup...i'd probably play him.

keeping him healthy to pitch if more terrifying for our opponents. this team has plenty of other bats

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The best player in mlb does it.

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And every 6 foot QB can make the hall of fame because Drew Brees.

Make him wear wrist braces and those stupid looking hand guards on the bases and no head first sliding.

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Your No. 2 starter just got put on the shelf for 16 months 4 weeks ago pitching.

Injuries happen.

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You are missing the point - explained well by Project a few posts up.

Example: You are standing on the side of an interstate and spy a $1 bill on the median. You can dart across and grab the dollar. Should you? It depends on how poor you are, how quickly you run and how much traffic there is. What it does NOT depend on is the chance of you getting hurt in ANY other part of your life.

So the chances of Skenes getting hurt WHILE HITTING are the only chances that matter, besides the chances of improving your chances of winning.

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You are missing the point

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I understand the point

I disagree with it

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I understand the point

I disagree with it

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You're not allowed to have a differing opinion on a message board doofus

brave

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He’s more likely to catch a line drive to the head on the mound without a helmet than he is to get hit in the head and injured while batting.

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Y’all are focusing on the wrong thing. Sure, it’s not likely he gets injured hitting in a freak accident. It’s more about the cumulative effect it could have on him by adding so much to his workload. You don’t just grab a bat in an SEC game and go out and take some hats. He’d have to hundreds of reps every week off the tee, doing soft toss, hitting in the cage, and taking BP on the field to prepare to hit SEC pitching. And with the torque he has, that added stress to his back and obliques “could” have a diminishing cumulative effect. He might not have an actual “injury,” but that addition stress could affect his pitching.

Like others have said, if he was just clearly just a super stud at the plate —not just capable of running into one and hitting it 450 every once in a while–but one of our best 4 or 5 overall hitters so much better than half the guys in the lineup that it’d be almost negligent to not let him hit. The reward then would definitely be worth the risk. But I don’t think he’s as good an overall hitter as some of you have convinced yourselves he is. (Not that he couldn’t be—I’m sure he could if that’s what he was mainly focusing on). My evidence? He barely hit in the fall and hasn’t had a single AB yet when there’s been plenty of chances to get him some. There’s a reason Jay hasn’t given him those yet.

That said, I would like to see him get a few ABs leading up to SEC play. I think having a guy that can come off the bench late and hit a 3-run bomb to tie it up is a nice weapon. Just knowing he’s sitting on the bench affects how opposing coaches think about matchups and how to use their pen late. And I think a lack of power hitting RHers that could come in and do that was a real weakness on last year’s team. We do have Travinski and Frey, though. I’m probably ok with him working on hitting during the week just enough to be ready to PH once or twice on Saturdays/Sundays if the situation calls for it. Not ok with all the extra swings and stress it would put on him to prepare for 4 or 5 ABs two times every week. Just not worth it.