re: The outfield battle

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I'm trying to get Larson more AB's and putting him in the outfield is the answer

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Do outfielders bat more than DH's in a game?

That's assuming Frey can keep the DH job moving forward against lefties, which is still wayyy too early to tell.

Now if you want to argue that Larson should be in RF against lefties instead of Pearson, I'm all ears. But if Brown and Larson are in the lineup together against righties, I'd rather have the better defensive player (even if it's as marginal as you say) actually playing defense.

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Brown is in the OF because he is much better defensively, not sure how this is hard to understand.

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Larson has had his moment of looking really rough but Brown hasn’t dazzled in the OF either.

He had a fielding error against UNC that put the game winning run at 2nd with 2 outs.

Obviously those moments stand out more than making routine or even good plays.

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Larson has had his moment of looking really rough but Brown hasn’t dazzled in the OF either.

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The point is Brown is a superior defender to Larson here, that really cant be argued. He can get to more balls being a better athlete and he has a bigger arm. Because he made an error as a true freshman doesnt really mean anything in terms of who is better overall defensively. 1 guy is clearly favored in the OF over the other by Jay and thats for the defense. If Larson continues to mash he will be a more permanent DH and there's nothing wrong with that. If a corner OF starts to not produce much and Larson is continuing to produce, he could get moved to the OF then, but it's really weird to want to play the worse defensive player over better defensive players so long as the guys in the field are producing at the plate.

This team is absolutely loaded, specifically in the OF. Ultimately some guys are going to get left out some because we cant play 5 or 6 OF regularly who could all be starters. A lot of people think Josh Pearson shouldnt be playing much but Jay went with him a bit to start the season in terms of playing him at least a good bit and he got on base 6 out of 9 plate appearances over the weekend, so there's not a lot of "Bad decisions" he can really make.

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thunderbird1100

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I agree with your posts. I think we'll see Larson/Frey platoon at DH and Josh will be the utility guy.

I agree, that is wild...

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Brown is close to being a CF almost with a big arm,

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About as close as Jared Jones is

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There is a definitely a notable difference in their defensive capability. Again, ask yourself why Brown continues to play over Larson in the OF itself, you think Jay might know what he's doing there?

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I never said Larson was good in the outfield, i just said the gap between the two isn't as big as you want to believe.

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What do you think Jay is basing his early season decisions off of

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Now it's what they show in games. You think he's still making decisions on who to play from scrimmage performances. If Jake Brown stops playing well you think Jay is going to say "but he performed better in the spring so i'll leave him in the lineup". Wtf are you even talking about?

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Why do you think Milam has been at the bottom of the order to start

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So he can provide a spark at the bottom of the order . Now that Curiel and Stanfield are on the team there's not a need for him at the top of the order. You think Jay doesn't know Milam can hit?

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I feel like you're dwelling on his one error (albeit a huge error in a big situation) a little too much. Other than that, Brown has shown no signs that he isn't a solid defender. Even Hall of Fame outfielders have misplayed a flyball at one time or another.

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Bregman made a worse error on a bigger stage (in Omaha vs UCLA) as a true Fr. I can't imagine someone arguing that he shouldn't play SS going froward. He's arguably the best glove at SS we've ever had.

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About as close as Jared Jones is

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Brown started 12 games in CF literally last season. In case you weren't aware. Please show me where Jared Jones ever played CF.

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I never said Larson was good in the outfield, i just said the gap between the two isn't as big as you want to believe.

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Except there's a definite notable gap. To the point again where Jay continues to play Brown in the OF over him. He has a much stronger arm, the guy is also a pitcher who can throw low-mid 90s. He also is very athletic, athletic enough to start 12 games in CF as a true freshman. Again, Larson would never play CF and his arm isnt close to comparable to Browns. There is a much bigger gap there defensively than you're apparently willing to admit, but it exists.

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Now it's what they show in games.

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We're 4 games into a 56 game season

Jay is giving multiple guys a bunch of opportunities to show their stuff now so he start to try and set a lineup for conference play which is still weeks away. But the point apparently you are missing is yes, they absolutely look at what guys do in the fall and spring practice to determine who plays where to start the season. The reason a true freshman Curiel is starting and every game so far is because the dude tore things up all practice. Brown also did very good overall between both sets of practices. Josh Pearson got the start at DH in the 4 hole behind Jones opening day because Jay literally said he thought he was taking the best ABs in practice leading up to the season start. He is rewarding guys for how they look, we're 4 games into the season at this point, no permanent decisions are going to made today or next week for that matter. Heck, no decision is completely permanent as we see Jay adjust the lineup and who plays thoughout the season through the postseason. We have too much talent to rest on any 1 guy who isnt performing, we also have too much talent where inevitably some players wont play as much because we can only have 9 guys in the lineup with probably anywhere between 14-16 guys who could be legit starters at SEC schools today.

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So he can provide a spark at the bottom of the order

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You think Jay put one of best hitters from last season at the bottom of the order for a "spark" against Purdue-Fort Wayne and Southern?

He's there because he struggled most of spring practice and missed a good bit of fall with an injury. Again, this is Jay using what he sees in practice and making a lineup accordingly, you know those practices that apparently "dont matter". This lineup doesnt need a "spark" anywhere, it's a bunch of guys who can hit 1-9. There's no Milazzos or Klings we have to work our way around this order. We've got a ton of guys who can hit no problem.

Stanfield and Jones seem pretty locked in and they're batting near the top