Outfield for 2018....

[Black Diamond Cat]

With having only 4 OF's on the roster, and 3 of them seniors, who other than Tristan Pompey, will fill the other 2 positions ?
I know Luke Heyer has played RF a couple of times, and he is a good hitter with a strong arm, so he is a possibility, do we move an infielder to the OF, is someone RSing that is an outfielder, incoming freshman ? I would love to hear some feedback regarding this topic.... TIA !

 

[Derek Terry_rivals23489]

Let me preface this by saying these are total guesses because there are a whoooole lot of outfielders coming in next season. But I'll say Ryan Johnson plays left field and Grant Macciocchi plays either center or right, depending on Pompey's development in CF.

Cam Hill, Luke Benoit, Ben Aklinski, Ryan Shinn, Aaron McGeorge, etc. are some other guys to watch. Obviously will have a better idea during fall practice. Gonna be lots of competition.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

Let me preface this by saying these are total guesses because there are a whoooole lot of outfielders coming in next season. But I'll say Ryan Johnson plays left field and Grant Macciocchi plays either center or right, depending on Pompey's development in CF.

Cam Hill, Luke Benoit, Ben Aklinski, Ryan Shinn, Aaron McGeorge, etc. are some other guys to watch. Obviously will have a better idea during fall practice. Gonna be lots of competition.

Those are 2 good looking jucos to come in and help us. Love that Johnson played 1 year at TCU and made it to Omaha. Another lefty bat also.

 

[Comebakatz3]

There will be a whole lot of holes to fill in 2018. Personally, I don't think Pompey is that great of a defensive outfielder, so I am not sure that I'd really want him moving away from the corners of the outfield. Might move him to left because I haven't been entirely impressed with his arm.

We will also have another clog of people around 1st, catcher, DH and 3B. Squires and Cottam return at catcher. Collette should be fully recovered and ready to bring a big stick to possibly C, 1B (most likely), or DH. You also have Brayden Combs coming off a redshirt that can play 1B. Marshall and Becker could both return at third along with Heyer being there as well. Any of these guys could DH. So, that is a lot of bats. The question is whether any of them (Heyer has been mentioned) could or would be moved to the OF. I think you'd want a few of them to continue to play regularly so you might do that.

Up the middle the only two guys we have on the roster are Bellini and Lewis. Neither of which have seen a whole lot of time defensively or at the plate this year. So, I imagine we have to rely on a newcomer there for at least one of those positions.

Seems as though we're going to have to lean pretty heavily on JUCO guys.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

There will be a whole lot of holes to fill in 2018. Personally, I don't think Pompey is that great of a defensive outfielder, so I am not sure that I'd really want him moving away from the corners of the outfield. Might move him to left because I haven't been entirely impressed with his arm.

We will also have another clog of people around 1st, catcher, DH and 3B. Squires and Cottam return at catcher. Collette should be fully recovered and ready to bring a big stick to possibly C, 1B (most likely), or DH. You also have Brayden Combs coming off a redshirt that can play 1B. Marshall and Becker could both return at third along with Heyer being there as well. Any of these guys could DH. So, that is a lot of bats. The question is whether any of them (Heyer has been mentioned) could or would be moved to the OF. I think you'd want a few of them to continue to play regularly so you might do that.

Up the middle the only two guys we have on the roster are Bellini and Lewis. Neither of which have seen a whole lot of time defensively or at the plate this year. So, I imagine we have to rely on a newcomer there for at least one of those positions.

Seems as though we're going to have to lean pretty heavily on JUCO guys.

Becker played 2nd base in 2016, and Marshall is very versitile, although he is excellent at 3rd base. Bellini is the SS of the future, I suppose.
The Jucos will most likely man 2 of the OF slots. Catcher and 1b, like you said are well stocked.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Becker played 2nd base in 2016, and Marshall is very versitile, although he is excellent at 3rd base. Bellini is the SS of the future, I suppose.
The Jucos will most likely man 2 of the OF slots. Catcher and 1b, like you said are well stocked.

Very good point about Becker. Although, I think he seems a bit more comfortable at third. Still, he is pretty versatile, as is Marshall. Either one could handle second.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

Very good point about Becker. Although, I think he seems a bit more comfortable at third. Still, he is pretty versatile, as is Marshall. Either one could handle second.

Looked up the fielding pct. for both players. Becker is fielding .898 and Marshall .980. Don't know what Becker fielded last year at 2nd base, but I am sure it was much better that this year.

 

[Lukasz0brzut]

There will be a whole lot of holes to fill in 2018. Personally, I don't think Pompey is that great of a defensive outfielder, so I am not sure that I'd really want him moving away from the corners of the outfield. Might move him to left because I haven't been entirely impressed with his arm.

We will also have another clog of people around 1st, catcher, DH and 3B. Squires and Cottam return at catcher. Collette should be fully recovered and ready to bring a big stick to possibly C, 1B (most likely), or DH. You also have Brayden Combs coming off a redshirt that can play 1B. Marshall and Becker could both return at third along with Heyer being there as well. Any of these guys could DH. So, that is a lot of bats. The question is whether any of them (Heyer has been mentioned) could or would be moved to the OF. I think you'd want a few of them to continue to play regularly so you might do that.

Up the middle the only two guys we have on the roster are Bellini and Lewis. Neither of which have seen a whole lot of time defensively or at the plate this year. So, I imagine we have to rely on a newcomer there for at least one of those positions.

Seems as though we're going to have to lean pretty heavily on JUCO guys.

Not familiar with players coming back etc but did hear where LSU had like 5 guys return that are SRs this yr who were drafted as JRs

With that said, is there no chance Mahan comes back?

 

[Comebakatz3]

Not familiar with players coming back etc but did hear where LSU had like 5 guys return that are SRs this yr who were drafted as JRs

With that said, is there no chance Mahan comes back?

I don't think there is often much of a reason to return for your senior year. For Mahan, he is hitting .335, up from .316 a year ago. He is also finding a pretty good home at second base as a defensive player who greatly improved from last year to this year. So, I don't think he could prove much more to scouts than he already has. I don't think another year is going to rocket him up the draft boards. Now, I can understand some juniors who have rough years returning in order to be a better or bigger name, but most of the time if the scouts know you then they have an idea of what you can do even if you have one bad year.

 

[Lukasz0brzut]

I don't think there is often much of a reason to return for your senior year. For Mahan, he is hitting .335, up from .316 a year ago. He is also finding a pretty good home at second base as a defensive player who greatly improved from last year to this year. So, I don't think he could prove much more to scouts than he already has. I don't think another year is going to rocket him up the draft boards. Now, I can understand some juniors who have rough years returning in order to be a better or bigger name, but most of the time if the scouts know you then they have an idea of what you can do even if you have one bad year.

Maybe showing consistency could get him a higher draft position?

 

[Comebakatz3]

Maybe showing consistency could get him a higher draft position?

I think the past two years have been pretty consistent for him. He probably only hurts his stock by returning

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

Not familiar with players coming back etc but did hear where LSU had like 5 guys return that are SRs this yr who were drafted as JRs

With that said, is there no chance Mahan comes back?

There's certainly a chance, after he sees where he is drafted, week after next I believe, he will have to decide, don't know where he is projected in the draft. Or he could simply decide he wants to come back and play and get his degree.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I think the past two years have been pretty consistent for him. He probably only hurts his stock by returning

Still hope he returns!