Pakbackr said:
Perhaps a great 3rd baseman makes a play on that ball, but I've played 1st base and I know from experience that sometimes you know as soon as the ball comes off the bat whether you are going to be able to make a play. Plus there was a runner on 2nd, and you have to think about covering 3rd if the SS is able to make a play on the ball. I don't think it is as simple as saying he should have dived. Regardless, he has handled balls hit to him...and he has a heck of an arm.
No, he needs to knock that ball down (or the SS, both need to dive) to keep the run from scoring. Best case scenario there is runners on 1st and 3rd instead of the winning run scoring.
He also didn't cover 3rd, not his responsibility. He is the cutoff man there in that situation as the SS should move over the cover 3rd.
"Heck of an arm" is a bit of hyperbole. He has a good enough arm and the two scouts I talked to last year called his arm strength "just ok" but it didn't matter b/c in their words, he's a first baseman/DH as a pro.
Kid is one of the most complete and best hitters I've ever seen with no holes in his swing. He's cut down on the swing and miss this year but could stand to walk more but his ability to hit stuff on the outer half makes him a bit of a unicorn at this stage. His backside power is legit.
He's awful defensively though. No way to put any lipstick on that pig.
Regardless, the kid didn't want to be here and nothing we could've done was going to change that.
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