The Sarge

You are absolutely insane if you think English is an upgrade over marzilli in center. Marzilli is an elite outfielder, English has got a lot to learn, he is fast and that helps, but we have been spoiled immensely with JBJ and Evan in center. Most people consider outfield to be easy because in younger leagues the worst players are put out there, but reading a ball off the bat is very difficult and most baseball players struggle with that. In baseball at high levels, typically your weakest defender plays 1st, then left!
This is not a knock on english either, but a credit to the incredible talent of marzilli and JBJ.

English and Marzilli have different strengths but both are great fielders. Marzilli is a ++glove but what about his arm? How many assists did Marzilli have in 3 years? I don't have the numbers but I'd bet English had more outfield assists this season than Marzilli had in his 3 years combined. Marzilli's strengths are his instincts and his glove. English's strengths are his speed and his arm. Both are great outfielders but play a different brand of outfield from each other.

He's not moving anywhere, at least next year. I don't foresee him moving at all. The knee issue had nothing to do with catching. Ray Tanner told me he had the same knee deal that Greiner had and had it three times. Ray was an infielder.

What order do you rank JBJ, Marzilli, and English in terms of outfield arms?

1a. JBJ
1b. English
2. Marz

They're both utility guys. Hard to pin down exactly where they'll "fit." They'll play a little bit of everywhere and plug holes as needed. While I think Payne is talented enough to stay at third defensively, I think his best chance for consistent PT is at a corner outfield spot, which are both now open.

Yes, one player told me that. I don't necessarily agree with that, but it's not far off and goes to show how undervalued I think he is.

I don't believe that Pankake is playing this summer -- or at least that was the last I heard. Greiner told me he plans to play for Team USA still but has to receive medical clearance from USC, which should obviously be granted considering he played six games in the CWS.

No one ever said that English would be better but rather that all 3 are/will be elite center fielders at USC. We are very fortunate to have 3 as good as they are.

I looked it up. Marzilli had 4 assists this season, 6 last year, and none as a freshman. English had 6 this season. English has a better arm but we'll have to wait and see if he takes advantage of the chances he gets to throw out some runners from center field.

I watched with the sound muted and I missed the comments. Was Greiner's injury more than an isolated injury... does he have knee "problems" (chronic and/or multiple)? I would hate to see an arm & quick release like his "wasted" at 1st base. Not to mention, he does a heluva job blocking the ball behind plate!! Edit: Apologize...I now see Whittle's comments. Had read 1st page, but didn't realize there was a 2nd one!!

Yeah, no doubt he was born to catch. I don't think his knee injury was a result of catching, but catching is hell on your knees and what the announcer said is that if he is already having knee issues as a freshman, he sees him as a first baseman in the future, he is also an idiot, but sees him as a first baseman.

You typically "freely admit..." only when responding to me or someone else who has criticized an in-game decision, which makes your admission nothing but a rhetorical weapon intended to suggest your counterpart does not make the same obvious concession. It's like a second-rate politician who throws "I love America" into a campaign stop to imply his opponent hates apple pie and sleeps beneath a Russian flag for not leading with the same readily apparent and thus meaningless statement.

Of course Ray Tanner knows more about baseball than you, me, or anyone else that posts on this forum. That does not mean he is beyond reproach, as witnessed by your own concession that you disagree with him multiple times every time you watch a Carolina game.

I am not mad at Adam Matthews. He was asked to do something that he is beyond his ability. I would just as soon get mad at Grayson Griener for being unable to play short. Matthews was initially slotted into the 5 hole because he was a returning veteran in a lineup full of unknowns. As some of those younger players proved themselves more capable at the plate than Matthews, he retained the spot for reasons unrelated to performance. It could be comfort level, "gamer"-ness, or Coach Tanner's self-professed preference for older players.

The point of my original post was that, whatever the intangible reasons for leaving Matthews 5th, they made as much sense as putting him 5th because "he's.. a nice guy." A joke loses something when you have to explain it to some people, but let's not overlook the most important thing:

In your rush to clarify that you do not in fact believe you are a better college baseball coach than a man who's been to Omaha six times in eleven years, played for four national titles, and won two, it might be overlooked that you "agree with [me] that Matthews shouldn't have been in the 5 hole."

Oddly enough, this was my entire point before you decided to make this into a freakin' 'true fan' pissing contest.

I don't think anyone is considering moving Griener, i was just curious because I believe it was Orel that commented on it. I don't and either does any USC fan that I know of want to see him move, but if knee issues become an issue with him, is it fair to keep a great talent at catcher when it will damage his knees worse and possibly shorten his career? I don't think so.