DH

[haysdb]

So far nobody seems to want the DH spot. It's a difficult job. Not only are you not as much "in the game" as the position players, but nobody is getting to play every day.

With Kenny Williams in left field, here are the options:

• Cody Lassley - Redshirt sophomore. Hits right. Has speed and some pop. Hitting .208 in 24 at-bats. #2 catcher.
• Clint McKeever - Redshirt sophomore. Bats right, big, strong, quick hands, line-drive hitter. Hitting just .150 on 3 for 20. #2 first-baseman.
• Bret Bascue - Redshirt sophomore. Bats right, .421 on-base percentage, excellent outfielder.
• Kevin Hall - Freshman. Bats right. Fast, good (or better) outfielder.
• Ryan Engrav - Freshman. Bats right. 0-6 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. #3 catcher.
• Kyle Sisney - Redshirt freshman. Switch hitter. 0-5 with a walk. #2 second baseman.
• Mitch Caster - Freshman. Bats right. 0-3 with a HBP, 2 RBI. Outfielder.
• Taylor Brown - Freshman. Bats right. Has had just two plate appearances - is 0-1 with a walk. #2 shortstop.
• Grant Muncrief - Freshman. Bats right. Just one at-bat. #2 third baseman.

Cody, because he is a switch hitter (correction, he hits right only), a fast runner, has some pop, and should be able to hit for average, is my odds-on favorite to take over the DH spot when he returns from his appendectomy, but he's hitting only .208 in 6 starts so he still must prove himself.

Clint is off to a slow start, but I'm bullish on Clint and think he will be an excellent hitter. The knock on Clint is that he is a line-drive hitter who doesn't get much loft and therefore is not likely to hit many home runs. He runs exceptionally well for his size, but he's not a burner like Lassley or Hall. We all know how much Gene likes speed.

Bret Bascue is an exceptional defensive outfielder who can play any of the three outfield spots, and has shown flashes where we see that he has the potential to be a good hitter. He is hitting .267 on 4 for 15. He has also shown good patience, drawing 4 walks. He has by far the highest OBP of any of the available hitters at .421.

Kyle Sisney would not be a prototypical DH, but he has been described as a switch-hitting GNAT at the plate. I forget which pitcher, but one of our starting pitchers told me he could never get Sisney out in intrasquad games. I am surprised he hasn't had a few more at-bats.

I don't know enough about the freshmen to speak intelligently to their abilities as hitters. I have heard that Gene is high on Engrav and Hall, and we have seen those two get the most AB's among the freshmen in the early going.

[Rosewood]

Call me crazy, but I'm all for picking a guy and sticking with him. By floating so many guys in and out, it has to mess with their mind / confidence.

My vote is for Bret Bascue. (Btw, you have him as a Junior in your post. He is a Redshirt sophomore unless I'm off my rocker. Sat out his first year with a broken wrist, last year was he rs frosh and he had his first HR at KU.) but a lot of those guys could take that spot.

(Yes, if a guy goes a series 0fer and looks ugly doing that, he should get the hook. I'm just asking for a bit more stability but asking that from gene is like asking for blood from a rock.)

[haysdb]

You are correct about Bret. He did redshirt his original freshman year so is only a sophomore in terms of eligibility. Thank you for the correction. I have updated my post.

I think Gene would have stuck with Cody but he got off to a bit of a slow start and then the appendectomy knocked him out of the lineup. The problem with going with one guy and sticking with him is who's the guy? We're early in the season and Gene is giving a lot of different guys a chance. I agree there is a LOT of pressure knowing you have ONE game to produce and then it's going to be someone else's chance, but I think that's part of the test. He's looking for someone to rise to the occasion, and so far that hasn't happened.

I thought Clint might have gotten it going last weekend. He came into the game 0 for 11 but got his first hit of the season with runners at second and third and two outs. He collected two more hits in that game. But he didn't follow that up and a couple of other guys have gotten a chance.

[Hornshock]

Didnt realize this thread was started. I agree with you rosewood. Bascue was a gamer at quarterback at Derby high school. I think given more than a game here and a game there that he might prove to be a good player.

[shock10]

Maybe it is time to let Roberto Rios have a hack at it hit it pretty good last fall.

[SB Shock]

Call me crazy, but I'm all for picking a guy and sticking with him. By floating so many guys in and out, it has to mess with their mind / confidence.

In reality there really has been only 2 guys floated out there at DH:

Lassley - 6 games (couple he caught and weber DH - but same difference)
McKeever - 5 Games

Hall - 1 games
Engrav - 1 games

It looks like Gene plan was to use the DH position to get Weber some rest and get Lassley some time behind the dish - but that plan has been disrupted with his surgery.

[WSU4Life]

1st off, Lassley is not a switch hitter, he only hits from the right side. While I really like Lassley's versatility, I'm not so sure he's really a good enough hitter to be our full time DH. I'm thinking DH by committee might actually be the best for this team because we don't have one proven guy and this would allow us to get some young guys a lot of experience at the plate. The rest of our line-up should be pretty set and is very solid, so DH is the one position where Gene can experiment with. Bascue has proven he can hit lefties, so I think he gets the nod there. Even though he's not a typical DH, I liked seeing Kevin Hall get the start yesterday. With his speed at DH, we would have exceptional speed at every single position except for catcher.

[haysdb]

Ouch, strike two on me. Cody is listed as a right-handed hitter only. Not sure where I got it in my head that he was a switch hitter. Thanks for the correction. I have updated the original post so as not to mislead anyone reading this thread for the first time.

[haysdb]

Bret Bascue is the DH today in game 3 against TCU.

Update: I just listened to Gene's pre-game comments. I think he must have read this thread before the game. J/K. I don't think I or anyone else has said anything that's not pretty obvious, what's unusual is for us to be so right! :-) Gene said the DH should be called the DO - Designated OUT. He said the DH spot hasn't hit .100 this year. He said he wanted to settle on one or two guys and stick with them, he just didn't know who it was going to be.

[Rosewood]

those strikeouts won't help bass hold on to that.

[Hornshock]

No they wont. They did come off three different pitchers. When he faced the same pitcher twice. He got a hit and an RBI. Still needs a few more at bats.

[Clarensauce]

Bret Bascue is the DH today in game 3 against TCU.

Update: I just listened to Gene's pre-game comments. I think he must have read this thread before the game. J/K. I don't think I or anyone else has said anything that's not pretty obvious, what's unusual is for us to be so right! :-) Gene said the DH should be called the DO - Designated OUT. He said the DH spot hasn't hit .100 this year. He said he wanted to settle on one or two guys and stick with them, he just didn't know who it was going to be.

I was listening, and wondering if he read the thread as well. Haha.

[Shirley Schmidt]

Bascue was a gamer at quarterback at Derby high school.

As much as Derby sucked the last five or six years I doubt that I would want that on my resume.

[Hornshock]

I thought they used to be good.

[shocker22]

I think that Muncrief should get a shot at DH...kid is a stud and will take over for Conor neext year.