Is Oregon State's starting outfield cast in stone ?

From your posts, very little difference of opinion on the starting lineup for the opener against the Lobos in Surprise on the 18th. It appears you have it dialed in nicely and if there is any small alteration by Coach, it won't be much. It was interesting, if not predictable that you had Justin Boyd in the lineup. I like Boyd, he's a "gamer" and was just beginning to flash his considerable tools near the end of last year, and then carried that forward with a breakout summer season playing in the Northwoods League against solid collegiate competition.

D1 Baseball ranks Melton and Meckler in the Top-150 outfielders playing collegiately.  Melton checks in at number 13, Meckler at number 120. Boyd is unranked.  The numbers D1 looked at were a selective group of offensive stats.

Melton:  .404/ .466/ .687 with 1,163 OPS. 99 AB, 5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs, 25 RBI, 8 SB with 14 BB and 29 K.

Meckler:  .303/ .396/ .472 with 868 OPS, 142 AB, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 20 RBI, 3 SB, 19 BB, 35 K 

Boyd:  .301/ .395/ .411 with 806 OPS, 73 AB, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 0 home runs, 10 RBI, 1 SB, 12 BB, 16 K.

With Melton missing time following his injury and Boyd not emerging as a starter until mid-season, we didn't see the whole movie. Questions to be answered include, how much offensive improvement will we see from 2021 through 2022 with these starters? As an outfield group, there is exceptional speed here - how aggresively will we weaponize the stolen base this season? As a group, these 3 outfielders hit 10 home runs in 362 plate appearances (314 official At Bats). One home run every 36.2 plate appearances would be considered "modest power", but I suspect this group has much more in the tank for 2022 - would you agree?

Finally, does Boyd lock down his starting role.  Every day you see competion for PT in the OSU outfiels. Has speedster, Micah McDowell developed an improved hitting approach? Has the athletic Brady Kasper developed more consistency in his play? Is young Mason Guerra emerging quickly as an real offensive threat? Can slugger T.J. Wheeler project a P-12 defender in LF defensively?  

I have been playing with the notion that Greg Fuchs and TJ Wheeler might be our best DH candidates more than candidates for a starting OF position, although that is cerainly within reason. Both have been multi-postion players throughout their career. It is interesting that both have caught at one point in their young careers. For starters, let's take a look at their hitting.

Fuchs began his OSU career in 2019, playing in 20 games with 4 starts. He was 5-30, scored a run, had a double and 4 RBI. he drew 6 walks and struck out 10 of his 26 plate appearances. His slash lines were .167/ .306/ .200. Greg was not on the roster in the 14 game abreviated season of 2020. In 2021, Greg played in 23 games with 20 starts. He was 15-65 with 10 runs, had 2 doubles and 3 home runs with 10 RBI. Greg had 13 BB and struck out 22 of his 78 plate appearances. His slash lines were .231/ .359/ .400. The key factor with Greg, is not his past performance but in the trend line starting last year. Simply put, he has made some solid progress as a player and hitter, as evidenced by his good showing this past fall and now prior to the Arizona trip. Consistent contact, driving it deep and reducing the K's are Greg's ticket to ride. He could give OSU added punch in the DH hole and another left handed bat in a conference dominated by RHP's.

TJ Wheeler has yet to make his first official plate appearance against Division I college pitching. His accomplishments as a hitter at Sacramento CC and Yavapai CC might suggest it will be business as usual when he does take that first at bat. Wheeler is a LH hitter that has always pounded the baseball going back to his prep days at Modesto's Beyer HS. Tj is barrels guy that left the yard 28 times in his Junior College career while constructing a .345 career BA. Like Fuchs, TJ can play multiple positions, C-3B-LF.

So, if you choose to play them defensively, where? Will Wheeler hit D-1 pitching as anticipated? Has Greg made the necessary strides to play every day? Can you justify replacing Justin Boyd, a .300 hitter with SS defensive skills?

Thoughts?

I think small ball is the key to success this season. We have got to advance runners into scoring position, especially in games that runs are hard to come by. Put pressure on the defense to make a play not on the hitter to plate a run. If we really do have more speed this year, please use it Mitch.