March 30, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Consistent. Steady. Dependable.
Before the season, Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson wanted to know if Will Holland could be all of these things as the team's everyday shortstop. He got great experience as a freshman last year, playing in 45 games with 41 starts, but could he dominate the routine play? Could he hold up through the course of the season, through the highs and the lows?
The Tigers are 26 games in, and he's more than proved that he's capable. He's recorded 23 putouts and a team-high 52 assists with only four errors.
"It's difficult," Holland said. "Baseball is a long game. Coach Thompson stressed to me early in the fall just to dominate the routine play. You can be a great shortstop, making diving plays and making plays up the middle and being quick, but if you don't dominate the routine play, then really what kind of shortstop are you?"
That consistency, that steadiness has carried over to the plate this season where Holland was hitting .333 through Auburn's first 18 games prior to SEC play.
So after the Texas A&M series, Thompson and his staff moved their everyday shortstop to the leadoff spot and dropped second baseman Luke Jarvis ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" one of the team's most experienced players ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" from the top spot to the bottom third of the order.
"Luke's a senior, who's hitting even better than (Holland)," Thompson said. "So we take (out) the guy that's hitting even better than (Holland), but we think Luke kind of fits better where he's positioned in the lineup. And we think Will gives a shot of speed, electricity. He's just having really good at-bats, and he just looked more like a one-hole hitter."
Since making the switch, Holland and Jarvis have both thrived.
Holland, in particular, is hitting .400 (8-for-16) through the first five games as the team's leadoff hitter. In Tuesday's win over Alabama, the sophomore went 2-for-4 and launched a pair of solo home runs, earning MVP honors at the Capital City Classic.
The weekend before ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" in the first game of a doubleheader at Kentucky ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Holland came up in the top of the seventh inning with the game tied, a runner on second and one out. With two strikes on him, he shot a ball through the right side to drive in the go-ahead run. That goes back to putting together quality at-bats and quality two-strike at-bats.
A year ago? Holland might not have gotten that hit. He led all freshmen on the team with three home runs, but he finished towards the bottom with a .209 batting average.
"There are plenty of differences (this year), but I think the biggest difference is just learning the game more," Holland said. "I learned a lot from last year. I tried out different approaches, different swings, just different ways of going about the game, and it's helped me a lot as a hitter and as a defender. It's working out pretty well so far."
As for Jarvis, he hasn't complained one bit about moving down in the order. If anything, he's picked it up at the plate since the move, hitting .462 over his last four starts.
The senior has also been a mentor for Holland, helping him every step of the way. He worked with Holland extensively last year to help him become a better shortstop defensively, and this year, he's made an effort to help Holland with his approach as the new leadoff hitter ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" even though he was the one Holland replaced at the top of the order.
That chemistry is why this Auburn team is 21-5 and ranked inside the top 10 heading into this weekend's home series against Missouri.
"We're a very close team," Holland said. "I think that's a big part of it. We have a lot of different styles of play on our team, and I think that's good to have. We're not all a bunch of robots trying to play the same. We have a lot of variety on our team.
"I think one of the biggest things is we all really do learn from each other. We have a great coaching staff, but we all love learning from each other's mistakes.
"We just love seeing each other be successful."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf