Tony Giannini left Ohio's 2017 fall season with a heavy task in front of him: to learn how to play third base.
The senior, who was an outfielder in his three previous years with the Bobcats, is still undergoing the transformation 26 games into Ohio's season. Giannini has committed a team-high 14 errors; the Bobcats' have 40 total errors errors in 2018. He has quickly learned why the position is nicknamed "the hot corner."
"I'm just getting used to it," Giannini said. "I feel like I'm athletic enough to perform there, but it's taken a little bit to get going."
The Carmel, Indiana, native was tabbed by coach Rob Smith as the team's third baseman with just three days left in Ohio's fall practice season. Giannini said he last played third base with the Southern Ohio Copperheads, a collegiate summer league team, in his freshman year.
With no practices or scrimmages from third base in the fall season, Giannini had just three months to prepare mentally and physically for his new position. He was already prepared for the latter — his athleticism is why Smith chose him to play third base — but he admitted that the former has been harder to master.
Giannini, who committed four errors in Ohio's first four games of the season, said that he struggled to find any mental comfort defensively through the Bobcats' first slate of games. As he began to garner experience, however, the mental comfort with the position grew.
The errors still flare up every so often — Giannini committed two errors in Ohio's three-game series last weekend — but he tries not to let any personal statistics affect him, especially with errors.
At third base, a position frequently peppered with fast ground balls and line drives, it can be tough for a scorekeeper to assign fault to the third baseman if a batted ball speeds by.
"I feel bad, honestly, for pitchers and letting the team down in that way," he said. "But at the same time, I don't really look at personal stats too much. I know a lot of it is subjective. There's balls hit that are really hard, and some plays that might be called errors that are not. Honestly, I don't really think about it too much."
Giannini said he struggles most with balls that are hit directly at him. When he has time to think about making the play, he struggles to actually do it. When he's forced to make a quick, reactionary play, he's a bit more successful.
Its highlight reel plays like those that stand out to Smith.
"You can't lose sight of the fact that, yeah he's got some errors, but he takes away some hits," Smith said. "He's made some really good plays. He's as good as anybody coming in on the ball, he's as good as anybody handling the bunt game. He's taken away hits."
Although Giannini will not finish 2018 with his best defensive year, he has a strong possibility of breaking nearly all of his career-highs at the plate. Offensively, Giannini has a .283 batting average, .336 on-base percentage and .425 slugging percentage — all well above his current personal highs.
The offense has helped steady Giannini's value with Ohio, but Smith said he doesn't try to compare offensive and defensive statistics in a player.
"I think offense and defense are two different components of the game," Smith said "I think he's doing a good job offensively. I think he's one of the guys we needed to have a little bit of a step offensively this year, and he's done that. I'm sure he'll continue to do that."
Smith believes that Giannini's defensive struggles will only continue to fade as he gains innings at third base, but the sixth-year coach was sympathetic toward Giannini's tough start.
"He was literally thrown into the fire at that position," Smith said. "So I think it's unfair to be overly critical given the fact that he's had significant less time than any infielder in our league to prepare for what is a difficult position."
