The roster lists my UVa girl Sara Larquier as a catcher only. At first, I was thinking no way, but after researching our new players, I can now understand the thinking a little better. However, I am still hesitant to just hand her position over to Bianca Cruz or Courtney Bures (who is more of a middle-infielder anyway). These ladies need to prove that they can produce against the talented pitchers in the NPF before they bump Sara anywhere.

Even assuming that one of these ladies proves herself, what about Sara, the third-leading HR hitter last year? You gotta have her bat in the lineup, right? Does she take over the starting catcher job from Callie? As admittedly biased as I am, even I think Callie's arm is much better behind the plate.

Does Sara become the main Designated Player? Only if we change our thinking about the outfield. Last season, the team most often had Morris, Barber, and Hughes in the field (when Kretschman was missing, as she will be most if not all of this season). The team tended to use Jessica Moore as the DP, especially toward the end of the season, when they finally understood that her bat should be in the lineup. (Moore was third on the team in slugging, and behind only Amber in at-bats per HR.) If Larquier is our main DP, then Moore needs to be in the outfield, which is something I said most of last year anyway. Although Hughes was just barely behind Moore in average (.220 vs .224), Hughes had a much lower OBP (.278 vs .415) and slugging percentage (.260 vs .612). Moore should play before Hughes, in my opinion. And if Cambria Miranda can translate her talent to the NPF, then even Nicole Barber will need to watch her heels.

Another thing to consider regarding Larquier is fielding. Yes, she did have 5 errors last year, but I remember several spectacular plays as well. (Specifically, see July 6, July 19, and August 25, Championship Game 4.) There is also the intangible of just having her out there. I was close enough to the field to hear much of her chatter during the season, and I think she was instrumental in keeping the team loose yet focused. This isn't something that can easily be replaced, so we need to be very careful here. Team chemistry can be a delicate thing.