Eric Hines Will Be A Regular Starter By The End Of March: Just A Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic related to the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral baseball beat reporter Theodore Fernandez explains why he believes freshman left fielder Eric Hines will emerge as a regular starter for Alabama by the end of the month of March.

Eric Hines hit the first home run of his career on Saturday for Alabama in the Crimson Tide's 8-7 win over ranked Oregon State. The Tuscaloosa product has had a great deal of hype around him since he first set foot on campus, and finally put his much-anticipated power on display with the solo blast.

Hines has not seen much action, with just nine at-bats over five games through Alabama's first three weekends. That is going to change extremely soon. The potential Hines brings to the table is far too great to be ignored with SEC play approaching.

Head coach Rob Vaughn has spoken extremely positively about Hines. He has said that the freshman does things that "mere mortals can't do" and has called Hines "the best kid ever" on multiple occasions. Everybody around the team is well-aware of the potential that the 2025 Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year brings to the table.

"Eric is going to be a superstar here," Vaughn said during the preseason. "It’s up to him and his development on if that’s in a month, 3 months, 6 months, or a year. But this guy is going to be a high draft pick coming out of here in a couple of years."

Hines' odds of seeing playing time are further increased by the struggles that regular starting left fielder Justin Osterhouse has had to start the season. Osterhouse is batting just .192 with a sub-.750 OPS and did not start in either of Alabama's first two games at the Frisco Classic. While it would be naive to write off the Purdue Fort Wayne transfer this early, his early struggles certainly contribute to the feeling that Hines should be getting more reps.

Alabama has just one more nonconference weekend series, against North Florida. Fully expect Hines to take multiple at-bats in those three games while inching closer to the everyday role that he will hold by the end of the season.