That’s all Payne wants. He certainly wasn’t going to get it last year at third base, because the fiery Adrian Morales held that spot, or this year there, because LB Dantzler has seamlessly taken over for Morales. And while second base feels different to Payne, he said, “It’s a lot better feeling than being behind LB.”

When Tanner had Payne take ground balls at second this week, he thought Payne actually looked more comfortable than he looked at third base. But that wasn’t the main reason Tanner decided to give Payne a shot this weekend. More than anything, Tanner admired Payne’s resilience.

“Quite honestly, there were a couple points last year where it was really difficult for him,” Tanner said. “He got frustrated a little bit. But he keeps grinding it out. Guys that do that sometimes surface. He never went away. He had some tough days at practice last year and, really, I thought was immature a little bit as a freshman, which happens to a lot of them.

“But he’s much more physical now. He has a different body than he did a year ago. I kind of threw him in there because I thought he was the right kind of person. I didn’t know that he would have a pretty good weekend for us, but I did it because of the person that he is and I thought he deserved a chance.”