The bottom line of this baseball season through 46 games

[messageboardsuperhero]

Almost every single one of those "swing" things that we said before the season needed to happen for us to be successful has not happened. Think about it:

We needed Woodruff to be our ace. Nope.
We needed our returning veterans in the lineup to continue to improve or at the very least give us similar production as last year. Outside of Pirtle and to an extent Armstrong, that has not happened.
We needed Wes Rea to step up his power numbers to help replace Renfroe and give us 12+ bombs. Outside of one day against Holy Cross, he hasn't hit a single one.
We needed one or two of our catchers to step up and replace Ammo and Slaughter defensively. Nope.
We needed a few of our freshmen to step up and be ready to play. Outside of Collins's bat and some flashes from other guys, this hasn't happened.

Compound all this with three pretty key pitchers going down early in the season and our new Friday night starter going down as soon as he hits his stride- and it's a recipe for an underwhelming season. The only "question" that was answered in a good way was when Heck stepped up and took Frazier's spot. I know he's not quite the player Frazier was, but Heck has done his job very well.

Let's face it- this is just going to be one of those tough transition years. The good news is, most of our most talented players are freshmen, and the guys we're bringing in from the 2014-2015 classes are very talented as well. I really really wish we could have kept the momentum going from last season, but it is what it is. I hope the fanbase doesn't get too discouraged, because the future is still very bright.

Also, we're still likely going to make a regional- so if a down year for us is making a regional as a two or three seed, I think I can live with that in the grand scheme of things.

[Todd4State]

Good post.

We really needed Woodruff and Lindgren to be starters and not relief guys for us. I like Ross coming out of the bullpen better as opposed to starting.
We haven't been able to replace Renfroe and Frazier- and it has really hurt the offense. And guys like Rea and Detz in particular.
Gavin Collins is going to have to be the man this year and step it up. His inexperience is hurting him and us at times- but Randolph absolutely KILLS us.

The other good news is we are still in pretty good shape at making the postseason. We have 9 games to win 2-3.

[bulldogcountry1]

I can list a bunch of things that aren't going right. I also have a lot of problems with many of the things Cohen does, but to me, the biggest issue is the lack of leadership. There's plenty of communication and gentile pats on the behind, but I see no emotion out there. It's been like that since day 1. Someone needs to step up and get some energy going.

[BulldogBear]

FU Jobu?

[Goat Holder]

I agree with everything you say, but I will provide this insight:

- Woodruff is coming around and is now the Sunday starter. He should have been last week. If he can't do it, Laster might can.
- We have an awful lot of seniors and 4th year players on this team. I wouldn't quit on them yet. We were down and out on the 2011 team too and they have a similar makeup to this one. All it takes is for a few guys to get hot in the middle of the lineup.
- At this point, we can really only get better.

[Goat Holder]

the biggest issue is the lack of leadership. There's plenty of communication and gentile pats on the behind, but I see no emotion out there. It's been like that since day 1. Someone needs to step up and get some energy going.
That's been the case ever since they left Omaha. It's an issue with everybody, all over the country. One of the hardest things in coaching is to teach a team to deal with big time success. I think that sort of thing is new, even to Cohen.