Today's baseball thoughts, Arizona and Samford

[MsStateBaseball]

I'm really not surprised at the outcome. I think we are a really good club.

Brown, Laster, Sexton, Tatum, McCord. You can't go wrong right now.

Dakota Hudson and Paul Young are your big wildcards. All indications they are dominant. Cohen lights up when talking about Young but we as fans need to see him perform. Goodness at the talent.

Not going to mention about the injured, beating a dead horse.

Really don't see us losing before Alabama. We need everyone back next weekend to get some work in.

[smootness]

We outhit and out-produced a really good Arizona lineup without Collins, Humphreys, Smith, or Rooker. And our pitching looks better than anyone expected at this point in the year. We're striking out more than 1 per IP as a team and struck out 21 today's vs. 2 BBs.

This team has the capability of scraping and getting on base and manufacturing runs like the 2013 team did, but we also have a good bit more overall pop despite not having anyone on Renfroe's level individually.

[Jacksondevildog]

Did Rooker play this weekend?

[DudyDawg]

Did Rooker play this weekend?

Not yet. Reynolds been DH

[Todd4State]

Those wins over Arizona are huge because of our SOS. If we had lost those two, we probably have to win the rest of our midweek games to host. Or pretty close to it. It's going to get the attention of people like D1baseball. Arizona has a guy that won the Cape Cod League batting title TWICE- and they have some really good players. And we pretty much shut them down. Fitts getting out of that eighth inning jam was a huge part of our season. And I think the momentum and energy carried over today.

Western Kentucky is going to be pretty dangerous- and those are going to be pretty big midweek games for us. Winning the Governor's Cup would help us out a lot too- as well as Memphis and South Alabama on the road. USM isn't looking very good so far, so we need to win that game because it could end up being a bad loss if we don't.

[Todd4State]

We outhit and out-produced a really good Arizona lineup without Collins, Humphreys, Smith, or Rooker. And our pitching looks better than anyone expected at this point in the year. We're striking out more than 1 per IP as a team and struck out 21 today's vs. 2 BBs.

This team has the capability of scraping and getting on base and manufacturing runs like the 2013 team did, but we also have a good bit more overall pop despite not having anyone on Renfroe's level individually.

I think this is potentially Cohen's best team offensively. I was disappointed with CT and Demarcus in terms of their small game abilities. They should have been doing what Robson, Gridley, and Vickerson are doing for us with their speed and bunting. I think CT was just too banged up and Demarcus was just too raw to truly catch up to SEC play at an All-SEC level. We do have a lot more power options as well and that helps balance the speed out so that we aren't just a punch and judy team.

Also, our catching and our defense is probably better than the 2013 team at every position other than RF.

[Smitty]

Only 7 K's for our hitters in two games yesterday. Very nice.

Great to see Sexton dealing. If Hudson and Tatum keep it up we will have a great problem on our hands.

9 of Ross' 10 outs were groundouts. Hell yeah.

Glad to see some adjustments from Rea. He knows his weakness (in) and has in the past taken those outside fastballs (his pitch). 2B the other way early in the count when he got it yesterday in the 3rd. Saw it 1st pitch in the 6th and attacked it.. His stance isn't the only change, its his approach why he hit those doubles vs Zona. Lets see what happens when teams start busting him in if he can handle that pitch now.

.
.
.

Still too many damn bunt calls.. early. Glad Reynolds popped his bunt up (nearly caught by the catcher). We then choose to actually hit and sore 4 runs putting the game away. That shit costs games and when you are trying to host you can't give away shit! Theres no explanation for it.. Its Perkins up the middle all over again.

[Todd4State]

Only 7 K's for our hitters in two games yesterday. Very nice.

Great to see Sexton dealing. If Hudson and Tatum keep it up we will have a great problem on our hands.

9 of Ross' 10 outs were groundouts. Hell yeah.

Glad to see some adjustments from Rea. He knows his weakness (in) and has in the past taken those outside fastballs (his pitch). 2B the other way early in the count when he got it yesterday in the 3rd. Saw it 1st pitch in the 6th and attacked it.. His stance isn't the only change, its his approach why he hit those doubles vs Zona. Lets see what happens when teams start busting him in if he can handle that pitch now.

.
.
.

Still too many damn bunt calls.. early. Glad Reynolds popped his bunt up (nearly caught by the catcher). We then choose to actually hit and sore 4 runs putting the game away. That shit costs games and when you are trying to host you can't give away shit! Theres no explanation for it.. Its Perkins up the middle all over again.

There is an explanation for it- even though you won't like it. Their pitcher had an ERA of 1.64 going into the game. We played for a run to get a lead and then built off of it. Gridley bunts, we get three runs out of it- and essentially won the game. One of those times where we swung away was a slash play where we faked a bunt and it caused their defense to be out of position and we got another run out of it. Then Vickerson gets a bunt hit and then comes around to score another run.

Bunting- not sacrificing is a BIG reason why we are better this year offensively. Robson, Gridley, and Vickerson are really good at it- and can get hits off of bunts. And once they are on then they start stealing bases and running around they start having to throw fastballs to guys like Rea, Humphreys, and Rooker making it easier on them to hit extra base hits. If we didn't bunt we would be wasting our personnel by not using their speed.

The difference is we are better at it than we have been under Cohen at any other point in time- and the players have bought into it as well.

Now, you may not like it, but it works. And it fits the types of players that we recruit. You'll just have to be unhappy while we are winning.

[Bully13]

Todd, did you really like that bunt early in the game after the pitcher had walked the 1st 2 hitters? wasn't that a .315 hitter or so that was asked to bunt? don't you force the pitcher whose at least temporarily lost his confidence to find the strike zone throw a strike to a .315 hitter at that early point of the game?

[Smitty]

Don't give me ERA's after 2 starts. Gridleys bunt did not lead to 3 runs. Two guys getting on to lead off the inning did. It was 2 runs that inning by the way, the 3rd inning. Same as two guys getting on via the walk and we immediately bunt in the 2nd and get ZERO runs because we bailed a wild pitcher out trying to bunt with Cody Brown and he fouls two off (like too many of our bunts) and gets behind and K's. And that did not put the game away, as they tied it up later in the game 2-2. 3rd inning bunts by our 3 hole hitter won't get it done against the SEC. Sorry but you're wrong on this again. Play for the big inning early.

Once league play starts its different baseball. Meaning, much better fielding and pitching meaning Robsons game that works vs slop won't be as effective vs talent. We will have to HIT. We are winning because we are hitting it and pitching it and fielding it. Not because we are getting half our bunts down while fouling off and getting behind the other half.

[Todd4State]

Todd, did you really like that bunt early in the game after the pitcher had walked the 1st 2 hitters? wasn't that a .315 hitter or so that was asked to bunt? don't you force the pitcher whose at least temporarily lost his confidence to find the strike zone throw a strike to a .315 hitter at that early point of the game?

Which game was it? And who was the hitter?

If you are talking about Gridley the next inning- there is a chance he beats the bunt out and we scored three runs in that inning even with the sacrifice.

If you are talking about Cody Brown he should have gotten the bunt down- we score a run because the next hitter grounded out to second and I'm pretty sure Arizona would have conceded the run at that point.

To your point about the pitcher being wild and bunting- I'm OK showing bunt but the hitter HAS TO make sure that it's a strike and not offer at it if it isn't. Once the pitcher throws a strike, then it's go ahead and bunt on or swing away. Cody sometimes has a problem trying to do too much when he is at the plate- which was what happened in that instance. And usually when you try to do too much in baseball it doesn't end well.

So, to answer your question I would have liked for Cody to have at least gotten the bunt down if he's going to do it. If you are going to bunt a lot be really good at it so that you can use it as a weapon.

[Smitty]

"He should have gotten the bunt down"

My point exactly. Far too often we don't. Perkins should be good at running up the middle**

We didn't score 3 runs that inning Todd. If we are bunting our 3 hole hitter in the early innings it will absolutely cost us runs and in turn games and in turn a host spot. You can't give up an inch when trying to host and hosting is extremely important. You don't play for one in the 2nd and 3rd damn innings. At the top of the lineup with a .500 hitter!

[Todd4State]

Don't give me ERA's after 2 starts. Gridleys bunt did not lead to 3 runs. Two guys getting on to lead off the inning did. It was 2 runs that inning by the way, the 3rd inning. Same as two guys getting on via the walk and we immediately bunt in the 2nd and get ZERO runs because we bailed a wild pitcher out trying to bunt with Cody Brown and he fouls two off (like too many of our bunts) and gets behind and K's. And that did not put the game away, as they tied it up later in the game 2-2. 3rd inning bunts by our 3 hole hitter won't get it done against the SEC. Sorry but you're wrong on this again. Play for the big inning early.

Once league play starts its different baseball. Meaning, much better fielding and pitching meaning Robsons game that works vs slop won't be as effective vs talent. We will have to HIT. We are winning because we are hitting it and pitching it and fielding it. Not because we are getting half our bunts down while fouling off and getting behind the other half.

However you want to look at it. You may not like it, but it works. My bad on the ONLY two runs scored.

Way to ignore Holland bunts single in the FOUR run inning we had, and Vickerson's bunt single. Gridley won't be our three hole hitter in SEC play, so you at least you will have that to be happy about.

And did you really just call a PAC 12 team "slop"? I'm "wrong" but we keep scoring runs and winning games? Maybe I should just go to Vegas and start gambling because apparently I'm the luckiest guy in the world and am constantly defying statistics.

We are hitting it- but we are MAXIMIZING it because of the things that we do and it makes it easier on our hitters to hit. When you are putting runners on because they are getting hits, walking, and yes BUNTING and then they are stealing bases and getting into scoring position and staying away from double plays it helps. We are pitching it and defending it because we limit the other team from doing the things that we like to do. See Lovelady and his one man defensive show behind the plate. Hell, I bet we set a team record for bunt hits already this year.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/47102766/anthony-castrovince-debate-over-sacrifice-bunts-continues

You'll actually like this. I got it from Paul's site.

[Todd4State]

"He should have gotten the bunt down"

My point exactly. Far too often we don't. Perkins should be good at running up the middle**

We didn't score 3 runs that inning Todd. If we are bunting our 3 hole hitter in the early innings it will absolutely cost us runs and in turn games and in turn a host spot. You can't give up an inch when trying to host and hosting is extremely important. You don't play for one in the 2nd and 3rd damn innings. At the top of the lineup with a .500 hitter!

A good hitter is successful 30% of the time. I guess we shouldn't try hitting since we aren't as successful at hitting as we are getting bunts down.

What you are wanting to do is like Croom making Omarr Conner a drop back passer. Get back to me when Gridley hits .500 for the season and is still batting clean up in May.

We won't lose a host spot as long as we keep winning and keep maximizing our talent- which is what we are doing.

[Todd4State]

And the first of probably many times I will link:

http://www.billjamesonline.com/bunting_for_a_hit/

[Smitty]

We've gone through the numbers over the years.. We've seen the outcomes over the years. There's a reason everyone sees it pretty much the way I do now. You love to show the anecdotal "here's where it 'worked" without taking the totality into context, numerous bunt fails, etc. Also this has been a theme of yours since 2011, including drags when discussing sacs. 5 years of the Todd playbook there.

And reading comprehension no I did not call Arizona slop. Robson is 2-9 against them. We won't be able to do the same things effectively against the SEC as Alcorn and Cincinnati.....

[smootness]

Once league play starts its different baseball. Meaning, much better fielding and pitching meaning Robsons game that works vs slop won't be as effective vs talent. We will have to HIT.

Oh, dang. Might want to make sure Cohen knows this, as this year will be the first time he's encountered SEC league play**

Look, I agree with you for the most part. We do bunt for hits a lot, and that certainly isn't a bad strategy with some of the guys we have. With regard to sacrifice bunting, I generally agree with you, especially when it's moving a runner on 1st over with 0 outs. However, I'm ok with it if you're moving 2 runners over with 0 outs. Your odds for both 1 run and 2 runs go up in that case, though your odds for 3+ do go down.

The bottom line is, Cohen is going to bunt more than you like. It's part of what he likes to do. We don't do it so much that it kills us, and there are actually far more times we do in which it isn't detrimental than you seem to believe.

But either way, we're going to bunt. We can either continue to state over and over and over again that we don't like it, or we can just accept it and discuss other things.

[Todd4State]

We've gone through the numbers over the years.. We've seen the outcomes over the years. There's a reason everyone sees it pretty much the way I do now. You love to show the anecdotal "here's where it 'worked" without taking the totality into context, numerous bunt fails, etc. Also this has been a theme of yours since 2011, including drags when discussing sacs. 5 years of the Todd playbook there.

And reading comprehension no I did not call Arizona slop. Robson is 2-9 against them. We won't be able to do the same things effectively against the SEC as Alcorn and Cincinnati.....

That's ironic coming from you.

How can you say that we won't be able to do the same things against the SEC when we JUST DID IT to Arizona? Who you are now back tracking and "not calling slop". If we do it to them- we will be able to do it against others. We actually did it better to them than we did against some of the SWAC schools. Just like Vandy does it in SEC play- except we will have more power.

I've got 12 instances of this working this year so far- and a NC round appearance. Which is coincidentally the furthest our school has ever gone in the postseason.

But Sly, if you want to keep guys like Robson at first base the whole season you're just going to have to be unhappy.

A theme of yours has been getting banned every baseball season despite everyone "agreeing with you."

[Todd4State]

Oh, dang. Might want to make sure Cohen knows this, as this year will be the first time he's encountered SEC league play**

Look, I agree with you for the most part. We do bunt for hits a lot, and that certainly isn't a bad strategy with some of the guys we have. With regard to sacrifice bunting, I generally agree with you, especially when it's moving a runner on 1st over with 0 outs. However, I'm ok with it if you're moving 2 runners over with 0 outs. Your odds for both 1 run and 2 runs go up in that case, though your odds for 3+ do go down.

The bottom line is, Cohen is going to bunt more than you like. It's part of what he likes to do. We don't do it so much that it kills us, and there are actually far more times we do in which it isn't detrimental than you seem to believe.

But either way, we're going to bunt. We can either continue to state over and over and over again that we don't like it, or we can just accept it and discuss other things.

Or Hell could freeze over.

[Smitty]

"Keep Robson at 1st"?? Your illogic is showing again.

[Bully13]

Which game was it? And who was the hitter?

If you are talking about Gridley the next inning- there is a chance he beats the bunt out and we scored three runs in that inning even with the sacrifice.

If you are talking about Cody Brown he should have gotten the bunt down- we score a run because the next hitter grounded out to second and I'm pretty sure Arizona would have conceded the run at that point.

To your point about the pitcher being wild and bunting- I'm OK showing bunt but the hitter HAS TO make sure that it's a strike and not offer at it if it isn't. Once the pitcher throws a strike, then it's go ahead and bunt on or swing away. Cody sometimes has a problem trying to do too much when he is at the plate- which was what happened in that instance. And usually when you try to do too much in baseball it doesn't end well.

So, to answer your question I would have liked for Cody to have at least gotten the bunt down if he's going to do it. If you are going to bunt a lot be really good at it so that you can use it as a weapon.

I'm talking about yesterday's zona game when it was very early in the game. like the 2nd I think. 1st 2 guys walk. pitcher can't find the strike zone and a guy that was batting .315 is asked to sacrifice. no way you bunt there with the pitcher struggling to find the strike zone. not with a .315 hitter. not in the 2nd inning. no way. just can't do it.

[Bully13]

gotta let Brown hit in that situation. gotta play for a big inning at that point.

[War Machine Dawg]

Todd, did you really like that bunt early in the game after the pitcher had walked the 1st 2 hitters? wasn't that a .315 hitter or so that was asked to bunt? don't you force the pitcher whose at least temporarily lost his confidence to find the strike zone throw a strike to a .315 hitter at that early point of the game?

This. Todd knows his baseball, but he's gone full retard to defend bunting in the second damn inning with a .315 hitter at the plate. It was a shitty decision, period. Bunting for hits - which we ask guys like Robson and Vickerson to do - is fine. But we weren't bunting for a hit with them in that situation. No, we were asking Cody Brown (did I mention he's hitting .315?) to straight up sacrifice. In the SECOND DAMN INNING. I like Cohen, but bullshit calls like that are why I say he's baseball Les Miles. It was stupid, even if it winds up working.

[I seen it dawg]

Smitty and Todd you guys should just agree to disagree and ignore each other. It's the same argument everytime yall crank it up. Zero new info or stance on the bunting. And it ain't changing. May as well learn to live with it.

[engie]

I'm talking about yesterday's zona game when it was very early in the game. like the 2nd I think. 1st 2 guys walk. pitcher can't find the strike zone and a guy that was batting .315 is asked to sacrifice. no way you bunt there with the pitcher struggling to find the strike zone. not with a .315 hitter. not in the 2nd inning. no way. just can't do it.

Didn't he take the first strike? Then bunt the second one foul? He gets that bunt down -- we still score that inning. Seems obvious he was going to make the guy throw a strike first anyway. I wasn't convinced he was actually going to try to bunt until he fouled the second one off. Either way...

I didn't like the call -- but it sure wasn't a big enough deal to be talking about a day later in a game we won comfortably against a team only 2 years removed from a national title. No talk of Lovelady's slash which was absolutely picture perfect against the wheel play...a play we absolutely dominated them on once they showed it...or all the success we have had in the drag bunting game. I love that part of our game.

[I seen it dawg]

These are the types of games to try things and give opponents more to prepare for.

[Todd4State]

Didn't he take the first strike? Then bunt the second one foul? He gets that bunt down -- we still score that inning. Seems obvious he was going to make the guy throw a strike first anyway. I wasn't convinced he was actually going to try to bunt until he fouled the second one off. Either way...

I didn't like the call -- but it sure wasn't a big enough deal to be talking about a day later in a game we won comfortably against a team only 2 years removed from a national title. No talk of Lovelady's slash which was absolutely picture perfect against the wheel play...a play we absolutely dominated them on once they showed it...or all the success we have had in the drag bunting game. I love that part of our game.

I mentioned it with Reynolds. It was just conveniently ignored.

[smootness]

Didn't he take the first strike? Then bunt the second one foul? He gets that bunt down -- we still score that inning. Seems obvious he was going to make the guy throw a strike first anyway. I wasn't convinced he was actually going to try to bunt until he fouled the second one off. Either way...

I didn't like the call -- but it sure wasn't a big enough deal to be talking about a day later in a game we won comfortably against a team only 2 years removed from a national title. No talk of Lovelady's slash which was absolutely picture perfect against the wheel play...a play we absolutely dominated them on once they showed it...or all the success we have had in the drag bunting game. I love that part of our game.

Yep, Arizona executed that horribly. First, they only ran it with the 3B and SS; the 2B stayed directly behind the bag. Second, the shortstop was breaking so early, he was almost at 3B by the time the pitch crossed the plate and gave the batter plenty of time to recognize it and pull the bunt back to swing.

They essentially had defenders on the first base bag, the second base bag, and the third base bag, and that was it. That's an easy base hit if you pull back and swing away.

[Bully13]

Didn't he take the first strike? Then bunt the second one foul? He gets that bunt down -- we still score that inning. Seems obvious he was going to make the guy throw a strike first anyway. I wasn't convinced he was actually going to try to bunt until he fouled the second one off. Either way...

I didn't like the call -- but it sure wasn't a big enough deal to be talking about a day later in a game we won comfortably against a team only 2 years removed from a national title. No talk of Lovelady's slash which was absolutely picture perfect against the wheel play...a play we absolutely dominated them on once they showed it...or all the success we have had in the drag bunting game. I love that part of our game.

regardless, it was a bone headed call. you don't do that in the 2nd 17 inning with a guy hitting .315 after lead off walks to put men on 1st and 2nd

why must you suck off every bone headed decision by our coaches?

[smootness]

regardless, it was a bone headed call. you don't do that in the 2nd 17 inning with a guy hitting .315 after lead off walks to put men on 1st and 2nd

why must you suck off every bone headed decision by our coaches?

Runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs is one of the times I'm most ok with a sac bunt. Your run expectancy goes up a decent amount when you shift from 1B-2B with no outs to 2B-3B and 1 out.

As always, it depends on situation (batter, runners, who is due up, etc.) as to whether it's a good decision or not in any one instance...but it definitely can be a very good decision. You eliminate the double play and give yourself a good chance at 2 runs.

It certainly is debatable enough that going on and on like this over it is gigantic overkill.