Eastern Illinois game thread

[msstate7]

Geez... We cannot hit

[Bothrops]

What I've seen so far is shit.

[RoverDog]

Freshman pitcher making us look bad....already 3 Ks

[mparkerfd20]

Bunting and leaving runners stranded as usual.

[Dawg61]

Cohen bunts with 0 outs and we don't score again. Cohen is officially a dumbass.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Can anyone give me one damn good reason why we're sac bunting against an 0-11 Eastern Illinois after a leadoff single in the 2nd inning? Of course it really wouldn't have made a difference, since he was left stranded on second after two Ks...

[JohnnyQuid]

We look bad. Another 1st to 2nd sac bunt in the 2nd inning for no runs. And we apparently can't hit a 12-6 curveball from a noname freshman

[messageboardsuperhero]

Part of me hopes we get down a couple of runs early so we can actually get a chance to see what the offense can do without Cohen taking an out from us every inning. Of course if we keep striking out like this, it won't really matter.

[bulldogcountry1]

My question has been answered. Cohen made no adjustments.

[Percho]

I wish someone would run the stats for the last 2 or 3 years on the total number of runs we have scored with 0 outs 1 outs and then 2 outs. I believe we score a lot with 2 outs because we are forced to swing the bats.

[JohnnyQuid]

Lol whys this team changing pitchers? This kid was owning us

[msstate7]

Lol whys this team changing pitchers? This kid was owning us

Their staff needs confidence so they wanna let as many as possible pitch vs us

[Tbonewannabe]

Our offense doesn't work unless we get walks.

[sandwolf]

There you go Rea! 3 RBI double!

[Mjoelner34]

Here is how this will play out. 1: We'll hold them at 1. 2: We'll eventually score 2 (in separate innings) by bunting. 3: Coins will feel vindicated and continue to play this type of ball the rest of the season strength of opponent be damned.

ETA: Didn't count on them pulling Cy Young and inserting somebody from our pen!

[sandwolf]

Finally got a damn hit.

[messageboardsuperhero]

LOL, their coach is such a dumbass.

[msstate7]

I want fitts, Daniel brown, and gentry to get an inning tonight. I don't want their next inning at Kentucky

[preachermatt83]

LOL, their coach is such a dumbass.

Nah, he's gonna start the freshman this weekend. You could read his lips. He said "I need you to start this weekend".

[sandwolf]

And there is Humphreys with an RBI double.

[preachermatt83]

LOL, their coach is such a dumbass.

Nah, he's gonna start the freshman this weekend. You could read his lips. He said "I need you to start this weekend".

[messageboardsuperhero]

Wow, their outfielders blow. Hump is strong though... He didn't hit that well at all, and it almost landed on the track.

[preachermatt83]

I think Gridley should still be getting some time at 3rd. I'd platoon he and spruill.

[preachermatt83]

Maybe Ross getting a haircut will help him to stop stinking it up.

[engie]

Just tried to bunt Hump with 2 on and no outs. F. M. L.

[Mjoelner34]

Just tried to bunt Hump who is 2 for 2 with 2 on and no outs. F. M. L.

I seem to remember a game last year or the year before where Rea had already hit 2 hr's and Cohen had him bunt his next time at bat.

[sandwolf]

Damn Hump. Gets bailed out of a pop up with a balk call, and then comes right back and does it again.

[maroonmania]

Just tried to bunt Hump with 2 on and no outs. F. M. L.

Geez, this crap will never stop. If we went back to juiced bats and pulled all of DNF fences in 25 feet Cohen would still be bunting like a mad man.

[msstate7]

We have no power, yet we strike out constantly... Bad combination

[confucius say]

We have no power, yet we strike out constantly... Bad combination

I'm out of pocket and our stats suck. Score please?

[JohnnyQuid]

I'm out of pocket and our stats suck. Score please?

5-2

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm out of pocket and our stats suck. Score please?

5-2 us going to T8.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Paul Young stretching in the pen!!!

[msstate7]

Paul Young stretching in the pen!!!

Wonder if it's just a bullpen session or we're thinking of bringing him in

[messageboardsuperhero]

Wonder if it's just a bullpen session or we're thinking of bringing him in

So he and Butch Thompson are going to have a regularly scheduled session in the middle of a game? He may not come in, but I seriously doubt he's just down there for a bullpen session.

[msstate7]

Jim says lefty in pen

[HancockCountyDog]

Just checks our game app, and it's depressing that we got out hit in this game.

I'm happy we won, but our offense can't simply get things going.

[Tbonewannabe]

Our offense sucks if we don't get walks.

[maroonmania]

Well, if I'm supposed to feel better about our team after tonights win, I don't.

[CJDAWG85]

We only scored 5 runs and got out hit by a winless baseball team?

[Quaoarsking]

We're whining about not getting the most hits in a game now?

[msstate7]

We only scored 5 runs and got out hit by a winless baseball team?

Lsu-southern (not usm) 2-2 in 10th

Texas- ut Arlington 2-2 in 9th

Davidson beat unc

Usce-winthrop 3-3 in 9th

Se Missouri st over ark 3-1 in 7th

... I'm gonna be just happy we won

[Homedawg]

I don't like bunting in the early innings. And I don't like bunting w a runner on second and no outs unless it's the winning run in the last. But we have hitting issues. We can't score in innings we bunt or don't bunt. We aren't hitting well at all w runners on. Needless to say. It's bad. It can only improve I suppose.......

[CJDAWG85]

I'm happy we won, but this should've been basically a glorified scrimmage. Just turn everyone loose and try to break out of this offensive slump and let everyone try to get some work in and have fun again.


I don't care about what everyone else is doing. I'm not a fan of them. I care about MSU and what they do on the diamond.

[maroonmania]

I'm happy we won, but this should've been basically a glorified scrimmage. Just turn everyone loose and try to break out of this offensive slump and let everyone try to get some work in and have fun again.


I don't care about what everyone else is doing. I'm not a fan of them. I care about MSU and what they do on the diamond.

Exactly, if this was an isolated event that we score a meager 5 runs against a garbage pitching staff you could just throw it off to stuff happens. Unfortunately, its a consistent trend with us to struggle to score runs so its just more of the same. Yes, our bullpen is a big problem but anyone just totally ignoring our offense is NOT paying attention. We act like we are suppose to have a pen where we can score 3 or 4 early runs and get a 1 or 2 run lead and then automatically be able to hold that lead the rest of the way without scoring any more and just shutting out the opponent past the 5th inning but that's just not reality. Guys like Girodo (as a SR), Lindgren (as a JR) and Holder that pitch like All-Americans are not going to be on your staff every year. Its not like we have any pitchers on our staff actually giving us quality innings that turned down Top 10 round money to come pitch for us.

[Brando]

Were never going to have the chance to break out of a offensive slump bunting every dang inning with the lead-off runner aboard. Turn them loose and let them play.

[Homedawg]

Were never going to have the chance to break out of a offensive slump bunting every dang inning with the lead-off runner aboard. Turn them loose and let them play.

I get it, and I don't care for bunting every time either. However, when we don't get the lead off man on we don't score. So that let them hit theory doesn't float. So they can only be turned loose w no outs and runners on?
Eta, Alabama score 8 runs w 2 outs bunting or not bunting didn't have one damn thing to do with it. They were all w 2 outs!

[Brando]

No, that's not what I'm saying. Bunting has its time and place. A team like we played today, we shouldn't have to bunt unless we are working on bunting. Now I also understand that we aren't as good pitching wise as we have been but that will work itself out. Still, I don't agree with every time we get a runner on 1st, bunt him over and give them an out. I didn't say anything about Bama. It's our damn fault they scored those runs.

[Brando]

You turn them loose, a couple guys put up good numbers today, that gets there confidence up. Then come weekend, there confidence up, they hit the ball. Then the pitchers can relax a little and do what they are supposed to do and pitch. Then what do you know, were playing good ball. Hell if we get on a roll, we could beat anyone. One thing certain in baseball, You cant take a knee or run the ball to waste clock. You always have to throw the ball over the plate. You do that, no telling what happens. It only takes one good swing to change a game.

[chef dixon]

Besides the W there is nothing new here. The worst part is we didn't even get a chance to try anything new with the pen because we were scared we would actually blow the game to this team.

[War Machine Dawg]

I don't like bunting in the early innings. And I don't like bunting w a runner on second and no outs unless it's the winning run in the last. But we have hitting issues. We can't score in innings we bunt or don't bunt. We aren't hitting well at all w runners on. Needless to say. It's bad. It can only improve I suppose.......

More and more of y'all are finally coming around on this. Sacrifice bunting prior to the 7th inning at the very earliest is counterproductive. Cohen's offensive approach isn't aggressive. It's downright retarded. Cue Todd to defend the cluster**** of an offense and say our only problem is the bullpen. (Yes, bullpen is the biggest problem. But offense is hot on it's heels.)

[mstatefan91]

I was there. It was interesting to me that, in the top of the 9th, EIU had one runner on with no outs and Laster was 2-0 in the count. I definitely saw Cohen and Thompson step up out of the dugout when, just then, Cody Walker got up out of his crouching stance behind the plate to trot out to Laster and give him a talk. Cohen shook his head and stepped back into the dugout with Thompson following....


So now our catcher decides whether we keep a pitcher in or not?! Seriously? I'm not making this up. I'm glad that Laster got the win but that's just dumb...

I'm starting to understand some of our pitching woes. Too much lee way with the players themselves.

[maroonmania]

More and more of y'all are finally coming around on this. Sacrifice bunting prior to the 7th inning at the very earliest is counterproductive. Cohen's offensive approach isn't aggressive. It's downright retarded. Cue Todd to defend the cluster**** of an offense and say our only problem is the bullpen. (Yes, bullpen is the biggest problem. But offense is hot on it's heels.)

I'm now convinced that Cohen has a major issue with his offensive philosophy. I, and probably others, had always blown off all of the excessive sacrifice bunting early in Cohen's MSU tenure to not having the most talented hitters around and the totally dead bats and balls being used. Now, with significant upgrades in overall talent plus a much livelier ball we seem to be bunting MORE THAN EVER. Its beyond frustrating at this point to have the most SAC bunts in the SEC and the fewest HRs. We've also got to be near the very bottom of the SEC in total number of extra base hits.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm now convinced that Cohen has a major issue with his offensive philosophy. I, and probably others, had always blown off all of the excessive sacrifice bunting early in Cohen's MSU tenure to not having the most talented hitters around and the totally dead bats and balls being used. Now, with significant upgrades in overall talent plus a much livelier ball we seem to be bunting MORE THAN EVER. Its beyond frustrating at this point to have the most SAC bunts in the SEC and the fewest HRs. We've also got to be near the very bottom of the SEC in total number of extra base hits.

I was willing to buy that for a while, too. But when you've got guys like Hunter Renfroe, Frazier, Nick Vickerson, etc. dropping bunts all the time then there should be some questions. We've definitely upgraded the offensive talent, but we aren't turning them loose. It's frustrating to only get 1-2 years of production from some of these supposed big time hitters. And it's telling to me that these guys all seem to explode over the summers when they go off and work with different hitting coaches.

What perplexes me is why the change in Cohen's offensive philosophy? Everywhere he was before coming to State he was a power hitting coach who also had good knowledge of aggressive small ball. But once he got here all we've heard is how big our park is and how we can't really hit for power at The Dude and need to do things differently. But I never really bought that, especially after watching opponents come in here and launch it out of the yard without any real problems. I think Cohen has overthought the "problem" and compounded it. Go look at the dimensions of Swayze in Oxford and you'll see The Dude is roughly the same dimensions, maybe 10 feet of difference in the deepest part. But somehow Swayze is considered a band box when it comes to power and The Dude is the power graveyard. Cohen needs to get back to what he did at UK, NWSU, and FL.

[bulldogcountry1]

I think he's too stubborn to make any real change mid-season. I think he's going to ride this out for this season, with the only exceptions being letting Hump, Rea, or Collins swing away in one of his typical bunt scenarios if they are on a hot streak.

[maroonmania]

I was willing to buy that for a while, too. But when you've got guys like Hunter Renfroe, Frazier, Nick Vickerson, etc. dropping bunts all the time then there should be some questions. We've definitely upgraded the offensive talent, but we aren't turning them loose. It's frustrating to only get 1-2 years of production from some of these supposed big time hitters. And it's telling to me that these guys all seem to explode over the summers when they go off and work with different hitting coaches.

What perplexes me is why the change in Cohen's offensive philosophy? Everywhere he was before coming to State he was a power hitting coach who also had good knowledge of aggressive small ball. But once he got here all we've heard is how big our park is and how we can't really hit for power at The Dude and need to do things differently. But I never really bought that, especially after watching opponents come in here and launch it out of the yard without any real problems. I think Cohen has overthought the "problem" and compounded it. Go look at the dimensions of Swayze in Oxford and you'll see The Dude is roughly the same dimensions, maybe 10 feet of difference in the deepest part. But somehow Swayze is considered a band box when it comes to power and The Dude is the power graveyard. Cohen needs to get back to what he did at UK, NWSU, and FL.

I don't think its so much the dimensions of DNF that makes it a pitcher's park, think its just more that where the field is located the ball just doesn't seem to carry very well. I will say though that if Cohen is going to be this stubborn about playing "small ball" he should have just pushed all the fences at DNF out 10 more feet rather than pulling in left field by 10 feet.

[Todd4State]

More and more of y'all are finally coming around on this. Sacrifice bunting prior to the 7th inning at the very earliest is counterproductive. Cohen's offensive approach isn't aggressive. It's downright retarded. Cue Todd to defend the cluster**** of an offense and say our only problem is the bullpen. (Yes, bullpen is the biggest problem. But offense is hot on it's heels.)

MSU fans are the only baseball fans that I have ever seen that surmise that the way to overcome a bad bullpen is to score more runs.

[Todd4State]

I was willing to buy that for a while, too. But when you've got guys like Hunter Renfroe, Frazier, Nick Vickerson, etc. dropping bunts all the time then there should be some questions. We've definitely upgraded the offensive talent, but we aren't turning them loose. It's frustrating to only get 1-2 years of production from some of these supposed big time hitters. And it's telling to me that these guys all seem to explode over the summers when they go off and work with different hitting coaches.

What perplexes me is why the change in Cohen's offensive philosophy? Everywhere he was before coming to State he was a power hitting coach who also had good knowledge of aggressive small ball. But once he got here all we've heard is how big our park is and how we can't really hit for power at The Dude and need to do things differently. But I never really bought that, especially after watching opponents come in here and launch it out of the yard without any real problems. I think Cohen has overthought the "problem" and compounded it. Go look at the dimensions of Swayze in Oxford and you'll see The Dude is roughly the same dimensions, maybe 10 feet of difference in the deepest part. But somehow Swayze is considered a band box when it comes to power and The Dude is the power graveyard. Cohen needs to get back to what he did at UK, NWSU, and FL.

You never really followed Cohen very closely then. He's always had a small ball component to his offense. The difference is he did have some power hitters. As I have said before- our offense is designed to have 4-5 power guys and 4-5 speed guys. It seems like we've always had to deal with some bullshit injuries or something crazy every year that Cohen has been here- see Gavin Collins this year. That's tipped the scales more towards the small ball component. That's why I was pissed when I found out Collins was hurt. You look at our offense without Collins- our only power source is Rea and Humphreys and sometimes Rooker when he is in the lineup.

And BTW on Collins- I have very serious doubts that he will have an impact for us this year. As I did when I first heard about his injury.

At this point it's really a matter of getting power guys to school and developing them. In the meantime we will likely continue to use the strengths of the players that we have- which is their speed. As long as we keep scoring 4-6 runs per game, we will win our share of games.

[Todd4State]

Lsu-southern (not usm) 2-2 in 10th

Texas- ut Arlington 2-2 in 9th

Davidson beat unc

Usce-winthrop 3-3 in 9th

Se Missouri st over ark 3-1 in 7th

... I'm gonna be just happy we won

But.....how can that be? War Machine Dawg says we have a problem and we are bad because he says so.*****

[Smitty]

MSU fans are the only baseball fans that I have ever seen that surmise that the way to overcome a bad bullpen is to score more runs.

Are we leaving runs on the field or not?

[Todd4State]

Are we leaving runs on the field or not?

Are we blowing leads or not? If it wasn't for our bullpen- we're 19-2 right now. And we're not blowing small leads- we're talking 4+ runs sometimes.

How many times has Billy Beane tried to fix his bullpen by adding more hitters in an effort to outscore the bullpens failures?

[Todd4State]

Not only that- we're fifth in the SEC scoring 6.7 runs per game. LSU is just ahead of us at 7.1 and the leader is Texas A&M at 7.6.


Now how many high scoring games do you dumbasses want me to deduct from our total to try to make your point right?**

[Smitty]

Are we leaving runs on the field yes or no?

The coaches aren't ACTIVELY TRYING to increase the number of runs given up.

[maroonmania]

Not only that- we're fifth in the SEC scoring 6.7 runs per game. LSU is just ahead of us at 7.1 and the leader is Texas A&M at 7.6.

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

[War Machine Dawg]

But.....how can that be? War Machine Dawg says we have a problem and we are bad because he says so.*****

Way to take one game situations and extrapolate them. That's not just as biased to prove your point.*****

I think all of us can accept that in baseball you're going to lose games you shouldn't on occasion. You have a night where you can't hit or hit everything hard but right at someone or run into a damn good pitcher who's on and makes you look stupid. But we're losing games to ****ing SWAC teams and winning squeakers against teams who are winless on the season.

I don't think anyone is saying don't fix the bullpen. It's our biggest issue and needs fixing. But don't act like offense is a big ass problem too, because it is. You can throw out all the stats you want, but outside of 4 damn games against SWAC pitching, the run totals don't lie. And please tell me aGAIN that discounting those games is wrong because of all the SWAC pitching we face during SEC play.***

[War Machine Dawg]

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

Beat me to it. Todd has proven he'll defend Cohen at all costs. No one in their right minds wants Cohen fired, but he needs to get his shit together on offense. Same way Mullen needs to get his shit together on STs.

[Todd4State]

Are we leaving runs on the field yes or no?

The coaches aren't ACTIVELY TRYING to increase the number of runs given up.

I would venture to guess that based on our slugging percentage compared to our runs scored per game that we are more than likely creating runs. But then again, I'm looking at the big picture as opposed to one part of the picture I don't like.

You're stupid if you think the coaches aren't trying to score more runs. Period.

[Todd4State]

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

[Todd4State]

Way to take one game situations and extrapolate them. That's not just as biased to prove your point.*****

I think all of us can accept that in baseball you're going to lose games you shouldn't on occasion. You have a night where you can't hit or hit everything hard but right at someone or run into a damn good pitcher who's on and makes you look stupid. But we're losing games to ****ing SWAC teams and winning squeakers against teams who are winless on the season.

I don't think anyone is saying don't fix the bullpen. It's our biggest issue and needs fixing. But don't act like offense is a big ass problem too, because it is. You can throw out all the stats you want, but outside of 4 damn games against SWAC pitching, the run totals don't lie. And please tell me aGAIN that discounting those games is wrong because of all the SWAC pitching we face during SEC play.***

One game situations? I used stats over the entire season and compared it to other SEC teams. If you think they are all playing Florida State, Texas, and USC every night- you're grossly mistaken. But it's obvious you aren't paying attention anyway so I'm not sure why I bother.

Beating a team by three runs is a "squeaker"? You mean like LSU over Southern in extra innings yesterday or Ole Miss over Arkansas Pine Bluff today?

[Smitty]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs.

We KNOW we have a shitty pen. If we were calling a bunch of fastballs down the middle or telling the pitchers to hang breaking balls that would be something too. The pen is shitty.

If you CAN score 7, and settle for 5, would that be a problem? Just because "it should be enough to win" why on earth would you do ANYTHING to not score the most runs possible?

[Todd4State]

Beat me to it. Todd has proven he'll defend Cohen at all costs. No one in their right minds wants Cohen fired, but he needs to get his shit together on offense. Same way Mullen needs to get his shit together on STs.

From the man originally blaming the offense for the bullpen woes? Sounds like you're the one that needs to get your shit together. Or a clue.

[shoeless joe]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

Exactly.

Anyone without an agenda can see that the #1 issue with this team is our shit bullpen. But that doesn't fit the narrative of, "we lost cuz Cohen sucks" or "we didn't win by enough cuz Cohen sucks", or "I read some stats so I'm smarter than the guy who sees our team everyday and knows what they can/can't do better than anyone".

Yes we bunt too much. Bunting less won't help us get thru the 8th. A 3+ run lead from 7th inning on should be close to automatic, that's what we are blowing. That's not on the offense.

[Todd4State]

We KNOW we have a shitty pen. If we were calling a bunch of fastballs down the middle or telling the pitchers to hang breaking balls that would be something too. The pen is shitty.

If you CAN score 7, and settle for 5, would that be a problem? Just because "it should be enough to win" why on earth would you do ANYTHING to not score the most runs possible?

You can't quantify that we WOULD score 7 instead of five. You're playing percentages- and in some cases your very broad percentages that you focus on are in some cases fractions of runs and very small percentages of difference. That doesn't add up to two more runs.

Again, the thing you don't get and never will is you manage a game based on the in game individual situation. Which is actually the consensus among most baseball people and sabermetric people.

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

[Todd4State]

Exactly.

Anyone without an agenda can see that the #1 issue with this team is our shit bullpen. But that doesn't fit the narrative of, "we lost cuz Cohen sucks" or "we didn't win by enough cuz Cohen sucks", or "I read some stats so I'm smarter than the guy who sees our team everyday and knows what they can/can't do better than anyone".

Yes we bunt too much. Bunting less won't help us get thru the 8th. A 3+ run lead from 7th inning on should be close to automatic, that's what we are blowing. That's not on the offense.

Thank you. Signs of life.

I will say two changes as far as the bunting goes:

1. Humphreys should not bunt. Just like speed guys should use their speed, power guys should use their power. Not really rocket science.

2. Switch Robson and Cody Brown in the batting order. If we're going to bunt every time Heck gets on, which is like 65% of the time or something when he leads off an inning- use your BEST bunter. Odds are much better of Robson getting on than Brown. Also, Brown has a little more pop than Robson- so again makes sense to drop him to drive in some runs.

[Smitty]

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

5 years and counting bringing up bunting for a hit when discussing sacrificing.... 5 years.

[maroonmania]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

[Brando]

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

I agree. We will get to the post season, but unless our bullpen steps up and stops blowing big leads, we wont make it to Supers. Hell, we will be lucky to make it to the past 2 games in the regionals. There is no sense in our starting picthers giving up 1 or 2 runs and going into the 8th with a 3 or 4 run lead and we get our pants beat off. I thought he should have left Mitchell in and he would have worked his way out of the jam. That's what a good pitcher does. Believe it or not, Mitchell is good.

[Tbonewannabe]

You can't quantify that we WOULD score 7 instead of five. You're playing percentages- and in some cases your very broad percentages that you focus on are in some cases fractions of runs and very small percentages of difference. That doesn't add up to two more runs.

Again, the thing you don't get and never will is you manage a game based on the in game individual situation. Which is actually the consensus among most baseball people and sabermetric people.

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

I don't hate bunting but having Cody Brown who at the time is your hottest hitter bunt in the first inning against a crap team is all kinds of stupid. I agree with you, if Cohen is dead set on it at least put Robson #2. He has the best chance bunting for a hit.

[War Machine Dawg]

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

For all his accusations of "our side" having an agenda, Todd has his own agenda. If we can score 7 runs a game more regularly, should we settle for scoring 4? Or should we do everything possible to score 7 more often? By all means, fix the mother****ing bullpen. NO ONE is saying it isn't the biggest problem we have right now. Not me, not you, not anyone. But pretending that in Year 7 of Cohen we can't make a fair assessment of whether or not his approach to offense sucks is ridiculous. It's like saying we can't judge Crxxm's Gulf Coast Offense after multiple years of 100+ offensive finishes. We aren't putting guys in position for maximum success at the plate and that should piss off everyone.

[Smitty]

2012 is also the year we had 7 stolen bases and 15 caught stealing in SEC play... 7 for 22 on steal attempts.... That's 32%, that's awful.

[Smitty]

My personal rule is if a guy has a better chance of hitting a home run than getting a bunt down, you don't bunt. If a guy has a better chance of getting a bunt down than getting a home run, you bunt. It's pretty simple

Is this still true?