bulldogcountry1
03-02-2016, 10:32 AM
Thru 9 games this season: 33 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 105 Total hits
Thru 9 games last season: 17 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 98 Total hits
I suppose last season as a whole clouded my memory of how we had a pretty good offensive start. Things just took a very bad turn after the Ark PB loss. After the 13-0 run to start the season, we had some stretches where we struggled offensively, including getting shutout 3 games in a row in the middle of the season. Looking back, it would be easy to say that it was a complete disaster, and we needed to start over from scratch. Yeah, it sure felt like a disaster because we were all primed to make hosting an annual thing, and we got the turf pulled out from under us. But, when I look back, objectively, I don't really see the proverbial dumpster fire. Could any of it been avoided just by handling the bullpen differently or changing the offensive strategy? Definitely, but to what extent? I think some better coaching decisions could have gotten us to a winning record, but we just lacked the experience and talent to be a 2 seed or better. We had some young talent, but the upperclassmen didn't step up and lead.
That brings us to this season. I see progress all around. The most encouraging aspect to me is the pitching. We already have 3 shutouts, compared to none last year. That's pretty impressive. It's one thing to beat Alcorn by double digits, but it's tough to shut out anyone. We also have a lot of candidates to step into the long relief and closer roles. Like I said yesterday, I just hope we don't lose too many games before we figure out who our next Girodo and Lindgren are. Whenever that moment arrives, we will be pretty tough to deal with.
As for the hitting, we just aren't going to keep us this pace. Kruger isn't going to hit .500, and everyone will struggle at some point. I do feel like we have enough options to have someone that can produce at any given moment. Despite all the offense, Collins and Lowe have been pretty pedestrian. You have to expect they will start to pick things up when some of these other guys start to cool off. I am excited to see how these freshmen like Alexander and Stovall handle the pressure situations. If we don't heave to lean on them too heavily in the first half of the season, they should be fresh for the second half. Marrero is struggling at the plate, but his defense makes up for it at this point. He just needs to make some adjustments. A major plus is that, no matter what lineup we have, we will have multiple PH HR threats on the bench. When is the last time we could claim that?
We may not hit .300 as a team this year, but I think we see more key hits and extra base hits that will help us win more games. Last year, it seemed like it took 10 hits and 5 walks just to score 4 or 5 runs. We actually averaged 1.7 per run on the season. We have got to be more effective than that, and I believe we will be.
Thru 9 games last season: 17 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 98 Total hits
I suppose last season as a whole clouded my memory of how we had a pretty good offensive start. Things just took a very bad turn after the Ark PB loss. After the 13-0 run to start the season, we had some stretches where we struggled offensively, including getting shutout 3 games in a row in the middle of the season. Looking back, it would be easy to say that it was a complete disaster, and we needed to start over from scratch. Yeah, it sure felt like a disaster because we were all primed to make hosting an annual thing, and we got the turf pulled out from under us. But, when I look back, objectively, I don't really see the proverbial dumpster fire. Could any of it been avoided just by handling the bullpen differently or changing the offensive strategy? Definitely, but to what extent? I think some better coaching decisions could have gotten us to a winning record, but we just lacked the experience and talent to be a 2 seed or better. We had some young talent, but the upperclassmen didn't step up and lead.
That brings us to this season. I see progress all around. The most encouraging aspect to me is the pitching. We already have 3 shutouts, compared to none last year. That's pretty impressive. It's one thing to beat Alcorn by double digits, but it's tough to shut out anyone. We also have a lot of candidates to step into the long relief and closer roles. Like I said yesterday, I just hope we don't lose too many games before we figure out who our next Girodo and Lindgren are. Whenever that moment arrives, we will be pretty tough to deal with.
As for the hitting, we just aren't going to keep us this pace. Kruger isn't going to hit .500, and everyone will struggle at some point. I do feel like we have enough options to have someone that can produce at any given moment. Despite all the offense, Collins and Lowe have been pretty pedestrian. You have to expect they will start to pick things up when some of these other guys start to cool off. I am excited to see how these freshmen like Alexander and Stovall handle the pressure situations. If we don't heave to lean on them too heavily in the first half of the season, they should be fresh for the second half. Marrero is struggling at the plate, but his defense makes up for it at this point. He just needs to make some adjustments. A major plus is that, no matter what lineup we have, we will have multiple PH HR threats on the bench. When is the last time we could claim that?
We may not hit .300 as a team this year, but I think we see more key hits and extra base hits that will help us win more games. Last year, it seemed like it took 10 hits and 5 walks just to score 4 or 5 runs. We actually averaged 1.7 per run on the season. We have got to be more effective than that, and I believe we will be.