Todd4State
03-13-2016, 11:49 PM
I made it to the Saturday and Sunday games in person and was driving for most of the Friday game so I didn't see any of that one. For reference.
Obviously, this was a HUGE series win for us. In the preseason, I said I would be excited about this team if they came out of the PAC 12 portion 4-2. We came out of it 4-1-1 plus a nice midweek win over South Alabama to boot. So, yeah- I'm excited about this team. But at the same time there are things to clean up and room for more growth- which is good in some ways.
The bullpen is an area that needs to grow. We don't really have a Caleb Reed, Ross, Lindgren, Girodo, etc. type that we can consistently count on to eat innings for us. At least not yet. I could see Tatum and Blake Smith potentially being like that- but for the most part I think we're going to have to piece the bullpen together more conventionally one inning at a time. We'll have a guy look good for an inning or get out of a jam- only to walk the first two hitters and give up a hit the next inning. Tatum pitched well Friday out of the pen, but Sunday he wasn't keeping the ball down at all. And that's why he got hurt. Smith walked three guys in his outing. We need to get those two right during midweek before Vandy. But for one inning at a time, I think Houston, Humphreys- I thought he looked really good and his slider was pretty nasty, but he's still learning how to pitch, Breaux, and Small can all be effective. We need to get Rigby an outing midweek- Oregon had a ton of LH bats so it's not surprising he didn't pitch very much. Good to see Paul Young even though his command was off. I don't think we will see a clear closer emerge out of this group- but I do think that Tatum and Smith can lead the group and we will be OK as long as we manage the group and not ask them to do too much like we asked Humphreys to do against Oklahoma. The only guys I would ask to go more than one inning at a time would be Tatum, Smith, and maybe Rigby if it's a RH heavy lineup.
Hudson and Sexton were both great- but they weren't necessarily efficient. Part of that is because they struck out a lot of guys- but part of it is because they walked a lot of guys too. Some of it may have been in part because of the weather- I'm sure there were some wet baseballs out there both Friday and Saturday and I saw a couple of balls slip out of Sexton's hand. Part of it was Oregon's hitting approach. But they've had their issues in other games as well. And thanks to Sexton for the chicken tenders by the third inning. Now, Daniel Brown gets major props from me. I overheard Coach Johnson tell him before the game on the field that he was pretty much pitching for his job. Well, he earned it. HE was efficient. He only allowed a couple of well struck balls for hits. And lo and behold he made it through seven. It sucks that we couldn't get the shutout for him because he earned it. I hope he has turned a corner because if we can get him going we are going to be sick. Plus, I think Tatum is better for us in the bullpen because then we can use him twice in a weekend. I think we will see Breaux on Mossy Oak day on Tuesday and then we will probably see Small on Weds against Oral Roberts. I hope Cohen will let them go through the order more than once. I go back and forth on this- but I think Breaux is slightly ahead of Small right now.
Based on what I was told on Saturday- don't look for Kruger to be catching anytime soon. If at all this year. Marrero and Stovall have both done a great job- especially for freshmen. Not to mention Lovelady going down. Elih getting put on the Johnny Bench Watch list is pretty special for a freshman. Stovall is hitting the ball better right now though. We'll see if that plays in down the road. Stovall is like Cody Brown in that he finds his way into the lineup and makes things happen. He'll probably have a similar cult following in a couple of years also.
Nate Lowe probably feels like the unluckiest guy on Earth- he was struggling and then he has to face three LH pitchers that are probable top three-five round talents. He's going to start to hit the ball pretty well sooner than later- he only has 5 K's to 7 BB's in 65 PA's this year if my math is correct so he is putting the ball into play. Gavin Collins looks like Roger Dorn playing third base. But then they bunt the ball to him and he makes a pretty solid play. I think his issues are mainly because of a lack of reps. Someone needs to be hitting him ground balls for two hours everyday until the end of the year. I'll say this about him though- I thought he took some of if not the most good at bats overall this weekend.
Gridley was right up there with Collins in taking good at bats. He has improved A LOT from last year. The only bad thing I remember him doing was taking WAY TOO BIG of a turn at first base once and getting thrown out because of it. Belmont is struggling big time at the plate right now. His defense is outstanding though. His struggles are just part of being a normal freshman in the SEC. Same with Marrero. Belmont might need a day off during midweek. And I know it drives people nuts when Cohen doesn't play the same exact nine every day- but with Stovall and LA we have two freshmen and they are going to have their peaks and valleys at times. Not to mention Stovall is going to have to catch some. So, we're going to see some different combinations in the MIF at times because it's what is best for the team at the time. Gridley can play SS adequately as well as second, and that helps out a lot.
Like I said last week, don't expect Cody Brown to play a lot and have an impact because of the LHP. Of course, I was wrong as he had only the biggest single hit of the weekend that sent Oregon into shellshock with his grand slam on Friday. Not to mention it's the biggest hit we've had this year. With one swing of the bat, our teams balls grew three sizes. I will say that one reason why we hit the ball so well IMO though was because Humphreys and Rooker absolutely FEAST on LHP. They both kicked ass this weekend for the most part. Although it was good to see Rooker hit his second home run off of a RHP. Robson did what he does- but he has to be more careful if a guy has a good pick off move. He almost cost us big time when he got picked off the second time but got out of it ahead of Rooker's home run. Same with Michael Smith. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other guy if he can stop you. Kruger is a solid player- but like someone said last week, he doesn't like sliders.
I think we were a tough match up for Oregon because we did have those guys that hit LHP really well. Plus we have some power arms and they apparently have Mario Mendoza as a hitting coach. It seemed like the only time they ever scored was when we gave them runners or they hit a home run. But that's how their offense rolls- and playing these PAC 12 teams will help us down the road if we have to play some west coast teams in a regional which is always a distinct possibility because there are some good teams out West. Oregon is sort of built like Vanderbilt- they have a field turf baseball stadium and they build themselves around elite pitching and small ball. Although I think Vanderbilt is better and has more power and hit the ball way better than Oregon. So, it just gets even more difficult next weekend for us. Especially since we have to play them on the road on their ridiculous turf where you can slide into third starting from the halfway point between second and third. Vanderbilt is one of six key SEC series that we have IMO if we want to host- Vandy, Florida, LSU on the road, and Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Arkansas at home...how we do in those series will determine how our postseason fate gets determined. We've already passed our first two tests IMO by doing OK in the Dodgertown Classic and then sweeping Oregon, plus a potentially nice midweek win over South Alabama.
But not to look ahead too much- we have Eastern Kentucky coming in on Mossy Oak Tribute night. (Which I like by the way) and they are 7-8 right now. We have to take care of business against them because I suspect their RPI probably won't end up being very good. Oral Roberts is kind of dangerous though- they won a series over a good Dallas Baptist team and they beat Auburn on Friday night although they lost the series. They do play Jacksonville State on Tuesday so they will be in the same situation pitching wise as us. Oral Roberts is 7-7 after losing the series to Butch's boys. The biggest thing I want to see out of midweek is two more wins going into Vandy, our bullpen guys have some good outings, and some of our young pitchers get some innings and experience.
Obviously, this was a HUGE series win for us. In the preseason, I said I would be excited about this team if they came out of the PAC 12 portion 4-2. We came out of it 4-1-1 plus a nice midweek win over South Alabama to boot. So, yeah- I'm excited about this team. But at the same time there are things to clean up and room for more growth- which is good in some ways.
The bullpen is an area that needs to grow. We don't really have a Caleb Reed, Ross, Lindgren, Girodo, etc. type that we can consistently count on to eat innings for us. At least not yet. I could see Tatum and Blake Smith potentially being like that- but for the most part I think we're going to have to piece the bullpen together more conventionally one inning at a time. We'll have a guy look good for an inning or get out of a jam- only to walk the first two hitters and give up a hit the next inning. Tatum pitched well Friday out of the pen, but Sunday he wasn't keeping the ball down at all. And that's why he got hurt. Smith walked three guys in his outing. We need to get those two right during midweek before Vandy. But for one inning at a time, I think Houston, Humphreys- I thought he looked really good and his slider was pretty nasty, but he's still learning how to pitch, Breaux, and Small can all be effective. We need to get Rigby an outing midweek- Oregon had a ton of LH bats so it's not surprising he didn't pitch very much. Good to see Paul Young even though his command was off. I don't think we will see a clear closer emerge out of this group- but I do think that Tatum and Smith can lead the group and we will be OK as long as we manage the group and not ask them to do too much like we asked Humphreys to do against Oklahoma. The only guys I would ask to go more than one inning at a time would be Tatum, Smith, and maybe Rigby if it's a RH heavy lineup.
Hudson and Sexton were both great- but they weren't necessarily efficient. Part of that is because they struck out a lot of guys- but part of it is because they walked a lot of guys too. Some of it may have been in part because of the weather- I'm sure there were some wet baseballs out there both Friday and Saturday and I saw a couple of balls slip out of Sexton's hand. Part of it was Oregon's hitting approach. But they've had their issues in other games as well. And thanks to Sexton for the chicken tenders by the third inning. Now, Daniel Brown gets major props from me. I overheard Coach Johnson tell him before the game on the field that he was pretty much pitching for his job. Well, he earned it. HE was efficient. He only allowed a couple of well struck balls for hits. And lo and behold he made it through seven. It sucks that we couldn't get the shutout for him because he earned it. I hope he has turned a corner because if we can get him going we are going to be sick. Plus, I think Tatum is better for us in the bullpen because then we can use him twice in a weekend. I think we will see Breaux on Mossy Oak day on Tuesday and then we will probably see Small on Weds against Oral Roberts. I hope Cohen will let them go through the order more than once. I go back and forth on this- but I think Breaux is slightly ahead of Small right now.
Based on what I was told on Saturday- don't look for Kruger to be catching anytime soon. If at all this year. Marrero and Stovall have both done a great job- especially for freshmen. Not to mention Lovelady going down. Elih getting put on the Johnny Bench Watch list is pretty special for a freshman. Stovall is hitting the ball better right now though. We'll see if that plays in down the road. Stovall is like Cody Brown in that he finds his way into the lineup and makes things happen. He'll probably have a similar cult following in a couple of years also.
Nate Lowe probably feels like the unluckiest guy on Earth- he was struggling and then he has to face three LH pitchers that are probable top three-five round talents. He's going to start to hit the ball pretty well sooner than later- he only has 5 K's to 7 BB's in 65 PA's this year if my math is correct so he is putting the ball into play. Gavin Collins looks like Roger Dorn playing third base. But then they bunt the ball to him and he makes a pretty solid play. I think his issues are mainly because of a lack of reps. Someone needs to be hitting him ground balls for two hours everyday until the end of the year. I'll say this about him though- I thought he took some of if not the most good at bats overall this weekend.
Gridley was right up there with Collins in taking good at bats. He has improved A LOT from last year. The only bad thing I remember him doing was taking WAY TOO BIG of a turn at first base once and getting thrown out because of it. Belmont is struggling big time at the plate right now. His defense is outstanding though. His struggles are just part of being a normal freshman in the SEC. Same with Marrero. Belmont might need a day off during midweek. And I know it drives people nuts when Cohen doesn't play the same exact nine every day- but with Stovall and LA we have two freshmen and they are going to have their peaks and valleys at times. Not to mention Stovall is going to have to catch some. So, we're going to see some different combinations in the MIF at times because it's what is best for the team at the time. Gridley can play SS adequately as well as second, and that helps out a lot.
Like I said last week, don't expect Cody Brown to play a lot and have an impact because of the LHP. Of course, I was wrong as he had only the biggest single hit of the weekend that sent Oregon into shellshock with his grand slam on Friday. Not to mention it's the biggest hit we've had this year. With one swing of the bat, our teams balls grew three sizes. I will say that one reason why we hit the ball so well IMO though was because Humphreys and Rooker absolutely FEAST on LHP. They both kicked ass this weekend for the most part. Although it was good to see Rooker hit his second home run off of a RHP. Robson did what he does- but he has to be more careful if a guy has a good pick off move. He almost cost us big time when he got picked off the second time but got out of it ahead of Rooker's home run. Same with Michael Smith. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other guy if he can stop you. Kruger is a solid player- but like someone said last week, he doesn't like sliders.
I think we were a tough match up for Oregon because we did have those guys that hit LHP really well. Plus we have some power arms and they apparently have Mario Mendoza as a hitting coach. It seemed like the only time they ever scored was when we gave them runners or they hit a home run. But that's how their offense rolls- and playing these PAC 12 teams will help us down the road if we have to play some west coast teams in a regional which is always a distinct possibility because there are some good teams out West. Oregon is sort of built like Vanderbilt- they have a field turf baseball stadium and they build themselves around elite pitching and small ball. Although I think Vanderbilt is better and has more power and hit the ball way better than Oregon. So, it just gets even more difficult next weekend for us. Especially since we have to play them on the road on their ridiculous turf where you can slide into third starting from the halfway point between second and third. Vanderbilt is one of six key SEC series that we have IMO if we want to host- Vandy, Florida, LSU on the road, and Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Arkansas at home...how we do in those series will determine how our postseason fate gets determined. We've already passed our first two tests IMO by doing OK in the Dodgertown Classic and then sweeping Oregon, plus a potentially nice midweek win over South Alabama.
But not to look ahead too much- we have Eastern Kentucky coming in on Mossy Oak Tribute night. (Which I like by the way) and they are 7-8 right now. We have to take care of business against them because I suspect their RPI probably won't end up being very good. Oral Roberts is kind of dangerous though- they won a series over a good Dallas Baptist team and they beat Auburn on Friday night although they lost the series. They do play Jacksonville State on Tuesday so they will be in the same situation pitching wise as us. Oral Roberts is 7-7 after losing the series to Butch's boys. The biggest thing I want to see out of midweek is two more wins going into Vandy, our bullpen guys have some good outings, and some of our young pitchers get some innings and experience.