Homedawg, now that scrimmages are

[AlSwearengen]

Basically over, what is your gut telling you on pitching? There is a lot of angst on the other board but who knows if they know anything.

We didn?t really land any big free agents so we need several with potential to realize that potential. Similar to some of Tenn?s guys last year that came from smaller schools.

[HoopsDawg]

Dohm has been the most impressive guy but we seem intent on using him out of the pen...for now.

[SpaceBully]

Some of the other posts I have seen talk bad about the pitchers that have thrown recently in scrimmages, but don't name who was pitching. So, I don't really trust any info. unless someone was actually at the scrimmage and saw the pitcher(s) who they thought weren't good.

[sandjunky]

I?m thinking somewhere between 6-6 and 9-3 leaving Texas

[Johnson85]

Some of the other posts I have seen talk bad about the pitchers that have thrown recently in scrimmages, but don't name who was pitching. So, I don't really trust any info. unless someone was actually at the scrimmage and saw the pitcher(s) who they thought weren't good.

I wouldn't trust most people that actually saw the pitching unless it was to confirm which pitchers don't have enough control.

I know it was a different era with the ball, but the vast majority of fans would have watched Ross Mitchell make our players look silly while throwing 86 mph and thought our pitching was shitty and our offense even shittier.

Even if our pitching looked good, while we have some good options coming back on offense, we don't have enough confirmed studs on offense to know whether our pitching is really doing well or our hitters struggling.

I'm worried about our pitching, but not really much more now than I was before scrimmages.

[Homedawg]

It's hard for me to say. Dohm has been lights out in the spring. If Nixon returns to his FR self our back end will be good, if not great. How they get there is the question. I think Cade is going to be fine. I think Hunt is a mid relief guy. Davis has been solid. Gartman until yesterday has been fine. Loftin and Lo will one day be special but that have command issues. Not big misses when i saw them, but missing by a little and getting behind on the counts and thats a recipe for disaster. Holcomb is raw, if he weren't he would have been a 1st round guy last year, he has that kind of stuff. Gonna be interesting to see who steps up. We swing it well and defend well. Gonna be some good players on the bench, too.

[BrunswickDawg]

It's hard for me to say. Dohm has been lights out in the spring. If Nixon returns to his FR self our back end will be good, if not great. How they get there is the question. I think Cade is going to be fine. I think Hunt is a mid relief guy. Davis has been solid. Gartman until yesterday has been fine. Loftin and Lo will one day be special but that have command issues. Not big misses when i saw them, but missing by a little and getting behind on the counts and thats a recipe for disaster. Holcomb is raw, if he weren't he would have been a 1st round guy last year, he has that kind of stuff. Gonna be interesting to see who steps up. We swing it well and defend well. Gonna be some good players on the bench, too.

To me, it sounds like a typical year - we don't know what we have until it shows us. Even '21 was that way.

[HoopsDawg]

To me, it sounds like a typical year - we don't know what we have until it shows us. Even '21 was that way.

Yeah, we have no clue on the starting pitching.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

You need good pitching, but you also need a little luck. Last year we had bad luck. The pitching was mediocre to start with, but then we lost Stone Simmons, Landon Sims, and KC Hunt to injuries and the pitching got far worse. If we didn't have those arm injuries last year, or if the injuries happened at the bottom end of the pitching depth chart instead of the top end, we probably make a regional and we aren't so skeptical of our staff today. We need guys to perform and we need guys to stay healthy. And that applies to most teams.

[BrunswickDawg]

You need good pitching, but you also need a little luck. Last year we had bad luck. The pitching was mediocre to start with, but then we lost Stone Simmons, Landon Sims, and KC Hunt to injuries and the pitching got far worse. If we didn't have those arm injuries last year, or if the injuries happened at the bottom end of the pitching depth chart instead of the top end, we probably make a regional and we aren't so skeptical of our staff today. We need guys to perform and we need guys to stay healthy. And that applies to most teams.

Last year we had a perfect storm - we lost a ton of experience from '21; our top line got injured; and there was a lack of developmental opportunities in '20 (COVID) and '21(due to # of pitchers we carried and summer was short due to CWS). And, that doesn't consider the recruiting lag we had from having 4 head coaches in 4 years. Frankly, if last year is our penance for having what I consider the best decade ('13-'22) in program history - I'll take it. Always move forward.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Last year we had a perfect storm - we lost a ton of experience from '21; our top line got injured; and there was a lack of developmental opportunities in '20 (COVID) and '21(due to # of pitchers we carried and summer was short due to CWS). And, that doesn't consider the recruiting lag we had from having 4 head coaches in 4 years. Frankly, if last year is our penance for having what I consider the best decade ('13-'22) in program history - I'll take it. Always move forward.

Some players are simply more valuable than others. That might be based upon the position, or it might be based upon the depth. Losing Landon Sims really hurt last year. Sims, Simmons, and Hunt were guys that had to perform well for us. It didn't happen. Same as this year. We can handle injuries to certain players. But based upon depth and experience, we need Cade Smith, KC Hunt, and Gartman to perform. I'm not saying all 3 are starters. But all 3 will be put in pressure situations and need to stay healthy and give us some good innings.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I feel like we know who 2 of the 3 starters are

[Homedawg]

Loftin had a solid outing today.

[AlSwearengen]

Loftin had a solid outing today.

Does anyone know if these scrimmages are all 100% game like? In other words, are we starting the count at 0-0? Starting counts 1-1 can change things and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did that or something similar sometimes in order to put pressure on pitchers or hitters.

Back in the day, we had scrimmages where the pitchers could only throw fastballs, other scrimmages they could throw fastballs and change ups only.

If we do anything like that at times, it can skew things dramatically.

[Mjoelner34]

Does anyone know if these scrimmages are all 100% game like? In other words, are we starting the count at 0-0? Starting counts 1-1 can change things and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did that or something similar sometimes in order to put pressure on pitchers or hitters.

Back in the day, we had scrimmages where the pitchers could only throw fastballs, other scrimmages they could throw fastballs and change ups only.

If we do anything like that at times, it can skew things dramatically.

A week ago yesterday I remember one inning starting with a man on 2nd. Also it looked like Lo was throwing about 90% crooked stuff while LH vs LH and was mixing in a lot more fastballs RH vs RH.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Does anyone know if these scrimmages are all 100% game like? In other words, are we starting the count at 0-0? Starting counts 1-1 can change things and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did that or something similar sometimes in order to put pressure on pitchers or hitters.

Back in the day, we had scrimmages where the pitchers could only throw fastballs, other scrimmages they could throw fastballs and change ups only.

If we do anything like that at times, it can skew things dramatically.

I know we had some scrimmage situations where they placed a runner on third with one out, and brought the infield in. The batter had to attempt to get them home. So yes, they certainly do some situational work.

[Homedawg]

Does anyone know if these scrimmages are all 100% game like? In other words, are we starting the count at 0-0? Starting counts 1-1 can change things and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did that or something similar sometimes in order to put pressure on pitchers or hitters.

Back in the day, we had scrimmages where the pitchers could only throw fastballs, other scrimmages they could throw fastballs and change ups only.

If we do anything like that at times, it can skew things dramatically.

The ones I went to were all 0-0. But they did some situational stuff a couple of times each scrimmage that didn't count in stats.

[Homedawg]

A week ago yesterday I remember one inning starting with a man on 2nd. Also it looked like Lo was throwing about 90% crooked stuff while LH vs LH and was mixing in a lot more fastballs RH vs RH.

Yes. That was the one to get the runner over and I think they were all left on left.

[Todd4State]

My thoughts:

We will open with Cade on Friday, Hunt on Saturday and Gartman on Sunday. By the last weekend of the season I think it will be Dohm Fri, Cade Sat, and either Loftin or Gartman on Sun. Loftin I think will start the first midweek game. Nixon will be the closer. Hunt will eventually move to the bullpen I think and be pretty good. He wasn't healthy very much last year. Colby Holcombe will be this teams Colby White. I think he is a one inning guy right now. Tyler Davis will be like Zach Neff. We have more LHP options- Pico will be good but don't be surprised if he doesn't pitch as much. Graham Ynetema will be our top LHP option out of the pen. Loo will and Logan Forstyhe will get some work in too- probably mostly midweek.

Hancock will be a good bridge between Logan Tanner and Ross Highfill. Hancock will catch most games and DH when he isn't catching. How much Highfill plays depends on his bat and glove and where they are at when the lights come on.

Infield is straight forward. Hines has a chance to be a 20 home run guy, Alford looks like he is about to bust out. He is much better than Kam defensively. Made some plays in warm ups that are MLB caliber. Ahmani Larry will give us a true leadoff hitter and some speed we didn't have last year. Lane Forsythe will start the year at SS but if he struggles Mershon will get some AB's. Don't be surprised if Lane is the SS most of the year. Our fans keep thinking his bat is the same as it was in 2021 and it's not.

I know they're looking at Ledbetter in LF and Dakota Jordan in CF. Ledbetter is a better OF than Cumbest and also gives us speed. He has power too. I really think Dakota Jordan will make some freshman All-American lists. Bat speed is MLB caliber. Kellum Clark is a really good player that had a sophomore slump. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a big year. DH I would guess would be Aaron Downs. That's always a bit of a revolving door.

I think Bryce Chance gives us some good AB's and PH's- reminds me of Cody Brown. Mershon will be a good pinch runner at worst for us this year.

[Johnson85]

My thoughts:

We will open with Cade on Friday, Hunt on Saturday and Gartman on Sunday. By the last weekend of the season I think it will be Dohm Fri, Cade Sat, and either Loftin or Gartman on Sun. Loftin I think will start the first midweek game. Nixon will be the closer. Hunt will eventually move to the bullpen I think and be pretty good. He wasn't healthy very much last year. Colby Holcombe will be this teams Colby White. I think he is a one inning guy right now. Tyler Davis will be like Zach Neff. We have more LHP options- Pico will be good but don't be surprised if he doesn't pitch as much. Graham Ynetema will be our top LHP option out of the pen. Loo will and Logan Forstyhe will get some work in too- probably mostly midweek.

Hancock will be a good bridge between Logan Tanner and Ross Highfill. Hancock will catch most games and DH when he isn't catching. How much Highfill plays depends on his bat and glove and where they are at when the lights come on.

Infield is straight forward. Hines has a chance to be a 20 home run guy, Alford looks like he is about to bust out. He is much better than Kam defensively. Made some plays in warm ups that are MLB caliber. Ahmani Larry will give us a true leadoff hitter and some speed we didn't have last year. Lane Forsythe will start the year at SS but if he struggles Mershon will get some AB's. Don't be surprised if Lane is the SS most of the year. Our fans keep thinking his bat is the same as it was in 2021 and it's not.

I know they're looking at Ledbetter in LF and Dakota Jordan in CF. Ledbetter is a better OF than Cumbest and also gives us speed. He has power too. I really think Dakota Jordan will make some freshman All-American lists. Bat speed is MLB caliber. Kellum Clark is a really good player that had a sophomore slump. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a big year. DH I would guess would be Aaron Downs. That's always a bit of a revolving door.

I think Bryce Chance gives us some good AB's and PH's- reminds me of Cody Brown. Mershon will be a good pinch runner at worst for us this year.

It would be huge if Kellum turned into the player he looks like when he swings a bat. Really thought his freshman post season performance was the beginning of a breakout and not just a mini hot streak.

[Schultzy]

It would be huge if Kellum turned into the player he looks like when he swings a bat. Really thought his freshman post season performance was the beginning of a breakout and not just a mini hot streak.

He really crowded the plate last year and got busted in a lot, to the point all he could do with an inside strike was to pull it foul. He is so long I really hope he gives himself more room this year bc he can still get plate coverage with that long frame.