13 games into the Spring, here is what we know so far

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03-04-2026, 10:31 AM
Coach34

13 games into the Spring, here is what we know so far

Well, after our 1st 13 games are 11-2. A little disappointed about the last 2 but overall- not in a bad place with the schedule we have played.

Offensively- we are hitting the ball well- .343 as a team with a .456 OBP. Stall has been a pleasant surprise as he is building on his play last season- leading the team at .452. Ace is Ace. 34 is 34. Beans- our little urban overachiever- has been hot to start the season. Our bench guys have hit well to the point of platooning is a must in some positions. Teel seems to be waking up as is Woodcock. Even our 2 little babies have shown some promise of being ready by next season to take over a job. We have scored 7 and 5 runs in our losses. This team offensively is very good. What we arent good at is running the bases. It's so bad Cheese may need to come back and teach baserunning for a day or two. Thats got to improve. It's little league bad. We are doing a much better job of bunting when the need arises.

Pitching- holy crap are we talented here. Lots of good young arms on this staff. Problem is right now we only have 2 dudes as SP's- Mac and Tico. These guys are legit dudes and we are as good as anybody on Friday/Saturday on the hill. #3 is still a question however. Can it be Stone? Not a real good start albeit was vs UCLA. Sweeney got a chance last night as he had looked real good so far and he failed miserably. Thats a big question as we get into March. #3 where art thou? Our bullpen is mostly green and it just has to grow up as we move along. We are no different in that than most teams are tho. Sumbitch and Webb have gotten off to good starts this season as bright spots.

Defense- OF defense is great. Only real problem has been OF'ers almost running into each other and Nunn's dropped fly ball last Saturday. We are very good in the OF defensively and have multiple guys we can play out there as well. Now , that being said, we are not very good defensively on the Infield. Ace is average at best at 3B and I'm being generous. Woodcock has really good hands but he is learning how to be a SS on the job and its a work in progress. Cant drop flyballs like last night. 34 is much better at 2B but now he is just average instead of bad. Wyers needs to keep his head up and continue to spot play and such. Stall and Butthead look good at 1B. We have upgraded here from Hines defensively the last couple years. Catcher??? Ugh. Lots of work to do here. I appreciate the work that Sean Puffy James is putting in as catcher is not his main position- but he has got to get better receiving the ball. He's having to be a chaser too much as opposed to a catcher.

Need to get right and sweep the weekend as we get ready for SEC play. #HailState
03-04-2026, 10:46 AM
shoeless joe

based of what observations i have been able to make:

we're good...how some of the issues you brought up are addressed will determine how good. our offense is going to wear down some good pitchers. you will have to have a decent pen to beat us in a weekend series.

when we were up 5-3 late sunday i was afraid this group was peaking too early...not a concern now. we have a lot of ways we can get better. we should host and hopefully a national seed hitting our stride come june.
03-04-2026, 11:17 AM
HoopsDawg

That lineup last night, 5-9 hole, kind of painful to look at when we have Wyers, Bevis, and Valincius over there on the bench. That is 3 all conference guys. All veterans. Need to figure something out there.
03-04-2026, 11:19 AM
BrunswickDawg

These last two loses have been tough - but that's baseball.
We will handle this weekend and Tulane and then hit SEC ready to roll.

I feel 100% better about where things are going into SEC play then I've felt since 2021. Going to be a fun Spring.
03-04-2026, 11:22 AM
cheewgumm

It is definitely the little things.

We are 2 pass ball strikeouts and lack of a ground rule double from being 13-0 and ranked 1.
03-04-2026, 12:06 PM
DawgFromOxford

Does it sucks to lose 2 in row against top teams, absolutely.

Looking at it objectively, the team is good and looks like it will continue to produce. Playing the #1 and #10 team on the road, we were in the drivers seat late in the games and beat ourselves. It?s not like our pitching gave up 15 runs or our offense only produced 1 run.

The team will be fine and we are going to win plenty of games and be right there in the mix in the postseason. I?d rather lose these games now than in a win or go home scenario
03-04-2026, 06:39 PM
ScooterDog

I just hope our pitching coach or BOC will pull a bad pitcher much much sooner than they have been. This is the only thing I have a problem with so far.
03-04-2026, 06:46 PM
Todd4State

I think Stone is the Sunday guy. I was encouraged by Foster's performance last night. I hope he takes over the midweek starter role now.
03-04-2026, 07:51 PM
TNDawg35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd4State

I think Stone is the Sunday guy. I was encouraged by Foster's performance last night. I hope he takes over the midweek starter role now.

Stone gave up 3 runs to a team who was run ruling everyone at the tournament. He pitched well in my opinion and also d1 baseballs. They made the comment that we could possibly be looking at having 3 1st rounders in our rotation next year.
03-04-2026, 11:40 PM
Todd4State

Quote:

Originally Posted by TNDawg35

Stone gave up 3 runs to a team who was run ruling everyone at the tournament. He pitched well in my opinion and also d1 baseballs. They made the comment that we could possibly be looking at having 3 1st rounders in our rotation next year.

I don't know about 3 first rounders but I do think two first rounders and Stone a top 3 round pick are possible. I will not complain if I am wrong!

And then Foster is pretty good too I think. I hope he pitches against Lipscomb out of the bullpen and then starts against Tulane. If he is successful, he could help out the bullpen and take over the midweek job for us.
03-04-2026, 11:41 PM
Todd4State

Quote:

Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

That lineup last night, 5-9 hole, kind of painful to look at when we have Wyers, Bevis, and Valincius over there on the bench. That is 3 all conference guys. All veterans. Need to figure something out there.

Yeah. I wish they would have started/subbed in Vytas for Parker at the very least. Wyers should have gotten an AB because Frei had some giveaway AB's.
03-05-2026, 02:55 PM
WSOPdawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd4State

Yeah. I wish they would have started/subbed in Vytas for Parker at the very least. Wyers should have gotten an AB because Frei had some giveaway AB's.

Frei attempting to bunt with men on 1st & 2nd and no out was absurd imo. I understand Frei is hitting leadoff and Ace is on deck, but still you've got the USM pitcher on the ropes and a chance for a big inning. Frei proceeds to pop up/out to the pitcher on the 1st pitch, like wtf ???

Was this one of the AB's Frei gave away, because is so, it wasn't baseball smart him not understanding the current situation.
03-05-2026, 03:17 PM
tcdog70

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSOPdawg

Frei attempting to bunt with men on 1st & 2nd and no out was absurd imo. I understand Frei is hitting leadoff and Ace is on deck, but still you've got the USM pitcher on the ropes and a chance for a big inning. Frei proceeds to pop up/out to the pitcher on the 1st pitch, like wtf ???

Was this one of the AB's Frei gave away, because is so, it wasn't baseball smart him not understanding the current situation.

even if Frei was successful in his bunt--they would have walked Ace with first base open..
03-05-2026, 04:22 PM
Coach34

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcdog70

even if Frei was successful in his bunt--they would have walked Ace with first base open..

Exactly. That was a real head scratcher from our genius coach
03-05-2026, 05:24 PM
WSOPdawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach34

Exactly. That was a real head scratcher from our genius coach

that's almost why I think Frei did that on his own. He's a strong bat, go up there to hit - not "try to catch them by surprise" with a bunt.
03-05-2026, 07:09 PM
Coach34

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSOPdawg

that's almost why I think Frei did that on his own. He's a strong bat, go up there to hit - not "try to catch them by surprise" with a bunt.

I dont for a second think he did it on his own. These guys hate to bunt- even the fast ones
03-06-2026, 12:35 AM
Todd4State

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSOPdawg

Frei attempting to bunt with men on 1st & 2nd and no out was absurd imo. I understand Frei is hitting leadoff and Ace is on deck, but still you've got the USM pitcher on the ropes and a chance for a big inning. Frei proceeds to pop up/out to the pitcher on the 1st pitch, like wtf ???

Was this one of the AB's Frei gave away, because is so, it wasn't baseball smart him not understanding the current situation.

I don't know if that was called or not but I don't like bunting guys that have a better chance of hitting a home run than getting a bunt down. And yes, they probably walk Ace after that. Also, don't care for bunting when we are down.

My guess as far as what could have happened is Frei may not have felt comfortable against the pitcher for whatever reason and decided to do that to try to do something positive.
03-06-2026, 08:31 AM
AlSwearengen

Quote:

Originally Posted by WSOPdawg

Frei attempting to bunt with men on 1st & 2nd and no out was absurd imo. I understand Frei is hitting leadoff and Ace is on deck, but still you've got the USM pitcher on the ropes and a chance for a big inning. Frei proceeds to pop up/out to the pitcher on the 1st pitch, like wtf ???

Was this one of the AB's Frei gave away, because is so, it wasn't baseball smart him not understanding the current situation.

Agree and add to it the fact that Ace had been in a mini slump. You could tell that was not seeing it well.
03-06-2026, 10:28 AM
Coach34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd4State

I don't know if that was called or not but I don't like bunting guys that have a better chance of hitting a home run than getting a bunt down. And yes, they probably walk Ace after that. Also, don't care for bunting when we are down.

My guess as far as what could have happened is Frei may not have felt comfortable against the pitcher for whatever reason and decided to do that to try to do something positive.

You guys are hilarious. LaRussa called a bunt. It was a bad call. All coaches make mistakes at times. Some just less than others
03-06-2026, 11:35 AM
shoeless joe

when the game has sped up on a pitcher and there are multiple runners on...that is the perfect time to lay down an unexpected bunt. and if they do walk ace you've got 3/4 coming up with bases loaded.