Oak on Bauer

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03-25-2026, 08:20 PM
AlSwearengen

Oak on Bauer

I haven?t seen anyone mention Oak?s comments about Bauer and how they planned to hold him out of game action for 3 weeks while they tweaked his delivery. He didn?t go into detail but I caught Jay Powell mention when he came into the game that Bauer had not been delivering the ball as far down the mound as was optimal, effectively reducing his velocity or I guess perceived velocity. I?m glad his absence was planned and I imagine that we will see a lot more of Bauer midweek and hopefully he performs well enough to contribute at the end of the year.
03-25-2026, 09:32 PM
Coach34

My question would be- why wasn’t this shit addressed in the Fall? We had him out there doing the same shit. Why did we wait till now
03-25-2026, 09:57 PM
AlSwearengen

I didn’t catch the very beginning of Powell’s discussion of it but I got the feeling that it was something that Bauer had sort of “backslid” into; but I could have taken it wrong.
03-26-2026, 08:53 AM
shoeless joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach34

My question would be- why wasn’t this shit addressed in the Fall? We had him out there doing the same shit. Why did we wait till now

you know that learning and adjusting isn't linear...surely it was addressed and corrected to a point and then either pushed forward or he struggled to maintain it. and games bring out old habits and default modes that practices do not.
03-26-2026, 09:11 AM
BulldogDX55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach34

My question would be- why wasn’t this shit addressed in the Fall? We had him out there doing the same shit. Why did we wait till now

Right, because as we all know, it just takes one fall to correct quite literally every technique mistake a true freshman has.
03-26-2026, 09:58 AM
Pancho

My understanding is this issue has been toyed back and forth since he has been on campus. Jack initially struggled with the tweaking of his delivery. I watched him from the 1st base side tuesday night and the difference is noticeable. I personally think if Jack can reprogram himself and do this repetitively that he can be a regular weekly mound contributor.
03-26-2026, 10:23 AM
BrunswickDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoeless joe

you know that learning and adjusting isn't linear...surely it was addressed and corrected to a point and then either pushed forward or he struggled to maintain it. and games bring out old habits and default modes that practices do not.

Which is why it is rare to have Freshmen in an SEC rotation. While kids get a ton more coaching then they did in our day in the 1980s, they are still mostly running on pure talent and being the best player in their region. They also get a lot of home cooking calls in high school because the umps are terrible and know this kid is the local star. They also aren't used to calling 95 mph+ pitches so the star flame-thrower gets the benefit of the doubt. Occasionally, you can break a freshman's bad habits out of them quickly - but you are spot on about game situation being totally different then practice. And when they struggle a little, they fall back to their comfort zone. I'd rather have Bauer fail early, and build back be effective later on instead of being successful early and hitting a wall in SEC play and not being ready when we need them most late in the season.
03-26-2026, 10:25 AM
Lord McBuckethead

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach34

My question would be- why wasn’t this shit addressed in the Fall? We had him out there doing the same shit. Why did we wait till now

I would imagine that in the fall he was delivering the ball more consistently that did not require an adjustment. Sometimes when the lights come on a pitcher slightly differs in performance.
03-26-2026, 12:19 PM
Coursesuper

Until he can land the slider for a strike consistently he is a left on left one guy use player right now. His FB while is ++ velocity is flat. USM sat on it and hit it hard a couple of times.
03-26-2026, 01:53 PM
Todd4State

Bauer was and is still very raw. A lot of his outings in high school were only 2-3 innings.
03-26-2026, 01:55 PM
Todd4State

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coursesuper

Until he can land the slider for a strike consistently he is a left on left one guy use player right now. His FB while is ++ velocity is flat. USM sat on it and hit it hard a couple of times.

And then after that he will add some kind of an offspeed pitch. It's a process and at this point it's more about getting the mechanics down than anything.

I'm still optimistic he can help us the last five weeks of the season and then the postseason.
03-26-2026, 02:45 PM
The Federalist Engineer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd4State

Bauer was and is still very raw. A lot of his outings in high school were only 2-3 innings.

Good for him, he has a low mileage Ulnar Collateral Ligament. MLB will love this.
03-26-2026, 03:02 PM
Coach34

In HS- guys get away with FB's down the middle. In the SEC, they usually dont. Got to learn to pitch on the outer and inner 1/3's.

Bauer had a good outing. Hopefully he builds on it
03-26-2026, 04:34 PM
Coursesuper

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd4State

And then after that he will add some kind of an offspeed pitch. It's a process and at this point it's more about getting the mechanics down than anything.

I'm still optimistic he can help us the last five weeks of the season and then the postseason.

His slider is an off speed pitch for him now and at times has been really good. The problem is when it backs up on him. He may learn a change or cut FB that will make him more effective. But like C34 said he can?t live in the middle 1/3 at this level. He has to work the inner and outer third of the dish.