There's no way around it- we had a disappointing weekend. But there were some good things that happened this weekend too- and I think we will hopefully see some of the good things utilized going forward. And that's the thing I don't know about Cann right now- how quickly will he make the changes or even will he make the changes? Same with Henderson.
The biggest unknown for us coming into the year was our pitching and how it was all going to work out. We had some talented guys go down to Tommy John at a rate I have never seen before in my life- which has done nothing but fuel my disdain for travel ball. That said, I think we have found some answers but it's up to our coaches to put the pieces in the right place. One of the good things was Pilkington's performance. I was a little worried about him after his performance against Texas Tech- but he stepped up and pitched like he needs to. It sucks that we struck out 18 times and wasted his performance. Plumlee did what I kind of expect him to be once SEC play starts- and that's a five inning guy. We need to stop pitching Ashcraft in a starting role for now. In time he will be a guy that could be an ace as long as he stays healthy. Right now- he's just not there yet. He has a lot to learn and he needs to command his pitches better and develop his secondary offerings. I think he can be useful in a short relief/closer type role- like Drew Pomeranz did for Ole Miss his freshman year. Tony LaRussa did that sometimes with starting pitching prospects like Adam Wainwright and I really liked how it worked out. They get action against SEC/MLB hitters depending on which example you are looking at but at the same time they aren't overexposed. That would be priority one for me if I was coaching this team this upcoming weekend- make sure Ashcraft gets to close a game. Riley Self pitched very well again and he has shown me that he can go deeper than Ashcraft and Cyr I think it's a mental thing plus he looked so good in relief I think we should leave Cyr there. So, I think Self is our best option as a Sunday starter. Cyr had struggled until this weekend but he was very good in relief. I think that's his niche for now- and that was one of the good things that happened for us. It was also good to see Rigby back and he did OK considering he is coming off of a groin injury and he did throw a critical wild pitch. And we do have to eliminate the walks, HBP's, and wild pitches from our pitchers. Spencer Price pitched well twice for us before he ran out of gas in the last game- and where was Jacob Barton? He should have pitched some but at the same time the fact that he didn't tells me we have a little bit of pitching depth. We'll see how Billingsley does if he starts midweek against La Tech. If he pitches well in midweek, he's going to have to get some consideration for starting on Sunday as well. If that happens we should go Johnny Wholestaff midweek and I think we have enough arms to pull that off.
Neither one of our catchers are hitting the ball right now. Marrero not being on the team is hurting us from a depth standpoint. Lovelady did have a good game hitting on Saturday but he is what he is- a good catch/defensive guy. Skelton is playing like a freshman- but he'll get better too.
Our best infield right now is Bragg at first, Stovall at second, LA at third, and Gridley at SS. All of those guys are hitting over .400 except for LA who is only hitting .340 and has a couple of home runs and is tied for the team lead in doubles. It was good to see Bragg hitting the other day and having a good game and maybe he is starting to get it. I think it was a mistake pinch hitting Cole Gordon for him and I don't understand that move other than the "by the book" R/L thing. Sometimes I think it's best to go against that sometimes depending on the situation. And Gordon struck out. It was great to see Stovall back- even though I don't think he's quite back at 100% yet. LA hit well after Friday and Gridley came up with some big hits even though I don't like him hitting third, it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon.
Some people have questioned not bunting Rooker. For obvious reasons, that's pretty funny to me. If Cohen had bunted Rooker and we scored to win the game, there would be a three page+ thread on here about how we were lucky and should never bunt, and etc. That being said, I don't think I can question not bunting Rooker. To me, that goes back to the individual situation and Rooker has a better chance of hitting a home run than he does of not getting a bunt down. He's also hitting over .400- you have to let him swing away. Mangum is what he is- a hitting machine. He got screwed by the umpire on his CS. I thought MacNamee had a nice weekend- better than some of the other options we've seen. I'm curious to see if Vansau gets more playing time.
Every year it seems like State fans latch on to something with the baseball team- whether it's bunting, defense, the third base coach, or whatever. Well this year, it appears as if the topic du jour is how many times we've struck out. Is there any merit to it? Some. Is it blown out of proportion? Yes. Is counterintuitive as it sounds, you can strike out a lot and still be a good offense. Ask the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers and Earl Weaver. We have more extra base hits and are hitting for a higher average than we were at this time last year. That's a positive thing. The other major reason why I say that it is being overblown is because if you look at our stats 41 of our 112 K's are between THREE players. Blaylock, Gordon, and Poole. That probably doesn't shock anybody- those three have no college baseball experience last year outside of Gordon's handful of AB's. Remember how horrible Rooker and Renfroe looked their first years? That's where those guys are right now. And if you look at the stats even further- LA has 13 and Rooker 11. LA's K total is skewed by his awful performance on Friday. Rooker is a power hitter, those guys are going to strike out some but he also has 9 BB's and is hitting over .400. So most of our K totals are between those five players- 65 of 112- only two of whom start and one of those I don't think the K total will increase that much over the course of the year. So, to me the solution here is fairly simple- sit the three guys that are struggling. Which we're doing for the most part. LSU last year struggled some at the beginning of the year last year- until that possum ran on the field and then they started to tear it up. I don't believe the possum had as much to do with it as Cann did- and I'm hopeful that we will see a similar thing happen as the year goes on.
I see some people talking about how Oregon is a mediocre team. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a good year. There is a lot of pressure on their coach to make a regional- he has a new pitching coach who is that Jason Dietrich guy that Gene freaked out at Harvey's last year- and they returned a lot of players from last year. The guy that shut us down even though he has struggled in his first two starts pitched for Team USA last year and if he pitches like he did against us the rest of the year he could be a first round pick. The guy that closed the game for them today was drafted by the Mariners out of high school. They are a much better hitting team too.
Now this is a big week for us- and we really need to win all five which means Cann and Henderson need to stop ****ing around with the pitching staff. Louisiana Tech is one of the darlings of college baseball right now- and they're coached by Lane plus we ended their season last year so Tuesday is going to be pretty big for them. They might dogpile if they beat us. Hopefully we won't pitch anyone that needs Tommy John surgery. They have one loss right now- to Arkansas who they split with. South Alabama is usually pretty good too- both they and La Tech have high RPI's. Stepping on the field against them will probably help us in that respect. Columbia played Florida pretty tough- we have to bring it against them.
Looking forward to next week being better than this one. Hail State.
