Regular Season Almost Wrapped Up Thoughts

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Originally Posted by confucius say

Defense. I think it will be cumbest more often though.

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Well that’s not platooning, you are talking about defensive substitution, which would be consider in late inning situations. You have to look at the overall offense of the players if you are considering platooning guys. With us facing mostly right handed pitchers it would only make sense if Skinner was hitting RHP close to the same or better than Cumbest. Or if they had opposite splits that while unusual does happen but again we don’t have either scenario with those 2 players.

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Originally Posted by Captain Falcon

Right. Send us to South Bend to play in front of 1,000 people and I think we smoke them. Play the same team in Starkville and I think it?s more iffy and the bigger stage raises the tension.

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It's way more iffy to play in a place where you're uncertain. You're staying in a hotel instead of your own bed, your playing on a field that you don't know how it plays, and you're taking away a home field advantage that only 3-4 other teams in the country have. I'll take my chances on the nerves getting to them and play at home.

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Originally Posted by Really Clark?

Well that’s not platooning, you are talking about defensive substitution, which would be consider in late inning situations. You have to look at the overall offense of the players if you are considering platooning guys. With us facing mostly right handed pitchers it would only make sense if Skinner was hitting RHP close to the same or better than Cumbest. Or if they had opposite splits that while unusual does happen but again we don’t have either scenario with those 2 players.

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No, I'm talking about platooning. As in starting. And take it up with lemo, not me. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do. He said who plays will depend on weather, wind patterns, whether he expects it to be an offensive day or a defensive day. I personally believe that trends to cumbest more going forward bc it will be warmer and more southernly winds (blowing out to left).

Below would be the lineup that I would trot out:

1) Rowdy - CF
2) TA - RF
3) Tanner - C
4) Hancock - 1B
5) Dubrule - 2B
6) Clark - DH
7) Forsythe - SS
8) James - 3B
9) Skinner - LF

I know this doesn't follow the L/R/L lineup we typically trot out there, but just like football - sometimes you have to adjust philosophy based on personnel. Our lack of 3B & LF production is an absolute killer, as you shouldn't have two prime corner spots with the glaring deficiencies.

You can sacrifice bats for middle infielders, if their gloves are special - but it gets harder to hide when you have two other positions where you aren't exceptional in either hitting or fielding.

Skinner gets the nod over Cumbest strictly based on speed. James gets the nod at 3B because quite frankly we don't have anyone else.

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Originally Posted by Gutter Cobreh

Below would be the lineup that I would trot out:

1) Rowdy - CF
2) TA - RF
3) Tanner - C
4) Hancock - 1B
5) Dubrule - 2B
6) Clark - DH
7) Forsythe - SS
8) James - 3B
9) Skinner - LF

I know this doesn't follow the L/R/L lineup we typically trot out there, but just like football - sometimes you have to adjust philosophy based on personnel. Our lack of 3B & LF production is an absolute killer, as you shouldn't have two prime corner spots with the glaring deficiencies.

You can sacrifice bats for middle infielders, if their gloves are special - but it gets harder to hide when you have two other positions where you aren't exceptional in either hitting or fielding.

Skinner gets the nod over Cumbest strictly based on speed. James gets the nod at 3B because quite frankly we don't have anyone else.

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If you're moving James to the bottom bc of his bat, why not put Legget there hitting 8th and let him play third? Leggett is so much better defensively.

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Originally Posted by Gutter Cobreh

Below would be the lineup that I would trot out:

1) Rowdy - CF
2) TA - RF
3) Tanner - C
4) Hancock - 1B
5) Dubrule - 2B
6) Clark - DH
7) Forsythe - SS
8) James - 3B
9) Skinner - LF

I know this doesn't follow the L/R/L lineup we typically trot out there, but just like football - sometimes you have to adjust philosophy based on personnel. Our lack of 3B & LF production is an absolute killer, as you shouldn't have two prime corner spots with the glaring deficiencies.

You can sacrifice bats for middle infielders, if their gloves are special - but it gets harder to hide when you have two other positions where you aren't exceptional in either hitting or fielding.

Skinner gets the nod over Cumbest strictly based on speed. James gets the nod at 3B because quite frankly we don't have anyone else.

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Skinner is not that much faster than Brad, Brad has the better arm and offensively it’s not close. Combined attributes and statistical comparison would have Brad significantly ahead in WaR, etc. You wrote about lack of production at 3rd and LF then decided to remove a more productive bat in Cumbest for almost no production for maybe a little more speed. If there was a huge gap in speed, maybe it’s a bigger issue to address but it’s not.

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Originally Posted by Really Clark?

Skinner is not that much faster than Brad, Brad has the better arm and offensively it’s not close. Combined attributes and statistical comparison would have Brad significantly ahead in WaR, etc. You wrote about lack of production at 3rd and LF then decided to remove a more productive bat in Cumbest for almost no production for maybe a little more speed. If there was a huge gap in speed, maybe it’s a bigger issue to address but it’s not.

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I agree. Cumbests error Saturday May have hurt him in lemos eyes though.

Now if we get to Omaha, skinner could be a weapon in that huge ballpark that is more pitcher friendly.

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Originally Posted by confucius say

I agree. Cumbests error Saturday May have hurt him in lemos eyes though.

Now if we get to Omaha, skinner could be a weapon in that huge ballpark that is more pitcher friendly.

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No question, we saw with Clark starting...then did the same thing. Brain farts on plays that didn’t need to be fielded that way.

I have thought about that, but more so with Mac pitching for it to make a little more sense. But I would be hard pressed to start a game with Skinner giving basically nothing at the plate right now. Late inning defensive sub makes the most sense but I could see coach doing it

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Originally Posted by Really Clark?

No question, we saw with Clark starting...then did the same thing. Brain farts on plays that didn’t need to be fielded that way.

I have thought about that, but more so with Mac pitching for it to make a little more sense. But I would be hard pressed to start a game with Skinner giving basically nothing at the plate right now. Late inning defensive sub makes the most sense but I could see coach doing it

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I agree.

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Originally Posted by Gutter Cobreh

Below would be the lineup that I would trot out:

1) Rowdy - CF
2) TA - RF
3) Tanner - C
4) Hancock - 1B
5) Dubrule - 2B
6) Clark - DH
7) Forsythe - SS
8) James - 3B
9) Skinner - LF

I know this doesn't follow the L/R/L lineup we typically trot out there, but just like football - sometimes you have to adjust philosophy based on personnel. Our lack of 3B & LF production is an absolute killer, as you shouldn't have two prime corner spots with the glaring deficiencies.

You can sacrifice bats for middle infielders, if their gloves are special - but it gets harder to hide when you have two other positions where you aren't exceptional in either hitting or fielding.

Skinner gets the nod over Cumbest strictly based on speed. James gets the nod at 3B because quite frankly we don't have anyone else.

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Forsythe 7 hole? No thanks

The lineup vs Righties is obvious at this point:

1. Rowdey, CF
2. TA, RF
3. Logan Tanner, C
4. Hancock, 1B
5. Kam James, 3B
6. Dubrule, 2B
7. Cumbest, LF
8. Clark, DH
9. Forsythe, SS

Vs a Left handed starter you can make the case to:

substitute Leggett for Clark and move James to DH. Or just leave it the same depends on how Clark adjust to Left handed pitching.

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Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

The lineup vs Righties is obvious at this point:

1. Rowdey, CF
2. TA, RF
3. Logan Tanner, C
4. Hancock, 1B
5. Kam James, 3B
6. Dubrule, 2B
7. Cumbest, LF
8. Clark, DH
9. Forsythe, SS

Vs a Left handed starter you can make the case to:

substitute Leggett for Clark and move James to DH. Or just leave it the same depends on how Clark adjust to Left handed pitching.

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James is 1-22 and is behind every other normal starter in batting average except Forsythe. I know he has tools, but I think the question is how far do you go with him before you replace him with Leggett, who is much better defensively?

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Originally Posted by confucius say

James is 1-22 and is behind every other normal starter in batting average except Forsythe. I know he has tools, but I think the question is how far do you go with him before you replace him with Leggett, who is much better defensively?

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James is batting .268 despite this slump he is currently in. He also has 8 homers on a team that doesn't have a ton of power. Also at least 5 of his errors were at SS. I'm giving him a lot of rope. He just has to learn to lay off the slider.

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Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

The lineup vs Righties is obvious at this point:

1. Rowdey, CF
2. TA, RF
3. Logan Tanner, C
4. Hancock, 1B
5. Kam James, 3B
6. Dubrule, 2B
7. Cumbest, LF
8. Clark, DH
9. Forsythe, SS

Vs a Left handed starter you can make the case to:

substitute Leggett for Clark and move James to DH. Or just leave it the same depends on how Clark adjust to Left handed pitching.

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Lemo almost got it right tonight but he is starting Leggett over Cumbest. Giving up a lot of offense. Giving up LF defense. And only thing gained is 3B defense.

Basically he is choosing James's bat over cumbest. Bc he could put cumbest in left and slide Clark to dh in place of janes.

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Originally Posted by confucius say

Basically he is choosing James's bat over Cumbest. Bc he could put Cumbest in left and slide Clark to dh in place of janes.

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James and Cumbest need a summer and Fall of re-Tooling and re-Setting. Not meant to be derogatory, they are both All SEC and All Americans in their upside.

They are 1st Round picks if they played as good as they looked. Polk has all but said on the radio that Cumbest needs to pick baseball or football.

Someone remind me, did not Brent Rooker go to a Memphis-Area hitting and development Guru prior to his monster year?

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

James and Cumbest need a summer and Fall of re-Tooling and re-Setting. Not meant to be derogatory, they are both All SEC and All Americans in their upside.

They are 1st Round picks if they played as good as they looked. Polk has all but said on the radio that Cumbest needs to pick baseball or football.

Someone remind me, did not Brent Rooker go to a Memphis-Area hitting and development Guru prior to his monster year?

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Yes. Rooker worked with someone outside the program. He made a couple of swing changes such as eliminating his back shift on his load. We know how that turned out. Triple Crown.

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Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

Yes. Rooker worked with someone outside the program. He made a couple of swing changes such as eliminating his back shift on his load. We know how that turned out. Triple Crown.

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Guys with the tools of James and Cumbest could invest in that. They are legit elite athletes and pro players prospects.