An UGA Error

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Look I hope I'm as wrong on Lemo as I was on Hujsak lol

BUT, I think it's interesting all the different logic I have being thrown at me to tell me I'm wrong. Much is contradictory.

C34 cites being ranked as proof we're good... but ignores that RPI says we suck.

DownwardDawg says "wins are all the matter" to downplay the stats, but others say we're better than our record because we "should have" won some games we lost. Well which is it- are the end results what we care about or do we get credit for being close?

I'm told the team is very talented, but doesn't the fact we racked up so many non-con loses with a "very talented" roster just look bad on Lemo? (and when I say we aren't talented I wasn't being clear, we have top end talent but also some embarrassing holes in the lineup that signal poor evaluations/development)

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

draft this July?

Caribbean Jerk
Purdue
Dohm
Hines
Jordan
Hugesak
Holcombe

Those 7 are guanranteed to be drafted

Mershon, Loftin, Siary, Pico...talented

Freshmen? Cupp, Stevens, Grant, McKenzie...talented Freshmen

We may not be th most talented team in the SEC- but we are fine talent-wise

We do have talent, you are correct. I wasn't speaking precisely and that's on me.

What I mean is, we have "roster holes". No 3B recruited and we pick a mediocre one in the Portal. No 2B recruited and we have to portal in Larry, and even an extra year later we don't have a decent 2B. Don't have a 3rd OF and need to use chance (thankfully he's been playing better but we can all agree he's not a top end talent). No DH. Guys like Chester on the roster that aren't SEC caliber. And Fr? You want to cite the Fr hitters as "talent"? We don't have a single Fr contributor even with the holes I mentioned. Last year we got Jordan and Highfill and Mershon. This class isn't close to that one so far

[dawgday166]

I think we have a pretty good team that is gonna get better. I think the "holes" in the lineup will get better too. And I think young guns on the staff are gonna become more consistent.
I'm fairly optimistic but then again ... we are MSU and it seems every time I get optimistic we crash and burn.

[The Federalist Engineer]

We are also a 3rd baseman fielding a ground ball and stepping on his bag away from winning 3 out of 4 SEC series. Baseball is a different sport that the overly emotional sort can't quite handle.

For all it's flaws, this team is getting better. Hell, not for last night's BS, this weekend might've been a sweep.

All true, it's like MSU is learning to win again. If they played flawless for 10 games, they could beat anybody. Given the SEC schedule, it's clearly true.

TAM got a gift on the Sunday Ump. UGA got a Birmingham gift, and UF got a massive error to take 3 wins.

Not saying "we are really 9-3 and not 6-6". Just saying that MSU is competitive again. This is not a judgement, this is true.

[Todd4State]

Look I hope I'm as wrong on Lemo as I was on Hujsak lol

BUT, I think it's interesting all the different logic I have being thrown at me to tell me I'm wrong. Much is contradictory.

C34 cites being ranked as proof we're good... but ignores that RPI says we suck.

DownwardDawg says "wins are all the matter" to downplay the stats, but others say we're better than our record because we "should have" won some games we lost. Well which is it- are the end results what we care about or do we get credit for being close?

I'm told the team is very talented, but doesn't the fact we racked up so many non-con loses with a "very talented" roster just look bad on Lemo? (and when I say we aren't talented I wasn't being clear, we have top end talent but also some embarrassing holes in the lineup that signal poor evaluations/development)

The reality about RPI is it takes care of itself if you win. I don't think anyone with a straight face would logically believe that Xavier with their 15-16 record and is 1-2 in the Big East is better than MSU but their RPI is higher for now.

That's why no one uses it to rank a team at this point in the season.

[Commercecomet24]

The reality about RPI is it takes care of itself if you win. I don't think anyone with a straight face would logically believe that Xavier with their 15-16 record and is 1-2 in the Big East is better than MSU but their RPI is higher for now.

That's why no one uses it to rank a team at this point in the season.

Exactly

[Todd4State]

All true, it's like MSU is learning to win again. If they played flawless for 10 games, they could beat anybody. Given the SEC schedule, it's clearly true.

TAM got a gift on the Sunday Ump. UGA got a Birmingham gift, and UF got a massive error to take 3 wins.

Not saying "we are really 9-3 and not 6-6". Just saying that MSU is competitive again. This is not a judgement, this is true.

I'm not even that concerned about what we do in the SEC as long as it is good enough to get us in the regionals because if we do that we have a chance to make noise. The league is too balanced. And history has shown that you can be a dominant team like Tennessee a couple of years ago and not win it all.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

This team is like a Rorshack test (those stupid ink blot things) in that people see what they want to see.

Positives: The team fights hard, is 6-6, is better than they were at the start of the year, has shown the ability to play with good teams, is undeniably way better than the last 2 seasons.

Negatives: have no closer, have no 3rd starter, have multiple dead bats in the lineup, have no Fr contributors aside from Stevens 2IP of relief a weekend, has lost to a lot of bad teams (has a bad RPI due to that), Lemo still makes questionable in game decisions, and our 6-6 SEC record could be fools gold now that LSU and UF have shown they aren't as good as we thought when we played them.

Are we getting better each week, or have we peaked? Is the improvement vs the last 2 years indicative of improvement next year too, or does the lack of Fr contributors call that into question? Is this a blip because talent were about to have drafted, or is the talent we're about to have drafted indicative of our new talent level under Lemo?

Frankly I don't think anyone knows. There's evidence to support a lot of opinions but nobody will know the big picture until we get a feel for the '25 team. Right now we need to stack up wins because this is the easy part of the schedule

[DownwardDawg]

Look I hope I'm as wrong on Lemo as I was on Hujsak lol

BUT, I think it's interesting all the different logic I have being thrown at me to tell me I'm wrong. Much is contradictory.

C34 cites being ranked as proof we're good... but ignores that RPI says we suck.

DownwardDawg says "wins are all the matter" to downplay the stats, but others say we're better than our record because we "should have" won some games we lost. Well which is it- are the end results what we care about or do we get credit for being close?

I'm told the team is very talented, but doesn't the fact we racked up so many non-con loses with a "very talented" roster just look bad on Lemo? (and when I say we aren't talented I wasn't being clear, we have top end talent but also some embarrassing holes in the lineup that signal poor evaluations/development)

Yeah, one thing about me, I hate stats. I know some of my "buddies" on this board love stats. That's fine. I have no problem with that. But I was taught years ago, stats are for losers. Winners point to the scoreboard . Losers point to the stats and talk about "how close we are".

I'm just not a stats guy.

[shoeless joe]

I know a lot don't like Lemonis but dang this team is fun to watch, and they're getting the job done. Heck what happened today oughta prove to people how tough these kids are. All the bs last night, Dohm goes down in the first, we get down 5-0 and they could've just said oh well we're done but they didn't and they found a way to win. If you blame Lemonis for the bad the you have to give him credit for the good and he did a phenomal job keeping this team together after last night. They've fought and scrapped all year so give him a little credit. I'm enjoying watching this team play

agree here.

i'm not big on Lemonis but i don't hate him either. he reminds me of brian snitker for the braves. and the discussions myself and my braves fan bud on here used to have about him. yes...they both have weaknesses from a management stand point and i don't like some of the things i see happen on the field. but the teams play a certain way and you can't take that for granted. get a great game manager that players won't play for and it's all moot anyway. we'll see how it all plays out the rest of this year.

(not saying Lemonis is on the same level as the braves manager, just saying they both have deficiencies that also allow for their strengths)

[Commercecomet24]

agree here.

i'm not big on Lemonis but i don't hate him either. he reminds me of brian snitker for the braves. and the discussions myself and my braves fan bud on here used to have about him. yes...they both have weaknesses from a management stand point and i don't like some of the things i see happen on the field. but the teams play a certain way and you can't take that for granted. get a great game manager that players won't play for and it's all moot anyway. we'll see how it all plays out the rest of this year.

(not saying Lemonis is on the same level as the braves manager, just saying they both have deficiencies that also allow for their strengths)

I agree. Well thought out post. I like it.

[Offshore Dawg]

A coach can only change pitchers and set up a fielding situation. The players have to make plays and pitches.

[SPMT]

The stats don't agree with you. Or MLB scouts. We're also one pitch from winning the Florida series and we may win A&M if Morris Hodges is professional.

We have 21 wins this year and 6 SEC wins and we aren't at the midpoint of the SEC season. The past two years we won 26 and 27 with 9 SEC wins both seasons.

I would not be shocked if we end up being the Ole Miss of 2022. Not great during the season but getting better.

It will hinge on how the staff improves. If it does like theirs did in 2022, watch out. If hitting throughout the lineup improves??.

[Ranchdawg]

I do not understand Gotro?s hitting philosophy. I thought you were taught to read the ball as it leaves the pitcher?s hand. But it appears to me we are reading the ball a lot closer to home plate. Thus our hitters not able to make solid contact. Also it appears to me that umpires this year are generally giving a very low strike zone. Why are we not adjusting to this low strike zone in their swings at the plate.

I may be way off base with my thoughts. Pardon with the pun!

[SPMT]

I do not understand Gotro?s hitting philosophy. I thought you were taught to read the ball as it leaves the pitcher?s hand. But it appears to me we are reading the ball a lot closer to home plate. Thus our hitters not able to make solid contact. Also it appears to me that umpires this year are generally giving a very low strike zone. Why are we not adjusting to this low strike zone in their swings at the plate.

I may be way off base with my thoughts. Pardon with the pun!

I don’t know regarding higher level pitching at any age. Would love to hear c24.

Tony Gwynn said look at the pitchers cap bill or another spot in that area them slide your eyes over.

That’s a part of hitting we don’t hear much about but imo is arguably more important than some goofy swing adjustment.

Also, is it a hard focus on the ball or a soft focus. In shooting guns with a red dot for example, the best shooters talk about target focus and seeing the red dot cross that spot in a soft focus/blurry. This is for fast shooting in a competition or cwb setting. So, to me I would have a very hard focus on the ball it’s closer to what fast shooters do.

[RiverCityDawg]

I just don't understand why people constantly want to push the "keep or fire Lemonis" conversation forward now. It's just not time to have that discussion. Baseball has to be looked at with a large sample size in view. Once he came back this year it was always going to be about how the season went in totality, yet at every turn we have fans who anting to declare judgement one way or the other.

What we know now is the pitching issue has been fixed, the catcher issue has been fixed, and the toughness issue seems to have been fixed. Those were the biggest problems. We're clearly improved. From there, we just have to let it play out to see whether it was "enough". Trying to decide Lemonis's fate after every game/series is pointless (and tiring).

[Pancho]

The SEC record is better than most expected but the non conference losses are still puzzling. He has a lease until seasons end. let it play out

[Commercecomet24]

I don’t know regarding higher level pitching at any age. Would love to hear c24.

Tony Gwynn said look at the pitchers cap bill or another spot in that area them slide your eyes over.

That’s a part of hitting we don’t hear much about but imo is arguably more important than some goofy swing adjustment.

Also, is it a hard focus on the ball or a soft focus. In shooting guns with a red dot for example, the best shooters talk about target focus and seeing the red dot cross that spot in a soft focus/blurry. This is for fast shooting in a competition or cwb setting. So, to me I would have a very hard focus on the ball it’s closer to what fast shooters do.

There are many different approaches that can work. When I was playing and learning the game, Ted Williams book "The Science of Hitting" was almost required reading. He would probably be extremely upset at some of the approaches today, lol. The man hit 40+ hrs, every year, struckout less than 50 times a year, and walked over 100. The man knew hitting. I taught a lot of his theories to my players. Ted said a lot of hitters go up there with no plan, and if you're not using your brain and have a plan, then you're fighting a losing battle. I wanted aggressive hitters and i always wanted them to have a plan going to the plate. It was always frustrating to put a plan together and then watch them deviate and have a terrible ab, but it happens and you have to teach from that. You have to teach situational hitting as well. I liked my hitters to work counts. 0-0 go up looking for a pitch in your spot and spit on anything else. 2-0, 3-1, once again look for your pitch and not what the pitcher want's you to hit. 2-1, 3-2 have to be a little more aggressive but selective, as well as you're still in the drivers seat. 0-2 gotta work to get the count back in your favor or put the ball in play. When the counts in your favor you have to look to drive the ball not just poke it somewhere. When counts even or you're behind focus on staying up the middle. Always have to know the situation as a hitter as well. Runner on third less than 2 outs, you have to get that runner in, Runner on second 0 outs need to make sure you move him to third no matter what,etc.. These are just the basics. Lot more strategy and training obviously but these are the basics. Biggest thing for me is to keep constant pressure on the pitcher and defense. We ran the bases aggressively and stole tons of bases. We literally ran teams off the field because I even had my slower guys moving. Heck my son who was an average base runner could steal third standing up just about everytime because i taught him how to get that walking lead. If teams know you run a lot it puts their defense in constant motion when runners are on and creates space and holes. I won 2 national championships over the course of my coaching with teenage teams,and of course its not near the level of sec baseball, and I am in no way saying i'm anywhere near the level of SEC coaches, but we faced tons of teams with d1 players and the competition level at the national level is fierce, to say the least. And I'm proud of the players i've put in higher levels of baseball. Here's the caveat, I certainly don't have all the answers and this was just my approach to teaching the game and i had a lot of success with it, but their are others with way more knowledge than me. If you think you know everything you quit learning and baseball is a constantly evolving game and I'm getting old. My oldest son is a high school coach and old school like me. My youngest son is the pitching development director at baseball training facility and he's got all the new fangled, trackman, rapsodo, all the high tech stuff and it's hilarious to hear some of the conversations we have when we're all together. The 2 of them got in one heated discussion about core rotation and i've banned either one of them from brining it up again, lol!

We faced a team in a championship one time with an lsu commit pitching and they were pretty cocky and saying nobody hits this kid. We beat them on a steal of home because he was so focused on the hitter he was in the windup and when our kid took off he balked, lol. Those cajuns flipped out and were dog cussing us. It was hilarious.!

Anyway I just love talking baseball, and i'm sure many don't agree with my views and that's ok because that's what makes baseball so great is that you can be successful with just about any philosophy if taught properly.

[Commercecomet24]

I just don't understand why people constantly want to push the "keep or fire Lemonis" conversation forward now. It's just not time to have that discussion. Baseball has to be looked at with a large sample size in view. Once he came back this year it was always going to be about how the season went in totality, yet at every turn we have fans who anting to declare judgement one way or the other.

What we know now is the pitching issue has been fixed, the catcher issue has been fixed, and the toughness issue seems to have been fixed. Those were the biggest problems. We're clearly improved. From there, we just have to let it play out to see whether it was "enough". Trying to decide Lemonis's fate after every game/series is pointless (and tiring).

Thank you so much for this post! This is the only correct answer.

[The Federalist Engineer]

A coach can only change pitchers and set up a fielding situation. The players have to make plays and pitches.

You underestimating Scott Foxhall, he completely messed up many young men.

Hardin had a 21 ERA in the SEC last year. Not 2.10 but 21 ERA.

MSU led the SEC in Walks, not by 10 walks above the mean, but 100 walks above the mean.

Jackson Fristoe went from a new Will Bednar to a new Paul Young, in one season. Then became Andrew Walling the next season.

KC Hunt had 5 Freshman-Level seasons and Stinnett looked like a right-fielder pitching for laughs