Cohen Ball

[MetEdDawg]

I was a fan of Cohen's style. It's worked well for stretches and against good teams. I am losing faith in the overall approach of what he wants to do. This is not a knee jerk reaction to losing 2 to LSU in Baton Rouge (which really isn't the end of the world people). I don't like our line up construction because we just don't have enough pop and I'm not talking about HR power.

Utilizing the HBP and the BB and sac bunts is great when teams actually give you those opportunities. Good teams have good pitching that limit those types of opportunities. But I want you to go through a stretch of our lineup right now and find me a spot where you say "I can count on those guys getting solid contact on a ball 3 or 4 out of 10 times." Not a hit, just solid contact. We don't have that. When teams don't walk us, we have an amazingly difficult time at creating our own runs because we don't have enough consistently solid contact guys. We had 3 guys over 6 feet tall in our lineup tonight. The rest are 5' 10" and under and are just not the kind of guys that are going to get a ton of runs home.

Britton, Randolph, and Vickerson and gaping holes right now in the lineup. We have an amazing defense because of them and that has helped us. But does anyone think that replacing those three by putting Detz and 3rd, DH Humphreys, Garner or Collins at C, and either moving Vickerson down in the lineup or platooning with Robson/Brown is going to really kill us? I just don't buy that. We need more guys with gap potential. We need solid contact guys that can do some damage when they hit it hard. We have got to start manipulating our lineup to our strengths and if that means moving guys up and down the lineup game by game or series by series, then so be it.

I know everyone is struggling to score runs in today's college baseball, but it always seems like the teams in the end have good pitching and defense, but also are able to hit balls hard and not have to rely on 3 or 4 guys to make decent contact to score a run. Just my opinion.

[Todd4State]

I agree with much of that. The biggest problem with small ball is if the other team plays well, it's tough to score. That's why I want a balanced lineup with speed and power. That way we can do both.

I'd definitely give Collins the lion's share at catcher. He's a better hitter and defender than Randolph.

Humphreys is better defensively at third than Detz, so I'd move Detz to DH and Humprheys to third.

With the OF, I'd go Armstrong, CT, and Henderson. If one of those guys cools off, then go with someone else.

[MarketingBully01]

I was a fan of Cohen's style. It's worked well for stretches and against good teams. I am losing faith in the overall approach of what he wants to do. This is not a knee jerk reaction to losing 2 to LSU in Baton Rouge (which really isn't the end of the world people). I don't like our line up construction because we just don't have enough pop and I'm not talking about HR power.

Utilizing the HBP and the BB and sac bunts is great when teams actually give you those opportunities. Good teams have good pitching that limit those types of opportunities. But I want you to go through a stretch of our lineup right now and find me a spot where you say "I can count on those guys getting solid contact on a ball 3 or 4 out of 10 times." Not a hit, just solid contact. We don't have that. When teams don't walk us, we have an amazingly difficult time at creating our own runs because we don't have enough consistently solid contact guys. We had 3 guys over 6 feet tall in our lineup tonight. The rest are 5' 10" and under and are just not the kind of guys that are going to get a ton of runs home.

Britton, Randolph, and Vickerson and gaping holes right now in the lineup. We have an amazing defense because of them and that has helped us. But does anyone think that replacing those three by putting Detz and 3rd, DH Humphreys, Garner or Collins at C, and either moving Vickerson down in the lineup or platooning with Robson/Brown is going to really kill us? I just don't buy that. We need more guys with gap potential. We need solid contact guys that can do some damage when they hit it hard. We have got to start manipulating our lineup to our strengths and if that means moving guys up and down the lineup game by game or series by series, then so be it.

I know everyone is struggling to score runs in today's college baseball, but it always seems like the teams in the end have good pitching and defense, but also are able to hit balls hard and not have to rely on 3 or 4 guys to make decent contact to score a run. Just my opinion.

Here is a stat that should scare the shit out of you for this year's team. A stat that is very telling and adds validity to your concerns. We are 3-4 when the opposing team doesn't commit an error. I found that stat mind boggling and it speaks a lot to the fact if the other team doesn't make a mistake, we don't win.

[MarketingBully01]

I agree with much of that. The biggest problem with small ball is if the other team plays well, it's tough to score. That's why I want a balanced lineup with speed and power. That way we can do both.

I'd definitely give Collins the lion's share at catcher. He's a better hitter and defender than Randolph.

Humphreys is better defensively at third than Detz, so I'd move Detz to DH and Humprheys to third.

With the OF, I'd go Armstrong, CT, and Henderson. If one of those guys cools off, then go with someone else.

I agree 100% with your changes Todd.

[DancingRabbit]

I was a fan of Cohen's style.

but it always seems like the teams in the end

10 months removed from #2 in the country

I know message boards are made to 2nd guess but for now I'll blame it on talent and chemistry and continue to hold out hope for "Cohen ball"

[C222]

We should fire him. Cohen ball has only gotten us and SEC tourney win, 2 Supers, and a National Championship game appearance. Terrible.

[BogeyGolfer]

I was a fan of Cohen's style. It's worked well for stretches and against good teams. I am losing faith in the overall approach of what he wants to do. This is not a knee jerk reaction to losing 2 to LSU in Baton Rouge (which really isn't the end of the world people). I don't like our line up construction because we just don't have enough pop and I'm not talking about HR power.

Utilizing the HBP and the BB and sac bunts is great when teams actually give you those opportunities. Good teams have good pitching that limit those types of opportunities. But I want you to go through a stretch of our lineup right now and find me a spot where you say "I can count on those guys getting solid contact on a ball 3 or 4 out of 10 times." Not a hit, just solid contact. We don't have that. When teams don't walk us, we have an amazingly difficult time at creating our own runs because we don't have enough consistently solid contact guys. We had 3 guys over 6 feet tall in our lineup tonight. The rest are 5' 10" and under and are just not the kind of guys that are going to get a ton of runs home.

Britton, Randolph, and Vickerson and gaping holes right now in the lineup. We have an amazing defense because of them and that has helped us. But does anyone think that replacing those three by putting Detz and 3rd, DH Humphreys, Garner or Collins at C, and either moving Vickerson down in the lineup or platooning with Robson/Brown is going to really kill us? I just don't buy that. We need more guys with gap potential. We need solid contact guys that can do some damage when they hit it hard. We have got to start manipulating our lineup to our strengths and if that means moving guys up and down the lineup game by game or series by series, then so be it.

I know everyone is struggling to score runs in today's college baseball, but it always seems like the teams in the end have good pitching and defense, but also are able to hit balls hard and not have to rely on 3 or 4 guys to make decent contact to score a run. Just my opinion.

You need to take a deep breath and relax... By the end of the season we will be very good and Cohen always has us playing to a very high level. I agree that our bats need to improve but take a look around the league, Ark just took the series from USC. We will be fine... " In Cohen I Trust"

[AlSwearengen]

I would like to see us work Humphries in at third, not full time, but lets put him in there with his best chance to succeed (maybe on sundays). Outfield needs to be CT, Henderson, Armstrong, with Cody Brown sprinkled in. Time for Collins to catch on friday and sunday and let Randolph spell him on saturdays.

I like the idea of protecting freshmen from losing confidence, but we at least need to get them a little playing time to get some experience.

[Saltydog]

fine. Did you play Kevin Bacon's character in "Animal House"?

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

I agree with much of that. The biggest problem with small ball is if the other team plays well, it's tough to score. That's why I want a balanced lineup with speed and power. That way we can do both.

I'd definitely give Collins the lion's share at catcher. He's a better hitter and defender than Randolph.

Humphreys is better defensively at third than Detz, so I'd move Detz to DH and Humprheys to third.

With the OF, I'd go Armstrong, CT, and Henderson. If one of those guys cools off, then go with someone else.

Agree 100%

[Todd4State]

Here is a stat that should scare the shit out of you for this year's team. A stat that is very telling and adds validity to your concerns. We are 3-4 when the opposing team doesn't commit an error. I found that stat mind boggling and it speaks a lot to the fact if the other team doesn't make a mistake, we don't win.

The thing is at pretty much every level of baseball, the team that wins usually wins because they played better than the other team. Mistakes come in many different forms because of how baseball is scored. If Ross doesn't make his error, we win last night.

[DownwardDawg]

We should fire him. Cohen ball has only gotten us and SEC tourney win, 2 Supers, and a National Championship game appearance. Terrible.

Yeah, way too early to panic. I do some second guessing also but he has shown that these early season results mean nothing towards how well we finish.

[Will James]

We should fire him. Cohen ball has only gotten us and SEC tourney win, 2 Supers, and a National Championship game appearance. Terrible.

We went to a bowl game last year.
We often ran Perkins up the middle.

Conclusion: We went to a bowl game because we ran Perkins up the middle often.

[War Machine Dawg]

I was a fan of Cohen's style. It's worked well for stretches and against good teams. I am losing faith in the overall approach of what he wants to do. This is not a knee jerk reaction to losing 2 to LSU in Baton Rouge (which really isn't the end of the world people). I don't like our line up construction because we just don't have enough pop and I'm not talking about HR power.

Utilizing the HBP and the BB and sac bunts is great when teams actually give you those opportunities. Good teams have good pitching that limit those types of opportunities. But I want you to go through a stretch of our lineup right now and find me a spot where you say "I can count on those guys getting solid contact on a ball 3 or 4 out of 10 times." Not a hit, just solid contact. We don't have that. When teams don't walk us, we have an amazingly difficult time at creating our own runs because we don't have enough consistently solid contact guys. We had 3 guys over 6 feet tall in our lineup tonight. The rest are 5' 10" and under and are just not the kind of guys that are going to get a ton of runs home.

Britton, Randolph, and Vickerson and gaping holes right now in the lineup. We have an amazing defense because of them and that has helped us. But does anyone think that replacing those three by putting Detz and 3rd, DH Humphreys, Garner or Collins at C, and either moving Vickerson down in the lineup or platooning with Robson/Brown is going to really kill us? I just don't buy that. We need more guys with gap potential. We need solid contact guys that can do some damage when they hit it hard. We have got to start manipulating our lineup to our strengths and if that means moving guys up and down the lineup game by game or series by series, then so be it.

I know everyone is struggling to score runs in today's college baseball, but it always seems like the teams in the end have good pitching and defense, but also are able to hit balls hard and not have to rely on 3 or 4 guys to make decent contact to score a run. Just my opinion.

THIS. Every. Damn. Word. Although I'd leave Britton in for D. Or take the gamble and put Humphreys at 3B.

[War Machine Dawg]

We went to a bowl game last year.
We often ran Perkins up the middle.

Conclusion: We went to a bowl game because we ran Perkins up the middle often.

Damn, WJ actually making a good point.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm a convert to your side in terms of bunting. It's the dumbest play in all of baseball. NEVER give up an out. NEVER. It's cost us 2 runs just in the last 2 games.

[SignalToNoise]

We should fire him. Cohen ball has only gotten us and SEC tourney win, 2 Supers, and a National Championship game appearance. Terrible.

This is a message board where fans come to discuss the game, strategy/lineups, and other philosophies related to it. Responses like yours to posts that are well-thought-out are really annoying. You don't have to agree with the opinions, but no one in this thread is calling for Cohen to be fired.

If you would care to disagree with any of the points he is posting and add make a meaningful contribution to the conversation that would be great.

[State82]

This is a message board where fans come to discuss the game, strategy/lineups, and other philosophies related to it. Responses like yours to posts that are well-thought-out are really annoying. You don't have to agree with the opinions, but no one in this thread is calling for Cohen to be fired.

If you would care to disagree with any of the points he is posting and add make a meaningful contribution to the conversation that would be great.

Very well put. But I guess only in a perfect world will you have mature, grown-up conversation. Unfortunately, we are quite a ways away from that.

[BulldogBear]

Here is a stat that should scare the shit out of you for this year's team. A stat that is very telling and adds validity to your concerns. We are 3-4 when the opposing team doesn't commit an error. I found that stat mind boggling and it speaks a lot to the fact if the other team doesn't make a mistake, we don't win.

That trend can be applied to any sport, but in baseball it can be crippling when you are undependable when it comes to forcing your will anyway. Read that as "put the ball in play." When the ball comes off the bat, stuff happens. When it doesn't you have to work really really really hard to make those same things happen and more often than not, as you pointed out, the other folks have to make mistakes.

Conclusion: More mistakes happen when you can consistantly put the ball in play.

[BulldogBear]

Damn, WJ actually making a good point.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm a convert to your side in terms of bunting. It's the dumbest play in all of baseball. NEVER give up an out. NEVER. It's cost us 2 runs just in the last 2 games.

Yep, while I don't say "never" bunt (hell, if you got a kid or two that CAN bunt in little league, your team's going to win your league!), see my above comment^. I'd rather just knock the ball into play and see what happens. Stuff happens when the other team has to actually play defense.

[War Machine Dawg]

Yep, while I don't say "never" bunt (hell, if you got a kid or two that CAN bunt in little league, your team's going to win your league!), see my above comment^. I'd rather just knock the ball into play and see what happens. Stuff happens when the other team has to actually play defense.

I'm to the point where just about the only time I'd even consider it is if it's a suicide or safety squeeze, where you're gambling on scoring a run. I *might* bunt Randolph, just because he's an automatic out anyway. Why not at least give him a chance to move a guy 90 feet? Other than that, I'm ready to lose my shit with all the bunting.