Baseball Thoughts- Pre-Exams

[Todd4State]

Cumbest should be playing ahead of Skinner, and Clark should be given a try at 1st base. Every team now knows how to pitch to James, breaking balls, same for Forsythe but he will get better in time. Hancock needs to get going, like i've said in another post, he is somewhat productive but he isn't just crushing the ball. I also would platoon 2nd base.

If I'm James, I would try to play in the outfield next year, he has a good arm and has some speed.

Let's win the series against the Aggies, one game at a time and quit thinking and talking about sweeps. Hell most everyone on ED including me was hoping not to be swept by "Vandy Boys".

I sent you a PM also.

As far as pitching goes, Arkansas and Vandy are the two best hitting teams in the Sec, as far as Friday night, no matter who pitched for us we weren't gonna beat Rocker that night. I also believe we did the right thing bringing in Sims Saturday as "you play the win the game today" and worry about what to do the next day! And far as the Sunday game, it's pretty easy to second guess "take him out, leave him in" after the fact. It was our lack of clutch hitting early in the game with bases loaded twice as well as men in scoring position a few other time.

I know Kellum was sick early in the spring and that has delayed his development while he has gotten better. But Hatcher is struggling so badly I don't that Clark would really be any worse at this point- would likely be better and we would get him experience for next year.

I agree on Sims and Cumbest. I'm fine with Lemonis bringing in Sims when he did because we HAD TO make sure we won a game. When the postseason comes around I'm hopeful that we will see Sims more than once a weekend.

I think too many people are overvaluing Cumbest having to go play summer ball. Yes, summer ball is important to development. Cumbest can play summer ball in Mississippi and still be on the football team. Or he could play an abbreviated summer in another league. He has options and can still do both. Oh yeah- he's getting AB's with us too.

[CadaverDawg]

Yeah Kam had a really bad weekend, didn't hit and struck out to much, along with playing poor defense. If he's gonna make it I believe his best shot is in the outfield. We should give Clark a shot, Hatcher's just not giving us anything at the plate and his defense is average at best. I think Cumbest has earned a shot in the outfield as well. Skinner just can't hit a breaking ball yet and Cumbest is as good defensively, sure couldn't hurt to give him a chance out there. I agree with your rankings.

I posted mine before reading yours and basedog's posts...really good points you two made. I actually really like the idea of Clark at 1B if you guys think he is capable (I don't know much about him)....that allows you to keep Skinner on the bench as a pinch runner in key games down the stretch, and you have Mule's bat in LF. That actually sounds better than my previous post bc I like this lineup better...

Rowdey CF
Allen RF
James 3B (outfield next year, not sure if that's a mid year move)
Hancock DH
Tanner C
Mule LF
Dubrule 2B
Clark 1B
Forsythe SS

Thoughts?

Does Clark bat Left or Right?

[Todd4State]

To me, the fix is pretty simple if you move TA back to 1B. Then you're able to get rid of Hatch's bat, while probably improving your outfield defense. James isn't great at 3B, but he's far from our biggest issue.

Rowdey CF
Allen 1B
James 3B
Hancock DH
Tanner C
Dubrule 2B
Mule RF
Skinner LF
Forsythe SS

Teach Forsythe and Skinner how to freaking bunt. Use Hatcher as a potential veteran pinch hitter for when they try to go RHP in the postseason if needed. And for God's sake, quit leaving pitchers in too long....you have a ton of capable arms, USE THEM!

About James's defense- that field at Vandy is tough to play on as an infielder. Not an excuse- but it is an adjustment for any infielder.

[CadaverDawg]

About James's defense- that field at Vandy is tough to play on as an infielder. Not an excuse- but it is an adjustment for any infielder.

Yeah, I actually thought he made a hell of a play on that short hop...he just should have taken his time, set his feet, and thrown the guy out instead of trying to look like Ozzie Smith and throwing off balance. That error stung

[Todd4State]

Yeah, I actually thought he made a hell of a play on that short hop...he just should have taken his time, set his feet, and thrown the guy out instead of trying to look like Ozzie Smith and throwing off balance. That error stung

Agree. And that's what that turf can do- the ball gets there so quickly it can cause guys to speed things up when they don't have to because in their mind the turf makes the runners faster too.

[StarkVegasSteve]

At this point I think you have to give Kellum Clark a look at 1B and this weekend is a good time to do that. I'd roll with both Cumbest and Clark on Friday night and see how they look and based off that figure out what we're going to do the rest of the weekend. No team in the SEC is a bad team, but A&M is a definite step down in competition compared to OM and Vandy so this weekend would be a good time to tinker with the lineup a bit.

[basedog]

I posted mine before reading yours and basedog's posts...really good points you two made. I actually really like the idea of Clark at 1B if you guys think he is capable (I don't know much about him)....that allows you to keep Skinner on the bench as a pinch runner in key games down the stretch, and you have Mule's bat in LF. That actually sounds better than my previous post bc I like this lineup better...

Rowdey CF
Allen RF
James 3B (outfield next year, not sure if that's a mid year move)
Hancock DH
Tanner C
Mule LF
Dubrule 2B
Clark 1B
Forsythe SS

Thoughts?

Does Clark bat Left or Right?

Clark is a lefty, he has really good power, he just needs to play. I might would even swap Mule and bat him third and move James 4th followed by what you have in order.

[CadaverDawg]

Clark is a lefty, he has really good power, he just needs to play. I might would even swap Mule and bat him third and move James 4th followed by what you have in order.

I like it

[basedog]

I like it

Well we are "ED wanna be coaches"* It's much less stressful and seems pretty easy!

[Activated Alpha]

Well y?all remember the last time we benched Hatcher. I agree that he needs to sit so do whatever we need to counter the Hatcher jinx. Pluck ye chickens, walk around every time we are up to bat, any other weird superstitions ye got...

[The Federalist Engineer]

Do we think that Lemonis learned his lesson with Fristoe this year?

After the Vandy kid torqued Fristoe for a triple, he allows a struggling Fristoe to face the same kid and get torqued for a 3-run homer. That sequence basically costed the game.

He acted like Fristoe was the last D1 pitcher on the staff and the next available arm was Brant Blaylock. I thought we had 7 guys that could throw 95+. Did I just imagine that?

That was the perfect moment for Patrick.

Also, how can Cerantola go from the 3rd best picther on the staff to completely unusable. Seems you could get 3 outs per week with Cerantola. Just mix up the arms.

Yeah, we are a Top-5 club, yet we all still bitch about everything.

[Homedawg]

Do we think that Lemonis learned his lesson with Fristoe this year?

After the Vandy kid torqued Fristoe for a triple, he allows a struggling Fristoe to face the same kid and get torqued for a 3-run homer. That sequence basically costed the game.

He acted like Fristoe was the last D1 pitcher on the staff and the next available arm was Brant Blaylock. I thought we had 7 guys that could throw 95+. Did I just imagine that?

That was the perfect moment for Patrick.

Also, how can Cerantola go from the 3rd best picther on the staff to completely unusable. Seems you could get 3 outs per week with Cerantola. Just mix up the arms.

Yeah, we are a Top-5 club, yet we all still bitch about everything.

Cause he had the first best stuff. We had to give him a shot. He was NEVER the third best pitcher.

[Coach34]

Some good points here.

A) We dont manage our pitching very well at all. We are reactive instead of proactive. With all these arms- it's easier to make a change when trouble brews instead of rolling with the guy on the mound because the pen is bare. I knew when we left Fristoe in Sunday a HR was about to happen. You could see it coming. Fristoe is not ready for a 3rd time thru the line-up yet. His change is not ready. I was fine with bringing Sims on to make sure we close the game out. Harding is a 1 time thru guy. Stop trying to steal outs with him a 2nd time thru- it's not gonna happen against good teams. Good point by Todd about Mac and Bednar being inconsistent because of missing last season for the most part.

B) Playing Hatcher everyday at this point is ridiculous. He leads the country in groundouts to 2B. Cumbest gets on base 3 straight times Sunday and we pull him. It's getting comical at this point we dont play him but play Hatcher and Skinner. James is struggling with the slider and makes some wtf's in the field- but the talent is there. He'll get better.

C) Vandy and UPig are just a little better than everybody else. UPig has more pop but Vandy has the deeper staff. In the Omaha wind tunnel- pitching has the advantage. Just dont see anybody taking 2/3 from them there. We can secure a national seed and play at home until Omaha- and that would be a damn good season.

[CadaverDawg]

Well we are "ED wanna be coaches"* It's much less stressful and seems pretty easy!

We're pretty legit if you ask me lol

[confucius say]

We supposedly have the deepest pen in America. If that's true (not sure it is), then use it.

What I saw this weekend is we didn't trust our own minus sims to hold a 6 run lead with 8 outs to go. Then on Sunday we didn't trust our own minus sims to get fristoe when it was obvious he was done (two runs in the fourth then a single a 4 pitch walk in the fifth).

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

Todd, or anyone else. What is the pod seeding they are talking about for regionals? What is it and how does that work?

[HoopsDawg]

I posted mine before reading yours and basedog's posts...really good points you two made. I actually really like the idea of Clark at 1B if you guys think he is capable (I don't know much about him)....that allows you to keep Skinner on the bench as a pinch runner in key games down the stretch, and you have Mule's bat in LF. That actually sounds better than my previous post bc I like this lineup better...

Rowdey CF
Allen RF
James 3B (outfield next year, not sure if that's a mid year move)
Hancock DH
Tanner C
Mule LF
Dubrule 2B
Clark 1B
Forsythe SS

Thoughts?

Does Clark bat Left or Right?

That's my lineup but I might switch Mule and Dubrule.

Clark is a good fielder. He has played a lot of corner infield in his life. If he can hit .200, you have to roll with him. I would bet money that if he played 1st base the rest of the year, he would hit at least 4 homeruns.

[CadaverDawg]

That's my lineup but I might switch Mule and Dubrule.

Clark is a good fielder. He has played a lot of corner infield in his life. If he can hit .200, you have to roll with him. I would bet money that if he played 1st base the rest of the year, he would hit at least 4 homeruns.

Yeah, I think you're right...switch Mule and Dubrule

[R2Dawg]

Do we think that Lemonis learned his lesson with Fristoe this year?

After the Vandy kid torqued Fristoe for a triple, he allows a struggling Fristoe to face the same kid and get torqued for a 3-run homer. That sequence basically costed the game.

He acted like Fristoe was the last D1 pitcher on the staff and the next available arm was Brant Blaylock. I thought we had 7 guys that could throw 95+. Did I just imagine that?

That was the perfect moment for Patrick.

Also, how can Cerantola go from the 3rd best picther on the staff to completely unusable. Seems you could get 3 outs per week with Cerantola. Just mix up the arms.

Yeah, we are a Top-5 club, yet we all still bitch about everything.

I am with you on Cerantola. He was not 3rd, there were preseason baseball experts saying he was a top 5 pick and even one said he could be #1. He has some stuff, how can we not pitch him an inning and see every week? Pull him if he struggles, we are wasting his time here.

[HoopsDawg]

I am with you on Cerantola. He was not 3rd, there were preseason baseball experts saying he was a top 5 pick and even one said he could be #1. He has some stuff, how can we not pitch him an inning and see every week? Pull him if he struggles, we are wasting his time here.

I would like to see him pitch an inning this weekend out of the bullpen if we can grab a 4+ run lead. 3 or less and I'm not so sure.