Pitching Coach Hot Board- Version 1.0

[confucius say]

Well I think first of all I think Foxhall had a crop of pitchers when he got here and ones that were committed that would make any coaches job easier. Small, Ginn, Self, Gordon, Plumlee, etc. Add on to that he then has Bednar, Sims, Harding, McCleod, etc waiting in the wings. He did not have to evaluate a one of them and just had to not screw them up. Since then he has had to evaluate and develop players and I do not think that is his forte at the highest level like we play at.

On Kyle, he is the catchers coach.

I think he went and got Bednar, right?

I do think evaluation has been our biggest pitfall though. Foxhall did good things with leibelt and Gordon in 2019. Both improved immensely under him. But too many misses in the evaluation process.

[sandjunky]

On Kyle, he is the catchers coach.

Thankfully, that is our best defensive position
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[StarkVegasSteve]

I think he went and got Bednar, right?

I do think evaluation has been our biggest pitfall though. Foxhall did good things with leibelt and Gordon in 2019. Both improved immensely under him. But too many misses in the evaluation process.

Bednar was a Lemonis find if I'm not mistaken. He had tried to recruit him at Indiana and he was committed to Ohio St, but when Lem got the job he went back after him.

Cole was stones at the end of 18 so I don't give Foxhall credit on him, but do agree on Leibelt. Kid couldn't get it over the plate in 18 and was great for us in 19.

[Leroy Jenkins]

The thing is in my mind is that FoxHall was as highly thought of as a pitching coach as anyone on this list and maybe more so when we hired him. So what happened after the CWS Championship and him being named the National Assistant College Baseball Coach of the Year? ?

Because Foxhall is a miss barrels with breaking balls guy, not a throw fastballs, get ahead in the count, and play defense guy. New strike zone is not friendly to a guy who wants to throw sliders out of the zone and get a chase. With the tighter zone hitters will just watch it go by and take their base.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Because Foxhall is a miss barrels with breaking balls guy, not a throw fastballs, get ahead in the count, and play defense guy. New strike zone is not friendly to a guy who wants to throw sliders out of the zone and get a chase. With the tighter zone hitters will just watch it go by and take their base.

There's a lot of truth to that. I think some of our pitchers also don't have a whole lot of faith in our defense.....and I can't say I blame them.....so they don't risk the ball being put in play sometimes

[ScooterDog]

If Lemo is fired at end of season, is it within reason to try to get the entire Wake F coaching staff? Too much to ask for?

[State82]

Because Foxhall is a miss barrels with breaking balls guy, not a throw fastballs, get ahead in the count, and play defense guy. New strike zone is not friendly to a guy who wants to throw sliders out of the zone and get a chase. With the tighter zone hitters will just watch it go by and take their base.

Lemonis said on his radio show last night that against UT we had 28 three-ball counts. We won only 3 of those. That is horrendous.

[Leroy Jenkins]

Lemonis said on his radio show last night that against UT we had 28 three-ball counts. We won only 3 of those. That is horrendous.

Demoralizing.

[confucius say]

Bednar was a Lemonis find if I'm not mistaken. He had tried to recruit him at Indiana and he was committed to Ohio St, but when Lem got the job he went back after him.

Cole was stones at the end of 18 so I don't give Foxhall credit on him, but do agree on Leibelt. Kid couldn't get it over the plate in 18 and was great for us in 19.

Just read the 247 article from 2018 when he committed. He spoke well of foxhall and lemonis, but said that when he de committed from Ohio state in the summer of 2018 it was Cheese who first reached out to him, for whatever that's worth.

Interestingly, how three finalists were us, Bama, and wake forest.

[confucius say]

Time to fire it up!!!

1. Corey Muscara (Wake Forest)- I think this is the guy everyone has circled for the better part of a month. He would be an incredible hire. Has worked wonders at Wake since he's been there and was very good at Maryland and St Johns before that.

2. Josh McDonald (UCONN)- Has been with Jim Penders at UCONN a very long time but is regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in all of baseball. Coached AA's in 6 of the last 7 seasons.

3. Brady Kirkpatrick (Duke)- First year at Duke and has lowered the team ERA from 5.89 to 3.60. Was at FAU before that and they pitched it well last year.

4. Nate Yeskie (A&M)- It will probably take a big time offer to get him but if you could get him he's the grand slam hire. He's probably not as realistic as the first 3 but outside of Wes he is probably the best pitching coach in college baseball.

5. Drew Dickinson (UVA)- Has been with UVA for 4 years and the last 3 years his staff has a 3.67 team ERA. We saw up close and personal how effective his pitchers were in 21 and if it wasn't for just a special group of seniors we lose that game.

6. Christian Ostrander (USM)- A lot of people wanted to go get him last year. Has always had a great starting rotation at USM and would be able to recruit even higher quality guys here. He's going to be tough to pull though because a lot down in Hattiesburg seem to think he's content to wait on Berry to retire.

I know I left off plenty of names, but this was just my initial list. Add whoever you want and I'll add them to the list.

Another thing about the wake forest guy: wake's head coach and hitting guy have been there since 2010. They had only made a regional twice, in 2016 and 2017, were only a total of 15 games over .500 in 11 seasons, and had numerous losing seasons, including in 2021.

For 2022, they get a new pitching coach, Muscara, and make a regional and now in 2023 will be a top 8 seed with one of, if not the, best staffs in the country (2.40 team era, a 5 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio, and a .198 batting average against).

[Pancho]

and he recognizes his pitcher's different traits and utilizes them..........

[SaintDawg]

I havent seen it metioned anywhere and if I’m waaay off base…. what about Roy Oswalt? or Papelbon? Pipe dream? Just fishing guys…. dont beat me up.

[Coach34]

I havent seen it metioned anywhere and if I’m waaay off base…. what about Roy Oswalt? or Papelbon? Pipe dream? Just fishing guys…. dont beat me up.

99% of guys like that dont want the 12 month a year job of being a college coach

[StarkVegasSteve]

I havent seen it metioned anywhere and if I’m waaay off base…. what about Roy Oswalt? or Papelbon? Pipe dream? Just fishing guys…. dont beat me up.

Those guys don't want full time commitments. They've made their money and don't need anymore enough to commit to not doing what they want to do for 12 months a year.

[TheLostDawg]

Those guys don't want full time commitments. They've made their money and don't need anymore enough to commit to not doing what they want to do for 12 months a year.

Wonder if Oswalt would come help out the rest of the season. Just to help ur pitchers. He's in Starkville isn't he? I bet he'd know when to make moves, better calls on pitching choice

[Homedawg]

Just read the 247 article from 2018 when he committed. He spoke well of foxhall and lemonis, but said that when he de committed from Ohio state in the summer of 2018 it was Cheese who first reached out to him, for whatever that's worth.

Interestingly, how three finalists were us, Bama, and wake forest.

It doesn't matter but foxhall got him.

[Homedawg]

I havent seen it metioned anywhere and if I’m waaay off base…. what about Roy Oswalt? or Papelbon? Pipe dream? Just fishing guys…. dont beat me up.

Pipe dream. No

[Homedawg]

Wonder if Oswalt would come help out the rest of the season. Just to help ur pitchers. He's in Starkville isn't he? I bet he'd know when to make moves, better calls on pitching choice

No. No he won't. He want to hunt, fish and figure out how to manage his money.

[TheLostDawg]

No. No he won't. He want to hunt, fish and figure out how to manage his money.

Haha well hopefully he's gotten his turkey so nothing left to hunt. Maybe he'll be willing to fill in for a month then get back to fishing

[StarkVegasSteve]

Haha well hopefully he's gotten his turkey so nothing left to hunt. Maybe he'll be willing to fill in for a month then get back to fishing

We'd have to work practice and games around the 44 Prime Happy Hour schedule for Roy to even consider it