Eastern Illinois game thread

[Todd4State]

Are we leaving runs on the field or not?

Are we blowing leads or not? If it wasn't for our bullpen- we're 19-2 right now. And we're not blowing small leads- we're talking 4+ runs sometimes.

How many times has Billy Beane tried to fix his bullpen by adding more hitters in an effort to outscore the bullpens failures?

[Todd4State]

Not only that- we're fifth in the SEC scoring 6.7 runs per game. LSU is just ahead of us at 7.1 and the leader is Texas A&M at 7.6.


Now how many high scoring games do you dumbasses want me to deduct from our total to try to make your point right?**

[Smitty]

Are we leaving runs on the field yes or no?

The coaches aren't ACTIVELY TRYING to increase the number of runs given up.

[maroonmania]

Not only that- we're fifth in the SEC scoring 6.7 runs per game. LSU is just ahead of us at 7.1 and the leader is Texas A&M at 7.6.

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

[War Machine Dawg]

But.....how can that be? War Machine Dawg says we have a problem and we are bad because he says so.*****

Way to take one game situations and extrapolate them. That's not just as biased to prove your point.*****

I think all of us can accept that in baseball you're going to lose games you shouldn't on occasion. You have a night where you can't hit or hit everything hard but right at someone or run into a damn good pitcher who's on and makes you look stupid. But we're losing games to ****ing SWAC teams and winning squeakers against teams who are winless on the season.

I don't think anyone is saying don't fix the bullpen. It's our biggest issue and needs fixing. But don't act like offense is a big ass problem too, because it is. You can throw out all the stats you want, but outside of 4 damn games against SWAC pitching, the run totals don't lie. And please tell me aGAIN that discounting those games is wrong because of all the SWAC pitching we face during SEC play.***

[War Machine Dawg]

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

Beat me to it. Todd has proven he'll defend Cohen at all costs. No one in their right minds wants Cohen fired, but he needs to get his shit together on offense. Same way Mullen needs to get his shit together on STs.

[Todd4State]

Are we leaving runs on the field yes or no?

The coaches aren't ACTIVELY TRYING to increase the number of runs given up.

I would venture to guess that based on our slugging percentage compared to our runs scored per game that we are more than likely creating runs. But then again, I'm looking at the big picture as opposed to one part of the picture I don't like.

You're stupid if you think the coaches aren't trying to score more runs. Period.

[Todd4State]

Todd, first nobody here has said we don't have a significant issue with our bullpen so you can stop hammering that. EVERYONE agrees with you. However I don't know that there is any magic formula to solve that unless we bring back Lindgren and Holder. However, I am really surprised at your unwillingness to see that we have significant issues on offense as well. Let's just look at our last 14 games (still well over half of the games we've played total), we are not averaging 6.7 runs/game, we are averaging 4.4 runs/game against competition that is still not stellar. In that span we've only scored more than 6 runs in a game ONCE. Lately we've been scoring 3, 4 or 5 runs somewhat early and then we never score again. No matter what bullpen you are not going to always be able to count on winning games when that's all you are scoring. I said way back when we scoring lots in the first 10 games and winning that I could see us having problems once we ran into teams that threw strikes and played solid defense in the field and that's exactly what has happened. Yes, our bullpen has been BAD, but even if we had lost the 2 games to Bama 6-5 and 5-4 instead of 10-5 and 8-4, I'd still be just as upset about it.

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

[Todd4State]

Way to take one game situations and extrapolate them. That's not just as biased to prove your point.*****

I think all of us can accept that in baseball you're going to lose games you shouldn't on occasion. You have a night where you can't hit or hit everything hard but right at someone or run into a damn good pitcher who's on and makes you look stupid. But we're losing games to ****ing SWAC teams and winning squeakers against teams who are winless on the season.

I don't think anyone is saying don't fix the bullpen. It's our biggest issue and needs fixing. But don't act like offense is a big ass problem too, because it is. You can throw out all the stats you want, but outside of 4 damn games against SWAC pitching, the run totals don't lie. And please tell me aGAIN that discounting those games is wrong because of all the SWAC pitching we face during SEC play.***

One game situations? I used stats over the entire season and compared it to other SEC teams. If you think they are all playing Florida State, Texas, and USC every night- you're grossly mistaken. But it's obvious you aren't paying attention anyway so I'm not sure why I bother.

Beating a team by three runs is a "squeaker"? You mean like LSU over Southern in extra innings yesterday or Ole Miss over Arkansas Pine Bluff today?

[Smitty]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs.

We KNOW we have a shitty pen. If we were calling a bunch of fastballs down the middle or telling the pitchers to hang breaking balls that would be something too. The pen is shitty.

If you CAN score 7, and settle for 5, would that be a problem? Just because "it should be enough to win" why on earth would you do ANYTHING to not score the most runs possible?

[Todd4State]

Beat me to it. Todd has proven he'll defend Cohen at all costs. No one in their right minds wants Cohen fired, but he needs to get his shit together on offense. Same way Mullen needs to get his shit together on STs.

From the man originally blaming the offense for the bullpen woes? Sounds like you're the one that needs to get your shit together. Or a clue.

[shoeless joe]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

Exactly.

Anyone without an agenda can see that the #1 issue with this team is our shit bullpen. But that doesn't fit the narrative of, "we lost cuz Cohen sucks" or "we didn't win by enough cuz Cohen sucks", or "I read some stats so I'm smarter than the guy who sees our team everyday and knows what they can/can't do better than anyone".

Yes we bunt too much. Bunting less won't help us get thru the 8th. A 3+ run lead from 7th inning on should be close to automatic, that's what we are blowing. That's not on the offense.

[Todd4State]

We KNOW we have a shitty pen. If we were calling a bunch of fastballs down the middle or telling the pitchers to hang breaking balls that would be something too. The pen is shitty.

If you CAN score 7, and settle for 5, would that be a problem? Just because "it should be enough to win" why on earth would you do ANYTHING to not score the most runs possible?

You can't quantify that we WOULD score 7 instead of five. You're playing percentages- and in some cases your very broad percentages that you focus on are in some cases fractions of runs and very small percentages of difference. That doesn't add up to two more runs.

Again, the thing you don't get and never will is you manage a game based on the in game individual situation. Which is actually the consensus among most baseball people and sabermetric people.

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

[Todd4State]

Exactly.

Anyone without an agenda can see that the #1 issue with this team is our shit bullpen. But that doesn't fit the narrative of, "we lost cuz Cohen sucks" or "we didn't win by enough cuz Cohen sucks", or "I read some stats so I'm smarter than the guy who sees our team everyday and knows what they can/can't do better than anyone".

Yes we bunt too much. Bunting less won't help us get thru the 8th. A 3+ run lead from 7th inning on should be close to automatic, that's what we are blowing. That's not on the offense.

Thank you. Signs of life.

I will say two changes as far as the bunting goes:

1. Humphreys should not bunt. Just like speed guys should use their speed, power guys should use their power. Not really rocket science.

2. Switch Robson and Cody Brown in the batting order. If we're going to bunt every time Heck gets on, which is like 65% of the time or something when he leads off an inning- use your BEST bunter. Odds are much better of Robson getting on than Brown. Also, Brown has a little more pop than Robson- so again makes sense to drop him to drive in some runs.

[Smitty]

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

5 years and counting bringing up bunting for a hit when discussing sacrificing.... 5 years.

[maroonmania]

I will hammer that point as long as we have fans that are ignorant enough to believe that we are losing games because we didn't score 9 runs to overcome the bullpens 8 allowed runs. I'm glad that EVERYONE has come around in your opinion on that. If you are scoring 4-5 runs per game, you should still win your share of baseball games. Asking a pitching staff to allow less than a run every other inning is not really that much to ask. But to say that "well, the bullpen blew the game so we should have scored more runs" is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

The fact of the matter is if we have issues on offense, then well over half the SEC does as well- and 250+ teams in the country have issues also.

The real issue is we don't have very much power. VERY different from hitting. I would still venture to say that the power is better this year than last- and that's without Collins.

I wouldn't give up on fixing the bullpen yet- Ross is still effective for about two innings, and if we move Laster to the pen, I think that would help out a lot. We also have to see what Paul Young can give us- which is an unknown at this point.

The REAL" issue with the offense" is some people don't like all the bunting- which is preference more than anything. But to use that as a pass for the bullpen is ridiculous.

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

[Brando]

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

I agree. We will get to the post season, but unless our bullpen steps up and stops blowing big leads, we wont make it to Supers. Hell, we will be lucky to make it to the past 2 games in the regionals. There is no sense in our starting picthers giving up 1 or 2 runs and going into the 8th with a 3 or 4 run lead and we get our pants beat off. I thought he should have left Mitchell in and he would have worked his way out of the jam. That's what a good pitcher does. Believe it or not, Mitchell is good.

[Tbonewannabe]

You can't quantify that we WOULD score 7 instead of five. You're playing percentages- and in some cases your very broad percentages that you focus on are in some cases fractions of runs and very small percentages of difference. That doesn't add up to two more runs.

Again, the thing you don't get and never will is you manage a game based on the in game individual situation. Which is actually the consensus among most baseball people and sabermetric people.

You're wanting us to ask a bunch of singles to not use their speed- and expecting to get extra base hits in return. Which is not what the odds say.

And yet how many times this year have we had a big inning where we've had a bunt single? Several.

I don't hate bunting but having Cody Brown who at the time is your hottest hitter bunt in the first inning against a crap team is all kinds of stupid. I agree with you, if Cohen is dead set on it at least put Robson #2. He has the best chance bunting for a hit.

[War Machine Dawg]

Our bullpen STINKS, nobody is giving them a pass. Not sure where you are coming up with that crap. BUT, for the main point, even if we get improvement there, if you think scoring at a clip of 4.4 runs/game (what we've been doing recently) is going to get us to post-season then you are living in a dream world. Like I said, we really haven't even gotten to the stiff competition yet. Bama has one of the weaker pitching staffs in the SEC.

For all his accusations of "our side" having an agenda, Todd has his own agenda. If we can score 7 runs a game more regularly, should we settle for scoring 4? Or should we do everything possible to score 7 more often? By all means, fix the mother****ing bullpen. NO ONE is saying it isn't the biggest problem we have right now. Not me, not you, not anyone. But pretending that in Year 7 of Cohen we can't make a fair assessment of whether or not his approach to offense sucks is ridiculous. It's like saying we can't judge Crxxm's Gulf Coast Offense after multiple years of 100+ offensive finishes. We aren't putting guys in position for maximum success at the plate and that should piss off everyone.

[Smitty]

2012 is also the year we had 7 stolen bases and 15 caught stealing in SEC play... 7 for 22 on steal attempts.... That's 32%, that's awful.