We are well below our standard and I don't think anyone disagrees with that except for maaaayyyybeee Everett Kennard who just thinks we're a bunch of spoiled brats.

The reason to me is very simple. Our pitching coach isn't up to standard. Forget the injuries- although I do think there is something up there because it's not travel ball coaches fault when a guy has arm soreness or dead arm. I'm not there to see what is going on but something is not right there. What we can see- leaving guys in wayyyy too long, not making enough mound visits, and questionable pitch selection- there is a lot wrong. This is reflected in the stats too- our pitching in general is ranked around 13th-14th in most major stats. Our hitting on the other hand is around 5th-6th in the league.

So what is becoming the question is do we fire not only Foxhall but also Lemonis as well? To make an informed opinion we need to step back and look at their roles. People that want Lemonis gone are mad that he didn't already fire Foxhall in the offseason and say the blame starts with him and he signs off on Foxhall's decisions. That is true. But there is a fine line between making managerial decisions and micromanaging. And if Chris was asking for my two cents and he is not nor will he ever do so my recommendation would be to take over the pitching in game decisions. But then the question is will Lemonis fire Foxhall in the offseason? At this point I think there is no question he will. Pitching is only one thing that Lemonis oversees. Defense is last in the league but Mershon has stabilized that and Alford has gotten better as has Highfill. Credit to the staff for making decisions to improve the team through lineup changes and hard work. Plus defense hasn't been an issue consistently while Lemonis has been here. Offensively we're fine. We have power and we steal bases. We can beat teams a number of different ways. Our worst hitters are hitting in the high .240's. And we have some freshmen who are making an immediate impact and that doesn't happen without good coaching. Recruiting has been strong under Lemonis as well.

So again as I have said all season if Lemonis has another losing season- and he might- I think we will fire him.

If he does not I think we just fire Foxhall and let him try with an elite PC.

Now to have a winning season- I'm not talking about regionals or hosting (LOL)- I'm talking about 28-27. He needs to find five more games to win.

We should be able to beat North Alabama and Memphis although Memphis will give us a fight. That puts us at 25 if we do that.

That makes the Governor's Cup important to win. It will give Lemonis a boost because it's Ole Miss. Losing that game will make things worse for him. And it's going to be tougher to win without Dohm or Holcombe available and KC and Nixon having shell shock. On top of that we'll probably start Parker 17ing Stinett. YIKES! I'm glad I'm not a baseball coach relying on him to put out the fire on my seat. I can't make any promises about what I might do if he pitches Lane Forsythe against them in this game. That said- this game is 50/50. We pull off a win and we're probably at 26.

If we do that all we have to do is "that's baseball" two more games out of 12 to get to 28. That sounds pretty doable and it should be except next up we have red hot Tennessee in Knoxville on a short week after we play a midweek against Ole Miss (Thanks Sankey!), then we get Arkansas in Starkville, at LSU, and then A&M. I can't see us winning any of those series except for MAYBE A&M in Starkville. And that's assuming no more pitchers go down between now and then.

So, nothing is a foregone conclusion here. Losing Dohm hurts- and it may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. IF Gartman comes back it means that Holcombe is going to have to take over Dohm's role. Cade has pitched very well as has Loo. Gartman has been fine the first couple of times through. We're going to have to rely on Hunt and Nixon a lot more. Really need one of the freshmen to step up to be honest.

Good luck Chris!