Baseball thoughts for the Dodgers Tournament

[Todd4State]

Bullpen: Hit and miss here. I question the management of how some of our guys are used but I think a lot of it is our pitching coach not being all that familiar with some of our guys and overestimating what some of our guys can do. For example- Reid Humphreys. Here is a guy that hasn't pitched since high school until this fall- and even then I think that was only one outing- and yet we decide to try to overextend him and we get in a jam and the game gets tied because of it. In the bullpen, you have long relief guys and short relief guys. Humphreys is a SHORT relief guy- and I would have thought that common sense knowing his background would have indicated that. And I've seen some people questioning bringing Hump in- I don't question that. He got us out of a jam when he was first brought in- granted he did hit a guy that scored a run. And yes he did give up a home run the next inning but he also got a couple of K's as well. And that should have been it for him. Paul Young- who we didn't see this weekend and unless there is an injury or suspension I don't know about, I question why he wasn't used as well. But again, he is a ONE INNING GUY. And we might have and probably would have beaten Oklahoma had he started the sixth. Conversely, Tatum was awesome all weekend. I've seen some people on twitter talk about moving him to the rotation but he has been so good in the pen, I would leave him where he is right now. Especially if Daniel Brown is only going to go three innings. More on that in a minute. Blake Smith has been a very pleasant surprise to me. And he's another long guy and I think the coaches have at least figured that out about him. Rigby I still think is a good pitcher that can help us- but I don't think he is going to be a guy that is going to do very well in jams. Hopefully our coaches learned that this weekend as well. And I would be remiss without talking about Kale Breaux and his performance against USC. This is a guy that FAU hammered just two weeks ago. And then here he is on the road against USC and he's striking out a guy with the tying run on third and one out and then fields a rocket and gets the final out to win the game. And speaking of that game- I woud love to have a closer for us throw 100 MPH. Zac Houston can get pretty close to that. But I'm becoming more and more convinced that he just doesn't have the mental whatever it is you need to close.

Rotation: Dakota Hudson pitched his ass off and more than held his own against UCLA's ace who went undefeated in PAC 12 play last year as a freshman. Hudson will win his share of those going forward. Sexton has to be more consistent. He looked unhittable last week- and then this week he looked like last year. We beat USC easily if he pitches like he is capable. Instead he allows two bombs and keeps them in the game. Daniel Brown NEVER ONCE this year ever has had his command where he needs it to be. He has good "stuff". And from what I have heard he "knows how to pitch". But the problem is you still have to command it. Every outing is an endless string of hit batters, walks, and hits mixed in with some K's and probably at least one guy picked off. I would say try Houston here, but when Houston starts he never seems to have his mechanics together and Wes actually had to take him back out to the bullpen between innings to fix his delivery last week. Tatum as I said has been so good out of the bullpen I think we should keep him there plus it allows us to use him twice in a weekend. Plus, Brown and Houston in the bullpen scare the living hell out of me. I think it's getting close to time to start trying Kale Breaux in the rotation. And if Sexton doesn't get it together- Ethan Small is next up. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked at all if our weekend rotation ends up being Hudson, Breaux, and Small by the end of the year- but that remains to be seen.

Catcher- I thought Marrero hit the ball MUCH better. But we still need Kruger to get healthy because in the long run I think he will be the best option here and will allow us to put our best players out there. Could happen as early as Tuesday or this weekend. It looks like Stovall might become Hudson's personal catcher.

Corner infield- Gavin Collins starts at third and it spurs a 7 page thread here. LOL. We really don't have a good third baseman. And it's going to be an issue all year long no matter who we stick there. At least it's not Sam Frost/Alex Detz though. Once we move Kruger to catcher it should open up DH for Collins- who while he has had a rough year, kudos to the roof shot at Dodger Stadium. That was impressive. Personally, I would like to see Reid Humphreys play third. I don't want Alexander there because I think it weakens us in the MIF some. I thought Nate Lowe hit the ball better and he is improving. I think he will put it together before too long hopefully. He may have a little more of an adjustment that Kruger simply because he played his freshman year in the American Sun or whatever conference Mercer is in whereas Kruger played in the PAC 12. Also- good God we misplay at least one bunt a game every time we play a ****ing PAC 12 team where they bunt ad nauseum. And every time it costs us a run- and that run decided UCLA and a misplayed squeeze cost us not only a run- but we didn't get any outs on it. And Oregon plays probably more small ball than any of the teams we played this weekend- so we better work on our bunt defense big time or it will bite us in the ass again. No excuse to not get an out when the other team is trying to give you an out.

Middle infield- I like Alexander, Stovall, and Gridley. They give us some toughness and grit that we desperately need. And they'll play anywhere you put them- see Stovall catching and LA playing third, and Gridley playing SS and 2B. Both of them have their moments good and bad at the plate because of their youth.

Outfield- Rooker needs to step it up at the plate. Our middle of the order guys struck out against UCLA I think 8 times- that can NOT happen. Robson is doing OK- other than getting picked off against Oklahoma. He is what he is. If he continues like he is, he might set a school record for stolen bases. Oregon starts three LH pitchers- I'm assuming they won't pitch one against Alabama who they play on Thursday. If that's the case we won't see Cody Brown very much this weekend. I know some people questioned why Mangum started and that is understandable. But to his credit he had a good day with two hits and a walk. He's going to be a good player for us- and I think we will see more and more of him. Reid certainly could play some in the OF this weekend, but one thing I have noticed is that when he doesn't start it's usually because we plan on pitching him.

I think it's appropriate that we went 1-1-1 because I think we have taken strides as a team and gotten better- but we aren't quite there yet. Case in point- last year we hit 117 extra base hits on the entire SEASON. Right now- we have 47 after three weeks. And some of those are against some legit teams. Also- I guarantee you we lose the USC and Oklahoma games last year with our bullpen situation. And while the bullpen isn't settled, we're at least starting to find some reliable guys and while I'm upset about some of the moves this weekend, I think we at least have learned more about who can do what. We also appear to at least have a legit ace which we didn't have last year. And other than third base I think we've looked better defensively than we did last year. And I know that people are going to bitch about hitting no matter what- but we're better overall there too.

The thing about this team is while I wouldn't say we are "young", I would say that we are inexperienced except in a couple of spots. I'm not using that as an excuse for anything- but my point is I think as the year goes along we will probably get better and better. Now, I'm sure I'll get bombarded with blah, blah, blah, we should be in Omaha every year and beat everyone 15-0. It's just a matter of getting everything together. And I know people are going to say- "well, he's had the fall, summer ball and spring to get everything together..." The fact of the matter is until you actually get your guys out there against live competition you really don't know HOW they are going to do. It's just a different intensity when the lights are on. And it's like that at probably every level of baseball at least to an extent.

Now going forward short term- this is a big week for us. Probably bigger than this past week even though the tournament was big for us to go on the road and play some tough road games and then get to play in a MLB stadium. South Alabama has looked really good this year so far. They might win the Sun Belt- and beating them could be a nice win for our resume. Oregon is a big name team and that series is HUGE for us. They have one of if not the best rotation in college. But they are basically built after Cal State Fullerton and they are a big time small ball offense. Which means we have to make defense a premium ESPECIALLY AT FIELDING BUNTS! The good news for us is IMO the BEST way to shut down an offense like that is to go with power arms and just blow their ass away. And we have some. Kruger probably knows at least some of their guys so that gives us a little scouting edge maybe. So anyway- if we were to win this series, it would be huge for our team leading into SEC play.

Sorry for the long post.

[bulldogcountry1]

Looking at Oregons stats, we may not score this weekend. Really. So, let's not be surprised if we see bunts early and often.

[Blackout]

Looking at Oregons stats, we may not score this weekend. Really. So, let's not be surprised if we see bunts early and often.

Then we really won't score this weekend

[BrunswickDawg]

I would agree with the inexperienced, and add to it something from basketball. This team is learning how to win. The past 2 years - last year especially - they didn't learn. I think part of that was because of who we played early on - a bunch of crap teams. This year we are already seeing signs of learning and adjusting like we did in 2011 - 2013, but against much better competition. I think it means we lose a few more early (that doesn't hurt us in RPI), but we will be stronger against the SEC because of it.

[shoeless joe]

We need to be able to see Tatum as much as possible...whether that's as a starter or a guy that comes in twice a weekend, he needs to pitch.

I was told when he came out that Houston was a head case. Nothing I've seen has changed my mind. He's without a doubt got the stuff but mental make up is the most difficult thing to change as a coach.

We've got some talent. This weekend showed that. But it also showed that it's the little things that win or lose against good competition. We have to do all the little things rite AND make the other team pay when they don't. Sounds simple but that's it.

[djaymsu5]

Breaux is a bulldog on the mound and I love it. He may not have the velo but he will pitch his ass off. Him coming in against USC and getting us the win was big for a freshman. Balls of steel!

[msstate7]

I have no idea what to think of this team yet. We were very close to being 3-0 and just as close to being 0-3. Hopefully this time next week I feel much better about this team

[dawgday166]

Some of my thoughts:

Seems to me that Cohen can't seem to make up his mind whether to play small ball or play to hit the ball. Small ball to me is great pitching and defense, aggressive base running, hit-and-run, run-and-hit, situational hitting, some bunting (drag & push work well, it doesn't always have to be a sac bunt).

1) Mental mistakes - Do they not practice situational baseball any? Playing small ball doesn't work well if you give the runs back due to mental errors in the field. And misplaying bunts is usually mental.
2) Collins may could be decent at 3rd, but stick him there, practice his ass off there (tons of grounders, situational baseball, etc.) and leave him there. If he can't play catcher he doesn't need to play 2nd IMO. Just covering the bag on the double steal at 3rd and getting the runner would've saved a run and won the game for us I believe (if I recall correctly).
3) If Alexander and Gridley are gonna play every game, play them at SS & 2B. OR play Alexander at 3rd, Gridley at SS, and Stovall at 2nd every day. I don't like this shuffling the IF all the time. That's part of the reason IMO we boot balls and make mental mistakes. I firmly believe that's why Alexander booted the bunt when playing 3rd against USC. He was tentative on playing it and wasn't sure who should take it, him or the pitcher. It's part of the reason Collins didn't cover bag on double steal. No really good team that I've ever watched shuffles their infield like this ... ever. Not saying they may not substitute for a player on a given day ... but they don't move people all over the place willie-nillie. This isn't a men's softball league where guys don't show up due to other obligations and you have to shuffle the infield. When playing a different position every day, a player has to really think and concentrate based on the situation... it works better if everything is more instinctive and they do it without hardly thinking about it. Not to mention that the speed and spin of the ball is different at each position (especially on the corners as opposed to the middle) and the footwork is different. Going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 2nd is a particularly big adjustment in all aspects.
3) I kinda scratch my head a little as to why our starting pitching seems to only make it 3 - 5 innings most of the time. Not sure about this one.
4) I really don't like the sac bunt in early innings with a runner on 2nd and no outs. ESPECIALLY if the runner is Robson. Don't understand that at all. Robson should advance on almost any ball hit, other than something pretty hard to left side of infield. Bunting with runners on 1st & 2nd and <2 outs is ok IMO since you're staying out of the DP and playing for 2 runs.
5) Do they not practice base running? 2 guys picked off 1st yesterday. Also, we don't seem aggressive at all on base paths to me. A couple of times this year if I recall correctly, balls were hit to center or right side of outfield with pretty decent runner on first, and I thought he should've went to 3rd but was held up. Small ball usually means speed and aggressive base running.

My philosophy leans toward not giving runs up due to errors and/or mental mistakes. I believe we gave up at least 2 and maybe 3 runs yesterday due to this. Hitting can ebb and flow some. I will defend Cohen some when he says a balls are hit hard but didn't fall in, cause if guys are driving the ball hard somewhere and right at people, sooner or later line drives start dropping in or will be in gaps.

[CarolinaDawgs]

Its bad coaching to have a better evacuation plan to have an original. Tatum wins the game against OU and we walk away 2-1 in LA. We have a stretch where we could easily go 1-5 in the next 6 with mismanagement. with Hudson, tatum, sexton I think it goes to a much higher percentage to come out 4-2

[NeshobaChuck]

We have got to find a 2 hole hitter to put in front of Krouger or move him down in the order and we can score some runs. But IMO personally I like him in the 3 hole just gotta find a guy to put in front of him to get on base in any way possible this kid is raking the ball

[NeshobaChuck]

And I honestly like the Hudson Sexton Houston kinda rotation IMO

[maroonmania]

We have got to find a 2 hole hitter to put in front of Krouger or move him down in the order and we can score some runs. But IMO personally I like him in the 3 hole just gotta find a guy to put in front of him to get on base in any way possible this kid is raking the ball

Whether we bat Kruger 2, 3 or even 4 we better find someone that can hit behind him or folks will start pitching around him. Rooker had a rough 3 games. That's not going to cut it to protect Kruger and MAKE people pitch to him going forward.

[msstate7]

We have got to find a 2 hole hitter to put in front of Krouger or move him down in the order and we can score some runs. But IMO personally I like him in the 3 hole just gotta find a guy to put in front of him to get on base in any way possible this kid is raking the ball

Find our best fastball hitter in the 2-hole... Robson on base will get him fastballs

[maroonmania]

Some of my thoughts:

Seems to me that Cohen can't seem to make up his mind whether to play small ball or play to hit the ball. Small ball to me is great pitching and defense, aggressive base running, hit-and-run, run-and-hit, situational hitting, some bunting (drag & push work well, it doesn't always have to be a sac bunt).

1) Mental mistakes - Do they not practice situational baseball any? Playing small ball doesn't work well if you give the runs back due to mental errors in the field. And misplaying bunts is usually mental.
2) Collins may could be decent at 3rd, but stick him there, practice his ass off there (tons of grounders, situational baseball, etc.) and leave him there. If he can't play catcher he doesn't need to play 2nd IMO. Just covering the bag on the double steal at 3rd and getting the runner would've saved a run and won the game for us I believe (if I recall correctly).
3) If Alexander and Gridley are gonna play every game, play them at SS & 2B. OR play Alexander at 3rd, Gridley at SS, and Stovall at 2nd every day. I don't like this shuffling the IF all the time. That's part of the reason IMO we boot balls and make mental mistakes. I firmly believe that's why Alexander booted the bunt when playing 3rd against USC. He was tentative on playing it and wasn't sure who should take it, him or the pitcher. It's part of the reason Collins didn't cover bag on double steal. No really good team that I've ever watched shuffles their infield like this ... ever. Not saying they may not substitute for a player on a given day ... but they don't move people all over the place willie-nillie. This isn't a men's softball league where guys don't show up due to other obligations and you have to shuffle the infield. When playing a different position every day, a player has to really think and concentrate based on the situation... it works better if everything is more instinctive and they do it without hardly thinking about it. Not to mention that the speed and spin of the ball is different at each position (especially on the corners as opposed to the middle) and the footwork is different. Going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 2nd is a particularly big adjustment in all aspects.
3) I kinda scratch my head a little as to why our starting pitching seems to only make it 3 - 5 innings most of the time. Not sure about this one.
4) I really don't like the sac bunt in early innings with a runner on 2nd and no outs. ESPECIALLY if the runner is Robson. Don't understand that at all. Robson should advance on almost any ball hit, other than something pretty hard to left side of infield. Bunting with runners on 1st & 2nd and <2 outs is ok IMO since you're staying out of the DP and playing for 2 runs.
5) Do they not practice base running? 2 guys picked off 1st yesterday. Also, we don't seem aggressive at all on base paths to me. A couple of times this year if I recall correctly, balls were hit to center or right side of outfield with pretty decent runner on first, and I thought he should've went to 3rd but was held up. Small ball usually means speed and aggressive base running.

My philosophy leans toward not giving runs up due to errors and/or mental mistakes. I believe we gave up at least 2 and maybe 3 runs yesterday due to this. Hitting can ebb and flow some. I will defend Cohen some when he says a balls are hit hard but didn't fall in, cause if guys are driving the ball hard somewhere and right at people, sooner or later line drives start dropping in or will be in gaps.

Your #3 is dead on. Move outfielders around if you need to but there are way too many instinctive plays that have to be made on the infield in a multitude of different situations to have people having to think out there on the field not knowing what to do. If you are not comfortable and have not had enough repetition at a position you are not going to know what to do without thinking it through and there isn't time for that. Yes, Collins was caught completely clueless on the double steal and it cost us. Not sure if we get the out if he covers but 100% you don't get the out when he doesn't.

[Coach34]

2 hole should be Brown or Stovall. Or hell- Mangum when we play him.

[msstate7]

2 hole should be Brown or Stovall. Or hell- Mangum when we play him.

What if you put hump, rooker, or Collins in the 2-hole? They aren't ideal, but they'd see fastballs between Robson and Kruger

[Homedawg]

What if you put hump, rooker, or Collins in the 2-hole? They aren't ideal, but they'd see fastballs between Robson and Kruger

Rooker isn't going to see many fastballs no matter where you put him. I'd never throw him one. Ok maybe one a series. He no like slider...

[Coach34]

What if you put hump, rooker, or Collins in the 2-hole? They aren't ideal, but they'd see fastballs between Robson and Kruger

no because they are going to be required to bunt a good bit

[Blackout]

no because they are going to be required to bunt a good bit

Which is retarded with Robson on (and most other times as well).

Robson, Collins, Kruger is a solid 1-3

[msstate7]

Rooker isn't going to see many fastballs no matter where you put him. I'd never throw him one. Ok maybe one a series. He no like slider...

If he was hitting 2nd with Robson on 1st base, they'd throw him a fastball or probably concede 2b to Robson. Right?