Lost in last night: Brandon Smith

[Hankp22]

We had a freshman make his first SEC start in front of the 5th largest crowd at Hoover and he looked damn good doing it. He had his breaking pitch working big time last night and kept it low in the zone for the most part. He also lived at 93 last night with good run on that fastball. I wish Lemonis had given him one more hitter but also understand why he did what he did with all the LH coming up.

That is why this tournament is so great for teams in our position. The combination of Smith/Ginn next year is going to be fun.

I hope Cerantola can get some IP this week too.

 

[Bulldogg31]

We had a freshman make his first SEC start in front of the 5th largest crowd at Hoover and he looked damn good doing it. He had his breaking pitch working big time last night and kept it low in the zone for the most part. He also lived at 93 last night with good run on that fastball. I wish Lemonis had given him one more hitter but also understand why he did what he did with all the LH coming up.

That is why this tournament is so great for teams in our position. The combination of Smith/Ginn next year is going to be fun.

I hope Cerantola can get some IP this week too.

Probably see Cerantola tonight

 

[57stratdawg]

Honestly, I thought all of our pitching looked pretty good. We gave up 5 runs over basically 2 complete games without using Small or Ginn. If that's the level of production we get out our staff, we should really do some damage this post season. Smith and Gordon's offspeed stuff last night was nasty.

Eagan and James played with fire in some of those late innings. I think LSU left multiple runners on base each inning after Gordon left the game, but they were able to pitch out of it.

 

[kired]

I really like what we've seen from him this year, and glad he got the start last night. Take away the bad outing in the Sunday football game vs. Auburn and his ERA is low 2s. Doesn't walk anyone either.

 

[AlSwearengen]

Something that I felt like I noticed with Smith is that he was pitching up and down in the zone with his fastball and was able to stay away from the belt high level. I don’t think that I have noticed him doing that before.

He definitely has the stuff to be a very good pitcher and I saw a good changeup from him one time, so maybe next year he will have that in his arsenal. We have some freshmen pitchers that if they come along, we can be better on the mound next year.

 

[Carbaryl]

Too bad Lemonis didn't have a parley with Coach TITS on who to start.

 

[RutherfordBHayes]

Keeping in mind that LSU slapped us around in Starkville back in March. Not bad.

 

[Hankp22]

Very Good Points

Something that I felt like I noticed with Smith is that he was pitching up and down in the zone with his fastball and was able to stay away from the belt high level. I don’t think that I have noticed him doing that before.

He definitely has the stuff to be a very good pitcher and I saw a good changeup from him one time, so maybe next year he will have that in his arsenal. We have some freshmen pitchers that if they come along, we can be better on the mound next year.

I think Foxhall brought this strategy with him. I don't remember us being as aggressive in recent years up in the zone. I'd love to see the rate of high fastballs we have thrown this year in comparison to the rest of college baseball and in comparison to our previous years (and the data sliced many different ways....by count, by LH/RH, etc). With the way the offensive strategy in baseball is shifting to a power approach strategy, being able to go high with the fastball and get just above the zone is a big weapon. It changes the eye level along with the timing.

I also agree with you on his third pitch. If he can get that threat in his arsenal and get more consistent with his breaking ball....he can go places with that right arm. Smith has the ability....he just has to find a third pitch and consistency.

I'd like to see our analytics on the mound breaking down pitch percentages and zone/location percentages. That would be fun to know.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

Hadn't realized that Cole went a full 5 innings last night, with 8 Ks and one hit, along with a visit from the umps about his glove (just sweat). Love that guy.

 

[Bulldogg31]

Hadn't realized that Cole went a full 5 innings last night, with 8 Ks and one hit, along with a visit from the umps about his glove (just sweat). Love that guy.

There’s a really good starter in there somewhere.

 

[AlSwearengen]

I am a firm believer in pitching down (except against a typical lefty) b/c it is safe, assuming you miss down and not up toward the belt. Most pitchers can move in and out, up and down, not so much. It makes it extremely hard on the hitter if a pitcher can pitch up and down in the zone. Very hard.

Smith has a good sinker but I am assuming that if he is pitching up in the zone, he is throwing a four seamer (don’t want a sinker ball pitcher throwing up) to keep it up. I will be watching very closely the next time he pitches to try and pick up on what he is doing.

 

[PineGroveBully]

It wouldn't be pretty, but I bet you could send that joker to the plate PHing and he'd find a way on base.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Honestly, I thought all of our pitching looked pretty good. We gave up 5 runs over basically 2 complete games without using Small or Ginn. If that's the level of production we get out our staff, we should really do some damage this post season. Smith and Gordon's offspeed stuff last night was nasty.

Eagan and James played with fire in some of those late innings. I think LSU left multiple runners on base each inning after Gordon left the game, but they were able to pitch out of it.

There was a lot of bitching (including me) about our hitting which kind of overshadowed our pitching performance. They had almost as man runners left on base as we did.

Get our plate approach back with a bit of PATIENCE and we could go far!