Couple of Baseball questions for discussion here

[CCUIrmo]

1 - It seems Eli Jones started pitching pretty poorly when they moved him out of the Friday Night starter role and to the 2nd game of the series spot. I may be wrong but do we think that maybe was a bit of a mental blow to him? It is a big deal to be game 1 starter and getting bumped and not going back, especially when those on Friday have been awful, has to play a role. Any chance this may be part of his issue is the mental hurdle?

2 - This whole season it seems the coaches have no clue how to set this team. Only a couple of weeks ago did it sound like Kingston settled on what he thinks was his best offensive lineup. That was done with only a few series left in the season. He has yet to settle on 3 pitchers for weekend starters and we still have no clue if we even have any weekend starters on this team. I think baseball players are very routine oriented and like things settled and going aside from occasional days off, etc. In no way has the staff found what is best way to use this team all year and we never know who is playing or when. For example, Blake Jackson has been pretty good and is finally in line up consistently. However, even when playing good, they left him out. His parents came into town for a whole weekend series a few weeks ago and they never played Blake once and it was only time all year his family was able to come. I know you dont put players in just for that, but he has done well and why leave him out at that time? That also cant help the players mentality.

3 - Kingston keeps saying week after week that the team is fighting hard and just as good as other teams playing. Well if so then it must clearly be the coaching as the issue and holding them back. It almost now comes out of his mouth sounding like he feels sorry for these poor players who keep fighting but it doesnt work. If they are fighting so hard then the coaches should be all in helping them get over the hump and not saying there are issues but no one seems to know how to fix.

I admit I am not, and never have been, a huge Kingston fan and we all know he was hired because no one else was left after Ray waited so long on O'sullivan at Florida. I have supported him and wanted the team to do good. I think though we are at the point after 7 years where he is who he is and this program will never be better than a middle of the pack SEC team. That is not acceptable at South Carolina. This season has seemed like such a hot mess of coaches having no clue what to do with the team but yet it was these very coaches who brought these players in so if it isnt working, then it is on the coaches.

 

[Big JC]

I think by the time players get to the college level, their ability is pretty much established. I'm not sure the coach, or coaches, can really make a drastic difference in their on field performance unless they develop a bad habit and the coach can correct it. College baseball isn't exactly a developmental league. Kingston seems like a turn the machine on and watch it work sort of coach. Tanner was much more active in managing the game. If a pitcher struggled, Tanner pulled him pretty quickly before things got out of hand. Kingston seems to hope the pitcher straightens things out himself.

 

[Islandbird]

It is a hot mess and there's been so much tinkering it's hard to figure out what's not working. The stronger batting order with LeCroy at short produced offense at the expense of defense - but now that's changed. The bullpen was excellent about a week ago, but were horrible this past weekend. The starting pitchers were better when the offense was struggling. I think it makes sense for T. Good and G. Gainey to be two of the starters because it's almost wasteful for them to come out of the bullpen when we're in a deep hole. Even with that, they're not going to pitch a complete game and the bullpen will have to step up. This is the most inconsistent Carolina baseball team I've ever seen. It's exhausting to watch. I agree with a previous poster that baseball players like routine, and that's non-existent. It's very late in the season for things to be so unsettled.

 

[Sweetwatergolf]

It seems we have this same type discussion every year with current HC. I'm afraid it will most likely continue until RT retires. I feel he won't be the guy to fire the current coach.

 

[PapaDiLuca]

Kingston has always been awful with setting the team up in my opinion. Using Brett Kerry as a reliever will always stick in my craw. Kid was clearly better as a starter, not to mention he was probably our best pitcher overall. Made way more sense to get 6+ innings per weekend out of him than the 2 innings we did with him stuck in the closer role.

This year, not having Kennedy Jones starting out of the gate made no sense. And now, his insistence on using the staggered lineup is insane to me. I get you want to do that within reason, but for us, it arguably means our third best hitter is stuck batting sixth.

Also, in his introductory interviews he talked about how we were not going to be doing a lot of bunting. Pretty quickly into his tenure he started sac bunting a ton. Whether or not that was the right or wrong adjustment is not my point -- I just don't think it bodes well to have to tuck your tail and change one of your core principles.

I doubt any of these gripes has made a substantial difference on where his tenure is now in year 7 (0 Omaha appearances, well under .500 record in SEC play, fan support withering), but they are just further evidence that he is not worthy of this job.

 

[Prestonyte]

It is a hot mess and there's been so much tinkering it's hard to figure out what's not working. The stronger batting order with LeCroy at short produced offense at the expense of defense - but now that's changed. The bullpen was excellent about a week ago, but were horrible this past weekend. The starting pitchers were better when the offense was struggling. I think it makes sense for T. Good and G. Gainey to be two of the starters because it's almost wasteful for them to come out of the bullpen when we're in a deep hole. Even with that, they're not going to pitch a complete game and the bullpen will have to step up. This is the most inconsistent Carolina baseball team I've ever seen. It's exhausting to watch. I agree with a previous poster that baseball players like routine, and that's non-existent. It's very late in the season for things to be so unsettled.

Like every team, we need pitchers who can consistently give you 5-6 good innings and a couple of short relievers. Finding those pitchers is the key to a team's success. You don't get to Omaha without them, and you have a hard time winning it all without them.
Think back to the make-up of Tanner's championship team's pitching staffs and you see that Kingston hasn't come close to developing these key elements.