Next year's baseball line-up

[Coach34]

It was a good year, especially considering all the new starters we had + all the injuries. With us only losing Stratton, Reed, amd Brownlee- lots to be excited about in the baseball program.

It's been a long time since we have had a 1-2 type of starting pitcher that Woodruff and Lindgren can be. Those are 2 really talented mf'ers. Easily going to be our Friday and Saturday guys. I'm wondering if the staff even keeps Graveman around- with arms like Bracewell, Fitts, Cox- he will have to battle his *** off for the #3 SP job. As of now, I'll say he returns and starts on Sunday for us to begin the season. Holder is obviously the closer and we are bringing in a couple more arms to help. Norris is talking about pitching only- so could be another good arm in relief. This group will be one of the SEC's best in 2013.

1B- Rea- Needs to get healthy and work on driving the breaking ball to RCF
2b- Britton- batted .400 in the SEC Tourney and Regional. Good defender with speed who will be much improved at the plate.
3B- Flair? Damn sure wont be Frost or Norris. We got to fix this hole
SS- Frazier- we pretty good here
DH- It's going to be Porter. He batted.300 in SEC play this season. He will bat .300 overall next year
CF- a healthy CT Bradford
RF- Renfroe- he's got the best OF arm since Thigpen
LF- ???? Got to fix this one too. Henderson looked decent and should be the front runner, but is definitely a spot a good hitting recruit could grab
C- it's Slaughter's job. If Renfroe catches, it will be on Tuesday nights

I'm hoping the staff can comb thru the juco's and find another stick- but until they do, I believe that's what we are looking at. It will be an improved line-up- but we wont lead the SEC in hitting. But we will be outstanding defensively and on the mound.

Better days ahead on the diamond. Rebuilding is over gentlemen

 

[Coach34]

It was a good year, especially considering all the new starters we had + all the injuries. With us only losing Stratton, Reed, amd Brownlee- lots to be excited about in the baseball program.

It's been a long time since we have had a 1-2 type of starting pitcher that Woodruff and Lindgren can be. Those are 2 really talented mf'ers. Easily going to be our Friday and Saturday guys. I'm wondering if the staff even keeps Graveman around- with arms like Bracewell, Fitts, Cox- he will have to battle his *** off for the #3 SP job. As of now, I'll say he returns and starts on Sunday for us to begin the season. Holder is obviously the closer and we are bringing in a couple more arms to help. Norris is talking about pitching only- so could be another good arm in relief. This group will be one of the SEC's best in 2013.

1B- Rea- Needs to get healthy and work on driving the breaking ball to RCF
2b- Britton- batted .400 in the SEC Tourney and Regional. Good defender with speed who will be much improved at the plate.
3B- Flair? Damn sure wont be Frost or Norris. We got to fix this hole
SS- Frazier- we pretty good here
DH- It's going to be Porter. He batted.300 in SEC play this season. He will bat .300 overall next year
CF- a healthy CT Bradford
RF- Renfroe- he's got the best OF arm since Thigpen
LF- ???? Got to fix this one too. Henderson looked decent and should be the front runner, but is definitely a spot a good hitting recruit could grab
C- it's Slaughter's job. If Renfroe catches, it will be on Tuesday nights

I'm hoping the staff can comb thru the juco's and find another stick- but until they do, I believe that's what we are looking at. It will be an improved line-up- but we wont lead the SEC in hitting. But we will be outstanding defensively and on the mound.

Better days ahead on the diamond. Rebuilding is over gentlemen

 

[OzarkaNSW]

n

 

[War Machine Dawg]

I don't get your love affair with Britton. So he had one good week. Big f'n deal. The rest of the season was awful by any standard. I'll admit he has a good glove & good speed. But that doesn't justify a starting spot after he hit .170. Detz will start at 2B if he's healthy.

I also don't understand why everyone thinks Norris will get beaten out. He was very good defensively and clearly our best hitter before he 17'd up his knee. Assuming he's healthy next year, I'd think he's a lock to play, even if it's just as DH.

I'd guess the lineup looks something like this:

1. Frazier, SS
2. CT, CF
3. Renfroe, RF
4. Norris/Porter, DH
5. Rea, 1B
6. Flair/Norris, DH/3B
7. Detz, 2B
8. Slauter, C
9. Henderson/Robson, LF

I really like Henderson. He got a little too anxious at the plate at times, but he also put together some of our better ABs this season, too. And his D in LF was outstanding. It'll be fun watching him develop. Overall, I think we'll be a good bit better next year, IF we stay healthy. I think it's reasonable to think we can compete for a regional host and finish top 5 in the Conference.

 

[weblow]

I think that Detz will challenge Britton for 2nd base and we could see a lot of both to start the year.

Hendersen will be in left.

Flair will probably be our starter at 3rd.

Britton got pretty hot late but holy ****, he was a sure out for the majority of the season. If Alex Detz comes in and has a good glove, which I have heard he does, I think he will get a chance to handle 2nd base. Britton, again, improved late in the season but had 11 errors on the year. Granted, he is no Frost with 15 but I seriously doubt that he would even scare the field for any other SEC team.

 

[MSDawg34]

Too many variables.

One thing about our lineup that I would like to see is some consistency. Did we use the same lineup ever this season? One thing about Polk's best teams I can remember is there wasn't much shifting and everyone knew their roles and spots at the plate. I know injuries made this a problem but our lineup was all over the place.

We should use Pre-SEC play focusing on honing in our base lineup and then try to use that lineup as often as we can. This may have been another problem with our hitting this year as well because with the philosophy Cohen employed and moving everyone around he was asking every hitter to do every job. Someone mentioned Crooms coaching his system and not molding it around the players. I think we saw a lot of that this season.

If our hitters can improve and get comfortable in the lineup, and are allowed to maximize their AB's not focus on gimmicks, we will see a MUCH improved offense.
Getting some Demarini's apparently couldn't hurt either

 

[57stratdawg]

He went .288 in SEC play - not .300 this year. Pretty amazing he'd be .259 overall and actually higher against SEC play.

But, he sucked the last 2 weeks. He went 4/30 (.1333) since the start of the SEC tournament.

 

[MSDawg34]

.288 in SEC play means that he IMPROVED as the season went on, something most of our players cannot say they achieved.

By improving and hitting .288 vs the SEC you don't think he'll improve even more in an offseason and really mash non-con and hit at least the same vs SEC, putting him easily over .300 for the year

 

[Coach34]

The juco guy will start some games, and keep Frost off the field. Britton was a damn true Freshman- his *** should have redshirted. He is going to be a good player for us next year

 

[Coach34]

He went .288 in SEC play - not .300 this year. Pretty amazing he'd be .259 overall and actually higher against SEC play.

But, he sucked the last 2 weeks. He went 4/30 (.1333) since the start of the SEC tournament.

Porter was a juco playing his 1st year of SEC baseball- he will most definitely hit better next season.

 

[dawgatUSM]

There are some guys that come in out of high school, and it's an adjustment, but they're just gonna hit over .300 because they have that much talent (see a guy like J. Rea)<div>
</div><div>But then there's guys like Britton, and while his numbers at the plate don't show it, he worked counts and got on base plenty of times for a 9 hole hitter in this lineup. Not to mention that his bat improved more and more as the season went on. On top of that, he's by far our best defensive infielder probably (outside of maybe Frazier, but that may be a toss up). So, I think it's crap to write the guy off for his next 3 years just because he hit .180 this season. I'd like to look up his OBP, but I would bet its in the mid .200s</div>

 

[Bulldog from Birth]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

is that Cohen wants competition. And just because a guy isn't a clear cut starter- it doesn't mean that they won't play or contribute.

As far as Detz and Britton- I think second base will be up for grabs, and the best will start. I think they will push each other to be better- which is good for us.

The thing about Britton is he can play multiple positions. He can play in place of someone that is slumping.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

Renfroe only had something like 20 ABs all of last season. In other words, he played sparingly. Britton had 20 AB's after the first 3 weeks of the season. Like I said, I think he can improve, but unlike you I don't believe his ceiling for improvement is very high. Renfroe had a lot of room for improvement because of how we used him last year. Britton may well bat .250 next year, but that's not exactly something to jump up and down about, either. I agree Britton should have redshirted, but once aGAIN, you know as well as I do Cohen isn't bringing in a JUCO 2B to sit. He expects him to start immediately. I'm not saying Britton won't play at all, but he's not going to be a big factor, either.

 

[Todd4State]

for way too long, and they struggled and they couldn't recover and it possibly ruined their careers. Hitters are going to struggle from time to time.

I'd rather shake the lineup up to try to win than go through a 10 game losing streak while guys "figure it out". If someone isn't mentally tough enough to hit in more than one spot in the order- I don't know if I want them on our team.

I don't think anyone had a problem knowing what their role on our team was. Frazier was the leadoff hitter. And Rea, Renfroe, and Norris tried to knock him in.

Asking our guys to play station to station and hit three run home runs like you want would have been Croom-esque. When you have no power and you have are struggling offensively, you have to manufacture. Otherwise you don't score at all. Ironically, we bunt in the ninth inning, we probably tie the game. We didn't like you wanted to and now we're back home.

With offense in baseball- you have to do what your players can do and play to their strengths. You can't be "we're not bunting no matter what because of this stat" and expect to win every year. Your style only works if you have Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro and follow it up with Bobby Thigpen. We don't have anyone remotely close to that now.

 

[57stratdawg]

is apples to oranges. Refroe's ceiling is much higher than Britton's. Apples to apples would be comparing Frost's freshman year to Britton.

 

[57stratdawg]

it drops Porter's average down to .262 against SEC pitching.

He will improve some, but we're not talking about a 19 year old redshirt freshman. He would help this team much, much more to keep his average around .260-.275 and hit twice as many HRs. I would much rather see him improve his power (especially if he remains in the middle of the lineup), than improve his average.

 

[goldenwavedawg]

Both Frost and Henderson can play back up infield roles.

If injuries happen or folks don't perform, the redshirt can come off.

 

[MSDawg34]

1. You shake it up all you want figuring out who your best 9 are before the real competition begins. It's not a good sign when your lineup looks to be drawn out of a hat deep into the season though is my point. I'd rather not go on losing by changing **** up every day but find your lineup that gives you your best chance to win and use it, see I can do that too. It's not about 10 game losing streaks. You don't see the best teams changing up every single game.

2. Roles: No we consistently bunted with all three of your aforementioned RBI guys. Including Porter today, what the 17 was that about. Of course when someone is on your job is to hit him in.

3. No we would have played FSU this afternoon and wouldn't have needed to bunt in the 9th if we didn't Croomesquely royally 17 up our early chances by giving away outs. Our offense wasn't struggling today and we didnt need to try to manufacture. And even so my stats show that trying to manufacture doesn't score nearly as much or as often as swinging away. You said "otherwise you don't score at all" No sorry thats not true this year. "Otherwise we score more and win more games and probably host if we dont 17 up games by bunting Renfroe in the 3rd inning of the Vandy game we lost in extra innings or bunting Frost in the 2nd of that same game with 1 out already in that 17ing inning" is more correct.

4. With offense in baseball it's never to your strength to bunt early in games, especially just bunting a man over from 1st to 2nd, our specialty. It is that one play alone that we constantly called and failed to score on that we didn't host in my opinion and that is why we are back home, not because of today's 9th inning. My style is not a 3-run HR although it would be nice to have some that could hit them. My style is this is college ball and we will get a lot more H,BB,HBP than the pros where the sac bunt is becoming more obsolete because teams have a better understanding of the statistics. If they are using it less and less we definitely should.

5. Only 9 MLB teams had more sac bunts than us last season...They play ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO GAMES!! Our bunting this year was paramountly absurd. All 9 were NL teams by the way. Newsflash: Our pitchers don't hit. The most sac bunts by an AL team was the Royals with 55. This year we had 67. Team with the most runs last year: Boston 875 Least sac bunts: Boston 23

As me, Coach, Engie, and many others have agreed this year's offensive philosophy was extreme, absurd, and indefensible and must change.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

Coach is the one comparing him to Renfroe and saying Britton is going to make some huge improvement. The fact is Renfroe is infinitely more talented than Britton, so it's not a fair comparison. As I've said repeatedly, Britton is much more comparable to Frost. He's faster and plays better D, but offensively neither are worth a damn. Both played pretty much every day as true freshmen, both hit sub-.200. And I actually think Frost finished with a better average than Britton, but I could be wrong about that and I'm too lazy to look it up. Britton will be better than Frost, but he'll never be All-SEC the way Coach claims, either, unless it's the All-Defense team. He'll be a solid backup, but nothing more. If he starts next season, we're in trouble at 2B. Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd put Henderson into the mix at 2B as well.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

5. Only 9 MLB teams had more sac bunts than us last season...They play ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO GAMES!! Our bunting this year was paramountly absurd. All 9 were NL teams by the way. Newsflash: Our pitchers don't hit. The most sac bunts by an AL team was the Royals with 55. This year we had 67. Team with the most runs last year: Boston 875 Least sac bunts: Boston 23

As me, Coach, Engie, and many others have agreed this year's offensive philosophy was extreme, absurd, and indefensible and must change.

It's about the worst comparison you could possibly make. You're talking about the 1% of players in the world. The best of the best of the best. Even the worst teams have 2-3 guys that are legit power threats, so you can play for the big inning more often. Our team leaders in HR only had 5. Playing for the 3-run bomb all the time would have been insanity. I'll be the first to say I think we bunted too much, but we didn't have the team to play for the big inning after the 4th or 5th, either. And I honestly think wood bats might have more pop than the ****** ones college is using now. In case you missed it, one of our greatest home run hitters, Bruce Castoria, came here after the SECT and posted about how awful the new bats are. He said it's a miracle anyone can hit a homer with them. When a guy like that speaks, you should probably listen. Cohen got the most out of this team offensively, especially considering the injuries we had.

 

[Todd4State]

I feel like we did that this year. The 40 wins with a team that was near the bottom in the SEC back me up on that.


1. Tony LaRussa was the master at changing lineups. How did his team do last year? How about Casey Stengal- the man credited with perfecting the platoon system? The only way to find out what works is to change and do things differently sometimes. If something works you stay with it- how often does that realistically happen over the course of an entire baseball season? Never. And what's that saying about doing something doesn't work and you keep doing it over and over again?

2. That's because our lineup had trouble scoring runs. Rea and Porter led our team with 5 home runs apiece. We had one guy that hit over .300. And you want to just let our guys just stand there on base while they strike out looking or pop out. Good plan. That's what I'm talking about- we have to manufacture. I don't think anybody liked it- even Cohen. But I hate losing worse.

3. How many do our guys give up anyway by giving up at bats? Your "stat" just showed that you have a whopping 4% less chance of scoring from second with one out than you do from first with no outs. You can't even interpret the stat- it didn't say anything about bunting. And you're really counting on Sam Frost to get a hit? Seriously? Or does he have a better chance of getting a bunt down? And we lost the Vandy game this year when CT dropped a fly ball he should have caught.

4. and 5. You might want to check your stats again. The number of bunts has stayed fairly constant in MLB from 2000 to today per the Elias Sports Beaurau. Maybe you should send them your stats and enlighten them. It actually went up slightly last year from 2010 to 2011. But the average for MLB teams has been in the 50's from 2000-today. We failed to score a lot because we weren't a good hitting team period. So, in short- MLB teams are not bunting less or more than they have in a decade.

I agree that our offensive philosophy must change- but totally eliminating bunting is not the way to go. Like I said today- we must add power and speed and continue to apply pressure to the defense. Actually, adding power makes bunting more effective because the corner infielders have to respect our power. It puts them in a bind.

You're one of those fans that watched Moneyball and thought- "Oh- that's what everyone is doing. Bunting is bad! Anyone can play first base!". And that's not true- Moneyball has caused a lot of controversy in the baseball community- and some of those philosophies were wrong. SO- why did their style work? Because the A's had power hitters. And that's what I am saying- they didn't have to manufacture. You play with what you have and what your players can do. The Moneyball book made it sound like their players were crap- but they had David Justice, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez- who was a very good player at that time, and Jermaine Dye among others. Tejada and Chavez both hit 34 home runs apiece.

That would NOT have worked with our team at all.

The truth is Beane didn't want to play small ball and bunt. But he knew- as he is a good GM and baseball man- that if he wanted to score runs, he better bring in some sluggers. And he did exactly that.

The impact that Moneyball had on the game was not in style so much as it was on how MLB teams evaluate players and draft players.

If you really want to know what most MLB teams do as far as style- they want to do what I want to do. Which is a balanced lineup of power and speed. That's why five tool players are so coveted. Pitching and defense are a constant.

 

[MSDawg34]

mostly because we handcuffed them. The 40 wins are attributed to the outstanding arms of our pitchers.

Im glad you decided only to focus on the last decade when the sabermetric argument began in the 70's and since then, yes the numbers have dropped significantly. Even within the last decade, from 07-now only once has the lead team bunted 100 times, the 2009 Reds with 100. Earlier in the decade you had 2006 Colorado-119; 2006 Astros-100; 2004 Expos- 100 (the BoSox won it that year using sabermetrics 12 sacs) 2002 Expos-108 2001 Cubs- 117

The leader the past 2 seasons have been in the 80's so yes to me they are trending down.

Manufacturing runs does not equal getting yourself out. Im not calling for waiting on the 3 run bomb. What I am saying is that in the college game hits, walks, errors, hbp's come far more easily than in the pros. As well as defense generally being less talented. That means we should work even less to be getting ourselves out because getting on base is easier.

You really asked if Frost can get a bunt down? He popped up like 6 this year. Also him bunting is an automatic out.

The stats are that in the innings we bunted the man over from first and scored, we only scored one run. Just like today we killed our chances of the big inning.

Nobody including yourself has been able to answer as to why in that situation this team when not bunting has scored over twice as often as bunting in that situation. Also scoring over a run more per inning when we didn't bunt. In your last post you said "otherwise you wouldn't score at all." That was 100% false. We score more by not bunting, way more. I cant believe after today this is still an argument.

You say adding power makes bunting more effective because it binds the corner infielders.....How? I don't want our power guys bunting at all the infielders shouldn't be in a bind.

Power and speed are great, I want 9 Mike Trout's as well. Giving away outs isn't great.

In the pros like the A's you have to have power hitters because the pitchers/defense are so much better. As I said earlier getting on base in college is far easier so there is less of a need for the bomb. While bombers would be awesome, its not a necessity.

Moneyball? Very condescending of you. Even though you're on a show, you don't know everything. Even Coach uses what people say as examples against them. I expected better out of you.


Finally, should we shorten the power alleys? You bet your *** we should. With our arms (and continuing to get arms like ours) we will benefit more from the move.

edited for grammar

 

[BillBraskyDOG]

Peaches you've whined all year about lack of jr and sr leadership since cohen took over and now you wonder if the staff will even keep Graveman? Seriously? And you guys who don't think a healthy Norris is gonna play everyday are fools.

 

[maroonmania]

and I know its all water under the bridge now BUT I just don't understand why we kept playing Frost at 3rd when Norris needed to go out. First, to me there was no disadvantage to having Norris stay in there over Frost anyway. Norris may have had limited movement but he was pretty accurate on his throws to first. Frost, who obviously does not have an arm for third, though he could move better over there repeatedly threw wildly to first so nobody should have been surprised yesterday when one of his throwing errors ended up costing us a game. My question is this, why did we never move Britton over there when Norris went out? All I've ever heard about Britton was how great his arm was and toward the end of the year he was fielding much more consistently so why not let Britton play third and keep Frost and second where he is competent. Maybe Britton has never played third before but I would be very surprised if Frost had ever played any third before this year given its obvious its not a position he is competent at.

 

[maroonmania]

but I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of Major League teams had higher team batting averages than we did this year as well. And when a college team has a lower team batting average than most MLB teams you know you've got problems.

 

[Todd4State]

Because I haven't seen you post that- and I CAN'T ANSWER SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T ASK AND PROBABLY PULLED OUT OF YOUR *** OR INTERPRETED THE STAT WRONG.

I focused on the last decade because it is the most relevant and that was where the stats that I was looking at stopped. I got it off of ESPN.com if your curious. I also focused on the entire league whereas you are focusing on individual teams. I wonder why? Not really.

Frost may have popped up six bunts- he has also struck a lot more than six times and looked like crap hitting more than he has bunting. So, yes- I feel more comfortable with him bunting.

How does adding power with pressure- not necessarily just bunting- put a defense in a bind? The defense can't cheat in on the corners. They have to respect power- when a team plays back, it makes it easier to drop down a bunt for a hit. Especially when the other team doesn't expect it. Bunting gives them something else to think about. The more things that the opponent has to worry about- the more to your advantage. The more the other team has to think- the more we have an advantage. It also makes us more versatile- we can win slug fests and win a pitching duel as well.

And in case you've noticed- the bats have made it a lot harder to hit in college lately. I agree power isn't a necessity- but it's a lot harder to score when you have to string together 2-3 hits in a row than one. And if you can't score with one hit, you better find a way to be more efficient. That means by any means necessary.

As far as the pros- that's not necesarily true, but assuming you are correct for a second. If they have more power hitters and the defense is better - it makes more sense for them not to bunt. But guess what? We don't play in MLB. We don't play MLB defenses. Oh yeah- and fewer power hitters with dead bats in college.

We have a team that finished in the bottom third of the SEC in hitting and had one regular hitting over .300. We play in an extreme pitchers ballpark. We also play against college defenses.

I must have really hurt your feelings for you to resort to show smack. But thanks for tuning in.

And one lesson for you- teams that bunt are playing for one run. Not for a big inning. It makes sense that you score fewer runs when you bunt. You can score up to four with a home run. People that focus on stats never mention that- and they very rarely if ever mention individual players. Usually they look at an across the board stat that assumes that everone is the same player. With our team this year in so many close, low scoring games- it isn't surprising that we bunted as much as we did.

 

[MSDawg34]

We batted .251 this season The MLB average this year is........ .251

14 worse 15 better We are tied with the 28-25 Indians at .251
MLB avg last year was .255 ranging from Boston .283 to Seattle .233

So we are right about even with them on average BUT

Our on-base-percentage was higher than ANY MLB TEAM last season. In fact going back ten seasons the only teams with a higher OBP than our .358 this year were a handful of Yankee and Red Sox teams with the highest being around .365

So, like I said its much easier to get on in our game, lessing the need to get ourselves out

 

[MSDawg34]

From my original data thread in mid-April

I don't like bunting early in a game. There's no need for it. If a batter sees the third baseman back early in the game (my definition) and decides to bunt- he better beat it out, and he better not be a power hitter.

From late May
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com?topic=88656

You were the first to respond and didnt address the stats glaring at you in the face. Same ol' 3 run HR talk and "there is a time to bunt and not to bunt" and then you disappeared.

Never have you answered my question as to why we score so many more runs and much more often when not bunting. No one has refuted those stats because they are so blantently one-sided in my support.

You say we've played in so many close games and have had to bunt. It's reversed. We bunted so often and early, that we've been forced to play in so many close games. Like yesterday. Only yesterday our top 5 all year staff finally broke. That is why I have said the pitchers are who we look at to see where the wins came from. All year has been like yesterday, only yesterday the pen broke.

 

[atlwebdawg]

wow

 

[Saltydawg14]

Long-time reader but first time poster.

What about Demarcus Henderson at 2nd base? If I remember correctly- he was recruited as a shortstop out of high school.

And what about Pollo competing for a spot in the outfield? I know some of you think this may be farfetched, but let me explain. 1. He looked more comfortable this weeked at the plate (with basically zero at-bats coming into tourney) than half of our hitters who have been in the lineup all year long. Even when he got out he hit the ball hard.

2. Granted he was recruited as a pitcher to MSU, he is no stranger to being a succesful everyday position player. He looked comfortable in the outfield (minus the one miscue on the drop- but that wasn't a routine play either).
*See stats at bottom from hailstate.com

3. Demarcus and Pollo in the lineup together creates speed on the basepaths and puts pressure on the opposing team. They are probably two fastest on team. I'd almost argue Pollo is faster than Henderson- if not it's close.

4. Imagine Renfroe, CT, and Pollo in the outfield. They could cover some serious groud between the 3 of them, not to mention no one in their right mind would dare run on them. Cannons in the outfield.

5. His pitching would take a hit from having to practice both (maybe), but in my opinion we have the luxury to let that happen if it does. He's proved before he can be a successful hitter and pitcher at the same time, so that might not even be the case.

6. Lastly, the intagibles the kid brings to the table. Everyone loves the kid because he plays his heart out and in baseball that is contagious.

Stats:

JUNIOR COLLEGE:
Enjoyed a stellar freshman season in 2010 at Marion (Ala.) Military Institute • Coached by Brett Davis • Honored as the 2010 Alabama Community College Conference Player of the Year • Compiled an 11-2 pitching mark with a 1.77 earned run average • Registered 92 strikeouts while issuing 20 walks in 91.2 innings • Also started in the outfield, compiling a .396 batting average with two home runs, 27 RBI and 17 rookie season strikeouts in 154 plate appearances.

HIGH SCHOOL:
Four-year dual position standout at Laredo's United High School • Coached by J.J. Gomez • Two-time Texas Class 5A All-State performer • Left-handed hurler who starred on the mound as a senior, posting a 10-3 record with three saves and a 1.27 earned run average • Limited opposing hitters to a .199 batting average • Tossed 11 complete games in 16 mound appearances, helping lead the Longhorns to their fourth consecutive district championship • Also played outfield, starring at the plate with a .442 batting average nine doubles, four triples, two home runs and 36 runs scored in 30 games • Pilfered 26 bases in 30 attempts • Two-time team MVP.

 

[maroonmania]

is a majority though its certainly not a vast majority.

 

[Todd4State]

the guys that we're asking to drive them in were bad hitters.

Let me give you a simple math lesson:

It's easier to get 2 hits in an inning than 3 hits with our team. That doesn't take into account how many double plays we possibly would have hit into. We had no power, so the likelohood of us hitting a double was slim.

It doesn't matter if we bunted 3,000 times or 0 times all year. We were a bad offense and we were going to struggle no matter what we did.

Again- you didn't talk about who was hitting, the score, or anything else, how long the other pitcher was in, how the pitcher was throwing. All of that matters.

Baseball is and always has been about individual players and individual match-ups.

 

[DirtyLopez]

isn't playing in the outfield a good bit next year. Not saying he starts from day one, but you have to feel like they are pretty sure about him if they are bringing him in from Canada. That and he has some pretty good accolades compared to some of our guys.

 

[Todd4State]

but Demarcus has looked good in the OF and we have Detz, Britton, Brett Pirtle and Frost as well as William DuPont, a freshman coming in.

We need Pollorena to pitch. He's more valuable to us there.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Too many variables.

One thing about our lineup that I would like to see is some consistency. Did we use the same lineup ever this season? One thing about Polk's best teams I can remember is there wasn't much shifting and everyone knew their roles and spots at the plate. I know injuries made this a problem but our lineup was all over the place.

I tend to think the exact opposite ... change the lineup to:

Develop players to ensure backups in case of injury

Ability to use left-right match up to increase hitting odds - also gives you reliable pinch hitters when needed

Allows you to go with a better defensive infield late in games when you do have a lead

Takes a lot of pressure off players ... under Polk, if a player didn't start off hot, he might as well take up golf till fall ball

Polk' good teams had a lot of talent ... Raffy, Thigpen, Will Clark ... Rea is not 'Will Clark'

Thoughts?

 

[MSDawg34]

My point is that by conference play you should have a good baseline of what your best gameplan is. All of those things you work on in non-con (and mid-week).

This year throughout the entirety of the season we didn't seem have that

 

[MSDawg34]

Slauter - 8 He's a double threat with 10 on the year
Frost - 7 Frost had 8 doubles and almost as many popout bunts as successful ones
Britton - 7
Norris - 6 Why?
Rea 6 Why?
Renfroe 5 Why?
Frazier 5 Really why?

Its not as if Britton and Frost are running away with this statistic its everybody.

The bunting was a symptom of our offensive woes, not a cure. Yesterday put my season's argument into perspective for most.

 

[K9 Avenger]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

and you will get the answer to your "why""? Frazier is a lead off hitter- guys that typically bunt. Oh wait- I forgot. Our hitters didn't know their roles.

As far as yesterday- we played like crap. Yes, we bunted at times that we shouldn't. Of course, this was one day after we small balled UAB out of the Regional- and you were nowhere to be found because you were hung over after your three beers.

We also swept UK in large part because of the pressure we put on them.

But again- it all goes back to what your players can do. We were severely limited offensively and we couldn't do very many things such as hit and run- remember us hitting into two triple plays this year? A bunt sure would have been nice in those intances. The main thing that we could do well was bunt and get HBP- that's why you saw us do it a lot this year. We also had a pitching staff that was the best in the SEC. We didn't need a lot of runs- usually three was plenty with our guys.

Like I said- we don't need to scrap our philosophy. We just need to upgrade it. Power, speed, and pressure. That is how you have a good offense. We only had one of those this year. That improves, and we will be very good.