But Akron is bad. There's no sugar coating that. Although, there's something to be said about beating the crap out of someone that you're supposed to beat the crap out of.
Devin Jones looked great. Greg Maddux would have approved of that outing. He needs to keep it up and do it against better competition.
Daryl Norris looked better than I expected. Looks like they took his hesitation move out of his delievery- nice decision by the coaching staff.
Both of the home runs we hit were on pitched that were up in the strike zone- that tells me that pitchers still have to keep the ball down.
I liked the way we ran the bases. Why would we gamble so much? Why put it at risk? In this case it's really simple and it goes back to scouting. It was obvious to me that none of Akron's outfielders had strong or accurate arms. We could run all them all day, and we did, and it allowed us to manufacture some runs. It also helps that our team speed is much better than the past two years. The only time they threw anyone out was when Brent Brownlee overslid second base, and had he not done that, he would have been safe too. Baseball is very much like karate at the Cobra Kai dojo- you have to prey on the weak and show no mercy. It was nice to see us sweep the leg. Baserunning very much about knowing your opponents and their strengths and weakness, knowing what the runners abilities are, and knowing the situation. All three go into the risk/reward that is baserunning. If you live by simple baserunning rules no matter what, you will cost yourself runs.
Three baserunning plays I didn't like- CT trying to steal on a fastball count instead of a breaking ball count, Brownlee oversliding, and Demarcus getting picked off on a third to first move.
Defensively- zero errors. And we made them put the ball in play. Ogden made a very nice play running to his right and threw off balance to get the out. Devin Jones made two very nice plays off of the mound- they may have been easier plays for Parks, but at least Devin made them. Their only hit was an infield single that barely got through.
Lots of good at bats by us.
Good to see some of the freshmen in action- CT is going to be a great player for us. He will be the best leadoff hitter in the SEC one day. Demarcus looked like he may have brought his hands down some when he hits. Hunter Renfroe passes the eye test- he looks like a big leaguer. He has to be swinging at that 3-2 pitch because it was too close to take. Taylor Stark reminds me of Brad Freeman based on how he looks. I never noticed unitil I saw him in a MSU uniform. Again, Norris looked great. A couple of more outings like that, and I might start to think that he could be a weekend starter for us in the future.
Finally, the team looked like they were having fun. They also looked comfortable being aggressive. We'll see if that continues, but that's the attitude thing I was talking about a couple of days ago. Lots and lots of positive things despite the caliber of the opponent.
PS because I used the word finally- I'm liking the new college baseball rules with the clock. Two hour games, and making the bats where it is more like the real game of baseball. Bud Selig should take some notes. Now all the NCAA has to do is start giving the baseball teams 20 full scholarships and 10 50% scholarships and raise the roster limits to 40 and I'll be happy.
Devin Jones looked great. Greg Maddux would have approved of that outing. He needs to keep it up and do it against better competition.
Daryl Norris looked better than I expected. Looks like they took his hesitation move out of his delievery- nice decision by the coaching staff.
Both of the home runs we hit were on pitched that were up in the strike zone- that tells me that pitchers still have to keep the ball down.
I liked the way we ran the bases. Why would we gamble so much? Why put it at risk? In this case it's really simple and it goes back to scouting. It was obvious to me that none of Akron's outfielders had strong or accurate arms. We could run all them all day, and we did, and it allowed us to manufacture some runs. It also helps that our team speed is much better than the past two years. The only time they threw anyone out was when Brent Brownlee overslid second base, and had he not done that, he would have been safe too. Baseball is very much like karate at the Cobra Kai dojo- you have to prey on the weak and show no mercy. It was nice to see us sweep the leg. Baserunning very much about knowing your opponents and their strengths and weakness, knowing what the runners abilities are, and knowing the situation. All three go into the risk/reward that is baserunning. If you live by simple baserunning rules no matter what, you will cost yourself runs.
Three baserunning plays I didn't like- CT trying to steal on a fastball count instead of a breaking ball count, Brownlee oversliding, and Demarcus getting picked off on a third to first move.
Defensively- zero errors. And we made them put the ball in play. Ogden made a very nice play running to his right and threw off balance to get the out. Devin Jones made two very nice plays off of the mound- they may have been easier plays for Parks, but at least Devin made them. Their only hit was an infield single that barely got through.
Lots of good at bats by us.
Good to see some of the freshmen in action- CT is going to be a great player for us. He will be the best leadoff hitter in the SEC one day. Demarcus looked like he may have brought his hands down some when he hits. Hunter Renfroe passes the eye test- he looks like a big leaguer. He has to be swinging at that 3-2 pitch because it was too close to take. Taylor Stark reminds me of Brad Freeman based on how he looks. I never noticed unitil I saw him in a MSU uniform. Again, Norris looked great. A couple of more outings like that, and I might start to think that he could be a weekend starter for us in the future.
Finally, the team looked like they were having fun. They also looked comfortable being aggressive. We'll see if that continues, but that's the attitude thing I was talking about a couple of days ago. Lots and lots of positive things despite the caliber of the opponent.
PS because I used the word finally- I'm liking the new college baseball rules with the clock. Two hour games, and making the bats where it is more like the real game of baseball. Bud Selig should take some notes. Now all the NCAA has to do is start giving the baseball teams 20 full scholarships and 10 50% scholarships and raise the roster limits to 40 and I'll be happy.
