I know that there is another thread on it, but I'm just going to do another one since the other one was stinking from the smell of a dead horse being beaten. Let's try this again.
Bad:
1. We still strike out too much and we don't walk enough. Their ace was legit- but even if you take out his 9 K's and for fairness his two walks, we still had a BB/K ratio of 10/17. We've got to even that up better.
2. I'd like to see us steal more and put the runners in motion more. We're healthy now and we've added some guys like Robson- let's take advantage of it.
3. Kyle Hann doesn't look like he is ready, which means second base still looks like just about an automatic out for us. It's the curse of Sam Frost.
4. We walked too many guys. Graveman was off, Lindgren wasn't sharp, and Evan Mitchell looked marginally better. Cox and Fitts also labored. I think it's likely due to a lack of concentration on their part more than anything, but when you are talking about four guys, I'm overgeneralizing.
5. Wes Rea tweaked his quad.
Good:
1. We swept this team relatively easily without our ace. We may have walked guys, but we didn't give up very many key hits. Even though they are not a very good hitting team, allowing three runs in four games- and we probably should have had two shutouts had we not overextended Fitts in game three. A 0.75 ERA as a team is nothing to be down about at all.
2. Bracewell and Holder- Filthy. If we have a lead after seven, it's pretty much over.
3. Chad Girodo and Myles Gentry are going to help us out a lot this year. They were both impressive.
4. Luis Pollorena is making a case to be the Sunday starter in my opinion. I would prefer him pitch midweek during the SEC season. Speaking of, our rotation is already starting to form- by the time SEC play rolls around: Woodruff on Friday, Graveman on Saturday, and Lindgren or Evan Mitchell on Sunday with Pollorena pitching during midweek and coming in relief in SEC play as needed. I'm not too down on Fitts and Cox- both will be SEC weekend starters, but they are not quite ready yet. They need to be used in long relief and then they need to go have a good summer and come back ready to compete for the Sunday and midweek spot next year.
5. Mitch Slauter tore the cover off the ball. If he steps up, he will be a nice RH DH compliment to Trey Porter on days he doesn't catch.
6. On that note- Nic Ammiratti stepped up and played very well behind the plate. He has come a long way since last year defensively and he can hopefully allow Slauter to rest here and there. Portland State read the scouting report on him from last year- and he made them pay twice.
7. We're starting to use the whole field better at the plate. Now- we're not "there" yet. As someone in the other thread said, we are still pulling off breaking balls too much at times. But you can also see that we are starting to use the whole field better- two examples of what I am talking about: Wes Rea's home run to right center in game one and Demarcus Henderson's game winning hit in game two where he took a pitch to the opposite field. That's a sign of maturity as a hitter- and I expect this to improve as the year goes along.
8. Demarcus played very well aside from hitting into a double play. He may be our most improved hitter along with Slauter. Trey Porter looked very good as well.
9. We need to play Nick Flair more. Just not as a pinch runner- him getting picked off won him the *** of the weekend award slightly over Porter for getting thrown out at third after reading a ball in the dirt incorrectly. That aside- his double was scorched pretty good. Jacob Robson did pretty well too- but I think Demarcus is pretty close to securing the left field job.
10. Adam Frazier has increased his range exponentially. Thank you Team USA! He may not have made very many appearances in games with them- but no doubt he put some good productive work in. He hit very well all weekend as well. If I were the coach, I would hit him two behind CT Bradford- but both can hit 1 or 2, so it's semantics.
11. CT Bradford is back! He hit the ball pretty well and made some nice plays in the outfield.
12. Wes Rea will be back pretty soon, and I kind of feel sorry for Grambling for drawing Woodruff tomorrow. At least they're getting a check.
13. CT Bradford is also back as a pitcher. I like how Butch and Cohen used him to finish off a hitter in game two. Don't be surprised if we see them do that with Daryl Norris and Hunter Renfroe at times this year as well- and I wouldn't be surprised if we use Brandon Woodruff as a hitter some next year also. We may also let Johnathan Holder hit some if we start doing a lot of double switches like that where we lose the DH and we have also already seen Pollorena play some outfield. This is one reason why you recruit dual position players- with limited scholarships and roster spots, you expand your options.
14. We won all four games.
We get one more tune up with Grambling on Tuesday. After that, we have our first big test. Purdue hosted a regional last year and we all know about Samford. Samford has the MVP of the Cape Cod League on their team and they have already hit seven home runs. We have struggled against Big 10 teams under Cohen- we got swept by Iowa a couple of years ago. We're going to face both of their aces- and we may pitch Woodruff Sunday, but it will depend on how his start against Grambling goes. If we do well, it could go a long way towards hosting a regional- beating Purdue which is a Northern team, and then Samford will look good in the eyes of the committee. The committee is going to be happy that we are playing a lot of Northern schools- that could help us out down the road as well.
Bad:
1. We still strike out too much and we don't walk enough. Their ace was legit- but even if you take out his 9 K's and for fairness his two walks, we still had a BB/K ratio of 10/17. We've got to even that up better.
2. I'd like to see us steal more and put the runners in motion more. We're healthy now and we've added some guys like Robson- let's take advantage of it.
3. Kyle Hann doesn't look like he is ready, which means second base still looks like just about an automatic out for us. It's the curse of Sam Frost.
4. We walked too many guys. Graveman was off, Lindgren wasn't sharp, and Evan Mitchell looked marginally better. Cox and Fitts also labored. I think it's likely due to a lack of concentration on their part more than anything, but when you are talking about four guys, I'm overgeneralizing.
5. Wes Rea tweaked his quad.
Good:
1. We swept this team relatively easily without our ace. We may have walked guys, but we didn't give up very many key hits. Even though they are not a very good hitting team, allowing three runs in four games- and we probably should have had two shutouts had we not overextended Fitts in game three. A 0.75 ERA as a team is nothing to be down about at all.
2. Bracewell and Holder- Filthy. If we have a lead after seven, it's pretty much over.
3. Chad Girodo and Myles Gentry are going to help us out a lot this year. They were both impressive.
4. Luis Pollorena is making a case to be the Sunday starter in my opinion. I would prefer him pitch midweek during the SEC season. Speaking of, our rotation is already starting to form- by the time SEC play rolls around: Woodruff on Friday, Graveman on Saturday, and Lindgren or Evan Mitchell on Sunday with Pollorena pitching during midweek and coming in relief in SEC play as needed. I'm not too down on Fitts and Cox- both will be SEC weekend starters, but they are not quite ready yet. They need to be used in long relief and then they need to go have a good summer and come back ready to compete for the Sunday and midweek spot next year.
5. Mitch Slauter tore the cover off the ball. If he steps up, he will be a nice RH DH compliment to Trey Porter on days he doesn't catch.
6. On that note- Nic Ammiratti stepped up and played very well behind the plate. He has come a long way since last year defensively and he can hopefully allow Slauter to rest here and there. Portland State read the scouting report on him from last year- and he made them pay twice.
7. We're starting to use the whole field better at the plate. Now- we're not "there" yet. As someone in the other thread said, we are still pulling off breaking balls too much at times. But you can also see that we are starting to use the whole field better- two examples of what I am talking about: Wes Rea's home run to right center in game one and Demarcus Henderson's game winning hit in game two where he took a pitch to the opposite field. That's a sign of maturity as a hitter- and I expect this to improve as the year goes along.
8. Demarcus played very well aside from hitting into a double play. He may be our most improved hitter along with Slauter. Trey Porter looked very good as well.
9. We need to play Nick Flair more. Just not as a pinch runner- him getting picked off won him the *** of the weekend award slightly over Porter for getting thrown out at third after reading a ball in the dirt incorrectly. That aside- his double was scorched pretty good. Jacob Robson did pretty well too- but I think Demarcus is pretty close to securing the left field job.
10. Adam Frazier has increased his range exponentially. Thank you Team USA! He may not have made very many appearances in games with them- but no doubt he put some good productive work in. He hit very well all weekend as well. If I were the coach, I would hit him two behind CT Bradford- but both can hit 1 or 2, so it's semantics.
11. CT Bradford is back! He hit the ball pretty well and made some nice plays in the outfield.
12. Wes Rea will be back pretty soon, and I kind of feel sorry for Grambling for drawing Woodruff tomorrow. At least they're getting a check.
13. CT Bradford is also back as a pitcher. I like how Butch and Cohen used him to finish off a hitter in game two. Don't be surprised if we see them do that with Daryl Norris and Hunter Renfroe at times this year as well- and I wouldn't be surprised if we use Brandon Woodruff as a hitter some next year also. We may also let Johnathan Holder hit some if we start doing a lot of double switches like that where we lose the DH and we have also already seen Pollorena play some outfield. This is one reason why you recruit dual position players- with limited scholarships and roster spots, you expand your options.
14. We won all four games.
We get one more tune up with Grambling on Tuesday. After that, we have our first big test. Purdue hosted a regional last year and we all know about Samford. Samford has the MVP of the Cape Cod League on their team and they have already hit seven home runs. We have struggled against Big 10 teams under Cohen- we got swept by Iowa a couple of years ago. We're going to face both of their aces- and we may pitch Woodruff Sunday, but it will depend on how his start against Grambling goes. If we do well, it could go a long way towards hosting a regional- beating Purdue which is a Northern team, and then Samford will look good in the eyes of the committee. The committee is going to be happy that we are playing a lot of Northern schools- that could help us out down the road as well.
