• The KillerFrogs

BSB: Friday 2/16 Game Thread - #3 TCU at Grand Canyon

flyfishingfrog

Active Member
You can have a philosophy to get deep into counts but if a guy has great command and is painting the corners early you have to be more agressive and at least put the thought in his head that if he barely misses he's getting a line drive back over his head.

This is what it seems like we don’t do well - adjust

Just not sure if it’s because we stick to the system no matter what or because we just don’t have the skill at the plate to read and adapt

Of course I say that and we did try and sac bunt last night...and reminded everyone of why we don’t do it very often.
 

Purp

Active Member
So I have an honest question from the guys who know a lot about baseball and our offensive approach and our coaching.

I realize it was 1 game - however this game looked very similar to the games last year where we literally just waited out their starter and made our big move against the bullpen.

I know their starter is a big time prospect and all that - so it plays into the trend obviously of not hitting him but this time maybe because he was just plain good.

But JJ is no slouch either and GCU game out swinging for a fast start and we came out slow like we did last year in a majority of the games.

Is there any correlation to the way TCU starts and our hitting philosophy (approach at the plate) or the way we "work" on hitting in practice (technique)?

Or do we just seem to get the best out of most teams starters?

Or are we just an average hitting team and need to wait until average pitching (either through fatigue in starters or less talented bullpen) show up to make hay?

Loved how the freshman came to play - not everything worked out for them but they sure showed some heart for their first D1 game.
You said GCU came out swinging for a fast start, but I don't think their offense was any more impressive than ours prior to the 9th inning.

They scored early on a BB, soft single between 1B and 2B to move the walker from 1st to 3rd, and another soft FC to 2B where you concede the run early with your ace on the hill. Nothing super impressive about that. We do a lot of that situational hitting too.

Their next run came b/c of a passed ball after JJ gave up another BB to load the bases. And that guy who scored on the passed ball was on base due to the E3 that dented Luken's eye socket. Again, nothing terribly impressive to me.

Meanwhile, Wong was stwong, but we still squared him up quite a few times and got unlucky on some nice defensive plays and maybe some cool air not carrying balls past the track.

I think our offensive approach is frustrating at times and it's maddening how much we strike out, but I think a lot of that has to do with great pitching more often than it does poor hitting and/or bad coaching.
 

satis1103

DAOTONPYH EHT LIAH LLA
I think it's less "this is how TCU will look like offensively against a lot of teams" and more "this is how a lot of teams will look offensively against Jake Wong".

We had Freshman in their first lineup last night, our first 7 innings were against one of the best guys we may see all year, and once he was gone, in a little under 3 innings we put up 3 runs.
 

flyfishingfrog

Active Member
You said GCU came out swinging for a fast start, but I don't think their offense was any more impressive than ours prior to the 9th inning.
My observation was based on the fact that through 3 or so innings they had more hits than we had put balls in play, we were 3x their strike outs and about half our strike outs were looking

Once JJ got going - things really evened out and our bullpen kept it going (after the first pitch obviously) but seemed like we were more timid or thoughtful at the plate the first time through the lineup while they were swinging at first pitches because they knew it was probably going to be the best pitch they got


Which was a common theme from last year also - thus my question

But it’s one game and we won - so just really thinking out loud I guess
 

Dogfrog

Active Member
Must admit I am a little fascinated with this GCU “phenomenon” as I knew nothing about them prior to seeing their TV commercials with all the similarities with TCU. They were established in 1949. Consider themselves Christian and “for-profit”. Enrollment on campus 20,000. Online 60,000. It appears they have made a business decision to spend big $ for advertising and also for athletic excellence to boost awareness. Interesting business model.
 

Purp

Active Member
My observation was based on the fact that through 3 or so innings they had more hits than we had put balls in play, we were 3x their strike outs and about half our strike outs were looking

Once JJ got going - things really evened out and our bullpen kept it going (after the first pitch obviously) but seemed like we were more timid or thoughtful at the plate the first time through the lineup while they were swinging at first pitches because they knew it was probably going to be the best pitch they got


Which was a common theme from last year also - thus my question

But it’s one game and we won - so just really thinking out loud I guess
That's a fair point. We're definitely a team that isn't likely to swing at the first pitch.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
I think a good part of it is that we get everyone's best effort. Winning against us earns you a lot of respect. TCU doesn't waste games. It's a big confidence builder for anyone to beat us over the last handful of years. I almost felt bad for GCU. Even if they only won 1 of 3, a win last night would have been a signature moment for the program. They'll still have their moments and, who knows, they might come out swinging today and win by 10, but a win last night in a pitchers dual against one of the best arms in the country would have been huge for them. It almost had a post-season type feel to it.

I think the other part is just scouting and trying to figure out a way to get to the pitcher. Moose can talk more about it, but you can have your plate philosophy but you also have to know who's throwing to you and adjust accordingly. You can have a philosophy to get deep into counts but if a guy has great command and is painting the corners early you have to be more aggressive and at least put the thought in his head that if he barely misses he's getting a line drive back over his head.

The biggest factor for me is that our offense isn’t that good. No philosophy can fix that. I have some optimism it will improve as certain guys get more comfortable.
 
Must admit I am a little fascinated with this GCU “phenomenon” as I knew nothing about them prior to seeing their TV commercials with all the similarities with TCU. They were established in 1949. Consider themselves Christian and “for-profit”. Enrollment on campus 20,000. Online 60,000. It appears they have made a business decision to spend big $ for advertising and also for athletic excellence to boost awareness. Interesting business model.

About 10 years ago they had less than 1000 students. They were struggling to keep the doors open, decided to become a diploma mill and have prospered tremendously. I read a year or two ago that they are trying to get back to non-profit status but are in danger of losing accreditations in doing so. But more power to them. Wouldn't be surprised if they add football in a few years. Their kickball stadium holds 6k already.
 
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