#1 TCU v. UTPA - Wednesday Baseball Thread

[jake102]

 
When the team ERA "jumps" to 1.71 and we win a ballgame, I'd call it anything but annoying.

 
I do. It's kind of like our football team and defense.... I hate it when we are winning by 20 in the 4th and our backups give up 80 yards. All in all I'm thrilled, but I want that defensive ranking to be as close to #1 as possible.

 

[Purp]

 
Wrapping the bat occurs when a hitter loads hands back into launch position and finds the bat "wrapped" around the head or shoulders (less common).  If you were looking straight at the hitter, you'd likely see the tip of the bat extending behind the ear at its max load.  Creates a longer than necessary swing and can cause a loop in the swing as the barrel has to ride longer.  Some players with incredible bat speed use wrapping to slow down and not get too out front.  Gary Sheffield is the example hitting coaches use for this intentional wrap.
 
I have no idea why getting the ball deep is a problem unless he's thinking about slow decision making and the very real possibility that balls that get deep on him in college will be in the mitt at the next level.  My son plays for two scouts in the summer and they preach seeing the ball deep and being able to attack from line to line.
 
Defensively he has some quirks that I don't like as well but he's already better than he was in showcase tournaments and most scouts haven't projected him at catcher at the next level for at least two years now.

Thanks for the explanation of wrapping the bat. I'm familiar with the problem; just never heard it called that.

This particular scout doesn't like seeing the ball get deep bc he said it indicates a lack of aggressiveness. I got the impression he hasn't seen much of Skoug this year bc he's hardly passive at the plate and his defense is much better than he gave him credit for. Listening to him talk about Skoug's defense you'd think every strike down the heart of the plate hit him in the chest protector.

I wasn't going to debate anything with him bc I enjoyed his candor and wanted to get as much info as he was willing to share.

 

[Purp]

 
Stats aren't updated but it should jump to 1.71
 
Pretty annoying. But at least all of our pitching staff will be 100% for this weekend. Bats did their job to let us pitch our worst guy last night.

Our "worst pitcher" was excellent for 5.2 hitters last night. It seemed like he thought the game was over with 1 strike left and lost focus bc his stuff was great through 1.2 innings. He may have had 12 pitches through the first 5 outs.

I think even our worst pitchers are excellent. You can see it in flashes. The thing we need from them is consistency, but in their defense, it's hard to be consistent when you can't play consistently.

I know you didn't mean this in a bad way, but I liked what I saw from Evans last night until he got into trouble. I think he'll be good for us.

 

[jake102]

That's fine, but I bet we see: Teakells, Ferrell, Howard, Trieglaff and Burnett before we see him in a big game. And with how good our top four guys are, it's hard enough to get Howard/Tireglaff/Burnett innings.
 
He's a senior so I'm glad he got to pitch but I think the opportunities are going to be far and inbetween.

 

[yurintroubl]

 
knowing you're a woman, the visual image of you getting so excited you boat your pants is kinda not the image i'd love for my mind to be painting right now

 
It was more along the lines of going ape _____.   I don't always choose the best phrase in the moment. :biggrin:

 

[Purp]

That's fine, but I bet we see: Teakells, Ferrell, Howard, Trieglaff and Burnett before we see him in a big game. And with how good our top four guys are, it's hard enough to get Howard/Tireglaff/Burnett innings.
 
He's a senior so I'm glad he got to pitch but I think the opportunities are going to be far and inbetween.

You may be right, but it's a long season and Burnett has shown some consistency issues early on so Evans could still have a window. I think Burnett is better, but Evans can pitch. Our staff is just so good he looks worse by comparison.

The toughest thing going against the back end of our bullpen is the quality of our starters. When you only get 8-9 innings for your bullpen in a 4 game week and 3 of those go to Ferrell and 3-4 more go to Teak you're only left with a couple innings for everyone else. That is why we seldom get past Burnett and Trieglaff.

 

[Pharm Frog]

 
I do. It's kind of like our football team and defense.... I hate it when we are winning by 20 in the 4th and our backups give up 80 yards. All in all I'm thrilled, but I want that defensive ranking to be as close to #1 as possible.

Doesnt bother me at all in baseball.

 

[swimmerbabe11]

I'm not sure I've been this excited about a team this early in the year since 2010. 
 
It scares me.

 

[Purp]

I'm not sure I've been this excited about a team this early in the year since 2010. 
 
It scares me.

I'm with you.  I'm halfway preparing for a huge let down.  But the way the staff is going right now I just don't see how we can lose very many games.  If your opponents are scoring fewer than 2 runs per game on you then you aren't going to lose much even with our offense three years ago.  I want to remain cautiously optimistic, but every series win after the DodgerTown Classic makes it more and more difficult to remain that way.

 

[satis1103]

Apropos of nothing, my English friend loved every minute of the game last night. We had somewhere to be in Dallas but he in no way wanted to leave his first baseball game. Good show Frogs! And of course we left a spot we could have caught a foul ball about a minute before it landed there haha.

 

[pgdaly84]

That's fine, but I bet we see: Teakells, Ferrell, Howard, Trieglaff and Burnett before we see him in a big game. And with how good our top four guys are, it's hard enough to get Howard/Tireglaff/Burnett innings.
 
He's a senior so I'm glad he got to pitch but I think the opportunities are going to be far and inbetween.

I think he looked pretty good, especially if he's one of our last options. Makes me feel good about our chances in the next 22-inning game.

 

[Pharm Frog]

We need a strong Burnett and Evans ready for short stints to turn someone around or match up with lefties in certain situations.  If we really need either for more than a few multi-inning relief appearances, we're probably not doing so well.  Need that reliable one and two out lefty.  However, what has bothered me a bit about both is the 0-2 count extra base hits.  I didn't see the double last night so it could have been a cue shot or something but I just don't like giving up 0-2 hits.  I distinctly remember when Holaday was catching that we'd virtually always throw 0-2 to change the eye plane but that was with BESR bats when you could be damaged a whole lot more so maybe the strategy has changed with the noodle bats.

 

[Purp]

We need a strong Burnett and Evans ready for short stints to turn someone around or match up with lefties in certain situations.  If we really need either for more than a few multi-inning relief appearances, we're probably not doing so well.  Need that reliable one and two out lefty.  However, what has bothered me a bit about both is the 0-2 count extra base hits.  I didn't see the double last night so it could have been a cue shot or something but I just don't like giving up 0-2 hits.  I distinctly remember when Holaday was catching that we'd virtually always throw 0-2 to change the eye plane but that was with BESR bats when you could be damaged a whole lot more so maybe the strategy has changed with the noodle bats.

Saarloos sends all calls into the catcher so even Holaday wouldn't make a difference in terms of what pitches are being called.  I think they're just losing focus and getting careless in those counts.  Burnett has really only had one bad outing and Evans has too.  Both were characterized by a couple bad mistakes surrounded by a lot of good (Burnett had less good in his bad outing than Evans did last night).  I think we'll be fine with both of them.

 

[Pharm Frog]

Saarloos sends all calls into the catcher so even Holaday wouldn't make a difference in terms of what pitches are being called.  I think they're just losing focus and getting careless in those counts.  Burnett has really only had one bad outing and Evans has too.  Both were characterized by a couple bad mistakes surrounded by a lot of good (Burnett had less good in his bad outing than Evans did last night).  I think we'll be fine with both of them.

 
Wasn't suggesting that Holaday was calling pitches but simply that it was a different era (with different coaches and different bats).  Although, it was so routine during that time and before that I imagine there didn't even have to be a dugout call to elevate that 0-2 offering.  I also think Burnett and Evans will be fine and they need opps like last night to get into a groove on a staff where innings of work will be at a premium.  I also think they suffer a bit simply because of the ridiculous stats the staff is posting presently.  They'll find their role and we'll be even better for it.  Both would likely be a midweek or Sunday starter (or primary relief) for 80% or more of the D1 teams in America.