2015 Baseball - General Thread

[cdsfrog]

Yeah the Vandy ranks look bad now. No chance they are #1 as it sits today. 
 
Their ERA is 3.29 which is decent but not great by any stretch. Additionally on average they give up almost 1 unearned run per game.
 
They actually give up 4.33 runs a game which isn't that great. They are a great hitting team but the  pitching and defense are nowhere near elite currently. This is why if you are going to rank teams constantly you can't rank 100% based on potential and personal opinion disregarding facts. One needs to incorporate relevant statistics and trends to provide a ranking that actually makes sense. They are going to end up with a great record most likely, and have potential to repeat but currently they are far from #1. Closer to #10 IMO* based on all relevant information and including their potential over other teams.
 
TCU's average is around 5th which makes sense to me. 4 unearned runs in 9 games is incredible in comparison to Vandy. More than 50% less. Including those unearned runs we give up less than 1.7 runs per game which is just insane. So while offensive run production isn't that close to Vandy the other 2 components of TCU are much stronger. 
 
While I am a little concerned about run production take last night for instance. We played Rice, one of the better hitting teams in the country and dominated them with our pitching. We may not score anywhere near as many runs as Vandy but we won't need to.

 

[Purp]

Yeah the Vandy ranks look bad now. No chance they are #1 as it sits today. 
 
Their ERA is 3.29 which is decent but not great by any stretch. Additionally on average they give up almost 1 unearned run per game.
 
They actually give up 4.33 runs a game which isn't that great. They are a great hitting team but the  pitching and defense are nowhere near elite currently. This is why if you are going to rank teams constantly you can't rank 100% based on potential and personal opinion disregarding facts. One needs to incorporate relevant statistics and trends to provide a ranking that actually makes sense. They are going to end up with a great record most likely, and have potential to repeat but currently they are far from #1. Closer to #10 IMO* based on all relevant information and including their potential over other teams.
 
TCU's average is around 5th which makes sense to me. 4 unearned runs in 9 games is incredible in comparison to Vandy. More than 50% less. Including those unearned runs we give up less than 1.7 runs per game which is just insane. So while offensive run production isn't that close to Vandy the other 2 components of TCU are much stronger. 
 
While I am a little concerned about run production take last night for instance. We played Rice, one of the better hitting teams in the country and dominated them with our pitching. We may not score anywhere near as many runs as Vandy but we won't need to.

Rice's pitching is no slouch either. We got a good number of hits and generated some good scoring chances throughout the night. As Jewst said, if not for boaty weather and 100% humidity Cody Jones has a 2 run dinger last night.

I think our offense will work itself out. Cody Jones has been outstanding at the top of the lineup. He leads the team in hits and every time he's on base the defense seems to make mistakes, which is why he also leads the team in runs scored.

Odell has been excellent in the 3 hole and Skoug has been so good most of his outs are impressive. Crain has also been solid behind him.

Once we settle on a regular 2 hitter we'll have a scrong top 5 in the order and I think the bottom of the lineup also has more potential than in years past. I think our keys offensively are better base running and not striking out with runners on. Those are both fixable. As you said, though, with our pitching we don't need the offense to sort those issues out immediately bc they're generating enough runs already.

 

[cdsfrog]

Rice's pitching is no slouch either. We got a good number of hits and generated some good scoring chances throughout the night. As Jewst said, if not for boaty weather and 100% humidity Cody Jones has a 2 run dinger last night.

I think our offense will work itself out. Cody Jones has been outstanding at the top of the lineup. He leads the team in hits and every time he's on base the defense seems to make mistakes, which is why he also leads the team in runs scored.

Odell has been excellent in the 3 hole and Skoug has been so good most of his outs are impressive. Crain has also been solid behind him.

Once we settle on a regular 2 hitter we'll have a scrong top 5 in the order and I think the bottom of the lineup also has more potential than in years past. I think our keys offensively are better base running and not striking out with runners on. Those are both fixable. As you said, though, with our pitching we don't need the offense to sort those issues out immediately bc they're generating enough runs already.

 
Agreed, I think we have the potential to easily outproduce last years team offensively. Even with the 3 run game last night we still are averaging 5.77 runs per game versus 5.04 last year.
 
Our defense looks just as good as last year (28 unearned runs in 66 games nearly the same as 4 in 9 games). While it's a small sample size it's been against quite a few decent teams. If we go 2-1 over the weekend that would be awesome. 60 errors in 66 games versus 4 in 9 games too.
 
Odell out didn't help either. I'm very excited about our team's potential and performance thus far.

 

[Purp]

 
Agreed, I think we have the potential to easily outproduce last years team offensively. Even with the 3 run game last night we still are averaging 5.77 runs per game versus 5.04 last year.
 
Our defense looks just as good as last year (28 unearned runs in 66 games nearly the same as 4 in 9 games). While it's a small sample size it's been against quite a few decent teams. If we go 2-1 over the weekend that would be awesome. 60 errors in 66 games versus 4 in 9 games too.
 
Odell out didn't help either. I'm very excited about our team's potential and performance thus far.

I think our defense is much better than last year's. The error stat is impressive, but I think it's a bit misleading bc I've seen several plays this season that should have been errors that were called hits by the score keeper. The thing about the defense that's so much better won't show up on a stat sheet, though. Our corner outfielders are both huge upgrades defensively in terms of speed and smarts. They both have great arms too. I think that will prove to be a significant difference this year as the new ball makes outfield defense even more critical than before.

I think we're going to be weaker defensively at 1B and C. Cron turned into a very solid 1B, but this year I think we've already had 4 guys play the position. And it's obviously impossible to replicate the defense Bacak brought behind the plate. All that said, I think our assortment of 1Bs have better range than Cron so they're going to get to more balls and keep them in the infield and both Skoug and Plunkett have been much better than I expected behind the plate So 1B and C aren't significant downgrades.

The fact that we're going to get to more balls defensively is the biggest difference for me. The fact that we're not making as many mistakes when we get to them is icing on the cake for me.

 

[Pharm Frog]

And....we got more speed.

 

[jake102]

 Our corner outfielders are both huge upgrades defensively in terms of speed and smarts.

The fact that we're going to get to more balls defensively is the biggest difference for me. The fact that we're not making as many mistakes when we get to them is icing on the cake for me.

 
This.
 
OF is a huge upgrade over last year.

 

[Purp]

And....we got more speed.

Not sure if you're being snarky about my post, but there's a lot more to tracking balls down in the outfield than pure speed, though that certainly helps.

 

[leofrog]

 
Bigger the venue and game. the better Morrison pitches. Love that pitcher, it's sucks that this is his last year.
 
I wonder how many wins he ends up with at TCU. 35 to 37 probably?

40, ending with a 2-0 shutout, 3 hit game in Game 3 of the CWS championship series against ?????. That victory prompts every MLB team except for 1 to fire all their scouts for not seeing what a stud Morrison is!!

Hey, there's been crazier crap thrown out on this board.

 

[cdsfrog]

40, ending with a 2-0 shutout, 3 hit game in Game 3 of the CWS championship series against ?????. That victory prompts every MLB team except for 1 to fire all their scouts for not seeing what a stud Morrison is!!

Hey, there's been crazier crap thrown out on this board.

 

 

[Pharm Frog]

Not sure if you're being snarky about my post, but there's a lot more to tracking balls down in the outfield than pure speed, though that certainly helps.

 
We have more speed in the outfield for sure (and I also think you are correct about simply better technique/angles at the corners) but I'm also seeing more 90' and 180' speed than in prior seasons and by more players.  For example, there should have been almost no chance of Nolan ripping off second base, popping up and sliding into third safely when the throw two-hops that CF who is playing shallow already and charging.  Still think a perfect throw gets him at 3rd but that's what speed can do for a team....require the other team to be perfect.  Huge pressure on the defense and pitching staff when we have speed littering the bases.  Bobble = an additional base.  Having to play one step closer on the infield increases gaps.

 

[Purp]

 
We have more speed in the outfield for sure (and I also think you are correct about simply better technique/angles at the corners) but I'm also seeing more 90' and 180' speed than in prior seasons and by more players.  For example, there should have been almost no chance of Nolan ripping off second base, popping up and sliding into third safely when the throw two-hops that CF who is playing shallow already and charging.  Still think a perfect throw gets him at 3rd but that's what speed can do for a team....require the other team to be perfect.  Huge pressure on the defense and pitching staff when we have speed littering the bases.  Bobble = an additional base.  Having to play one step closer on the infield increases gaps.

I agree with all of this. I was talking specifically about defense so I thought you were referring to speed on defense, but this is all spot on.

 

[TCUdirtbag]

Hurry up and get the scheiss out of texas, baseball team:

 

[cdsfrog]

Has Kendall Rogers tweeted about his #1 vandy team having mediocre pitching and fielding thus far?

 

[jake102]

Yeh they need to be on the next flight.

 

[Purp]

Hurry up and get the darn out of texas, baseball team:

I'd probably fully endorse Mazey's plan if the team couldn't get to LA for this weekend.

 

[Pharm Frog]

We had a big meeting going on down there at the Solana and I know they all arranged for earlier flights today.  Hope it works out.

 

[leofrog]

Has Kendall Rogers tweeted about his #1 vandy team having mediocre pitching and fielding thus far?

Dude, you are just so hung up on stats and numbers!! IMO, Vandy hasn't done anything to be moved from #1, and no other team has done anything to unseat them. It's still early in the season, and teams will start showing their true signs in the next month as schedules get tougher and conference play starts.

This weekend is a huge test for all 4 teams in LA.

 

[leofrog]

I'd probably fully endorse Mazey's plan if the team couldn't get to LA for this weekend.

On Monday, Schloss said that he was for the proposal, but also knows that it will be a huge hill to climb to get any changes made.

 

[cdsfrog]

Dude, you are just so hung up on stats and numbers!! IMO, Vandy hasn't done anything to be moved from #1, and no other team has done anything to unseat them. It's still early in the season, and teams will start showing their true signs in the next month as schedules get tougher and conference play starts.

This weekend is a huge test for all 4 teams in LA.

 
Meh, I disagree. Their ERA is good, runs given up per game is average and currently their defense is average. That's enough to be moved from #1 after barely beating a no name team and having 2 losses. but whatever, they are good so I guess it doesnt matter that much.

 

[leofrog]

 
Meh, I disagree. Their ERA is good, runs given up per game is average and currently their defense is average. That's enough to be moved from #1 after barely beating a no name team and having 2 losses. but whatever, they are good so I guess it doesnt matter that much.

Again, we will see how good they are this weekend.