SEC only stats shows pitching is worse than hitting

HolyCow · Apr 2, 2012

OK, for all the stat dweebs like me, here you go.

Avg - .261 (#8), Slg - .352 (#8), OBP - .333 (tied #9), K - 64 (tied #6)
Sac bunts - 10 (#3) this one surprised me. SB - 6 (tied #6), SB attemps - 10 (#5)
GDP - 7 (tied #5), now for pitching ERA - 6.34 (#12), Walks - 48 (#12)
and fielding .968 (#10), I know if they had stats for blown saves we would surely
be #12. Couple of bright spots... Ben Moore is hitting .429 2nd best and Jared Reaves
is at .366. And coaching with 1 win is of course #12.

I am so tired of hearing nothing but cliches from CMG. How about trying to be a coach
and not friends with the players. I see no passion, no intensity or just plain fire to
win in any of the coahes and the team has taken to this attitude, save for a couple of
players that have not been corrupted. Oh for a Saban like leader and teacher with fire
and intensity and focus that would not have or settle for a team playing like this.

baseballfanatic · Apr 3, 2012

I think the difference is most of us expected the pitching to have some growing pains. I mean, out of a 5-person rotation (some weeks anyways), at least 3 of them are freshman. A couple of the go-to relievers out of the pen are freshman. Of course, most of us didn't expect Windsor and Pilkington to be so not-fantastic either.

The reason it's all doom and gloom on the offense is we're starting 1 freshman, and he's leading the team in average. Everyone who has been under our staff's tutelage either hasn't improved at all, or has actually regressed.

JoJoforHeisman · Apr 3, 2012

baseballfanatic said:
The reason it's all doom and gloom on the offense is we're starting 1 freshman, and he's leading the team in average. Everyone who has been under our staff's tutelage either hasn't improved at all, or has actually regressed.

Bingo.

Sadly, the same can also be said for the pitching staff. How many of the returning pitchers have actually improved from last season? Sullivan dominated non-conference competition, but has been knocked around by SEC opponents. Then again, the fact that he is our Friday night starter says a lot about the current state of the program anyway. He's a useful arm, no doubt, but hardly a staff ace. No signs of progress from the likes of Pilkington, Nixon, Kennedy, Windsor, or Shaw. The new pitchers show a lot of promise, but there's still a lot of work to be done with each of them. Throwing strikes has been a major problem. Guilbeau, Kamplain, Turnbull, Baxter, Gardeck, and Hubbard all have unacceptably high walk rates.

BAMASHAQ · Apr 3, 2012

Well I thought we played hard and were just bad in 2004 but that team is light years ahead of this bunch. If I had a suggestion or a plan I would throw one out there. Somebody needs to wake up and have clue on how to run a baseball program on a D-1 level. This staff is not getting much done at all but the athletic department quit on the program long ago and we are going to need more than an AED to get it started.

buzzincuzzin · Apr 3, 2012

Bull.
Let bobby Cox take over this program and you'd see vast improvement by the end of the week. This is all about basic baseball like they teach 10-year-olds. I swear a good Babe Ruth team could sweep this bunch.

Play Ball! · Apr 3, 2012

"No signs of progress from the likes of Pilkington, Nixon, Kennedy, Windsor, or Shaw." May not be any improvement, but I do believe Pilkington can be better. I know Nixon can be and Shaw is a gamer. Nixon and Shaw were much better pitchers 2 yrs ago than they are today...why? Answer...coaching.
"This is all about basic baseball like they teach 10-year-olds." Exactly, we make too many fundmental mistakes you learned years ago. Think about it...neither of our assistant coaches had even coached 10 year olds for a season in their life, but yet are expected to coach (teach) Div 1 baseball?

Zona · Apr 3, 2012

Nixon and Shaw also had TJ surgery in the last 2 years. But you are right, they are not getting developed because Dax is a sorry pitching coach and Andy is a sorry hitting coach

tidehawk14 · Apr 4, 2012

Play Ball! said:
"No signs of progress from the likes of Pilkington, Nixon, Kennedy, Windsor, or Shaw." May not be any improvement, but I do believe Pilkington can be better. I know Nixon can be and Shaw is a gamer. Nixon and Shaw were much better pitchers 2 yrs ago than they are today...why? Answer...coaching.
"This is all about basic baseball like they teach 10-year-olds." Exactly, we make too many fundmental mistakes you learned years ago. Think about it...neither of our assistant coaches had even coached 10 year olds for a season in their life, but yet are expected to coach (teach) Div 1 baseball?

Shaw was in high school 2 years ago. He was only a freshman that pitched in just a couple of games last year before TJ surgery. Just barely a year removed from the surgery, don't think he is doing all that bad. It was a given that losing Morgan, Kilcrease, and heck even Smart was going to put us behind the eight-ball, then add Wolfe and Hawley to boot and what you have is freshmen and a few reserves with experience. The only way the freshman are going to get better is to be on the hill and get experience and unfortunately this year it has to be in SEC play. Many games they have pitched extremely well and had no run support or inning where the defense gave up huge errors. If Reaves doesn't drop a pop up last Friday night they start off with a W in Knoxville.

bamamick · Apr 4, 2012

And THAT'S why you can't give up on these guys. Obviously right now we are playing for the future and not anything that could happen this year. These young pitchers and guys like Moore and Austen Smith can be the core of a solid club over the next few years IF they are coached up and allowed to develop to their potential.

Our freshman pitchers look to be the only area where we truly have SEC level talent. If their numbers aren't that good this year then so be it, but I can only hope that they come back from the summer stronger and more ready to have at it next year.

rtr

baseballfanatic · Apr 4, 2012

bamamick said:
IF they are coached up and allowed to develop to their potential.

rtr

That's the main thing most of us don't see happening with the staff as is.

JoJoforHeisman · Apr 4, 2012

tidehawk14 said:
Shaw was in high school 2 years ago. He was only a freshman that pitched in just a couple of games last year before TJ surgery. Just barely a year removed from the surgery, don't think he is doing all that bad.

Well, he has a 6.10 ERA and more walks than strikeouts, but I get your point. The problem is that in reality, he wasn't considered a high-ceiling prospect even before the injury. We haven't had much sucess recruiting from the state's most notorious outlaw high school program.

buzzincuzzin · Apr 4, 2012

tidehawk14 said:
If Reaves doesn't drop a pop up last Friday night they start off with a W in Knoxville.

Ben Mattock for the defense your honor.:rolleye2:

BBFAN · Apr 4, 2012

Hey guys....lets please refrain from continually calling out the players!
All these guy's are playing hard and doing their best ...sometimes baseball works out like this.
I still feel this team will win some nice games this year and I will be there to enjoy them.
Blaming losses on a player because of an error or a walk is ridiculous...no one hates it worse than that player!
Things are bad enough and players are tight enough as it is and all of that makes it worse!!!!!!
Yes ...this is my first post. I have always enjoyed looking at this forum for info, news and such but all this "player calling out" is in bad taste.

JoJoforHeisman · Apr 4, 2012

BBFAN said:
I still feel this team will win some nice games this year and I will be there to enjoy them.

Boy, that's a pretty sobering statement when you think about it. Really shows just how far and fast the program has fallen. We've gone from aspirations of Omaha to maybe winning some nice games.

Where have you gone, Joe...Caruso?

Clarkmom · Apr 5, 2012

BBFAN said:
Hey guys....lets please refrain from continually calling out the players!
All these guy's are playing hard and doing their best ...sometimes baseball works out like this.
I still feel this team will win some nice games this year and I will be there to enjoy them.
Blaming losses on a player because of an error or a walk is ridiculous...no one hates it worse than that player!
Things are bad enough and players are tight enough as it is and all of that makes it worse!!!!!!
Yes ...this is my first post. I have always enjoyed looking at this forum for info, news and such but all this "player calling out" is in bad taste.

I am in sgreement of everything you said! The boys are trying their hardest as well as the coaches. What they really need right now is fan support and not a bunch of grief!

bamamick · Apr 5, 2012

I am sorry mom, but that's not all they need. They need competent coaching from men who understand the strategy of the game and how to approach their failings and coach them up. I will be there this Saturday and I will cheer and all that, but that ain't going to win us the game when we play Auburn. It's proper technique both on the mound and at the plate and that's not something I can give them.

rtr

JoJoforHeisman · Apr 5, 2012

No one is questioning the players' effort. But when it comes to the coaches, it doesn't really matter if they're trying their hardest or not. This is supposed to be the highest level of collegiate baseball, not Little League, and the coaches are ultimately the ones responsible for the product on the field. To be halfway through the season and sitting at 10-19/1-8 (with the schedule only about to increase in difficulty), just doesn't cut it.

I agree that it's unfair to criticize some players, especially when the player in question is a walk-on and/or simply doesn't have the talent of a regular SEC-caliber starter. The question should be, why are we having to rely on this type of player in the first place?

crimsonkelly · Apr 5, 2012

JoJoforHeisman said:
Boy, that's a pretty sobering statement when you think about it. Really shows just how far and fast the program has fallen. We've gone from aspirations of Omaha to maybe winning some nice games.

Where have you gone, Joe...Caruso?

Ol Joe, one of my favorite players, I remember when he posed with me for a picture back in the day. For a small guy (second baseman) he was big dude! Man, he could play some ball too as all the guys on those teams could.

HolyCow · Apr 18, 2012

JoJoforHeisman said:
I agree that it's unfair to criticize some players, especially when the player in question is a walk-on and/or simply doesn't have the talent of a regular SEC-caliber starter. The question should be, why are we having to rely on this type of player in the first place?

Seems that since this post lots of criticism has been put on Booth, Tullidge and Gregory. Fact...Booth leads the team in
RBIs with 25. How do you win games if you dont score runs? Tullidge...OBP .400, Gregory OBP .349 and leads the team
with 6 sac bunts which is also #4 in the SEC. Other players have been given the opportunity to play and produce and
they have not. Check the stats. No, these are not the kind of stats you need to compete in the SEC, but you also need
coaching. See what Tennessee has done. IMO, until we can break the cycle of having a majority of the team JUCO transfers
you will not have a winning program. Now for an overused cliche, It is what it is.

JoJoforHeisman · Apr 18, 2012

HolyCow said:
Booth leads the team in
RBIs with 25. How do you win games if you dont score runs?

The RBI is an overvalued statistic; it is far too contingent upon factors that a hitter cannot control, most importantly, whether runners are on base when a hitter bats. Unless you're only hitting solo homers, this number depends on how other batters perform. Booth leads in RBIs because he has had more opportunities due to the guys hitting in front of him have gotten on base.

A line of .227/.289/.326 is awful. Period. He's a good defensive player, but he's dead weight offensively.

SEC only stats shows pitching is worse than hitting

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