Had Enough

Those 15-9 records look oddly familiar. Same teams as last year, right? Only tied for 2nd rather tied at 1st.

As HookEm mentioned yesterday, part of that was likely the 3rd time thru the order. Hed also thrown a decent number of pitches in short order. The ump was giving nothing on the bottom of the zone either. One of those batters that walked had two pitches down low that could have easily been strikes. So there was probably some concern that Ace would have to throw some hittable pitches up.

Philosophy largely becomes a question when you’re losing. It’s very easy in baseball to make the “right” decision and it fail or make the “wrong” decision yet it works. Take Schuesslers failed bunt attempt that turns into a hit and run winner. I don’t think the bunt was wise whereas the hit and was perfect. Last night, I agreed with the Lummus usage because he’s been solid, and we’re playing to win the series not a single game. He was just trying to get 1 inning out of him. If Boehm only goes 2 innings, he’s likely got another outing this weekend whereas now it’s questionable. Or at least be extended one less inning. Same for the Brown for Borba sub. Lefty vs righty matchup and for the last 20 or so plate appearances they are hitting similarly. The 20 ABs is random but season averages don’t matter at that point and Borba has moved out of hot phase when he got inserted into the lineup. I do question the injuries and seemingly slow returns. The portal I think is a matter of perception because of the season. Also, if LBJ and Witt are willing to return, you absolutely take them over portal guys. Then offensively once you add the freshmen, there weren’t really any holes coming into the season, particularly if Storm plays.

It’s difficult to say he can’t win one when he effectively had the 2nd best team a mere 3 years ago and lost by 1 twice to the best team. There’s a lot of stuff spewed here that’s difficult to determine what is accurate. But there’s also things that cause you to question. I’d assume CDC has a great grasp on staff turnover. That’s the biggest question in my mind. I am not certain how much of a grasp any coach has on NIL. The defending national champs are 5 games under .500 in conference. I’d assume a big chunk of our 2024 allocation has done little for us. If so, was it poor decisioning or bad luck?

The Packers have chosen their QB knowing he’d backup a year or two for their last two starters. Mahomes for a year. Differences are that Cousins signed a huge contract but also is coming a major injury. I think this philosophy is wise if the timing is right. I’d bet Cousins starts 2 years then moves on. You’d also think they had Penix graded incredibly high and felt they simply couldn’t pass on him. Even if Penix sits for 3-4 years, he’s still got 10 if he’s the guy. i did hear a guy on XMs fantasy station raking them over the coals for the Penix pick and was advocating for trading down and racking up some 1st rounders so maybe they could draft Arch. That makes sense, but I’m not sure teams think that way.

Gordon has the Duke ties. Did that have anything to do with Storm and Santos coming here or was that purely coincidental?

So which is it? He can’t develop or he can’t put together a roster? 3 pitchers that were counted on quite heavily have contributed nothing. Name me another Texas team you can remember that being the case. We no doubt lack power arms relative to other teams. Yet we’re top 4-5 in many pitching categories in the 3rd best conference in the country. We’re top 3rd of the country. I can buy the argument that Texas could or should be better.

Just one reason I bang my head against the wall of this writing an older dude off in favor of a younger guy. Particularly in baseball. Nothing is a guarantee but there’s value in maturity. Pierce is a good coach. He knows what he sees in practice that can translate to a game. Most of his in game decisions have a basis in reason. If a player can produce to a certain level over an extended period of time, they can replicate it. I wouldn’t say Duplantier did it over an extended period, but he got hurt. So Pierce has seen the flash and then everyday at practice.

Not even close.

Umpire is a shithead. It’s not a tight zone. Borderline pitch low is a ball. Pitch on the edges 3-4 inches off is a strike. Those type of umps need to become extinct.

I know we all assume Witt is done but was there ever anything official?

Does better balance mean down year? 13 of the top 20 in RPI reside in the SEC/ACC. 4 teams in the top have losing or .500 conference records. Those two are 25, 26 in the RPI. I would bet it’s 1 host site for the Big 12.

11-1. Until we get offensive production that runs roughshod over its opponents like its draft picks and future draft picks indicate, I can only go 11 wins.

We are 67th (4th in the Big 12) of 295 teams in fielding percentage. If we’ve had 5 errors in another game, I don’t remember it. 82nd (5th in Big 12) in terms of walks per 9. Against UTRGV, we had 20 walks and XBH. I don’t recall that in another game. That’s horrendous. We tried pitcher after pitcher, and it was similar results. So yes I’d call those anomalies. Throw out those two games and we’re still a mediocre team. Include them. Still mediocre. That likely won’t change. But the hope is they get hot at the right time.

Then rather than whimper about it explain the consequences of an unacceptable performance. The walks and hit batters in that game is largely an anomaly. Or explain how that highlights that the pitching coach hasn’t reached them when a week later they were pretty damn good. And all 3 have had moments of very good success. So maybe he has reached them. I’ve spent several posts over the years questioning his usage of pitchers. So don’t act like I give Pierce a pass. But the simplistic minds on this board shit themselves because they can’t understand that teams score 10 or more runs all the time these days. Games with both teams scoring 10+ is fairly common. I don’t question the use of Harrison in a tight game versus OU because you need to steal outs and Harrison has pitched well before. Where I would question it is if he hadn’t pitched in two weeks as his feel for the strike zone is less likely to be good (he’s pitched 3 times in a month so I wouldn’t expect him to be sharp). I question running out Lummus and Duplantier early in a mid week game because they’re not accustomed to it. In the case of Duplantier, I like it less because he’s been called on a bit too much recently. It may not be the reason he’s given up a bit more recently, but it’s certainly plausible. I’m not sure what makes Hurley tick, but I see no indication it’s bringing him in mid-inning. And ironically enough, the week prior we lost to Tx State when Selvig and Harrison came in early. But the real story is that when a team is on their 5th game in a week, you need to score more than 7 on them. We scored 3. And oh by the way, Harrison hadn’t pitched in 15 days before taking the mound in that game. i think it’s a poor choice to have himself as pitching coach. I can’t speak to the fallout of other coaches. I have no insight but it’s hard to fathom that’s a positive. The biggest question of this staff is why did Witt not recover from his injury, why did two transfers lose their season to injury and are Harrison and Shaw largely ineffective because they have not fully recovered from their injuries? That’s your damn staff right there. Maybe it’s coincidental. Maybe it’s the training regimen. Meaningful contributions from 2 or 3 could have dramatically changed the season. Defining roles and continuous engagement of players are two of Pierces biggest shortfalls. That’s with his pitching staff and his lineup. Just because there’s a small contingent that reflect some positivity and call out some bs doesn’t mean we’re satisfied with the season. At the same time, the most important part of the season is in front of us.

So you’re saying that Lummus, Hurley and Duplantier are worthless pitchers that should never see the light of day or what? Cause they’re the ones who let it get away.8 runs in 2 innings. Just a week later two of those pitched 6 shutout innings. Then the other went 3.2 innings giving up 1 versus a team that hits .320 in conference.

OU had back-to-back guys that could do that. One transferred from BFE. We’ve had guys that could do that but left. I’d bet even the crappy SEC teams have multiple guys that can hit 95. That is a big question for us. Where are the big arms? A lot of those guys are not pitchers. But if they’re on for that one game, they can give you hell.

Bullshit. Just look at the state of Texas. A&M, Tech, TCU have all had better runs in the past 10 or so years than they’ve ever had. DBU, Texas State, SHSU probably the same. More guys hitting 95/100 MPH than will be stocked on top 10 teams. Hitters that have seen hundreds if not thousands more pitches than the generation before. More kids that can hit it 400 feet and more consistently.

There are top 5 teams every year. Always have been; always will. There still will be 8 CWS teams. I don’t know the answer to this, but are there any coaches with a 50% CWS participation rate? I’m not saying it cannot be done. I’m not saying you can’t have it as a goal. But you best be prepared to have qualifiers for when it doesn’t happen.

No doubt. There’s not a discussion about whether we’re a great team. It’s about varying degrees of mediocrity. In reading the boards, it’s difficult for me to determine sincerity versus, let’s call it, passion. Every season is largely built on a best 2 of 3 series. You can view the CWS as such too. You can’t go 0-fer in the midweek games but the season is made on the weekends. As we finish out this season, I cannot see a top 3 finish in a top 3 conference getting left out no matter the RPI. Of course if we finish there, our RPI likely improves. I would assume Hurley is our #4 starter now, but there’s more value in him as weekend long relief yet we haven’t developed him as such. So we’ll get the “Hurley sucks” and “he should never pitch again” when these guys are yanked around rather than allowing them to settle into a role. They will fail. And likely more than once or twice. It’s happening all over the country.

In my view, he doesn’t tweak the lineup enough in the midweek games. Those 3 recent losses consisted largely of our primary lineup and didn’t produce. The season is made on the weekends. Then quit being so damn dramatic acting as though anyone is happy being down 16-1 to UTRGV. No one is. Every week there are posters shitting down their legs about midweek games. Not even realizing Tech loses to UNM 17-3. Or FSU giving up 13 and losing to Mercer. The truth is there are really no applicable historical comparisons yet that’s what happens here. With the main reason being DP is not up to Texas standards - cause history. Miami just lost 17-1 and is not good. Stanford was in the 200s in RPI. Louisville gave up 17 to Kentucky in a midweek game last week. There are multiple solid teams that get run ruled each week. It’s a different baseball world in so many ways. I’d be surprised if any Texas baseball fan likes a mediocre team. The goal is the CWS. Every year but the landscape of making it 50% of the time is not realistic. Because that’s incredible and built over time in a less competitive world.

I think the point is that good teams lose games they shouldn’t occasionally. Now, the good teams lose those less often. And the great teams rarely lose them. Youre likely to forget those losses when you’re sitting at the CWS. And no I’m not saying we’re going to the CWS. Losing to UTRGV in that manner was terrible and no one is pleased but losing to BYU was worse in the bigger picture. Maybe UW too. TAMUCC was a bad loss, but they won a series from Lamar. There is more depth of talent than ever so with that you’ll run into teams that can beat you if they’re on.

Very well could match that usage. In exposure/usage, Blue trails Gibbs by a year. Wasn’t Gibbs the top transfer RB when he went to Bama? I’d expect him to top 1,000 yards. The original point was Blue selected in the 1st. It certainly could happen. I’m merely betting against it even more so next year than if he were to come out the following year. RBs are valued less so we’re likely talking 1-2 taken in the 1st at most. Since 2020, you have CEH, Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, Bijan and Jahmyr as 1st round guys. Three of those guys had multiple big years in college. One that didn’t is the bust of the bunch and was beat out by a younger, 7th round guy. He was the guy and had around 1,900 yards from scrimmage his last year at LSU. Blue is a bit on the taller side and more slightly built than the rest. He hasn’t played extended snaps and hasn’t been a starter. We don’t know yet how good a pass catcher he is at this point. Merely speculation on my part, but two of those 5 picks wouldn’t be made again. Maybe even a third. The Steelers have gotten better value out of a free agent than Harris. Pacheco over CEH. Bijan didn’t have a great season for a top 10 pick (not saying it’s his fault). No doubt Gibbs is the best comp. He is the only comp of that bunch. When the Lions selected him, they had 3 of the first 34 picks as well. They signed a quality RB to share the load. And Dan Campbell is a wild card. Teams are trending away from spending resources on RBs. KC has won super bowls with low round picks, castoffs and low profile RBs leading the way. It may be the position with the shortest lifespan for quality players. All that said I applaud the projection. If it comes to be, he likely had a far better season than most would project.

Gibbs for Blue seems reasonable from a skill set standpoint so that’s a good path to follow for him. Maybe there are more NFL guys out there willing to draft an RB high and have them split time at least in the short term. I never thought Bijan was that guy, but he had to give up reps last year. I’m not to the point of believing others think like Dan Campbell.

Total numbers you’re probably in the ballpark. This year had a lot of picks from the high profile teams - final 4, Georgia. That may well continue so I’d put us as odds on favorite to be in that group again. I wouldn’t put money on Juan Davis getting drafted but just riding the wave of a positive report or two. I’d like Gbenda to get drafted since he’s hung in there. He plays hard and is physical. No idea actually how fast or agile he is though.