2022 Texas Baseball

[shadow_operative2.0 16276]

Okay, bookmark my post. We'll see in '23. 

[Fletch 5817]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

More of a 2023 comment, but it’s been impressive to see the jump Gordon has made from last year to this year and even the growth we’ve seen between each start.

Him and Witt at the top of the rotation is going to be a lot of fun next year.

Kind of reminds me of Nick Kennedys jump in 2017. Kind of. 

[Herpa Derpa 6344]

58 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Dude. You just said it’s an 18 month recovery and we literally had a player (Andre Duplantier) have Tommy John in November of 2020 and he was a full go when practice kicked off in January of 2022. That isn’t anywhere close to 18 months.

To be fair, 14 is somewhat close to 18. Assuming Witt underwent the surgery within a week or so of the announcement (3/10/22), that would have him ready by May, 2023 on a 14 month timetable. Let's even say sometime in late March/early April. With all due respect to Witt, he will be coming back to a hopefully high performing collection of starters, particularly the weekend guys. It is more likely he takes a role in the pen the last few months of the season and then is a weekend starter again in 2024.

[Herpa Derpa 6344]

dp

Edited April 10, 2022 by Herpa Derpa

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

23 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

To be fair, 14 is somewhat close to 18. Assuming Witt underwent the surgery within a week or so of the announcement (3/10/22), that would have him ready by May, 2023 on a 14 month timetable. Let's even say sometime in late March/early April. With all due respect to Witt, he will be coming back to a hopefully high performing collection of starters, particularly the weekend guys. It is more likely he takes a role in the pen the last few months of the season and then is a weekend starter again in 2024.

I like your optimism, but his surgery was late March. He tweeted about it on April 1. He's not pitching for us next year. And there is no reason to burn a year by pitching a few innings in late May. 2024 at the earliest.

Edited April 10, 2022 by BillyGoatHill

[zlavydra 2142]

Out of the remaining 22 games, only 7 are on the road (3 at KSU, 3 at WVU and 1 at RGV).  

[TrashMaster G 18114]

1 hour ago, Cajun said:

It doesn’t.

Tell me where I said that.

But you keep after those windmills bro.

So who exactly is talking about the weak back end of the schedule?

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

2 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

Out of the remaining 22 games, only 7 are on the road (3 at KSU, 3 at WVU and 1 at RGV).  

Yes. Need to take advantage of some home cookin'...

[Hookem2147 22040]

6 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

I like your optimism, but his surgery was late March. He tweeted about it on April 1. He's not pitching for us next year. And there is no reason to burn a year by pitching a few innings in late May. 2024 at the earliest.

There is no 2024 for him at Texas. He is draft eligible next year and he will pitch for Texas next year so we can go in the top 5 rounds like we’ve expected all along.

Tommy John is a routine surgery nowadays. In the major leagues it’s 12-13 months and those teams are heavily invested in players so they are extra careful. Witt will be pitching for Texas next year.

[Cajun 11778]

5 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

So who exactly is talking about the weak back end of the schedule?

Go through the threads.  It’s been brought up quite a bit since the Tech series.

It might be just a couple or three posters, I don’t know.  I’m not keeping close tabs nor am I trying to call out individuals.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Cajun

[shadow_operative2.0 16276]

13 months from April 1 is May 1. That ain't in the rotation for start of Big Xll play. If anything, it will maybe be a few pen innings late, but doubtful. He has zero reason to push it for UT, he can throw for scouts on his own time & be fine with his draft prospects.

Edited April 10, 2022 by shadow_operative2.0

[Levi 2669]

Have a friend that I played ball with who’s now in the blue jays org. Had TJ surgery the first week of June ‘21 and threw his first full bull pen session a couple days ago.  TJ is different for everyone so the time table can depend on the individual but it’s usually a 12 month process. 

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

36 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

There is no 2024 for him at Texas. He is draft eligible next year and he will pitch for Texas next year so we can go in the top 5 rounds like we’ve expected all along.

Tommy John is a routine surgery nowadays. In the major leagues it’s 12-13 months and those teams are heavily invested in players so they are extra careful. Witt will be pitching for Texas next year.

 

The lineup that was out there today, is gone next year. We'll have a lot of holes to fill after this season and him pitching next April (12 months from surgery) to elevate his draft status is asinine. 

Scouts can evaluate his workouts, speed, and pitches without him stepping onto the Disch. The coaching staff, UT, and most likely his family aren't going to be pushing for a 12 month return so he can be a top 5 round pick. 

[ClubWhatever 12317]

9 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

 

The lineup that was out there today, is gone next year. We'll have a lot of holes to fill after this season and him pitching next April (12 months from surgery) to elevate his draft status is asinine. 

Scouts can evaluate his workouts, speed, and pitches without him stepping onto the Disch. The coaching staff, UT, and most likely his family aren't going to be pushing for a 12 month return so he can be a top 5 round pick. 

So you’re implying he’s done pitching for Texas?

[Hookem2147 22040]

16 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

 

The lineup that was out there today, is gone next year. We'll have a lot of holes to fill after this season and him pitching next April (12 months from surgery) to elevate his draft status is asinine. 

Scouts can evaluate his workouts, speed, and pitches without him stepping onto the Disch. The coaching staff, UT, and most likely his family aren't going to be pushing for a 12 month return so he can be a top 5 round pick. 

Nobody is pushing for anything. A 12 month return is literally the standard. Maybe he has to start out coming out of the bullpen to build up pitch count but a 12 month return is not an accelerated timeline or putting his health at risk.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Hookem2147

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

1 minute ago, ClubWhatever said:

So you’re implying he’s done pitching for Texas?

Nope. Not at all. 

Some on here have him leaving after the draft next year. If he is already a shoe in for the draft ( with a high pick), he doesn't need to risk injury pitching for us in April or May next year. The surgery may be "routine " ( others quote, not mine) but rehab and getting back to where you were before (especially at this level or higher) is different for each person (see Duplantier).

I really hope he is back for '24. He's probably drafted next year whether he pitches for us or not. Others see him pitching for us in April of next year. I don't.

[Levi 2669]

We’re all assuming the severity of his injury as well. Here is a good article that explains two different types of surgeries that can be performed depending on tissue, location etc. I’ve never heard of a six month recovery time for TJ and it’s relatively new so it may not be an option everywhere. Interesting read, Link for the article

[chase25 2048]

2 hours ago, Cajun said:

Go through the threads.  It’s been brought up quite a bit since the Tech series.

It might be just a couple or three posters, I don’t know.  I’m not keeping close tabs nor am I trying to call out individuals.

Last years team went 17-7 in conference.

6-0 against Kansas and Kansas State

11-7 against everybody else (only series loss to TT)

Last year both Kansas schools were at the front half of our conference schedule. This year they are in the back half. Doesn’t matter how you get there the result is the same, only thing that remotely changes is perspective.

[b_p 451]

3 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

I like your optimism, but his surgery was late March. He tweeted about it on April 1. He's not pitching for us next year. And there is no reason to burn a year by pitching a few innings in late May. 2024 at the earliest.

He could come back on the John Smoltz plan and be a closer for us next year. 

[Cajun 11778]

42 minutes ago, chase25 said:

Last years team went 17-7 in conference.

6-0 against Kansas and Kansas State

11-7 against everybody else (only series loss to TT)

Last year both Kansas schools were at the front half of our conference schedule. This year they are in the back half. Doesn’t matter how you get there the result is the same, only thing that remotely changes is perspective.

‘This is not last year’s team.  

Doesn’t mean they can’t do it, but man there’s a lot of wish casting going on.

[NeverMarryAStripper 22311]

On paper it’s a better hitting team than last year.  

[totallynotabuttpirate 5484]

Better hitting, worse pitching. All and all, with some luck we can get back to the CWS and make some noise. 

[Cajun 11778]

9 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

On paper it’s a better hitting team than last year.  

By far.  No argument.  My only point is the fallacy of endeavoring to extrapolate what happened last year into what happens this year.  It don’t work that way.

I think this team has the stuff, given some guys quickly figure some shit out.  
 

Forgetting everything else, beating up on weaklings heading into a regional is not optimal.  As iron sharpens iron so one baseball team sharpens another.  That’s in the Bible bro! 
;-)

[Cajun 11778]

Anyways, I love the disagreement here.  It’s healthy and educational.

[Had Enough 2123]

The upside of the starting staff is this teams biggest potential weakness. No power arms in the starting staff. With that there’s always the potential for needing to go deep in the pen. That’s not a recipe for success of any staff. The positive is that we have an ace. The other two have shown capable of some good starts.

The bullpen has plenty of potential, but no one knows their role. Last year in ideal situations we could go Witt, Q and Nixon. If they settle in, it could go Stehle/Harrison, Southard and Nixon. Then you have Cobb, Morehouse and Olivarez who have had good outings. And Duplantier, Eckhardt and Johnson with potential. I’d like to see us quit extending the guys beyond 1 inning and allow guys to settle into roles. The more mature guys like Cobb and Olivarez are fine extending but others could benefit from getting in and out. We can take Nixon as an example. Once versus Tech, he was in his 3rd inning. The next weekend he came in a game that would have required 3 innings to close out. Both of those cases were outside what he’s used to doing. If you need to work out kinks, I’d say let him start the inning fresh and work one inning per outing.

On offense, we just need to be consistent. From top to bottom, we hit it as hard as any Texas team I’ve seen. We’ve had at least 4 guys reach base 4 times in a game. Three with double digit homers. Three were hitting above .365. We are pretty disciplined except for Faltine. Even with that, he’s still a threat when he steps to the plate. We’ve got good speed and play some very solid defense.

In the conference, we control all but Tech. We’re in good shape for a top 8 seed. From a roster construction standpoint, we are reasonably well suited for a regional or super regional in that we’ll have as many capable arms as anyone and the opponents staff will need to bring it. Then we have capable hitters that have the ability to pick each other up if one is not hitting well. And our schedule will have us tested.

[Cajun 11778]

^^Excellent post.

[Hookem2147 22040]

Some Batting average in conference play (don’t think Kennedy or Todd have enough AB’s to qualify yet):

Stehly- .436

Ardoin- .387

Melendez- .364

Campbell- .276

Daly- .242

Hodo- .231

Faltine- .171 (oof)

[ClubWhatever 12317]

46 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Some Batting average in conference play (don’t think Kennedy or Todd have enough AB’s to qualify yet):

Stehly- .436

Ardoin- .387

Melendez- .364

Campbell- .276

Daly- .242

Hodo- .231

Faltine- .171 (oof)

Messinger- .429

[hobbes2702 13490]

1 minute ago, ClubWhatever said:

Messinger- .429

So glad he’s turned it around at the plate. He’s terrific on defense 

[Hookem2147 22040]

5 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Messinger- .429

Good catch, missed him

[ClubWhatever 12317]

Tulo or whoever has shortened a lot of these guys’ strokes to good effect.  Daly (and Hodo) still has too much loop.  He really struggles to get the bat to the fastball and then overcompensates and starts too early on sliders a foot outside. 

[NeverMarryAStripper 22311]

Dropped to #5 in RPI.  Got passed by Georgia and the Domers

[jimmyjazz 47229]

Home runs:  3 guys with 15, 4 guys with 14 (including Titanic).

[UnhappilyMarried 842]

1 hour ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Dropped to #5 in RPI.  Got passed by Georgia and the Domers

Charleston also jumped 50 spots this week. No longer a Q4 L

[TrashMaster G 18114]

4 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Charleston also jumped 50 spots this week. No longer a Q4 L

So, we've got that going for us.  Which is nice.

[petscii 1197]

I have a dream, that Tennessee only loses three games this year.  All three to us.  

 

[jimmyjazz 47229]

D1:  #7 (#7 last week)

BA:  #8 (#10 last week)

NCBWA:  #2 (#2 last week)

CB:  #10 (#11 last week)

RPI:  #5 (#3 last week)

USA Today:  #6 (#8 last week)

 

[zlavydra 2142]

Wonder if we see the return of the Dup tomorrow?  

[Cousin Strawberry 1273]

4 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

Wonder if we see the return of the Dup tomorrow?  

He needs some innings but I don't want to see him start.

[ClubWhatever 12317]

It’s either him or Josh Stewart.   Unless you want to start someone who’s never started a game. 

Edited April 11, 2022 by ClubWhatever

[Hookem2147 22040]

Stephen F Austin is awful. No issues throwing out Duplantier for a few innings then bullpening things the rest of the way. 

[ClubWhatever 12317]

Yeah they are batting .239 and slugging .348.  Against mostly crap competition.  If you can’t get right against these guys…

[Cajun 11778]

46 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Yeah they are batting .239 and slugging .348.  Against mostly crap competition.  If you can’t get right against these guys…

 

[NorthLoop 14497]

2 minutes ago, Cajun said:

 

They are superior and will beat us in every facet of the game. 

[chase25 2048]

15 hours ago, Cajun said:

‘This is not last year’s team.  

Doesn’t mean they can’t do it, but man there’s a lot of wish casting going on.

And there is a lot of rose colored glasses being passed around when looking back at last years team. As if they were some buzzsaw from start to finish. 

I’m not going to go pull posts from last year because it’s not worth it but a lot of people didn’t believe in last years team until they took 2/3 from TCU on the road and that was instantly erased in many minds when West Virginia’s “ace” mowed us down not once but twice.

Cant let perception cloud reality. Were you thinking last years team was elite when Tech loaded the bases in the 1st inning of game 3 on May 2nd, staring down getting swept at home?

This team is better offensively and worse on the mound, now you just have to see where the chips fall

Edited April 11, 2022 by chase25

[zlavydra 2142]

People also forget that Hansen wasn't 100% until very close to the end of the year.  He was working limited innings in Tuesday games. At this point last year, Kubichek was giving us a great chance to lose Sunday games.  Gordon is a definite upgrade.  Now, of course, there's no last-year's-Hansen coming to rescue us in May or the postseason. If someone, anyone, would just step up to give us 5 innings on Tuesdays, I'd feel a lot better.

[torre 1298]

Conference only stats at the conference halfway mark.

Slipped to #5 in Fielding but no worries,  everyone is fielding well except OU and KSt.    Note the ERA's, hitter's league.

https://big12sports.com/stats.aspx?path=baseball&year=2022&conf=true 

(click on image for larger print)

Edited April 11, 2022 by torre

[ztejas 44233]

50 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

Now, of course, there's no last-year's-Hansen coming to rescue us in May or the postseason.

No - but Nixon and Stevens could pitch better. 

Also you never know. There are a few pen guys that have the potential to throw a few shutdown innings in the postseason. Just not sure who that is or how realistic that might be. 

[zlavydra 2142]

Duplantier is starting tomorrow's game. Maybe he'll recapture that form he showed in Corpus.

[dcar00 14976]

9 hours ago, chase25 said:

And there is a lot of rose colored glasses being passed around when looking back at last years team. As if they were some buzzsaw from start to finish. 

I’m not going to go pull posts from last year because it’s not worth it but a lot of people didn’t believe in last years team until they took 2/3 from TCU on the road and that was instantly erased in many minds when West Virginia’s “ace” mowed us down not once but twice.

Cant let perception cloud reality. Were you thinking last years team was elite when Tech loaded the bases in the 1st inning of game 3 on May 2nd, staring down getting swept at home?

This team is better offensively and worse on the mound, now you just have to see where the chips fall

this team may be better offensively on overall but right about this time last year Antico and Melendez started going nuts.  Antico's OBP was crazy and made life miserable for pitchers.

be nice if Hodo(or Daly) could be that guy with Kennedy out.