Texas A&M @ Texas Game Thread

[Droopy 2626]

2 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Ha! That's been my view for the last 5 years. (Sitting just down in front of you and in the pic).

My seats flip-flop between L3 and R3, but either side is great for sight lines. I’m either looking from 3rd to 1st or vis versa. 

1 hour ago, OU Sucks said:

Glad this happened in a regular season game and not the CWS.

🤣 Imagining aggy being in the CWS is pretty funny, so thanks for the break from reality. 
 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Droopy
Words

[Valmy77 13225]

Them being in the CWS wouldn't be unheard of, but them winning there? Now that's a once in a lifetime oddity.

[Droopy 2626]

1 minute ago, Valmy77 said:

Them being in the CWS wouldn't be unheard of, but them winning there? Now that's a once in a lifetime oddity.

Fair enough. 

[Cajun 11705]

15 minutes ago, chase25 said:

Lucas doesn’t have the stuff to challenge hitters? He challenged Tech all day long. Aaron did it all last year, this year he’s simply lost the feel for his fastball trying to better locate his slider in the zone. 
 

What is your definition of challenge?

Swing & miss stuff that is consistently in the zone with velocity.
 

You’re right, both Lucas & Nixon & even Southard have that stuff, but not consistently.  They’re all timid and nibbling around the zone instead of in it and that’s getting more pronounced as the season goes on.

‘So, right now, out of the pen, we have no one who can come in and challenge hitters.

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

26 minutes ago, Droopy said:

My seats flip-flop between L3 and R3, but either side is great for sight lines. I’m either looking from 3rd to 1st or vis versa. 

 

Just below you in R2 on the aisle.

Great vantage point for the throw to first from the mound and apparently ALSO for what is a strike vs ball......🖕@Doug_williams16. 

Wonder what his wife and daughters think of his Moms Nextdoor or Holly Hotwife  (plus a few others) twitter follow?

I miss the Wild Bunch days, they'd chew his ass when he showed up at the Disch again.

Edited March 30, 2022 by BillyGoatHill

[zlavydra 2119]

11 minutes ago, Cajun said:

Swing & miss stuff that is consistently in the zone with velocity.
 

You’re right, both Lucas & Nixon & even Southard have that stuff, but not consistently.  They’re all timid and nibbling around the zone instead of in it and that’s getting more pronounced as the season goes on.

‘So, right now, out of the pen, we have no one who can come in and challenge hitters.

That seems to be true based on a growing amount of evidence, and it's a coaching problem.  On the other hand, Gordon had the best outing of any of the 6 starting pitchers last weekend in Lubbock. Who saw that coming?

[Biff Tannen 45661]

2 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

This whole 'THINGS SUCK RIGHT AT THIS SECOND SO WE ARE TERRIBLE AND BURN EVERYTHING DOWN' thing is a joke

You new here or what?

[Cajun 11705]

15 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

That seems to be true based on a growing amount of evidence, and it's a coaching problem.  On the other hand, Gordon had the best outing of any of the 6 starting pitchers last weekend in Lubbock. Who saw that coming?

No argument on Gordon.  That said, much like the brisket smoking game, it’s not about putting out one good packer, it’s about being able to duplicate that over & over.

Let’s see what he does.

I’m pulling hard for him.

[chase25 2048]

35 minutes ago, Cajun said:

Swing & miss stuff that is consistently in the zone with velocity.
 

You’re right, both Lucas & Nixon & even Southard have that stuff, but not consistently.  They’re all timid and nibbling around the zone instead of in it and that’s getting more pronounced as the season goes on.

‘So, right now, out of the pen, we have no one who can come in and challenge hitters.

As far as the pen, yes, no one has a Tanner Witt curveball that starts at the neck and finishes at the belt. This staff is more slider heavy. 

Pete, Lucas, Jared, Aaron and even Luke all have + stuff to challenge you in the strike zone. I would even throw Coy Cobb in that group at the moment because I personally don’t think you have to have velocity to challenge hitters. Coy doesn’t have + stuff but can challenge you. Small sample size for sure but Coy can be a key piece for us in the back end. His fast ball drops a lot because of his arm slot which makes it hard to barrel.

As I mentioned in a previous post Coy and Marcus need to see more meaningful innings to see if it’s real or just a product of limited work in low leverage situations. 

Ironically enough, our starting pitching had given up 2 runs heading into the Shriners classic and both were allowed by Tanner Witt (the best stuff on the staff).

Pete allowed 3 base runners on Friday in 7 innings and all 3 just happened to be home runs, sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. 

Not trying to Baghdad Bob anyone but when people say it’s a problem that can’t be fixed in a matter of months when just 3 weeks ago it wasn’t a problem, I call BS. Will it be fixed? We’ll see

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by chase25

[Cajun 11705]

It was a problem from the beginning of the season that was uncovered by the loss of a starter.  Not everything is linear.  Sometimes one change can take a fragile potential into an ugly reality.  All of the sudden people are shuffled into situations they aren’t ready for and guys start pressing.  
 

We started the season with a very thin pen and now we’re relying on the very same to go fro Clark Kent into Superman lick it’s f’n split.

‘We’ll see if that happens, but it’s pretty hard to argue that the trend is going in exactly the wrong direction right now.

[chase25 2048]

3 minutes ago, Cajun said:

It was a problem from the beginning of the season that was uncovered by the loss of a starter.  Not everything is linear.  Sometimes one change can take a fragile potential into an ugly reality.  All of the sudden people are shuffled into situations they aren’t ready for and guys start pressing.  
 

We started the season with a very thin pen and now we’re relying on the very same to go fro Clark Kent into Superman lick it’s f’n split.

‘We’ll see if that happens, but it’s pretty hard to argue that the trend is going in exactly the wrong direction right now.

I just don’t see how losing Witt turned everybody in the bullpen into garbage. Going back and looking at the way the staff was setup at the beginning of the season, the only guy who has been effected in any significant way is Lucas because he went from late inning relief guy to Sunday starter. 

I’ll make the argument that the biggest reason our bullpen has started pressing and gone to shit is because Duplantier tanked. Went from supposed to be competitive Tuesday starter/late relief on a Saturday to can’t trust him to get an out with an 8 run lead. Andre IMO is the reason everybody has had to step up. 

You could say regardless of the cause the outcome is the same. I just don’t see the evidence supporting that this was a problem that existed all year or that Witt going down caused it. Travis was a big piece in a lot of our close wins early this season and has struggled late. That’s why I think it’s fixable and it starts with locating the ball down and getting ahead and counts.

I personally think someone like Southard would benefit greatly by starting and having an opportunity to work through the struggles. Pierce already chalks Tuesday night games up to development, might as well develop the guy with the best stuff outside of Nixon and Witt.

Don’t need a deep pen to win, just need Aaron to get back to last years form. If he can, him, Luke, Travis, Coy, and Marcus can give you enough innings to win or sweep a weekend

[jw4381 3069]

This ump having a pro aggy twatter or whatever that shit is is, um, questionable at the very least.

[ClubWhatever 12120]

8 minutes ago, chase25 said:

Going back and looking at the way the staff was setup at the beginning of the season, the only guy who has been effected in any significant way is Lucas because he went from late inning relief guy to Sunday starter. 

I’ll make the argument that the biggest reason our bullpen has started pressing and gone to shit is because Duplantier tanked. Went from supposed to be competitive Tuesday starter/late relief on a Saturday to can’t trust him to get an out with an 8 run lead. Andre IMO is the reason everybody has had to step up. 

You could say regardless of the cause the outcome is the same. I just don’t see the evidence supporting that this was a problem that existed all year or that Witt going down caused it. Travis was a big piece in a lot of our close wins early this season and has struggled late. That’s why I think it’s fixable and it starts with locating the ball down and getting ahead and counts.

Gordon was going to be the weekday starter.  He was going to eat up innings during midweek so that our pen didn't get worn out in long relief every Tues/Wed.  Sthele and Harrison have been overused for freshmen, imo, partly because our midweek starter typically goes 2 or 3 innings.   So if Witt had stayed in place, the bullpen innings would have stayed down a good deal.  I agree that if Duplantier hadn't imploded it would have helped to alleviate this.   We need Eckhardt to go deeper in the these midweek games and Stevens to be himself and let the young arms rest more.

[Cajun 11705]

9 minutes ago, chase25 said:

I just don’t see how losing Witt turned everybody in the bullpen into garbage.

 

First, no one used the word garbage except for you.

Second, I said the pen was THIN from the first game.  Having 3 damned good starters kept a lid on that to a large degree.  There was a good chance to bring them along by picking & choosing spots.  Now, yes, with just one starter down that reshuffles the entire deck, pushing a lot of that thin out into the spotlight.  Not only are they (with a couple of exceptions-granted) not ready for that spotlight, they are pressing with each successive L.  The guys go into games as timid nibblers and/or just can’t find the zone at all.  There isn’t a lot of time to remedy this, but we will see competition moving forward through the Big 12 that may bring some oxygen back into their growth.

[chase25 2048]

38 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Gordon was going to be the weekday starter.  He was going to eat up innings during midweek so that our pen didn't get worn out in long relief every Tues/Wed.  Sthele and Harrison have been overused for freshmen, imo, partly because our midweek starter typically goes 2 or 3 innings.   So if Witt had stayed in place, the bullpen innings would have stayed down a good deal.  I agree that if Duplantier hadn't imploded it would have helped to alleviate this.   We need Eckhardt to go deeper in the these midweek games and Stevens to be himself and let the young arms rest more.

Duplantier was the midweek starter from the start of the season until he was relieved of those duties after the College of Charleston loss because he was throwing BP. Lucas has started 5 games this year. A&M CC, UCLA, SC, UIW, and Texas Tech. He started the Wednesday game against Corpus Christi which means he was in essence the 5th starter. Andre started both Tuesdays prior to Tanner’s injury. If Andre was pitching like he did his first two starts of the season, this would be a non issue. He isn’t which has forced us to throw the farm during the week.

Sthele and Harrison have been overused for Freshman? Aaron and Tanner were Freshman last year. By the end of the year we were a 3 man bullpen. Last year we just had the luxury of having a 4th starter, this year we lost that when Witt went down.

Up to Allen and Pierce to get it fixed because the tools and pieces are there. 

Going back and forth as to the cause of the struggles is pointless because the result is the same, simply put, guys who have the ability simply aren’t performing. It’s not because Tanner Witt got hurt.

Its fixable, we will just have to wait and see if it gets turned around.

Edited March 30, 2022 by chase25

[ztejas 43411]

39 minutes ago, Cajun said:

First, no one used the word garbage except for you.

Oh what the fuck ever dude. You're sitting here shitting on the pen over multiple posts. "Hey man I said your girlfriend was unattractive - no one called her ugly"

Enjoying the convo but cut the BS. 

[Levi 2585]

I think having 2 freshmen, Nixon and Witt, perform the way they did out of the pen was the exception not the norm. Pretty wild that we had two freshmen with such talent and confidence on the mound from day 1.  

Edited March 30, 2022 by DoneWithit

[chase25 2048]

12 minutes ago, DoneWithit said:

I think having 2 freshmen, Nixon and Witt, perform the way they did out of the pen was the exception not the norm. Pretty wild that we had two freshmen with such talent and confidence on the mound from day 1.  

It’s definitely not the norm. Just stating it’s not an excuse to not perform. Luke has been for the most part nails this year.

[Cajun 11705]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Oh what the fuck ever dude. You're sitting here shitting on the pen over multiple posts. "Hey man I said your girlfriend was unattractive - no one called her ugly"

Enjoying the convo but cut the BS. 

Get over yourself Z.
 

I’m not shitting on anything,  I’m reflecting what I see.  The false equivalence is possibly something you should spend a little introspection on.

”Garbage” means they aren’t good and have no chance of ever being good.  Saying they’re not ready and need time, the kinda time we may not have this year, is not calling them garbage.  Good grief.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Cajun

[torre 1285]

Need to put the aggy game in the past but pardon this post about Schossnagle's post game interview.    Note the "cold" exchange by Pierce.   Pierce was very upset about the last strike call on Campbell.  He runs across the field to confront the umpire and then to the handshake line.   He was last in line due to confronting the umpire.    Schlossnagle likely expected a more cordial handshake after his first game in this great rivalry.   And there may have been other reasons post or pre game.

Was anyone in Sec 10 behind the aggy dugout that heard anything being yelled to Schloss that crossed the line ?    Having been to several games in collie station,  I won't bore with the details the way Texas fans are treated,  especially the coaches.

That said,  personal observation only,  I have not seen Pierce friendly interact  with the opposing coaches pre or post game.   Just his personality, pro or con.   Again,  personal observation. 

 

It was a great experience in Austin on Tuesday. There were a lot more Aggies in the ballpark than I expected, so that was great. They called me some interesting names in the dugout. Some of the names were very creative. The opposing coaching staff was not as friendly as they were when we were in the same conference, but that's fine.

https://texags.com/s/44532/jim-schlossnagle-looks-back-on-win-in-austin-previews-trip-to-tuscaloosa

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by torre

[hobbes2702 13028]

2 hours ago, torre said:

Need to put the aggy game in the past but pardon this post about Schossnagle's post game interview.    Note the "cold" exchange by Pierce.   Pierce was very upset about the last strike call on Campbell.  He runs across the field to confront the umpire and then to the handshake line.   He was last in line due to confronting the umpire.    Schlossnagle likely expected a more cordial handshake after his first game in this great rivalry.   And there may have been other reasons post or pre game.

Was anyone in Sec 10 behind the aggy dugout that heard anything being yelled to Schloss that crossed the line ?    Having been to several games in collie station,  I won't bore with the details the way Texas fans are treated,  especially the coaches.

That said,  personal observation only,  I have not seen Pierce friendly interact  with the opposing coaches pre or post game.   Just his personality, pro or con.   Again,  personal observation. 

 

It was a great experience in Austin on Tuesday. There were a lot more Aggies in the ballpark than I expected, so that was great. They called me some interesting names in the dugout. Some of the names were very creative. The opposing coaching staff was not as friendly as they were when we were in the same conference, but that's fine.

https://texags.com/s/44532/jim-schlossnagle-looks-back-on-win-in-austin-previews-trip-to-tuscaloosa

 

 

 

Maybe I’m wrong but I thought Pierce running over and getting into with the ump was him protecting Campbell. After the call DC said something and the ump definitely was yelling back at him. Don’t think it really had anything to do with Schloss or aggy

[UTPhil2006 3801]

Definitely could care less about Schloss or his feelings.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21867]

*couldn't

[TrashMaster G 17539]

1 minute ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

*couldn't

Maybe he really does care about Scholss's feelings.

[Valmy77 13225]

This is right up there with us not being there to accept our second place trophies in 2004 with stupid shit that doesn't matter. Sorry we were mad at the last call and were too distracted to give you a hug and kiss Schloss. Maybe next time.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21867]

I was glad to see Pierce give the ump some shit about that game ending strike.  It was a shitty call and Pierce needs to be more proactive about letting the umps know when they fuck up.  If it hurt Schnoz's feelings tough titty.

[Hammerin Hank 1225]

I was in section 10. If Schlossnagle is complaining about anything that was said then he’s a fucking pussy

[TwiceHorn 31435]

On 3/30/2022 at 3:43 PM, chase25 said:

Duplantier was the midweek starter from the start of the season until he was relieved of those duties after the College of Charleston loss because he was throwing BP. Lucas has started 5 games this year. A&M CC, UCLA, SC, UIW, and Texas Tech. He started the Wednesday game against Corpus Christi which means he was in essence the 5th starter. Andre started both Tuesdays prior to Tanner’s injury. If Andre was pitching like he did his first two starts of the season, this would be a non issue. He isn’t which has forced us to throw the farm during the week.

Sthele and Harrison have been overused for Freshman? Aaron and Tanner were Freshman last year. By the end of the year we were a 3 man bullpen. Last year we just had the luxury of having a 4th starter, this year we lost that when Witt went down.

Up to Allen and Pierce to get it fixed because the tools and pieces are there. 

Going back and forth as to the cause of the struggles is pointless because the result is the same, simply put, guys who have the ability simply aren’t performing. It’s not because Tanner Witt got hurt.

Its fixable, we will just have to wait and see if it gets turned around.

Well, I think the plan was to use all the newbs an inning or two at a time, hopefully in low-pressure situations, where they could focus on their coaching and not worry too much about giving up a lead.  Thus building confidence and testing/proving their ability.  In the past, Pierce/Allen have been pretty effective this way.

The loss of Witt and the timing, with multiple midweek games and road series, really fucked up the rotation, obviously.  And that meant more innings, more pressure-filled innings, and more failure and shattered confidence.  So, instead of being brought along slowly and gently, a lot of these guys got thrown in the fire too quickly/early.  And maybe they just suck.  But that's how they got mindfucked.

It's probably fixable, but it's going to be hard and we're probably going to struggle pretty hard against better teams.  Going to need some cannon fodder, most likely, and some luck.  

It appears, too, that the Witt loss did a bit of a number on offensive heads, too, probably along with the whole #1, 11-0, beat TN and LSU overconfidence.  And that meant that leads were precarious, putting further pressure on the young pitchers.