Jump to content

2023 Texas Baseball


Fletch

Recommended Posts

Siap...

Mentioned on HornFm this morning that Tulo does not have a college degree -- they speculated this might be why usc and Texas can't hire him as Head Coach or Asst Coach??

Said both jobs require a college degree... 

Edited by LTtxfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, LTtxfan said:

Siap...

Mentioned on HornFm this morning that Tulo does not have a college degree -- they speculated this might be why usc and Texas can't hire him as Head Coach or Asst HC ??

 

Don't think that applies to USC because they are a private school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

 

Pierce and co made some bad mental evals in the 2021 class. It's going to sting more because we only signed 9 guys. Stewart, McKinney and Kash are already in the portal.

Harrison and Whitehead might be the only guys you can count on from that class for any meaningful contribution.

Is it bad mental evals? 

Somebody like Kash is the nature of the business. A highly sought after recruit that didn't get playing time because Texas had so many returning players. This is how the portal goes these days. 

The women's tennis team just had a 2 time All-American and 2 time national champion transfer. This is how things goes these days but it's also reason why Texas needs to really be utilizing the portal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Is it bad mental evals? 

Somebody like Kash is the nature of the business. A highly sought after recruit that didn't get playing time because Texas had so many returning players. This is how the portal goes these days. 

The women's tennis team just had a 2 time All-American and 2 time national champion transfer. This is how things goes these days but it's also reason why Texas needs to really be utilizing the portal. 

They made some poor mental evals, imo. Kash was checked out by mid-April and then left the team in the middle of the postseason. Stewart has been wanting to transfer to A&M since the moment he stepped on campus and was probably singing the war hymn in his door at night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Hookem2147 said:

He was playing games out in Santa Barbara on June 11th, which was the middle of the East Carolina series.

Yeah I actually don’t even think that roster sizes shrink now that I’m looking it up. That’s just what the popular reasoning was at the time. And I didn’t really notice anyone else missing in the dugout last week 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

They made some poor mental evals, imo. Kash was checked out by mid-April and then left the team in the middle of the postseason. Stewart has been wanting to transfer to A&M since the moment he stepped on campus and was probably singing the war hymn in his door at night.

Stewart has family ties to A&M correct? What brought him here in the first place?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought Kash had a lot of potential and would have very much preferred to keep him, but he is another one, like Joshua Stewart, who played at a private high school against terrible competition. It showed in his limited plate appearances this year when it looked like he had never seen a breaking ball in his life.

Drew Stubbs played in the majors with this issue.
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

It's some rule the University has. Not sure if it statewide for all public schools or just Texas, but to be a full time coach you have to have a college degree.

I think it is an NCAA rule.  I know Bieniemy had to come in as a grad assistant under Barnett and finish his degree at CU before he could be a paid coach.  Hallmark did the same thing at Rice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Kash checked out about Mid-April. There's a reason he left the team in the postseason to go play summer ball.

That's too bad as we are going to have lots of opportunities for playing time next year.

Was he under the impression he was going to show up on campus and start when we had almost everybody coming back from a #3 finishing team the year before?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Or catcher. Like he did with AF.

Just me, but I wouldn’t have him catch here. Unnecessary wear and tear. His future is probably on the mound and having him DH or occasionally play 1B when he isn’t pitching keeps him a lot fresher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Just me, but I wouldn’t have him catch here. Unnecessary wear and tear. His future is probably on the mound and having him DH or occasionally play 1B when he isn’t pitching keeps him a lot fresher.

I don't disagree with that. 

Was just stating a position that he is already accomplished at and we will have a void to fill. Besides 1B or DH, I'd love to have him play some right field the way Brooks used to do. Would be nice to have a gun out there.

Hopefully Schuessler just needs more playing time and at bats to progress and have him take Ardoin's spot.

If not, Skenes could step in there some too. Nothing wrong with some competition to make you work harder to succeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Had Enough said:


Drew Stubbs played in the majors with this issue.

Exactly !

Gash was the top rated 1B in the State by Perfect Game and #8 in the Nation.    Josh Stewart was the #6 RHP in the State and 41st in the Nation.    Is Perfect Game perfect ?  No,  but it is the standard.

Makes no difference where they played high school ball.    These kids have been playing Select since they were 12 years old or younger.    College and pro scouts place more emphasis on Select leagues where the competition is much higher. 

Gash is currently hitting .326 with 4 home runs in 12 games at Santa Barbara against excellent competition.    Players  were selected to go to the CCL  from major colleges/programs.

Both Gash and Stewart were significant losses.     Stewart's father is a Texas-Ex.  Stewart,  like Nixon,  left for better coaching/development.

https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=402237

https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=387607

 

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, torre said:

Stewart,  like Nixon,  left for better coaching/development.

 

 

 

Hopefully, this is a good luck sign because you were saying the same thing about Mike White. Then he took Texas to the College World Series finals weeks after you said he couldn't develop pitching. 

Edited by Rickylovesweed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Eckhardt joins the line of guys to start against A&M in a midweek game and then go off the deep end. Joining Nico O’Donnell and Owen Meaney.

 

Meaney never left.  He hung up the spikes and was still on campus this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Hopefully, this is a good luck sign because you were saying the same thing about Mike White. Then he took Texas to the College World Series finals weeks after you said he couldn't develop pitching. 

I did not say MW could not develop pitching - I said this year's staff at the time was not developing.    Most agreed at that time.   Kudos to MW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, torre said:

Exactly !

Gash was the top rated 1B in the State by Perfect Game and #8 in the Nation.    Josh Stewart was the #6 RHP in the State and 41st in the Nation.    Is Perfect Game perfect ?  No,  but it is the standard.

Makes no difference where they played high school ball.    These kids have been playing Select since they were 12 years old or younger.    College and pro scouts place more emphasis on Select leagues where the competition is much higher. 

Gash is currently hitting .326 with 4 home runs in 12 games at Santa Barbara against excellent competition.    Players  were selected to go to the CCL  from major colleges/programs.

Both Gash and Stewart were significant losses.     Stewart's father is a Texas-Ex.  Stewart,  like Nixon,  left for better coaching/development.

https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=402237

https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=387607

 

 

It will be interesting to see how their careers end up. I’ve always been a believer in they will bite as a pup if there is something there. There was nothing I saw with Kash especially that made me believe he was plug and play in the middle of the order next year. Struggled mightily with any type of off speed and was way too strikeout prone considering the majority of his AB’s came in blowouts against meh pitching.

Speaking of PG rankings though, I truly think O’Dowd is in for a nice year. Was a top 100 recruit coming out of HS. Had a meh average this past year but walked as much as he struck out and seems to have a smooth swing from the left side. Is supposed to be good defensively as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, torre said:

Stewart's father is a Texas-Ex.  Stewart,  like Nixon,  left for better coaching/development.

I don't know if every time a player enters the portal it is the condemnation of the coaching and development you seem to think it is. Seems like every program in the country has a ton of players entering the portal. Surely not everybody's coaching and development is dramatically subpar.

I mean I am not saying it might not be true that they are needing better coaching, just that might not be the only reason one might transfer. Unless you know something about these guys situations specifically.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Spaceman_Spiff said:

Kash almost certainly is a starter next year if he doesn’t transfer. Gotta sort out the coaching room and hit the portal/JUCO trail hard. This year will be Pierce’s stiffest test yet.

Half the country is in the portal. And I have a hard time thinking this is a stiffer test than the disaster he inherited in 2016 of after the mess in 2019. We had a good season this year. It is certainly critical we make good moves here but there is so much talent out to snag. It shouldn't be that difficult, just need to make the right choices.

Edited by Valmy77
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Spaceman_Spiff said:

Kash almost certainly is a starter next year if he doesn’t transfer. Gotta sort out the coaching room and hit the portal/JUCO trail hard. This year will be Pierce’s stiffest test yet.

It's about the same position Texas was in after 2017. 

Texas lost two weekend starters and then lost a large chunk of the lineup. Actually, Texas was probably in a worse position after 2017 considering what you can now do in the transfer portal. 

Hopefully, it's a similar result. Texas won a Big 12 championship and made the CWS after the rebuild following the 2017 season. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Valmy77 said:

Half the country is in the portal. And I have a hard time thinking this is a stiffer test than the disaster he inherited in 2016 of after the mess in 2019. We had a good season this year. It is certainly critical we make good moves here but there is so much talent out to snag. It shouldn't be that difficult, just need to make the right choices.

2018 was a tougher rebuild than this. 

Do posters not remember how gutted Texas was after the MLB draft in 2017?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are like 6 or 7 guys on the current team who are for sure coming back that I don't want to lose: Campbell, Daly, Whitehead, Gordon, Harrison, Sthele and LBJ. Not including O'Dowd cuz he already used his one time transfer.

Everyone else is whatever.

Edited by Hookem2147
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

I don't know if every time a player enters the portal it is the condemnation of the coaching and development you seem to think it is. Seems like every program in the country has a ton of players entering the portal. Surely not everybody's coaching and development is dramatically subpar.

I mean I am not saying it might not be true that they are needing better coaching, just that might not be the only reason one might transfer. Unless you know something about these guys situations specifically.

Good point about the portal.    Many reasons to enter,  opinion was referring only to those two.

I certainly do not have "inside knowledge" and if I did would not post on a public board.   My personal opinion is only based on observation, what some have said here and other places and the dismissal of Allen. 

Edited by torre
Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

I don't know if every time a player enters the portal it is the condemnation of the coaching and development you seem to think it is. Seems like every program in the country has a ton of players entering the portal. Surely not everybody's coaching and development is dramatically subpar.

I mean I am not saying it might not be true that they are needing better coaching, just that might not be the only reason one might transfer. Unless you know something about these guys situations specifically.

Maybe, but the combination of Pierce firing Allen, who is a longtime friend and one of his guys, the second we finished in Omaha and all of this pitching attrition makes it seem like stuff was not going well within the team. I doubt Pierce would’ve fired Allen so immediately if things weren’t in a bad spot internally. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Maybe, but the combination of Pierce firing Allen, who is a longtime friend and one of his guys, the second we finished in Omaha and all of this pitching attrition makes it seem like stuff was not going well within the team. I doubt Pierce would’ve fired Allen so immediately if things weren’t in a bad spot internally. 

We have three guys entering the portal, one is not even a pitcher. Look around the country. All the teams have tons of guys jumping in the portal.

But the whole reason I was surprised and impressed by letting go of Allen is because things obviously aren't in a bad spot. Allen is not a pitching coach by trade. It just wasn't working out that great and instead of going "oh well we were top 25 in the country in ERA and made the CWS let's keep going" instead it seems like it was more like "this isn't working out optimally so let's try to get better". I think that's great, we shouldn't wait around for something to actually be a big problem before we fix it, like how Mack Brown just let the offensive line decay to the point where Nebraska sacked Colt McCoy 400 times in one game but didn't really address it because we were still winning. Best to fix problems before they become a bad spot. Recruiting a top pitching coach and a bunch of hot shot transfers should be pretty straightforward to a CWS team as opposed to waiting until we have another 2019 type season.

At least that is how I see it. 

Edited by Valmy77
  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Maybe, but the combination of Pierce firing Allen, who is a longtime friend and one of his guys, the second we finished in Omaha and all of this pitching attrition makes it seem like stuff was not going well within the team. I doubt Pierce would’ve fired Allen so immediately if things weren’t in a bad spot internally. 

The only pitchers that have transferred are ones that weren't used in the postseason. Nixon, Eckhardt, and Stewart. 

This is very common attrition and probably minimal compared to most schools. Now Nixon's regression is a different story but 3 pitchers that were non-factors at the end of the season isn't exactly an indication of things "not going well within the team." 

This is normal attrition. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

This is very common attrition and probably minimal compared to most schools. Now Nixon's regression is a different story but 3 pitchers that were non-factors at the end of the season isn't exactly an indication of things "not going well within the team." 

This is normal attrition. 

I don't understand why some people can't grasp this. Trying to saw Josh Stewart entering the portal is a sign the program is in problem is laughable. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Oh right. Four players. I forgot about Eckardt, much like how I tried to forget many of his pitching performances.

It’s important to note that all four of those players had chances to perform and play their way into substantial roles on this team. There was more than enough opportunity to be a reliable guy out of the pen and the there were opportunities to get in the lineup with the injuries to Todd and EK along with Daly struggling and others going cold for small stretches. Aside from Nixon’s freshman campaign as the known quantity vs whatever is was he did this year all we are losing is the potential for one of them to be something great. A lot of these kids we recruit have the same if not better potential. If potential isn’t enough for us the portal along with JUCO routes provide known quantities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, davi34 said:

If potential isn’t enough for us the portal along with JUCO routes provide known quantities.

The 3 juco pitchers we are bringing in are better than every arm that's entered the portal for us so far (granted, I know the bar may not be that high).

Edited by Hookem2147
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, davi34 said:

If potential isn’t enough for us the portal along with JUCO routes provide known quantities.

That plus experience. 

A big part of the success in the 2018 rebuild were all the JUCO players that were older. Ellis, Hibbeler, Petrinsky, Bocchi, and probably a couple others that I'm forgetting. Texas went from being a young team to a team with a good bit of experience adding as many JUCO players as they did. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Siap...

Mentioned on HornFm this morning that Tulo does not have a college degree -- they speculated this might be why usc and Texas can't hire him as Head Coach or Asst Coach??

Said both jobs require a college degree... 

 

you can get an online degree pretty quick 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went back and looked at the 2017 team to compare how much of a rebuild it was. If Pierce can rebuild a team like in 2018 there's no reason it can't happen again with the transfer portal. 

This is what the 2017 team lost. 

Starting C (Cantu)

Starting 1B (Kacy Clemens)

Starting 2B (Boswell)

Starting OF (Jones)

Starting OF (Gurwitz)

Starting OF (Mathis)

Friday starter (Cooper)

Saturday/Sunday starter (Johnston)

Midweek starter/reliable bullpen pitcher (Kennedy)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I went back and looked at the 2017 team to compare how much of a rebuild it was. If Pierce can rebuild a team like in 2018 there's no reason it can't happen again with the transfer portal. 

This is what the 2017 team lost. 

Starting C (Cantu)

Starting 1B (Kacy Clemens)

Starting 2B (Boswell)

Starting OF (Jones)

Starting OF (Gurwitz)

Starting OF (Mathis)

Friday starter (Cooper)

Saturday/Sunday starter (Johnston)

Midweek starter/reliable bullpen pitcher (Kennedy)

 

 

We also thought we had All-American closer in Beau Ridgeway coming back and he completely flopped in 2018. It was impressive the way Pierce rebuild that roster and got to Omaha with a bunch a no-names in the bullpen.

Kody Clemens also was a jag on that 2017 team. Hit .241. And we all know what he did the next season. Didn't even need Tulo!

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...