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Texas Baseball 2025 - Show Me A Schloss


petscii

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20 hours ago, zlavydra said:

Luke Harrison as a weekend starter? Rather unexpected development.

With this new staff and an actual pitching coach that knows what he is doing, I think there will be more "unexpected developments" in a good way. Harrison was becoming a top pitcher till his injury that required surgery. From what Munroe said in the video, it seems Harrison had not fully recovered but was still trying to pitch. Now he is healthy again and with Wiener's coaching, it looks like Harrison will return to the form he had before the injury.

 

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I would also like to hear more about Will Mercer and if he is totally healthy again. He was slated to have been a closer last season. With the departure of Boehm, a closer is certainly needed. It's good to hear about the UTSA transfer Riojas having an arsenal of pitches that he has command off. He can be a sort of "Swiss Army knife" in the bullpen, as a possible set up man or maybe more valuable in long and middle relief.

As always, the pitching will most likely tell how well Texas can compete in the SEC meat grinder. The position players are mostly set. There are battles at first base, with Schuessler probably in the lead there. His bat is needed in the lineup. Galvan will probably get the catching position mostly with Schuessler as a backup. Hard to tell about the freshman Chamberlain much as of yet. Farmer coming on and battling Gasparino in center is nothing but a plus to me. Another real battle at third is shaping up between Borba and the talented freshman Rodriguez. I think Rodriguez has a real shot to win it, but we will see. Mendoza the ASU transfer seems to be the choice at second. Every other position is pretty much set in stone with Belyeu in right and the ULM transfer Winfield in left and Flores at short.

Will be very interesting to see how this season goes entering the SEC. It's a tough road, but this Texas team is certainly talented and now have a competent coaching staff.

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25 minutes ago, NBHorn7 said:

I would also like to hear more about Will Mercer and if he is totally healthy again. He was slated to have been a closer last season. With the departure of Boehm, a closer is certainly needed. It's good to hear about the UTSA transfer Riojas having an arsenal of pitches that he has command off. He can be a sort of "Swiss Army knife" in the bullpen, as a possible set up man or maybe more valuable in long and middle relief.

As always, the pitching will most likely tell how well Texas can compete in the SEC meat grinder. The position players are mostly set. There are battles at first base, with Schuessler probably in the lead there. His bat is needed in the lineup. Galvan will probably get the catching position mostly with Schuessler as a backup. Hard to tell about the freshman Chamberlain much as of yet. Farmer coming on and battling Gasparino in center is nothing but a plus to me. Another real battle at third is shaping up between Borba and the talented freshman Rodriguez. I think Rodriguez has a real shot to win it, but we will see. Mendoza the ASU transfer seems to be the choice at second. Every other position is pretty much set in stone with Belyeu in right and the ULM transfer Winfield in left and Flores at short.

Will be very interesting to see how this season goes entering the SEC. It's a tough road, but this Texas team is certainly talented and now have a competent coaching staff.

Mercer is just now about 12 months removed from surgery so it won’t surprise me if he is a little behind when things get started.

I agree with what you said about Rodriguez and I would place a bet that he starts as things stand today. The fact he switch hits brings a lot more versatility to the lineup that really only has 2 lefties right now (Belyeu and Winfield). I also think they want Rodriguez to be their SS in 2026 so getting his feet wet will be a plus.

I heard Schuessler was the best hitter on the team during the fall.

I am wondering if the staff sees Riojas in a similar light as how they used Aschenbeck at A&M. They probably could have started Aschenbeck, but having him available to give you several multiple inning outings a week really maximized his impact. He could come in the 5th inning or the 9th and the game was pretty much over.

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Blake’s video mentioned Schuessler and Jacquae Stewart possibly rotating at 1B. At 5’10 245 I’m intrigued to see Stewart. While not excited to see such a diminutive first baseman I surely hope he can crack! I remember being equally nervous when a sub 6 foot Tant Shepherd manned first but he acquitted himself quite well that year. 
 

Did Kimble play any 1B last year? 
 

Between Kimble and Galvan was one definitively better defensively last year? 

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58 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

You are a complete fool if that bothers you in any way. 

 

30 minutes ago, MuellerHorn said:

Yeah, preventing injuries is sooo horrible.

Sheesh, it's not like they're doing this to home plate or something.

 

28 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Player safety is so woke 

Honest question, how does that prevent injuries at all? It’s nothing but performative. It’s still a base, it’s still an awkward thing to step on running full speed. Very rarely does someone covering the bag get stepped on or collided with. It’s certainly not enough to warrant a sport-wide change

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Someone explain the dropped third strike thing like I’m 5. I’ve read and re-read and it makes no sense. From the SEC tourney official rules last year:

Quote

When an initial play is being made on the batter-runner at first base, the defense must use the white section of the double base and the batter-runner must use the colored base except in the case of a dropped third strike. After a dropped third strike, if the fielder is drawn to the side of the colored base, the runner would go the white base and the fielder to the colored base. On a dropped third strike, the fielder and batter-runner may touch either the white or colored base.

If there is a play on the batter-runner and the batter-runner touches only the white portion of the double base and the defense appeals prior to the batter-runner returning to first base, it is treated the same as missing the base. Penalty: Batter-runner is out.

So on a dropped third strike, if I’m the first baseman I can shoot my foot out last second and touch whatever base it looks like runner is going to? And boom he’s out for going to the “wrong” base. (He can use either base, but not the same one as me). 

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11 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Someone explain the dropped third strike thing like I’m 5. I’ve read and re-read and it makes no sense. From the SEC tourney official rules last year:

So on a dropped third strike, if I’m the first baseman I can shoot my foot out last second and touch whatever base it looks like runner is going to? And boom he’s out for going to the “wrong” base. (He can use either base, but not the same one as me). 

No. If the ball is behind the plate such that the catcher is throwing from back there and the throw that doesn’t cross the basepath is one to the foul side of first, the first baseman should use the colored bag to set up and receive the throw. The runner should see that, and then use the white bag. Its the safest way to have that play. 
 

as opposed to either making the catcher throw across the runner or have 1b on white and standing over the colored bag into foul ground, like he would be doing with just the one bag. 

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So if I’m the catcher in that situation why not just peg the runner with the ball? If he has to go to white he’s running in fair territory and if my throw hits him he’s automatically out. If he really can still run to colored in that situation then he would be an idiot not to, and the safety aspect is thus negated by having the play on one bag.

Edited by Helobious
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The double first base was used in last year's SEC Tournament.

 

The purpose of the double first base is to reduce collisions between the defense and the batter-runner at first base. It has been utilized in a number of SEC non-conference contests this season.

Guidelines for using the double first base, as prescribed under NCAA playing rules, includes:

A batted ball hitting or bounding over the white portion of the bag is a fair ball. A batted ball hitting or bounding over the colored (orange or green) bag without first touching or bounding over the white section is foul.
 

When an initial play is being made on the batter-runner at first base, the defense must use the white section of the double base and the batter-runner must use the colored base except in the case of a dropped third strike. After a dropped third strike, if the fielder is drawn to the side of the colored base, the runner would go the white base and the fielder to the colored base. On a dropped third strike, the fielder and batter-runner may touch either the white or colored base.
 

If there is a play on the batter-runner and the batter-runner touches only the white portion of the double base and the defense appeals prior to the batter-runner returning to first base, it is treated the same as missing the base. Penalty:  Batter-runner is out.
 

On extra-base hits or other balls hit to the outfield when there is no chance for a play to be made at the double base, the batter-runner may touch either the white or colored section of the base. Should, however, the batter-runner reach and go beyond first base, they may only return to the white section of the base.
 

Once the batter-runner reaches first base, they shall then use only the white base.

https://www.secsports.com/news/2024/05/double-first-base-to-be-utilized-for-2024-sec-baseball-tournament

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On 12/30/2024 at 6:29 PM, Hookem2147 said:

LHP Cooper Powell, OF Seth Werchan, LHP Brandon Bertsch, OF Casey Cummings, and 1B Walker Polk are no longer on the roster as they trim things down before practice starts in a few weeks.

None of them are super surprising. 

I missed this the other day.  Thanks for the post.  I have been checking the lineup everyday for changes, but have been concentrating on the new players to see if numbers have been assigned to them and if any have been dropped.  I must have scanned too quickly to miss Polk and Powell not there and paid no attention to last year's returning people.  I don't think Bertsch saw any action last year so he should still have 4 years left.  Werchan and Cummings didn't really seem to pan out so that is not too surprising if they were cut or just left.  Walker Polk was an interesting possibility but did not have great stats before he transferred, just reasonable, and probably wouldn't see any playing time.

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5 hours ago, Helobious said:

So if I’m the catcher in that situation why not just peg the runner with the ball? If he has to go to white he’s running in fair territory and if my throw hits him he’s automatically out. If he really can still run to colored in that situation then he would be an idiot not to, and the safety aspect is thus negated by having the play on one bag.

Because it’s easier to just throw it to the first baseman?

hint:  it’s the same reason nobody does that now with the single base. At least not on purpose. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto
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Back in the day, I used to be able to go down in locker room after games. Roger Clemens was pitching one game and did well. On a ground ball to first base, Roger had to cover the bag. Sitting in section 2 like always I had a clear view of the play and thought the runner had spiked Roger on the play.

Roger was kind of different, to say the least, he just went back to the mound and kept pitching, no trainer came out. After the game I went down and saw Roger sitting there. I said Roger didn't that guy spike you on the play you covered first base.  He just looked up at me and pulled up his pants leg and took down a bloody sock. You could a spike mark all the way to the bone, it was nasty. I said Roger you need that looked at and he just said that that he would after he showered. I just smiled at him and shook my head. Doug Hodo saw it and he smiled and said, "that's just Roger."

The point is that the double bag not only prevents collisions but getting spiked by runners coming down the line. 

The double bag system at first can only help the game. Why is that bad? 

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1 hour ago, NBHorn7 said:

Back in the day, I used to be able to go down in locker room after games. Roger Clemens was pitching one game and did well. On a ground ball to first base, Roger had to cover the bag. Sitting in section 2 like always I had a clear view of the play and thought the runner had spiked Roger on the play.

Roger was kind of different, to say the least, he just went back to the mound and kept pitching, no trainer came out. After the game I went down and saw Roger sitting there. I said Roger didn't that guy spike you on the play you covered first base.  He just looked up at me and pulled up his pants leg and took down a bloody sock. You could a spike mark all the way to the bone, it was nasty. I said Roger you need that looked at and he just said that that he would after he showered. I just smiled at him and shook my head. Doug Hodo saw it and he smiled and said, "that's just Roger."

The point is that the double bag not only prevents collisions but getting spiked by runners coming down the line. 

The double bag system at first can only help the game. Why is that bad? 

It also stops the bullshit where 1B stands on the bag to block the runner during close plays.  Ontiveros used to do it a lot.  

It's good for the game.

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23 minutes ago, petscii said:

It also stops the bullshit where 1B stands on the bag to block the runner during close plays.  Ontiveros used to do it a lot.  

It's good for the game.

I mostly remember him dropping a knee onto the runner's arm to stop his momentum as he tried to dive back on pickoffs.  Definitely bush league.

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All this double bag talk hits close to home.  Just last week Jen Coolidge and I had a double froth, double whip, double shot, double cup, double sleeve, double cup, double double.

Looks like I need to do some homework before the season starts.  I think we will all be happy with the coaching changes this year.  

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13 hours ago, WBT said:

I mostly remember him dropping a knee onto the runner's arm to stop his momentum as he tried to dive back on pickoffs.  Definitely bush league.

I never tried that and don't remember seeing someone do that in particular.  I did drop a knee to block first base when runner's were diving back.  It worked pretty well.  I played 5 or 6 years with a left-handed pitcher who had an incredible move to first.  We picked off a lot of base runners.

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