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bschoolprof

By bschoolprof
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31597

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

we only made the CWS because Kody Clemens was a monster and we were fortunate to play Tenn Tech.   I will give him that we were good enough to make a regional the first 2 years and host one(which is about the minimum expectation).  we have 3 years of slap hitting(sans Kody) and no end in sight really.  

My problem is this team is getting WORSE not better as the season progresses.  That is a very bad sign for a coach. In a normal situation, I don't think he lasts 2 years after this but he's got Shaka's criminal failure to take some heat off.  maybe he will find another Kody Clemens(or possibly 2 players that can combine for that).

Either way the shine is off and that makes recruiting harder.  he needs to take a hard look at his staff.  There are some coaching moves that I don't understand.  multiple times this year we had Zubia on 2nd with no outs and we didn't bunt him over.  the guy can't score on a single so get him to 3rd where a single scores him for sure and a deep fly or error scores him.

the inability to get someone, anyone to be a decent closer is just mind bottling.

While Kody accounted for the offense, Pierceco did take some scrubby pitchers and turn them into a fairly competent staff. 

I take it as a fairly good sign that Kennedy and Ford are putting up pretty good BA numbers here in the latter part of the season.  Zubia was always a bit of a project and the rest of them pretty much are what they are.

It would be reassuring if we had some freshman phenoms in the most recent class, but I guess that's why the call em phenoms.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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petscii

petscii 1189

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Posted (edited)

If I were Skip at OU, I'd be looking to press some Texas poo in next weekend.  If we want to get wins to make the conference tourney we better do it before then.

I'm going to watch all the rest of the games and cheer them on as usual (because that what sunshine pumpers do eh?) and if they make the tournament I hope they get sent out west so I can go to the regional.  

All last off-season I was looking forward to this year.  

Edited by petscii
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ClubWhatever

ClubWhatever 12159

Posted
Posted

Outlook for next year   Pierce needs to fill holes at closer and centerfield.     If so we have a chance to be a decent club   

Starters-  Elder, Henley, and Madden.  Madden is rising the learning curve fast.  He has the look of a future Friday night guy.  Strength of next years team if Henley stays  whelan or Stevens is your midweek guy   

Middle/setup Guys.  We have some big arms arms but no confidence.  Summer leagues and fall will be big for the freshmen. Most of them need to learn an off speed pitch.  One or two making significant improvement will have a huge impact on the team  

Closer.  I don’t see a solution right now.  Pierce has to find or make one to save his job.   Q looked like the guy but he falls behind and then grooves too many pitches.  His fastball is straight, needs sink.  His slider is good enough for him to be the guy.  

Catcher.  Need Petrinsky to get hardship.  Peter looks like a solid backup.  

1B.  I think Bertelson can hit over a full season. He’s shown he can field. 

2B.  Ford has it locked down.   

SS.  Hamilton.  I think Reagan will eventually be a good fielder but I am not sold that he can hit  

3B.  Reynolds is a good enough to win with. 

LF. Geib

CF.  We have a big hole here. 

RF Kennedy. 

DH. Zubia

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31597

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Outlook for next year   Pierce needs to fill holes at closer and centerfield.     If so we have a chance to be a decent club   

Starters-  Elder, Henley, and Madden.  Madden is rising the learning curve fast.  He has the look of a future Friday night guy.  Strength of next years team if Henley stays  whelan or Stevens is your midweek guy   

Middle/setup Guys.  We have some big arms arms but no confidence.  Summer leagues and fall will be big for the freshmen. Most of them need to learn an off speed pitch.  One or two making significant improvement will have a huge impact on the team  

Closer.  I don’t see a solution right now.  Pierce has to find or make one to save his job.   Q looked like the guy but he falls behind and then grooves too many pitches.  His fastball is straight, needs sink.  His slider is good enough for him to be the guy.  

Catcher.  Need Petrinsky to get hardship.  Peter looks like a solid backup.  

1B.  I think Bertelson can hit over a full season. He’s shown he can field. 

2B.  Ford has it locked down.   

SS.  Hamilton.  I think Reagan will eventually be a good fielder but I am not sold that he can hit  

3B.  Reynolds is a good enough to win with. 

LF. Geib

CF.  We have a big hole here. 

RF Kennedy. 

DH. Zubia

How has Fields looked in the OF?  I can't recall.  He certainly seems athletic enough for CF.  Pretty sure I'd be willing to sacrifice his arm in the bullpen.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49378

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Outlook for next year   Pierce needs to fill holes at closer and centerfield.     If so we have a chance to be a decent club   

Starters-  Elder, Henley, and Madden.  Madden is rising the learning curve fast.  He has the look of a future Friday night guy.  Strength of next years team if Henley stays  whelan or Stevens is your midweek guy.  Henley could go pro.   

Middle/setup Guys.  We have some big arms arms but no confidence.  Summer leagues and fall will be big for the freshmen. Most of them need to learn an off speed pitch.  One or two making significant improvement will have a huge impact on the team  

Closer.  I don’t see a solution right now.  Pierce has to find or make one to save his job.   Q looked like the guy but he falls behind and then grooves too many pitches.  His fastball is straight, needs sink.  His slider is good enough for him to be the guy.  

Catcher.  Need Petrinsky to get hardship.  Peter looks like a solid backup.  

1B.  I think Bertelson can hit over a full season. He’s shown he can field. 

2B.  Ford has it locked down.   

SS.  Hamilton.  I think Reagan will eventually be a good fielder but I am not sold that he can hit  May turn pro.

3B.  Reynolds is a good enough to win with. Could go pro but doubtful.

LF. Geib

CF.  We have a big hole here. Ellis could return

RF Kennedy.  Or could  DH.  Todd could return

DH. Zubia   Could go pro... doubtful

Fixed it for yah....

Henley could go pro.   

SS.  Hamilton.    May turn pro.

3B.  Reynolds is a good enough to win with. Could go pro but doubtful.

CF.  We have a big hole here. Ellis could return

RF Kennedy.  Or could DH.  Todd could return.

DH. Zubia   Could go pro... doubtful

Edited by LTtxfan
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bschoolprof

bschoolprof 6273

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Posted
29 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Outlook for next year   Pierce needs to fill holes at closer and centerfield.     If so we have a chance to be a decent club   

Starters-  Elder, Henley, and Madden.  Madden is rising the learning curve fast.  He has the look of a future Friday night guy.  Strength of next years team if Henley stays  whelan or Stevens is your midweek guy   

Middle/setup Guys.  We have some big arms arms but no confidence.  Summer leagues and fall will be big for the freshmen. Most of them need to learn an off speed pitch.  One or two making significant improvement will have a huge impact on the team  

Closer.  I don’t see a solution right now.  Pierce has to find or make one to save his job.   Q looked like the guy but he falls behind and then grooves too many pitches.  His fastball is straight, needs sink.  His slider is good enough for him to be the guy.  

Catcher.  Need Petrinsky to get hardship.  Peter looks like a solid backup.  

1B.  I think Bertelson can hit over a full season. He’s shown he can field. 

2B.  Ford has it locked down.   

SS.  Hamilton.  I think Reagan will eventually be a good fielder but I am not sold that he can hit  

3B.  Reynolds is a good enough to win with. 

LF. Geib

CF.  We have a big hole here. 

RF Kennedy. 

DH. Zubia

That seems like a pretty shitty to maybe mediocre lineup. Take Hamilton and Elder and maybe Henley out, and that's a bunch of JAGs.  That's why our lack of development/improvement this year is so troubling.  

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31597

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3 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

That seems like a pretty shitty to maybe mediocre lineup. Take Hamilton and Elder and maybe Henley out, and that's a bunch of JAGs.  That's why our lack of development/improvement this year is so troubling.  

Well, Kennedy is hitting .400 in conference, Ford .327.  You can count on one hand the number of Longhorns that have hit that well in conference in the last five, maybe 10 years.  Petrinsky might be good for around .300, real hard to say given the fail that has been last year's decent players.  If we had four batters over .300 in conference, that would be pretty spectacular by recent standards.

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txhorns

txhorns 2413

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Posted

I think everyone understands that we are playing with a bunch of JAGs right now.  That's not necessarily on Pierce.  The problem is that those JAGs continue to get worse, every last one of them.  No one is improving on or even maintaining their production.  That includes defensively.  Hell just from experience some should be getting better.

We actually have a pretty damn good pitching staff.  They just look like shit this year.  Elder, Henley, Quintanilla, Fields, Diaz, Stevens, Cobb and Madden all have the talent and stuff to be really good college pitchers.  For most of them it seems like they are complete head cases this year.  I think a lot of the problem here is how Pierce has handled the staff this year.  Pitchers need consistency.  Relievers need to know that their coach trusts them even if they have a bad outing.  The pitchers aren't getting any of that.  Just look at our midweek ineptitude, you can credit a lot of the pifching issues there to a lack of using a consistent starter and bullpen plan.

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ClubWhatever

ClubWhatever 12159

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5 minutes ago, txhorns said:

I think everyone understands that we are playing with a bunch of JAGs right now.  That's not necessarily on Pierce.  The problem is that those JAGs continue to get worse, every last one of them.  No one is improving on or even maintaining their production.  That includes defensively.  Hell just from experience some should be getting better.

We actually have a pretty damn good pitching staff.  They just look like shit this year.  Elder, Henley, Quintanilla, Fields, Diaz, Stevens, Cobb and Madden all have the talent and stuff to be really good college pitchers.  For most of them it seems like they are complete head cases this year.  I think a lot of the problem here is how Pierce has handled the staff this year.  Pitchers need consistency.  Relievers need to know that their coach trusts them even if they have a bad outing.  The pitchers aren't getting any of that.  Just look at our midweek ineptitude, you can credit a lot of the pifching issues there to a lack of using a consistent starter and bullpen plan.

Ryan Reynolds has improved as a hitter each year he’s been here.  Hibbeler is about what he was last year, and Todd is about what he was in 2017 (2018 was a lost year for him).   Ellis and Zubia having bad years has really hurt us.  Ellis hit over 300 last year.  You need a guy setting the table.  Zubia hasn’t slugged worth a shit. 

Your comments about pitching are dead on imo. 

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petscii

petscii 1189

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Posted
Just now, txhorns said:

I think everyone understands that we are playing with a bunch of JAGs right now.  That's not necessarily on Pierce.  The problem is that those JAGs continue to get worse, every last one of them.  No one is improving on or even maintaining their production.  That includes defensively.  Hell just from experience some should be getting better.

We actually have a pretty damn good pitching staff.  They just look like shit this year.  Elder, Henley, Quintanilla, Fields, Diaz, Stevens, Cobb and Madden all have the talent and stuff to be really good college pitchers.  For most of them it seems like they are complete head cases this year.  I think a lot of the problem here is how Pierce has handled the staff this year.  Pitchers need consistency.  Relievers need to know that their coach trusts them even if they have a bad outing.  The pitchers aren't getting any of that.  Just look at our midweek ineptitude, you can credit a lot of the pifching issues there to a lack of using a consistent starter and bullpen plan.

Not having any depth at catcher is on the coach.  Letting Beau Ridgeway leave the team when we have pitching problems (and yes, he was part of that problem) is on the coach.  

Having said that I like Pierce and think we are moving in the right direction in general.  Yes he probably rode Clemens to a 2 and Q in Omaha last year.  Remember folks we went 700+ days without a conference series win recently.

I think he knows what he has to do.  I hope he can do it.



 

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dcar00

dcar00 14381

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Posted
49 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Ryan Reynolds has improved as a hitter each year he’s been here.  Hibbeler is about what he was last year, and Todd is about what he was in 2017 (2018 was a lost year for him).   Ellis and Zubia having bad years has really hurt us.  Ellis hit over 300 last year.  You need a guy setting the table.  Zubia hasn’t slugged worth a shit. 

Your comments about pitching are dead on imo. 

we have some very good starters but beyond that we really don't know. they could be head cases or they might just not be that good.  i do agree that they seem to have the talent that a good coaching staff would have them ready.

I chalked the TCU debacle up to fields and some bad luck but when we struggled with Xavier I knew this team was in trouble.  Pierce has a real problem with his lineup and I'm very concerned he won't be able to fix it.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49378

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Posted
6 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

we have some very good starters but beyond that we really don't know. they could be head cases or they might just not be that good.  i do agree that they seem to have the talent that a good coaching staff would have them ready. I chalked the TCU debacle up to fields and some bad luck but when we struggled with Xavier I knew this team was in trouble.  Pierce has a real problem with his lineup and I'm very concerned he won't be able to fix it.

For the 2020 squad, some questions are:

  • How many open slots will Horns have that Pierce can sign new players for?
  • What positions will Pierce find new recruits for to fix the defense?
  •  Who will Pierce sign that can close games?
  • Does Pierce bring in a couple Juco players to improve Horns offensively??
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Cajun

Cajun 11754

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Posted
2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

While Kody accounted for the offense, Pierceco did take some scrubby pitchers and turn them into a fairly competent staff. 

I take it as a fairly good sign that Kennedy and Ford are putting up pretty good BA numbers here in the latter part of the season.  Zubia was always a bit of a project and the rest of them pretty much are what they are.

It would be reassuring if we had some freshman phenoms in the most recent class, but I guess that's why the call em phenoms.

Yeah, it wasn't just KC last year.  Pierce made a  bunch of good moves.

That said, that shit has been virtually erased this year.

Players regressing physically, and even worse, mentally.  Zero development.

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Cajun

Cajun 11754

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Posted
16 minutes ago, petscii said:

1-0 Cajun or 1-0 SUNSHINE???????

Wait I know the answer.  :(

When we're celebrating a 1-0 lead over fucking Kansas, you indeed do know the answer.

We all do.

It's not sunshine vs hater, it's sunshine vs reality.

brah

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petscii

petscii 1189

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Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, Cajun said:

When we're celebrating a 1-0 lead over fucking Kansas, you indeed do know the answer.

We all do.

It's not sunshine vs hater, it's sunshine vs reality.

brah

We are losing.  You don't even watch the games do you?

Edited by petscii
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31597

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16 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

Who else would play center? At least he's average out there...but yeah, it's sad that we are without good options.

I think Ellis has probably been the most frustrating/disappointing player this year. Zubia was always going to be feast or famine, but Ellis was hitting and getting on base on the regular.

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zork

zork 629

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Posted
25 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I think Ellis has probably been the most frustrating/disappointing player this year. Zubia was always going to be feast or famine, but Ellis was hitting and getting on base on the regular.

RE Ellis, my unprofessional opinion:

while it looks like he is trying to hit it opposite field with every swing, it also appears he is totally off balanced with that swing every time and is falling back too much.  he is late because he is trying to discern balls and strikes to get his walks.  not sure what is different from last year.

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zlavydra

zlavydra 2123

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Posted
8 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

It’s really frustrating. This dude on the hill has a 5.71 ERA on the year with a .284 opponents BA.  and then he faces us.  

Hah, this guy has given up 10 runs in 2 innings twice this year. Once against TX Southern.

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Cajun

Cajun 11754

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Posted
1 hour ago, petscii said:

We are losing.  You don't even watch the games do you?

Only about 7 or 8 at UFCU this year. 

Been busy.

Watched about 85% of the rest and listened to the difference on radio.  I'm out at the lake today b/c the kids are in town.  They want to listen to Taylor Swift over B-Team BBall announcers.  Go figure.

Sorry I swung and missed on that score you put up.  I'm checking for updates on this thread and, what with this sea sickness, I misread.  I think I got the spirit of your post, however.  I'm trying to be superfan, I'm tryin' real hard Ringo.

It doesn't come as easy for some of us as it does you.

Please go easy.

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