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Air Force @ Texas Mid-week Series Thread


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6 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

You know, I like to blame the staff but when those guys signed with Texas none of them envisioned getting shelled by AF.  There is a failure but it isn't the players.  They aren't being developed.

Our Saturday and Sunday starters this year were dudes who had 5 ERA’s there first seasons here. Pitchers are on different developmental timelines than bats. If you notice most of the arms getting shelled are first and second year guys.

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10 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

You know, I like to blame the staff but when those guys signed with Texas none of them envisioned getting shelled by AF.  There is a failure but it isn't the players.  They aren't being developed.

Yup

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1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

Our Saturday and Sunday starters this year were dudes who had 5 ERA’s there first seasons here. Pitchers are on different developmental timelines than bats. If you notice most of the arms getting shelled are first and second year guys.

I get it but we don't have a single freshman or sophomore pitcher that intuitively knows how to pitch at this level?  Were Madden and Hansen getting their shit packed by teams like AF during their freshman and sophomore years?  If they were, I don't remember that.

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28 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

Gordon, Harrison and Johnson have a ton of potential. 

And Stewart. And I guarantee we bring in a few stud jucos and maybe we actually get lucky with the draft this year (talkin high schoolers. And Cobb)

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15 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

You know, I like to blame the staff but when those guys signed with Texas none of them envisioned getting shelled by AF.  There is a failure but it isn't the players.  They aren't being developed.

yeah well they have that in common with the Iraqi Republican Guard then.

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8 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Our Saturday and Sunday starters this year were dudes who had 5 ERA’s there first seasons here. Pitchers are on different developmental timelines than bats. If you notice most of the arms getting shelled are first and second year guys.

Yeah sans 2019, we’ve always had pretty good pitching staffs. ‘17, ‘18’ and last year were pretty filthy. Elder looked so so as a freshman now he’s playing for the braves. Bocchi was raw as it gets and Pierce tinkered with him. The 2018 staff was completely maximized. Last year we kept getting better and better throughout the year. Next year we’ll have Gordon, Harrison, Nixon and Cobb to build around. I could see Stewart taking a weekend spot. I can see us pulling a Bocchi with Duplantier. So yeah not worried

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7 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

I get it but we don't have a single freshman or sophomore pitcher that intuitively knows how to pitch at this level?  Were Madden and Hansen getting their shit packed by teams like AF during their freshman and sophomore years?  If they were, I don't remember that.

Every 2 or 3 years you might get someone like Hansen or Madden who can step into the weekend rotation immediately as freshman. That isn’t super common anywhere in the country. Cole Quintanilla had an 8 ERA his redshirt sophomore year. Bryce Elder had a 5.55 ERA as a freshman. I know it’s hard to believe because of how many young arms are struggling right now, but this staff as a track record of getting guys on track and helping them improve year over year. Lucas Gordon couldn’t be relied upon last year after about the halfway point because he couldn’t throw strikes consistently and he’s taken a noticeable leap this year.

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1 minute ago, Fletch said:

Yeah sans 2019, we’ve always had pretty good pitching staffs. ‘17, ‘18’ and last year were pretty filthy. Elder looked so so as a freshman now he’s playing for the braves. Bocchi was raw as it gets and Pierce tinkered with him. The 2018 staff was completely maximized. Last year we kept getting better and better throughout the year. Next year we’ll have Gordon, Harrison, Nixon and Cobb to build around. I could see Stewart taking a weekend spot. I can see us pulling a Bocchi with Duplantier. So yeah not worried

Johnson has a huge upside.  Duplantier needs to be put out to pasture.  I hope I am wrong but he is mentally not capable of pitching for this team.  The self doubt about the surgery is palpable.

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Our Saturday and Sunday starters this year were dudes who had 5 ERA’s there first seasons here. Pitchers are on different developmental timelines than bats. If you notice most of the arms getting shelled are first and second year guys.

And those first and second year guys lost some or all of spring/summer two years ago. I’d venture to say that not one of them developed as much that year as they otherwise would have.
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2 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Our Saturday and Sunday starters this year were dudes who had 5 ERA’s there first seasons here. Pitchers are on different developmental timelines than bats. If you notice most of the arms getting shelled are first and second year guys.

Gordon was a respectable 3.32 his first year.  

Stevens isn’t much better this year than his first year of significant action.   He has better control (which accounts for the 0.9 lower ERA) but batters are hitting 80 points higher against him this year than his first full year, when they hit only .205.

Elder is the exception not the rule.  Generally guys look decent as freshman if they are going to be top line upperclassmen.  

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3 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Gordon was a respectable 3.32 his first year.  

Stevens isn’t much better this year than his first year of significant action.   He has better control (which accounts for the 0.9 lower ERA) but batters are hitting 80 points higher against him this year than his first full year, when they hit only .205.

Elder is the exception not the rule.  Generally guys look decent as freshman if they are going to be top line upperclassmen.  

Stevens had 2 exceptionally shitty starts this year.  Like, unbelievably shitty starts. 

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7 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

Johnson has a huge upside.  Duplantier needs to be put out to pasture.  I hope I am wrong but he is mentally not capable of pitching for this team.  The self doubt about the surgery is palpable.

Yeah which is why I’m saying we can Bocchi him, simplify his mechanics and whatnot. It’s not was but I can be done  Johnson gives me Workman flashbacks on the mound

 

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4 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

But the argument is that he was sort of a chump as a newbie.  He wasn’t.   He was nothing at all like an Eckhardt or Sthele.  

In his first full season post TJ, he had an ERA north of 5 and was walking almost a batter per inning come out of the bullpen. He walked 17 in 20 innings in 2019 and then 2 years later he walked 23 in….111 innings. Something clicked over those two years to allow him to be damn good last year and I don’t think it’s just because he fell out of bed one day deciding to throw strikes.

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1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

In his first full season post TJ, he had an ERA north of 5 and was walking almost a batter per inning come out of the bullpen. He walked 17 in 20 innings in 2019 and then 2 years later he walked 23 in….111 innings. Something clicked over those two years to allow him to be damn good last year and I don’t think it’s just because he fell out of bed one day deciding to throw strikes.

You make a good point.  I just think there has to be dudes out there with talent and a sack that can compete as freshman and sophomores.  Nixon looked great last year. He has regressed.  He didn't become less physically competitive, he lost his mental edge.  While not wholly responsible, a good coach will help get that back. Its almost May and he has had one good outing in 45 days.

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1 hour ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

Johnson has a huge upside.  Duplantier needs to be put out to pasture.  I hope I am wrong but he is mentally not capable of pitching for this team.  The self doubt about the surgery is palpable.

Duplantier needs the OY treatment.  His UT career, not his human existence, just to be clear.  Love ‘em enough to end the suffering…

65D9A216-7597-44A8-A193-0FD20C3BE0B1.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Horn80 said:

These AF guys don’t quit.  At least that’s good for our country.

Lol. I have a younger cousin in AF and been giving him shit about this AF team being relentless.

I enjoyed the mid game dugout interview with their coach.  

”these kids are going to be warriors - we recruit carnivores only” 

“we are buffaloes and we run toward the storm, not away like cows.” (Not sure if that was a hit at longhorn)

”these kids are raised from 18 to be men then warriors…these kids are either going to be saving lives or taking lives”

”catcher and left fielder are gonna be flying jets someday….ya know these kids just wanna put warheads on foreheads.” (My fave)

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12 hours ago, Fletch said:

Thanks for the excuse to post this 

 

Third row behind the Army dugout with my Dad and BIL. Army had a good, disciplined team and after they pulled ahead, I thought  we might have another game on Monday. Cameron said No.

11 hours ago, utxmike05 said:

Lol. I have a younger cousin in AF and been giving him shit about this AF team being relentless.

I enjoyed the mid game dugout interview with their coach.  

”these kids are going to be warriors - we recruit carnivores only” 

“we are buffaloes and we run toward the storm, not away like cows.” (Not sure if that was a hit at longhorn)

”these kids are raised from 18 to be men then warriors…these kids are either going to be saving lives or taking lives”

”catcher and left fielder are gonna be flying jets someday….ya know these kids just wanna put warheads on foreheads.” (My fave)

So the second Service Academy team I  have gotten to see the Horns play. Too bad we can't/don't play an Academy every year.

If you weren't at the game, you might have missed a few things that TV or definitely the radio didn't have.

Air Force at Attention and Saluting during the National Anthem.

Maybe a sign that this BS Covid crap is finally coming to an end, but a great show of sportsmanship post game with handshakes ( DEFINITELY missing in sports the last 2 years) and congrats after the walkoff....

And what I thought was the best, much like singing last during Army-Navy.....Air Force doffed their hats, faced the Horns and crowd while quietly standing behind the mound during the EYES played after the game. GREAT RESPECT. 

While walking out, I went down to the third base line where family and friends of AF players were gathering and was able to get a couple of pics of their CF Covin (Flower Mound) and their 1B Kulasingam (North Carolina). You could really tell they were having fun and this most likely was a nice break for them. Both were representing my last base while in the service, McChord AFB in Washington. 🤘🇺🇸

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20 hours ago, Cajun said:

Little bit doesn’t get the goose my man.  
 

And, as I’ve said before, these guys are DEvolving, not Evolving.  
 

#Coaching

I mean I saw plenty of guys devolve under Gustafson and Garrido as well and I don't think they sucked at coaching. Other guys have gotten better under Pierce and co.

I need to see more of a sample size before I am 100% sure it is a systemic coaching issue. But bringing in dudes who are barely functional at a D1 level seems bad...we'll see.

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4 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Third row behind the Army dugout with my Dad and BIL. Army had a good, disciplined team and after they pulled ahead, I thought  we might have another game on Monday. Cameron said No  

Preston*
 

Badass post dude. Sounds like a blast. Wouldn’t mind getting a service academy on the schedule every year 

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7 minutes ago, Fletch said:

Preston*
 

Badass post dude. Sounds like a blast. Wouldn’t mind getting a service academy on the schedule every year 

Furk ^ . My bad.

Lots of people on Twatter (including myself) wanting to see a Service Academy here every year.

Thanks to my Dad, I've a ton of cool memories from the Disch and a couple from Clark, most, if not ALL having to do with the Horns. What I saw last night was probably the coolest EVER by a visiting team, @AF_Baseball.

Baby Hat GIF

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

At least we now know that the Disch is a HITTER's ballpark....

8! Yep, 8 Home Runs yesterday!! ( yes I am aware that two were off the batter's eye)....😮

See Ya Animation GIF by North Coast Authentic

Never should've moved the fucking fences in.

and man i miss watching prime Griffey play. 

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