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2023 Texas Baseball


Fletch

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12 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

 

Gus:  58.6%

Augie:  40%

 

Yeah, David Pierce should make Omaha 100% of the time.  What an absolutely mind-numbingly stupid thing to sayTell us you know jack shit about college baseball without . .. . well, you know

I pretty much told him the same thing yesterday... (top of #2187)

 

Celebrate In Love GIF by HBO Max

 

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

I have not seen one person say this or expect to see one person say this.

We have upcoming series against mighty Indiana, Cal State Fullerton, Manhattan and New Orleans with midweek games against A&M Corpus Christi, LSU, Sam Houston State, Mercer, two games against North Dakota State and Incarnate Word. Not exactly murders' row outside of LSU and a solid Mercer program that won 40 games last year.

CSF took two of three from Stanford.  Don't sleep on the hyphens.

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

I have not seen one person say this or expect to see one person say this.

We have upcoming series against mighty Indiana, Cal State Fullerton, Manhattan and New Orleans with midweek games against A&M Corpus Christi, LSU, Sam Houston State, Mercer, two games against North Dakota State and Incarnate Word. Not exactly murders' row outside of LSU and a solid Mercer program that won 40 games last year.

The fact you included Fullerton in your first list tells me everything you know (nothing) about college baseball. 

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36 minutes ago, petscii said:

CSF took two of three from Stanford.  Don't sleep on the hyphens.

No, they didn't. They dropped the Saturday game and wild Sunday game yesterday.

28 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

The fact you included Fullerton in your first list tells me everything you know (nothing) about college baseball. 

Lol. Cal State Fullerton hasn't been to the postseason since 2018 and has had a losing record the last 3 years, including going 26-39 in the Big West conference. The fact you tried to call me out on that shows how up to date you are in the college baseball landscape. If this team can't take 2 of 3 against the projected 5th place finisher in the Big West then we will likely know where this season is headed.

Edited by Hookem2147
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Just from memory, Fullerton has been pretty terrible lately.  Last time I remember them doing anything, they won a super at Louisville about 8(?) years ago.  Can't say I follow them closely though.

Indiana managed to take yesterday's game at Auburn.

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1 minute ago, zlavydra said:

Just from memory, Fullerton has been pretty terrible lately.  Last time I remember them doing anything, they won a super at Louisville about 8(?) years ago.  Can't say I follow them closely though.

Indiana managed to take yesterday's game at Auburn.

They brought in a new coach before last year and he seems to have them trending in the right direction but it is a pretty significant rebuild with the way Vanderhook left it.

Indiana has a few guys who can mash in their lineup so that will be a decent test this weekend.

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Some items from D1 baseball

Kendall Rogers on Texas: “• I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about Texas … Two seasons ago, the Longhorns went to Globe Life Field and were run over by an SEC trio. Of course, they pieced everything together and ended the season at the College World Series. But this team just feels vastly different. The Longhorns need young guys such as Jalin Flores and Jared Thomas to make quick transitions, and team defense — specifically the left side of the infield — caused alarm bells. Furthermore, I might have the least amount of faith in the pitching staff. I love Lucas Gordon at the front end of the weekend rotation, but Zane Morehouse and Travis Sthele struggled in their respective starts. I also didn’t see many bullpen arms that would concern me as an opposing team. Could’ve just been a bad weekend. It also could’ve been a sign of things to come. “

About Fullerton from the same weekend observation article.

“Cal State Fullerton appears to be much better … Sure, Jason Dietrich and his coaching staff won’t be taking away moral victories from a series loss to a rival such as Stanford, but he had to like the way his team played for much of the weekend. The Titans won the series finale 8-1 behind strong pitching performances by Tyler Stultz and Fynn Chester, while in the series finale, they had a lead with two outs to win the series before Braden Montgomery smashed a ball to tie the game –Stanford eventually won 21-13. Titans back? Not quite. Marked progress? You bet.”

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Idk but I fucking hate him. On principle 

This is a weakness of Pierce. Failure to use his depth. An esteemed poster here pointed out Kashs lack of maturity. It’s possible that lack of maturity was the sole reason for his departure. I don’t know jack about the team dynamics. I suspect it was not all about maturity.

With Kashs supposed talent, I can understand the frustration and even doubt about his future here. With the lack of consistent plate appearances then added to the above, don’t expect consistency. Baseball is too hard for that.

9-13 doesn’t necessarily prove much but after limited reps last year that’s pretty strong. That’s pretty strong anytime. No ill will from me.
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5 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


This is a weakness of Pierce. Failure to use his depth. An esteemed poster here pointed out Kashs lack of maturity. It’s possible that lack of maturity was the sole reason for his departure. I don’t know jack about the team dynamics. I suspect it was not all about maturity.

With Kashs supposed talent, I can understand the frustration and even doubt about his future here. With the lack of consistent plate appearances then added to the above, don’t expect consistency. Baseball is too hard for that.

9-13 doesn’t necessarily prove much but after limited reps last year that’s pretty strong. That’s pretty strong anytime. No ill will from me.

Yeah I get what you’re saying but…..

image.gif.cbe345b4afeaae6ab7e95c928345ee89.gif

 

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28 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

With Kashs supposed talent, I can understand the frustration and even doubt about his future here. With the lack of consistent plate appearances then added to the above, don’t expect consistency. Baseball is too hard for that.

Who were you taking out of the lineup last year to throw Kash a bone? He hit .174 with the majority of his AB’s coming against midweek arms. We were trying to win the whole damn thing and he had the golden spikes winner playing in front of him. We gave him a handful of AB’s at DH when Todd went down and to say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

Texas wanted him back. They didn’t push him out the door.

 

Edited by Hookem2147
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4 hours ago, Cajun said:

^^Now figure it based on plate appearances (I'm gonna ballpark it b/c I'm too lazy to look up the exact numbers) --

Kash - 9 hits in 20 p/a's

All Texas batters - 13 hits in 160 p/a's

Kinda grabs ya by the boo boo doesn't it?

Facing Gonzaga for 4 games has its perks. I watched the majority of their game yesterday and the guys Gonzaga was throwing couldn’t have been touching much higher than 85 MPH.

Edited by Hookem2147
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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Who were you taking out of the lineup last year to throw Kash a bone? He hit .174 with the majority of his AB’s coming against midweek arms. We were trying to win the whole damn thing and he had the golden spikes winner playing in front of him.

Yeah, that's true.  I didn't think he looked like a huge loss when he left.  But on the other hand he was young and highly rated as a recruit and never got regular ABs here.

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12 minutes ago, WBT said:

Yeah, that's true.  I didn't think he looked like a huge loss when he left.  But on the other hand he was young and highly rated as a recruit and never got regular ABs here.

If he thought heading into the season that he was in line for regular AB's with the lineup we had returning and who was blocking him, then that's a lack of self awareness on his part. The coaches seemed to think highly of him regardless because they did start him a few games and get him some AB's when Melendez was hurt a few games or needed a breather. And you are right, he was highly rated but baseball maybe more than any other sport requires some development.

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Who were you taking out of the lineup last year to throw Kash a bone? He hit .174 with the majority of his AB’s coming against midweek arms. We were trying to win the whole damn thing and he had the golden spikes winner playing in front of him. We gave him a handful of AB’s at DH when Todd went down and to say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.
Texas wanted him back. They didn’t push him out the door.
 

You follow recruiting. How talented is he?

If you’re trying to win the whole thing, you need to develop depth. We lost 5 postseason games. Scored 3 runs or less in 4 of those. We won 8. Three of those we scored 5 or fewer. In 7 of those 8, we gave up 3 or fewer. With all the bitching about pitching, our post season hitting was fairly pedestrian. We needed more of it. Hitting carried us in maybe 1 game. Pitching several.

You use a .170 average on 26 plate appearances in 69 games as an indicator of what? Spread those ABs out and it’s hard to develop consistency. In one weekend he already has half the plate appearances.

In today’s environment saying “oh, please don’t leave” is not enough. Particularly for a hitter in baseball. Again, I don’t know any behind the scenes shit but for outward appearances Pierce did a poor job. Generally speaking I like Pierce but he spends time with his head up his ass like most coaches.

Silas started 68 of 69 games. Melendez 67 of 69. Murphy 68 of 69. Hodo 69 of 69. Messinger 65 of 69. Faltine 69 of 69.

I think one of Melendez’s was injury related.

Silas is the easy example. Catchers get days off. I realize he DH’d some, but there’s 5 games right there. Best guess is that our final outcome is no worse if you find about 10-15 extra starts from the above to allow others to play and grow. Or even simply pulling them one AB earlier. It’s not about taking someone else out over the long term but preserving their bodies to an extent while engaging others and maybe developing some confidence.

In college athletics you really can’t dismiss next year. And now look at our experience on the field this year.
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21 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


You follow recruiting. How talented is he?

If you’re trying to win the whole thing, you need to develop depth. We lost 5 postseason games. Scored 3 runs or less in 4 of those. We won 8. Three of those we scored 5 or fewer. In 7 of those 8, we gave up 3 or fewer. With all the bitching about pitching, our post season hitting was fairly pedestrian. We needed more of it. Hitting carried us in maybe 1 game. Pitching several.

You use a .170 average on 26 plate appearances in 69 games as an indicator of what? Spread those ABs out and it’s hard to develop consistency. In one weekend he already has half the plate appearances.

In today’s environment saying “oh, please don’t leave” is not enough. Particularly for a hitter in baseball. Again, I don’t know any behind the scenes shit but for outward appearances Pierce did a poor job. Generally speaking I like Pierce but he spends time with his head up his ass like most coaches.

Silas started 68 of 69 games. Melendez 67 of 69. Murphy 68 of 69. Hodo 69 of 69. Messinger 65 of 69. Faltine 69 of 69.

I think one of Melendez’s was injury related.

Silas is the easy example. Catchers get days off. I realize he DH’d some, but there’s 5 games right there. Best guess is that our final outcome is no worse if you find about 10-15 extra starts from the above to allow others to play and grow. Or even simply pulling them one AB earlier. It’s not about taking someone else out over the long term but preserving their bodies to an extent while engaging others and maybe developing some confidence.

In college athletics you really can’t dismiss next year. And now look at our experience on the field this year.

Kash was talented in high school. He also played at a private school and like 90% of kids had to make some big adjustments once he got to college ball. As was pointed out above he looked like he had never seen a quality breaking ball in his life.

I don't really follow what you are saying. Are you saying we needed to get Kash AB's in the postseason because the offense ran into some good arms? Who was he replacing in the postseason? Again, he plays one position (1B). It isn't like he has position flexibility and the DH spot was occupied by Todd all year once he came back from injury. Imagine Pierce trying to explain to people last year that he was starting Gavin Kash over Ivan Melendez for a few games and Peyton Powell over Silas Ardoin because he didn't want to "dismiss next year". You play to win the game you are about to play. That is how life and sports work. These are college kids. We play 4 games a week. You have your 9 or 10 guys you use in the lineup and that is what you roll with. It is the same at every other program in the country. 

Yes, 26 AB's is a small sample size but if he wanted more than he should have done more with those limited opportunities. How many AB's are required of a backup 1B playing behind the Golden Spikes winner? If Kash played SS and was at OU backing up Peyton Graham how many AB's you think he would have gotten last season?

You need depth on the mound to win the whole thing. I've never seen a team lauded for their "depth" of the backup first basemen as they are hoisting the trophy.

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I have no sympathy for guys having to wait their turn. That is life. If a guy is better than you then he is going to get 95% of the playing time. Dylan Campbell waited his turn, Lucas Gordon and Bryce Elder spent their freshman seasons as middle relievers, Jared Southard threw 12 combined innings his first two years with the program, Murphy Stehly waited 2 years for his opportunity to shine. If you deserve to play as a freshman then Pierce will play you. He's never shied away from playing freshman in this program if they earned it.

The thinking that we should have found a way to squeeze Gavin Kash in a lineup that combined to hit .314 and was chasing a national championship last year when it was obvious he was going through some freshman struggles is severely flawed in my mind. 

The first base job was wide ass open this year and Kash knew that and he still decided to transfer. And if he made that decision because he didn't play more last year then it's probably better he ended up somewhere else.

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3 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Who were you taking out of the lineup last year to throw Kash a bone? He hit .174 with the majority of his AB’s coming against midweek arms. We were trying to win the whole damn thing and he had the golden spikes winner playing in front of him. We gave him a handful of AB’s at DH when Todd went down and to say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

Texas wanted him back. They didn’t push him out the door.

 

He did NOTHING with his at bats. In fact, he was overwhelmed in most. Some guys don't like competition. GL at Tech and Raider rash.

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Kash was talented in high school. He also played at a private school and like 90% of kids had to make some big adjustments once he got to college ball. As was pointed out above he looked like he had never seen a quality breaking ball in his life.
I don't really follow what you are saying. Are you saying we needed to get Kash AB's in the postseason because the offense ran into some good arms? Who was he replacing in the postseason? Again, he plays one position (1B). It isn't like he has position flexibility and the DH spot was occupied by Todd all year once he came back from injury. Imagine Pierce trying to explain to people last year that he was starting Gavin Kash over Ivan Melendez for a few games and Peyton Powell over Silas Ardoin because he didn't want to "dismiss next year". You play to win the game you are about to play. That is how life and sports work. These are college kids. We play 4 games a week. You have your 9 or 10 guys you use in the lineup and that is what you roll with. It is the same at every other program in the country. 
Yes, 26 AB's is a small sample size but if he wanted more than he should have done more with those limited opportunities. How many AB's are required of a backup 1B playing behind the Golden Spikes winner? If Kash played SS and was at OU backing up Peyton Graham how many AB's you think he would have gotten last season?
You need depth on the mound to win the whole thing. I've never seen a team lauded for their "depth" of the backup first basemen as they are hoisting the trophy.

What I’m saying is that Kash could have been developed to be a contributor in the post season. Maybe he only plays 1st. Maybe you manage the roster knowing that Melendez has that locked up and work him in left, but you can certainly try him in the outfield for spot duty. Maybe O’Dowd (he got some run while Todd was out). Maybe Powell. My understanding is that Gash was a very highly thought of player. More so than maybe any other hitter on the roster. If you think you just turn a switch on day 1 and any frosh is instant offense, then ok.

Just looked up a small sample. Douglas Hodo III. In a 4 game stint versus the powers of The Citadel and the U of the Incarnate Word, started all 4 games, had 22 plate appearances and never left the lineup. We won 59-8. Then we followed up playing Central ArKansas. I’m certain there are a ton more examples. We win all these games no matter who starts. Not only did the core lineup start, but they rarely came out.

Catchers sit all the time. It’s as much about preservation as talent. Pretty sure Silas got a little sloppy at times. Rest would not have hurt. Any sound baseball person realizes rest for a catcher is perfectly acceptable.

I took a quick glance at all 8 CWS teams. Stanford and us seem to be those least likely to use their bench. It may be those are the best lineups. But historically I don’t think Pierce runs a deep bench.

Obviously you won’t be convinced. Gash did not get lots of ABs against the sisters of the poor though. He was 0-3 against midweek Guinea pigs. 4 starts, only 4 games with multiple official ABs. Tech, A&M, K-State x 2. He went 3-8 over a 3 game stretch. Then had 5 plate appearances over the next month and was done.
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From what I have seen from Pierce, he gives kids some shots to develop/show what they've got, but if they're absolutely terrible in those opportunities, they are at risk to be buried on the depth chart.

That seems fair to me and seems to be what happened in the Kash situation.

Beware the sunk cost fallacy.

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24 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


What I’m saying is that Kash could have been developed to be a contributor in the post season. Maybe he only plays 1st. Maybe you manage the roster knowing that Melendez has that locked up and work him in left, but you can certainly try him in the outfield for spot duty. Maybe O’Dowd (he got some run while Todd was out). Maybe Powell. My understanding is that Gash was a very highly thought of player. More so than maybe any other hitter on the roster. If you think you just turn a switch on day 1 and any frosh is instant offense, then ok.

Just looked up a small sample. Douglas Hodo III. In a 4 game stint versus the powers of The Citadel and the U of the Incarnate Word, started all 4 games, had 22 plate appearances and never left the lineup. We won 59-8. Then we followed up playing Central ArKansas. I’m certain there are a ton more examples. We win all these games no matter who starts. Not only did the core lineup start, but they rarely came out.

Catchers sit all the time. It’s as much about preservation as talent. Pretty sure Silas got a little sloppy at times. Rest would not have hurt. Any sound baseball person realizes rest for a catcher is perfectly acceptable.

I took a quick glance at all 8 CWS teams. Stanford and us seem to be those least likely to use their bench. It may be those are the best lineups. But historically I don’t think Pierce runs a deep bench.

Obviously you won’t be convinced. Gash did not get lots of ABs against the sisters of the poor though. He was 0-3 against midweek Guinea pigs. 4 starts, only 4 games with multiple official ABs. Tech, A&M, K-State x 2. He went 3-8 over a 3 game stretch. Then had 5 plate appearances over the next month and was done.

You're right, we will just have to agree to disagree here. You said it yourself, it is not just turn on a switch day 1 and instant offense. There were zero signs that Kash was ready to play significant innings as a freshman. He was seen biting his jersey in the batters box during an important pinch hit appearance against Texas State. He wasn't ready last year and that's okay. 90% of freshman need seasoning and time and the players themselves would acknowledge that. And the majority of the time that development and seasoning comes in the offseason/summer ball.

You shouldn't need a deep bench in college baseball. It's a 56 game season of 18-22 year olds who play 4-5 times a week and should be ready to go almost every day. Your best players should start almost every damn game. Of course you give a catcher or a guy who is banged up a breather from time to time, but these coaches are trying to feed their families and jacking around in games even against far inferior opponents can bite you in the ass. It's part of the beauty of baseball that anyone can beat anyone on any given day if the ball bounces your way and you get a little lucky. Could they have tried Kash in the OF? I guess, but who was he playing over in the OF last year? The lineup was pretty much set in stone from the moment the 2021 CWS ended with all the guys we had coming back.

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15 minutes ago, Had Enough said:


What I’m saying is that Kash could have been developed to be a contributor in the post season. Maybe he only plays 1st. Maybe you manage the roster knowing that Melendez has that locked up and work him in left, but you can certainly try him in the outfield for spot duty. Maybe O’Dowd (he got some run while Todd was out). Maybe Powell. My understanding is that Gash was a very highly thought of player. More so than maybe any other hitter on the roster. If you think you just turn a switch on day 1 and any frosh is instant offense, then ok.

Just looked up a small sample. Douglas Hodo III. In a 4 game stint versus the powers of The Citadel and the U of the Incarnate Word, started all 4 games, had 22 plate appearances and never left the lineup. We won 59-8. Then we followed up playing Central ArKansas. I’m certain there are a ton more examples. We win all these games no matter who starts. Not only did the core lineup start, but they rarely came out.

Catchers sit all the time. It’s as much about preservation as talent. Pretty sure Silas got a little sloppy at times. Rest would not have hurt. Any sound baseball person realizes rest for a catcher is perfectly acceptable.

I took a quick glance at all 8 CWS teams. Stanford and us seem to be those least likely to use their bench. It may be those are the best lineups. But historically I don’t think Pierce runs a deep bench.

Obviously you won’t be convinced. Gash did not get lots of ABs against the sisters of the poor though. He was 0-3 against midweek Guinea pigs. 4 starts, only 4 games with multiple official ABs. Tech, A&M, K-State x 2. He went 3-8 over a 3 game stretch. Then had 5 plate appearances over the next month and was done.

You seem to be overthinking the situation with Kash. Pierce has shown on multiple occasions that he’ll give freshmen opportunities to show what they can do. If they show any kind of ability to succeed then he’s given them more lead. Kash simply looked lost as goose in hale storm at the plate. And if you think because he was a highly sought after prospect and should be given more time, then I don’t know what you want from a coach that is trying to win. 

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Vote to move on from Kash, but one hopefully final thought.  Most likely other reasons than playing time for his departure which have to be left for speculation.    As mentioned, he left the team early.   Wanted an early start at Summer ball at Santa Barabara (SB) where he hit .320 with 9 HRs in 32 games.   No matter how dismal he looked here,  you could tell it was there.   There were 4 players from Tech on the SB roster,  no idea if that influenced his decision to select Tech as his transfer destination.  He did not announce till late June.

May be wrong (as often the case) but I am a Jared Thomas fan.   Think he can be a good one.   Needs reps, strength, and weight.

Hesitate to mention,  but Aaron Nixon walked one and K'd the side in his first appearance for Miss St (VMI).   Like Kash,  we need to move on.    😊☺️☺️

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You seem to be overthinking the situation with Kash. Pierce has shown on multiple occasions that he’ll give freshmen opportunities to show what they can do. If they show any kind of ability to succeed then he’s given them more lead. Kash simply looked lost as goose in hale storm at the plate. And if you think because he was a highly sought after prospect and should be given more time, then I don’t know what you want from a coach that is trying to win. 

Peter Geib. 2021. 1 official AB. 3 walks. 1 AB, 1 homer. Powell 3 hits. 11 ABs. 1 HR.

Whitehead over a .500 average last year. 18 ABs.

Schuessler.350 average in 20 ABs last year.



There are examples counter to what you believe are chances given. My guess is that he’ll cycle through a bunch of guys this year because we have little experience. Now all of these are limited sample sizes so to draw any conclusions is premature. Same for Gashs 23 ABs.

And as I mentioned we are beating Citadel, ICW, UCA no matter who’s starting or not (assuming we don’t bench all our starters). And actually our backups were more talented than whatever they ran out so those may be wins no matter what. There absolutely were opportunities for each of those dudes to double their ABs during the season at no expense to the record. None.
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I look at Kash this way…. he was behind the Golden Spikes winner last yr but knew Melendez was leaving and the door was wide open to take over 1st base, but he still opted for Tech.   Was taking the bat outta Melendez hands for 5-7 games gonna make him decide to stay….. seeing as how the path to 1st was wide open this yr….. it doesnt seem like it!

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