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2023 Texas Baseball


Fletch

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Vitello might be the best recruiter in the country. He can recruit his ass off and acquire talent with the best of them. That is more than half the battle in college baseball.

But it remains to be seen if he can manage a program and navigate tough situations like they are experiencing this season.

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25 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Vitello might be the best recruiter in the country. He can recruit his ass off and acquire talent with the best of them. That is more than half the battle in college baseball.

But it remains to be seen if he can manage a program and navigate tough situations like they are experiencing this season.

What's going on there? Injuries? Massive loss of talent from last year? Both? Did the Kansas SS ever get cleared to play?

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3 minutes ago, zlavydra said:

What's going on there? Injuries? Massive loss of talent from last year? Both? Did the Kansas SS ever get cleared to play?

Yes, the Kansas SS got cleared but he’s been banged up (didn’t play last night). They have just had issues all around. Their top two starters have regressed from last year.

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1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Vitello might be the best recruiter in the country. He can recruit his ass off and acquire talent with the best of them. That is more than half the battle in college baseball.

But it remains to be seen if he can manage a program and navigate tough situations like they are experiencing this season.

. . . which is why making Omaha 60% of the time is not to be discounted.  At some point, a coach actually has to coach.

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14 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Vitello might be the best recruiter in the country. He can recruit his ass off and acquire talent with the best of them. That is more than half the battle in college baseball.

But it remains to be seen if he can manage a program and navigate tough situations like they are experiencing this season.

Vitello sounds like the perfect guy to drag our baseball program down to thr level of our football program.

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16 hours ago, zlavydra said:

What's going on there? Injuries? Massive loss of talent from last year? Both? Did the Kansas SS ever get cleared to play?

I’ve also read major locker room issues.  Guys being vocal about being better/more important than others and throwing blame around for their woes 

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Alright, the briefly researched scouting report on OU sucks:

-Doesn't take an expert to know that this team isn't anywhere near as talented as last year's OU team

-They are hitting .283 as a team, which is meh. Their best offensive player is SS Dakota Harris (.360 hitter) and he missed several weeks with an injury and just returned last weekend against Tech. While they got Harris back, they lost freshman C Easton Carmichael (.325 hitter) recently and it sounds like he will be out this weekend. 

-A big reason for why they haven't been good is all 3 freshman from last year who had really good years (Spikerman, Nicklaus and Clark) have taken big steps back. Clark is hitting .213, Spikerman is hitting .222 for the year and Nicklaus is at .254. All 3 were thought to be All-Big 12 type guys heading into the year.

-They like to walk (3rd in the Big 12 in walks taken) and run (83 stolen bases, almost double what Texas has). Spikerman, SHSU transfer Anthony Mackenzie, JUCO OF Bryce Madron and OF Kendall Pettis (who has been at OU for like 10 years) all have double-digit steals. 

-They don't hit for much power (33 total homers, slugging percentage is 8th in the Big 12)

-They have been a mess on the mound. They thought Kale Davis from Oklahoma State was going to be their ace (no clue why) and he can't get anyone out and has been moved to the bullpen (ERA over 8.00). Lamar transfer Braxton Douthit has been their most consistent pitcher all year (4.24 ERA, but has 31 walks to go along with 32 strikeouts). Texas Tech transfer James Hitt (who wasn't good at Tech and I'm pretty sure was cut. I don't know why Skip was bringing in these jags) has started their last few Friday games and has been okay (4.25 ERA). He is a lefty who doesn't strike out a ton of guys (20 in 36 innings). LHP Braden Carmichael (Easton's older brother) has moved into the rotation and has been their best pitcher lately (2.65 ERA, 4 starts on the season). He was in the rotation in 2021 and then basically wasn't heard from last year before resurfacing again.

-Their bullpen is a mess. Their closer has a ERA of 8.10. People think Texas can't throw strikes, well OU has issued more walks than Texas has this year. They don't have a reliever with a ERA under 4.22.

-Their fielding in conference play is 8th out of 9 teams

-I don't think OU is the worse team in the conference like they show in the standings right now. They split a 4-game series with Stanford and look 2 of 3 from TCU in the first conference series of the year. Getting Harris back should help them and they have some guys who can hit, but it's hard to trust their pitching. The biggest thing that makes me nervous is two of their starters are lefties and we have struggled with lefties this year. A sweep would be really nice this weekend, but this feels like another series where 2 out of 3 should be acceptable and keep us moving in the right direction.

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6 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

PSA with the news of Witt possibly returning next Sunday, TCU still has face value GA tix for sale next weekend. 

Yeah, local Austin abc news just reported T.Witt progressing and some folks hopeful he has an outside shot of being available for tcu series...

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11 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

Am I imagining things, or does our baserunning seem significantly improved this year?

You’re imagining things. It hasn’t been awful lately though. 
 

What are we expecting out of Witt this season? I wouldn’t think he has any chance to get starter innings at any point but I’ve never had Tommy John. Are we thinking he can work into a 2-3 inning closer type by postseason? I’m clueless on what kinda pitch counts and situations we are talking

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I'm a little surprised they aren't going to ease Witt back in against Texas Southern or UT-Arlington.

In terms of expectations, it's interesting that they are going to let him "open games" as supposed to just coming strictly out of the pen. I'm going to assume his first 2 or 3 outings will be with almost 5-6 days of rest in-between, which means at best it will be end of the season/Big 12 tournament before he's going 3+ innings. And that's if everything goes perfectly. For reference, here was Cade Horton's buildup last year. He strictly came out of the pen to start and had a month head start on Witt. His first start was the Pacific game. Big 12 title game was the first time he looked like his "old self".

Screenshot2023-04-20at8_33_00PM.thumb.png.64768e47cbb7b717a19221d00000cb2b.png

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4 hours ago, Js1 said:

People whose live in glass houses and their team is hitting .286 shouldn't throw baseballs? 

So, what I’m reading about OU is that they aren’t very good.  Now, are they “Baylor” bad or will we find a way to lose at least one of three at home?  Hopefully, we play well and send OU home with three losses.  TBD.

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I heard Pierce this morn on The Horn, and he was asked about Witt.  Pierce said he threw about 40 pitches yesterday, and said he was hopeful of a return in under 2 weeks…so, TCU sounds about right.  I wouldn’t expect a lot of pitches, but just returning should be a big mental boost for this team…and to Witt.

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12 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Alright, the briefly researched scouting report on OU sucks:

-Doesn't take an expert to know that this team isn't anywhere near as talented as last year's OU team

-They are hitting .283 as a team, which is meh. Their best offensive player is SS Dakota Harris (.360 hitter) and he missed several weeks with an injury and just returned last weekend against Tech. While they got Harris back, they lost freshman C Easton Carmichael (.325 hitter) recently and it sounds like he will be out this weekend. 

-A big reason for why they haven't been good is all 3 freshman from last year who had really good years (Spikerman, Nicklaus and Clark) have taken big steps back. Clark is hitting .213, Spikerman is hitting .222 for the year and Nicklaus is at .254. All 3 were thought to be All-Big 12 type guys heading into the year.

-They like to walk (3rd in the Big 12 in walks taken) and run (83 stolen bases, almost double what Texas has). Spikerman, SHSU transfer Anthony Mackenzie, JUCO OF Bryce Madron and OF Kendall Pettis (who has been at OU for like 10 years) all have double-digit steals. 

-They don't hit for much power (33 total homers, slugging percentage is 8th in the Big 12)

-They have been a mess on the mound. They thought Kale Davis from Oklahoma State was going to be their ace (no clue why) and he can't get anyone out and has been moved to the bullpen (ERA over 8.00). Lamar transfer Braxton Douthit has been their most consistent pitcher all year (4.24 ERA, but has 31 walks to go along with 32 strikeouts). Texas Tech transfer James Hitt (who wasn't good at Tech and I'm pretty sure was cut. I don't know why Skip was bringing in these jags) has started their last few Friday games and has been okay (4.25 ERA). He is a lefty who doesn't strike out a ton of guys (20 in 36 innings). LHP Braden Carmichael (Easton's older brother) has moved into the rotation and has been their best pitcher lately (2.65 ERA, 4 starts on the season). He was in the rotation in 2021 and then basically wasn't heard from last year before resurfacing again.

-Their bullpen is a mess. Their closer has a ERA of 8.10. People think Texas can't throw strikes, well OU has issued more walks than Texas has this year. They don't have a reliever with a ERA under 4.22.

-Their fielding in conference play is 8th out of 9 teams

-I don't think OU is the worse team in the conference like they show in the standings right now. They split a 4-game series with Stanford and look 2 of 3 from TCU in the first conference series of the year. Getting Harris back should help them and they have some guys who can hit, but it's hard to trust their pitching. The biggest thing that makes me nervous is two of their starters are lefties and we have struggled with lefties this year. A sweep would be really nice this weekend, but this feels like another series where 2 out of 3 should be acceptable and keep us moving in the right direction.

So we’re gonna fuck em up. What’s the rotation looking like this weekend? Gordon-Stehle and…..lbj?

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Hurley has had 3 out of 14 "garbage" appearances.  Sthele has had 4 out of 9.  (Using a somewhat arbitrary definition of "garbage" as an appearance with an ERA over 5.)  Before his meltdown, the most earned runs Hurley had given up in an appearance was 2.   He still has a lower ERA than Sthele.  Hurley's other 3 starts were wins, one against KState, with a cummulative ERA of 1.91.   I still don't buy that he is best used out of the pen.

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18 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Hurley has had 3 out of 14 "garbage" appearances.  Sthele has had 4 out of 9.  (Using a somewhat arbitrary definition of "garbage" as an appearance with an ERA over 5.)  Before his meltdown, the most earned runs Hurley had given up in an appearance was 2.   He still has a lower ERA than Sthele.  Hurley's other 3 starts were wins, one against KState, with a cummulative ERA of 1.91.   I still don't buy that he is best used out of the pen.

The difference in control that Hurley has shown out of the pen vs starting is pretty large.

Out of the pen: 10 appearances, 26 innings, 2.07 ERA, 11 walks+HBP

As a starter: 4 appearances, 13.2 innings, 5.92 ERA, 14 walks+HBP.

Even if you throw out the Baylor start, he would still have 11 walks+HBP in 13 innings across 3 starts, which is not good.

He never should have been moved out of the pen imo. Hell, he was our go-to reliever before Morehouse got moved to the pen, and I don't think that swap has worked out as we hoped.

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4 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

The difference in control that Hurley has shown out of the pen vs starting is pretty large.

Out of the pen: 10 appearances, 26 innings, 2.07 ERA, 11 walks+HBP

As a starter: 4 appearances, 13.2 innings, 5.92 ERA, 14 walks+HBP.

Even if you throw out the Baylor start, he would still have 11 walks+HBP in 13 innings across 3 starts, which is not good.

He never should have been moved out of the pen imo. Hell, he was our go-to reliever before Morehouse got moved to the pen, and I don't think that swap has worked out as we hoped.

In hindsight, you're probably right, but I think giving him a chance to start was worth a try.  Also, he's the only other pitcher on the staff besides Gordon who has a year in a starting rotation on his resume.

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RPI check around the conference with the postseason inching closer:

WVU- 23

OSU- 24

Texas- 34

OU- 50

TCU- 52

Texas Tech- 65

Kansas State- 68

Kansas- 128

Baylor- 161

Way I see it right now, WVU is the only 1 seed (won 2 of 3 on the road vs OSU), OSU and Texas are 2-seeds, TCU is a 3-seed and Tech is on the bubble due to an atrocious non-conference schedule and shaky RPI. OU probably needs another good weekend to get on the bubble considering they are only 22-19, but their RPI will help them if they get on the bubble.

 

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I'm old enough to remember being impressed with what Woody Williams had done with our pitching staff this year.

I still think he's a big upgrade and will do well here but the regression the last two weekends...yikes.

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