-First off, it is just one game. I know it feels bigger than that... but in the end this one counts the same as the rest in terms of the overall record. I said in the stadium tonight that if this game happens in the middle of April, you just chalk it up to a bad night and move on. It gets magnified with it being opening day...
-With that said, that was as bad of a defensive game as we've played in a long time.... 2 errors doesn't begin to do that justice to that performance.... We'll legitimately go 0-30 in the SEC if we play like that in a conference game. I think that we're a lot better than we showed tonight, but holy cow, that was bad...
-It reminded me a little bit of Opening Day 2014.... We opened with a DH against Georgia Southern and played very poorly the first game... we bounced back and won the second game, so it was nice to leave the park in a good mood.... but after that first game, I just remember thinking "what in the world was that? I really thought it was going to look a whole lot better...."
-The first run that they scored probably doesn't show up if Keegan McGovern is in LF.... It's hard to get irritated with a guy being aggressive and trying to make a play, and that's what Tucker Bradley was doing.... I can respect that. I think that's a ball you have a play on a short hop and keep that runner at 3B... you've already got two outs, just get the next guy. But again, I can respect that he was just trying to make a play. Likewise, on the ball at 1st base that went as an error on Schunk, that's probably a ball that Sullivan or Sasser is going to pick 95% of the time (and one that LJ should pick much more often that not, as well).
-I didn't like going to Blakely Brown after Kevin Smith... just didn't think that was a good spot to throw your top billed bullpen guy. If Brown is going to be our closer or "fireman" I think he should be pitching with a lead (outside of a post season game or something like that). He never looked comfortable tonight and now he's probably burned for the weekend. With the benefit of hindsight being 20/20, I wish we'd gone in a different direction... maybe Moody or Cairnes... It makes the rest of the weekend a bit more difficult now.
-I think that 4 1/3 innings was the same that Michael Palazzone worked on Opening Day at Stetson in 2011... He obviously went on to be a stud for us that season, albeit moving back to Saturday two weeks later. I thought Kevin Smith was good, not great tonight, like Pally down in Deland six years ago. I don't know if Smith really has "Friday night stuff"... He was 91 on his fastball almost all night, and threw some good curveballs too.... and he locates really well. I wonder if he may be a good better served to go on Saturday or Sunday as this thing unfolds.
-College of Charleston put on a show during BP.... it felt like Florida or Vanderbilt or LSU out in the parking lot. That was impressive. They squared up a lot of balls during the game tonight too. That's a good baseball team. I think that Ober would be in most SEC rotations, as well. That's the good news... we didn't get overmatched offensively by some scrub... but that's also the bad news... we'll see a lot more guys like him once we get into the league.
-Sometimes less is more. I think that part of the reason tonight is so disappointing goes back to the comments that were made about this team in the pre-season. And granted, it is just one game, but you start hearing things like "this is the team you waited three years to coach?" I don't know if Stricklin is really in a position to downplay expectations right now, but I think the casual fan would have felt shocked by seeing what he saw tonight after reading and hearing what he did the last couple of weeks. Is that unfair? Maybe so, 1.7% of the way into the season. But that's the way it is.
-OK, enough on that.... here were some bright spots:
-Tucker Bradley has a CANNON in left field.... those throws get in fast and hard.... that was impressive.
-Aaron Schunk looks solid at 3B. I hate that he had to take that error tonight as he made an unbelievable stop on a ball that was absolutely smashed.
-Cam Shepherd just looks very, very comfortable.... I can remember the first games for Gordon Beckham and Kyle Farmer. Those guys were so talented and had such good baseball IQ's, they always looked, from day one, like veteran shortstops. That's how Cam looked tonight.... like he'd been doing it for years.
-Tucker Maxwell really covers some grass in CF
-I think James Williams can help us too... I really enjoyed watching him during the fall. I was hoping he'd throw that change more tonight, but he got a strikeout on an extremely awkward swing with it... He got squared up a bit, but I like his stuff and if he'll mix in that off-speed a little bit more, I think he can be very effective.
-Just need to bounce back tomorrow. A lot of guys got their feet wet, they saw a good pitcher, and they didn't make some plays they are very capable of making. That happened.... but I expect us to be more relaxed and focused tomorrow. I'm glad that we're playing at 1p... fairly quick turnaround, but that's good. I want to see how we respond to this.
-With that said, that was as bad of a defensive game as we've played in a long time.... 2 errors doesn't begin to do that justice to that performance.... We'll legitimately go 0-30 in the SEC if we play like that in a conference game. I think that we're a lot better than we showed tonight, but holy cow, that was bad...
-It reminded me a little bit of Opening Day 2014.... We opened with a DH against Georgia Southern and played very poorly the first game... we bounced back and won the second game, so it was nice to leave the park in a good mood.... but after that first game, I just remember thinking "what in the world was that? I really thought it was going to look a whole lot better...."
-The first run that they scored probably doesn't show up if Keegan McGovern is in LF.... It's hard to get irritated with a guy being aggressive and trying to make a play, and that's what Tucker Bradley was doing.... I can respect that. I think that's a ball you have a play on a short hop and keep that runner at 3B... you've already got two outs, just get the next guy. But again, I can respect that he was just trying to make a play. Likewise, on the ball at 1st base that went as an error on Schunk, that's probably a ball that Sullivan or Sasser is going to pick 95% of the time (and one that LJ should pick much more often that not, as well).
-I didn't like going to Blakely Brown after Kevin Smith... just didn't think that was a good spot to throw your top billed bullpen guy. If Brown is going to be our closer or "fireman" I think he should be pitching with a lead (outside of a post season game or something like that). He never looked comfortable tonight and now he's probably burned for the weekend. With the benefit of hindsight being 20/20, I wish we'd gone in a different direction... maybe Moody or Cairnes... It makes the rest of the weekend a bit more difficult now.
-I think that 4 1/3 innings was the same that Michael Palazzone worked on Opening Day at Stetson in 2011... He obviously went on to be a stud for us that season, albeit moving back to Saturday two weeks later. I thought Kevin Smith was good, not great tonight, like Pally down in Deland six years ago. I don't know if Smith really has "Friday night stuff"... He was 91 on his fastball almost all night, and threw some good curveballs too.... and he locates really well. I wonder if he may be a good better served to go on Saturday or Sunday as this thing unfolds.
-College of Charleston put on a show during BP.... it felt like Florida or Vanderbilt or LSU out in the parking lot. That was impressive. They squared up a lot of balls during the game tonight too. That's a good baseball team. I think that Ober would be in most SEC rotations, as well. That's the good news... we didn't get overmatched offensively by some scrub... but that's also the bad news... we'll see a lot more guys like him once we get into the league.
-Sometimes less is more. I think that part of the reason tonight is so disappointing goes back to the comments that were made about this team in the pre-season. And granted, it is just one game, but you start hearing things like "this is the team you waited three years to coach?" I don't know if Stricklin is really in a position to downplay expectations right now, but I think the casual fan would have felt shocked by seeing what he saw tonight after reading and hearing what he did the last couple of weeks. Is that unfair? Maybe so, 1.7% of the way into the season. But that's the way it is.
-OK, enough on that.... here were some bright spots:
-Tucker Bradley has a CANNON in left field.... those throws get in fast and hard.... that was impressive.
-Aaron Schunk looks solid at 3B. I hate that he had to take that error tonight as he made an unbelievable stop on a ball that was absolutely smashed.
-Cam Shepherd just looks very, very comfortable.... I can remember the first games for Gordon Beckham and Kyle Farmer. Those guys were so talented and had such good baseball IQ's, they always looked, from day one, like veteran shortstops. That's how Cam looked tonight.... like he'd been doing it for years.
-Tucker Maxwell really covers some grass in CF
-I think James Williams can help us too... I really enjoyed watching him during the fall. I was hoping he'd throw that change more tonight, but he got a strikeout on an extremely awkward swing with it... He got squared up a bit, but I like his stuff and if he'll mix in that off-speed a little bit more, I think he can be very effective.
-Just need to bounce back tomorrow. A lot of guys got their feet wet, they saw a good pitcher, and they didn't make some plays they are very capable of making. That happened.... but I expect us to be more relaxed and focused tomorrow. I'm glad that we're playing at 1p... fairly quick turnaround, but that's good. I want to see how we respond to this.
