we are "even steven" at the half way point of league play. That didn't really seem possible after the first week of the season. We've won three league series in a row for the first time since 2011 and yesterday was only the second time since the 2011 season that we've lost the series opener and come back to win the weekend.
I was thinking about 2011..... If you recall, we finished 16-14 in the conference that year, which I thought I was an incredible accomplishment given where were the year before and more importantly, given our lack of depth in the bullpen. There were a lot of times that year that I complained about things that we did in individual games or even decisions that we made the rotation over a chunk of the season. When it all shook out, though, it was a season that I remember very fondly. Here's the other about it too.... we had a 7 game win streak in there early in league play. We took the last two from LSU, swept Mississippi State, and took the first two at Ole Miss. We were only 9-14 in our other 23 SEC games that season, but the win streak was enough to get us over the hump. You don't have to be a great team to finish above water in the SEC.... sometimes you have to be a pretty good team that has a great couple of weeks. I think that we're capable of that now, in 2014.
I don't think I can recall a season that has gotten this deep where we've only recorded two saves.... We won 16 games in all of 2010 and had more saves than that by mid March, as I recall. Of course, when you are winning your games comfortably or with walk offs and when you have several guys in the bullpen who can throw multiple innings, it's not such an issue. I still view Jared Cheek as our "closer", even though he doesn't have a save yet. Back to 2011 (I'm using that year as a comparison as it was the last time we finished +.500 in the SEC, the last time we won on the road, and more importantly, the last time we played in June), we only won one game that entire season that didn't have a save situation present in the 7th inning or later. We've had more than 2 save situations, obviously, but I still think it's interesting.
Going forward, I really hope that we go with David Sosebee on Sunday. I like coming out of the game with Ryan Lawlor. He gives you good innings and has a great mentality for Friday night. Friday night against Tennessee was, I think, the 5th straight time that he's gone well over 100 pitches.... Maybe he didn't against LSU, but I thought it was close that night. Anyway, you can follow Lawlor with Cheek or Ripple and present a different look. Tyler is good to go on Saturday.... that's a tough guy to beat in the middle game and slotting him there allows the freshman a chance to see the opposing hitters one night before he faces them. It looks like Tyler is more comfortable throwing to Brandon Stephens. I was surprised that #5 didn't get the nod yesterday, but it looked like he was walking a bit gingerly when he would warm up the pitcher between innings. Tyler has been good, but not great, the last two Saturdays, and I think that's part of the season why. It's nothing against Bowers or his ability. Different guys have different preferences. Michael Palazzone would pretty much only throw to Joey Delmonico over their last two years. Finally, you get to Sunday and you can throw an older guy like Sosebee who can spot his fastball and throw his curve for a strike. Sosebee pitches to contact (4 K's in 55 SEC ABs), but it's weak contact. Ross Ripple has demonstrated that he can be a long guy for you, as well. I think that it's time to make this move now and I hope that we will for Florida.
There are 13 teams in the SEC right now who probably think that they should be in 1st. I think that about us. I think that we SHOULD be 10-5 or 11-4 right now..... you always want to think about "what if" with the losses, but obviously never treat wins the same way. Regardless of what the schedule looks like the rest of the way (and I'll be the first to concede that the next three weeks are going to be a lot tougher than the last three), if you think that we're better than our record right now suggests, you've got to be optimistic about the latter half of this card.
Last year at the half way point, we were so far under water (3-12) with the toughest stretch still to come that there just wasn't that much to get excited about. In 2012, at 7-8, it was just frustrating because we should have been so much better than that, but I kept feeling like the light would come on eventually and we'd be fine (the limitations with our offensive approach, though, was never going to get better). This year just feels different.... it's a lot of fun, the league is wide open, and I think that our ceiling is high.... Despite what I may think our record should be, I don't think that we've underachieved this year by any stretch, and I also think that our best baseball is in front of us. Every week is pivotal, of course, and this next one at Florida is as big of a road series as we've played in two years.
I was thinking about 2011..... If you recall, we finished 16-14 in the conference that year, which I thought I was an incredible accomplishment given where were the year before and more importantly, given our lack of depth in the bullpen. There were a lot of times that year that I complained about things that we did in individual games or even decisions that we made the rotation over a chunk of the season. When it all shook out, though, it was a season that I remember very fondly. Here's the other about it too.... we had a 7 game win streak in there early in league play. We took the last two from LSU, swept Mississippi State, and took the first two at Ole Miss. We were only 9-14 in our other 23 SEC games that season, but the win streak was enough to get us over the hump. You don't have to be a great team to finish above water in the SEC.... sometimes you have to be a pretty good team that has a great couple of weeks. I think that we're capable of that now, in 2014.
I don't think I can recall a season that has gotten this deep where we've only recorded two saves.... We won 16 games in all of 2010 and had more saves than that by mid March, as I recall. Of course, when you are winning your games comfortably or with walk offs and when you have several guys in the bullpen who can throw multiple innings, it's not such an issue. I still view Jared Cheek as our "closer", even though he doesn't have a save yet. Back to 2011 (I'm using that year as a comparison as it was the last time we finished +.500 in the SEC, the last time we won on the road, and more importantly, the last time we played in June), we only won one game that entire season that didn't have a save situation present in the 7th inning or later. We've had more than 2 save situations, obviously, but I still think it's interesting.
Going forward, I really hope that we go with David Sosebee on Sunday. I like coming out of the game with Ryan Lawlor. He gives you good innings and has a great mentality for Friday night. Friday night against Tennessee was, I think, the 5th straight time that he's gone well over 100 pitches.... Maybe he didn't against LSU, but I thought it was close that night. Anyway, you can follow Lawlor with Cheek or Ripple and present a different look. Tyler is good to go on Saturday.... that's a tough guy to beat in the middle game and slotting him there allows the freshman a chance to see the opposing hitters one night before he faces them. It looks like Tyler is more comfortable throwing to Brandon Stephens. I was surprised that #5 didn't get the nod yesterday, but it looked like he was walking a bit gingerly when he would warm up the pitcher between innings. Tyler has been good, but not great, the last two Saturdays, and I think that's part of the season why. It's nothing against Bowers or his ability. Different guys have different preferences. Michael Palazzone would pretty much only throw to Joey Delmonico over their last two years. Finally, you get to Sunday and you can throw an older guy like Sosebee who can spot his fastball and throw his curve for a strike. Sosebee pitches to contact (4 K's in 55 SEC ABs), but it's weak contact. Ross Ripple has demonstrated that he can be a long guy for you, as well. I think that it's time to make this move now and I hope that we will for Florida.
There are 13 teams in the SEC right now who probably think that they should be in 1st. I think that about us. I think that we SHOULD be 10-5 or 11-4 right now..... you always want to think about "what if" with the losses, but obviously never treat wins the same way. Regardless of what the schedule looks like the rest of the way (and I'll be the first to concede that the next three weeks are going to be a lot tougher than the last three), if you think that we're better than our record right now suggests, you've got to be optimistic about the latter half of this card.
Last year at the half way point, we were so far under water (3-12) with the toughest stretch still to come that there just wasn't that much to get excited about. In 2012, at 7-8, it was just frustrating because we should have been so much better than that, but I kept feeling like the light would come on eventually and we'd be fine (the limitations with our offensive approach, though, was never going to get better). This year just feels different.... it's a lot of fun, the league is wide open, and I think that our ceiling is high.... Despite what I may think our record should be, I don't think that we've underachieved this year by any stretch, and I also think that our best baseball is in front of us. Every week is pivotal, of course, and this next one at Florida is as big of a road series as we've played in two years.
