we are 4-11 in-conference and 15-22 overall.
Last year we were 6-9 in the SEC and 20-17 overall. In 2015, we were 6-9 in league play at the halfway point. In 2014, we were 7-8 at the midpoint.
None of this was unforeseeable this year. For all the hype about the freshman class, the fact remains that it's very difficult to win with so many freshman and sophomores in your every day lineup. We are also young on the mound.... generally speaking, we've pitched better this year than I thought that we would, but it's still been (predictably) a struggle.
I remember writing several weeks before the season that we needed to demonstrate progress this year, and that needed to be shown in a couple of different ways, including "looking like a well coached team." Friday night we lose a game (for the second time this season) on a walk-off bunt that quickly devolved into little league level chaos. So one day we lose a game by not defending a bunt play. The next day we bunt with a couple of guys on base and wind up with two runners standing at 3rd base.
I'm sure Stricklin realizes he is in a lot of trouble. He sounds terrible on the post game interviews and even during his Thursday morning interviews on 960 The Ref. When we win, it almost sounds like a desperate level of excitement.... after the tech win Tuesday night, he said on the post game that "we've got a little momentum now".... I said aloud in the car "we've won one game in a row!" It reminded me of 2010 when I wanted so bad to believe that beating Georgia State or Winthrop in the mid-week would translate into us playing better on the weekend. I haven't heard what was posted here last week that Stricklin has told the team that he's going to get fired if we don't win this year.... Not saying that poster was incorrect, but I haven't heard that. What I have heard is that he's said that he's said he's turned into the coach he always hated playing for. And along those lines, I do think that he's mellowed out a little, but candidly, I also think he gets tuned out a little bit more than he used to.
I was thinking the other day about how vocal he used to be in the dugout when he first got here... first series of the year in 2014, one of our batters hit a bleeder into shallow CF. I remember Stricklin yelling "that's gonna fall! That's a base hit, boys!" We'd have a play in the IF, and I'd hear him yell "pitchers, right there, make sure you do x and y..." On the latter, he probably feels like he doesn't have to instruct his system so much anymore, and he still coaches hard in the dugout.... but he isn't as vocal and doesn't seen to be quite as engaged as he used to be. I hesitated to write that, because I really don't think he's disengaged and don't want to imply that he is... just that he doesn't appear to be as engaged as he used to be.
It's easy to feel sorry for yourself, I guess.... But I'm just tired of it, all this losing.... One thing about a big freshmen class is that you can say "it's a really good core, and they'll all be better next year." And there's some truth there. But, Tucker Maxwell and Austin Biggar are both draft eligible after their sophomore years and I believe that Aaron Schunk will be as well. Now, maybe those guys all play all four years, but they'll have the option of going to pro ball two years in. Those are centerpieces of the class... and I know what Maxwell and Biggar are hitting right now, but those of those guys have a ton of ability and will hit much better next season. If we lose 2-3 of those guys after 2018, then where are we? In 2019, we could be in the very rare position of having a true freshman catcher in three of the last four seasons. We didn't sign a very large class for the 2018 freshmen, and will probably lose the top players in those class anyway. We could run into some real numbers issues down the road, again... That's the thing about the 2017 freshmen... it's a great group, but it's starting to feel like it's an isolated class, and this group may not be together for three seasons anyway.
Going beyond all of that and looking at where we are right now, we just got swept at Arkansas and outscored 30-11 over the weekend.... Not trying to sound like a jerk here, but for me it's not even all that disappointing, because it's not all that surprising. The sand is really running out of the "progress" hourglass....
Last year we were 6-9 in the SEC and 20-17 overall. In 2015, we were 6-9 in league play at the halfway point. In 2014, we were 7-8 at the midpoint.
None of this was unforeseeable this year. For all the hype about the freshman class, the fact remains that it's very difficult to win with so many freshman and sophomores in your every day lineup. We are also young on the mound.... generally speaking, we've pitched better this year than I thought that we would, but it's still been (predictably) a struggle.
I remember writing several weeks before the season that we needed to demonstrate progress this year, and that needed to be shown in a couple of different ways, including "looking like a well coached team." Friday night we lose a game (for the second time this season) on a walk-off bunt that quickly devolved into little league level chaos. So one day we lose a game by not defending a bunt play. The next day we bunt with a couple of guys on base and wind up with two runners standing at 3rd base.
I'm sure Stricklin realizes he is in a lot of trouble. He sounds terrible on the post game interviews and even during his Thursday morning interviews on 960 The Ref. When we win, it almost sounds like a desperate level of excitement.... after the tech win Tuesday night, he said on the post game that "we've got a little momentum now".... I said aloud in the car "we've won one game in a row!" It reminded me of 2010 when I wanted so bad to believe that beating Georgia State or Winthrop in the mid-week would translate into us playing better on the weekend. I haven't heard what was posted here last week that Stricklin has told the team that he's going to get fired if we don't win this year.... Not saying that poster was incorrect, but I haven't heard that. What I have heard is that he's said that he's said he's turned into the coach he always hated playing for. And along those lines, I do think that he's mellowed out a little, but candidly, I also think he gets tuned out a little bit more than he used to.
I was thinking the other day about how vocal he used to be in the dugout when he first got here... first series of the year in 2014, one of our batters hit a bleeder into shallow CF. I remember Stricklin yelling "that's gonna fall! That's a base hit, boys!" We'd have a play in the IF, and I'd hear him yell "pitchers, right there, make sure you do x and y..." On the latter, he probably feels like he doesn't have to instruct his system so much anymore, and he still coaches hard in the dugout.... but he isn't as vocal and doesn't seen to be quite as engaged as he used to be. I hesitated to write that, because I really don't think he's disengaged and don't want to imply that he is... just that he doesn't appear to be as engaged as he used to be.
It's easy to feel sorry for yourself, I guess.... But I'm just tired of it, all this losing.... One thing about a big freshmen class is that you can say "it's a really good core, and they'll all be better next year." And there's some truth there. But, Tucker Maxwell and Austin Biggar are both draft eligible after their sophomore years and I believe that Aaron Schunk will be as well. Now, maybe those guys all play all four years, but they'll have the option of going to pro ball two years in. Those are centerpieces of the class... and I know what Maxwell and Biggar are hitting right now, but those of those guys have a ton of ability and will hit much better next season. If we lose 2-3 of those guys after 2018, then where are we? In 2019, we could be in the very rare position of having a true freshman catcher in three of the last four seasons. We didn't sign a very large class for the 2018 freshmen, and will probably lose the top players in those class anyway. We could run into some real numbers issues down the road, again... That's the thing about the 2017 freshmen... it's a great group, but it's starting to feel like it's an isolated class, and this group may not be together for three seasons anyway.
Going beyond all of that and looking at where we are right now, we just got swept at Arkansas and outscored 30-11 over the weekend.... Not trying to sound like a jerk here, but for me it's not even all that disappointing, because it's not all that surprising. The sand is really running out of the "progress" hourglass....
