-No real mystery why we lost that one. The free passes really added up… Kentucky won almost every 3-2 count. To state the obvious, it’s hard to win when you walk 7 and hit 4 more.
-To that end, yes the home plate umpiring was bad. That guy caught it from both dugouts. In the past I’ve said things like “the game at this level deserves better.” And it does. But this is what we have, and there is going to be a winning team and a losing team. I’m not interested in bitching about the umpire. It was bad both ways, and we came up short.
-What I will say is that we’ve now played two four-hour games to begin league play. I know the umps are getting graded, but let’s not lose the forest for the trees… four hour games aren’t good for anyone. Fans don’t like them, the networks don’t either. We threw 194 pitches today. That’s what it took to get 27 outs. That’s not all on the umpire, but still… need to figure out how to widen this zone a bit and make these games move better.
-Was really surprised we made the change with Hoskins on an 0-1 count. He’d never really settled in, but I was still surprised we did it when we did. So, two games in he has our longest start at 1+ inning. Given that, you wouldn’t think we’d be playing a rubber game tomorrow.
-Jordan Stephens has some really good stuff, but it obviously didn’t translate today. Two times today he got squeezed on a 2-strike count. Once he gave up a liner to RF on the next pitch. Once, it was a 1-2 count and he gets squeezed, and the then throws the next two way out of the zone and walks the guy. Have to overcome that stuff. It’s easy for me to say, but you can’t let the umpires beat you.
-I honestly didn’t know if Alton Davis was going to be on the roster this weekend, and was very surprised to see him come in when he did. He’s going to help us at some point this year. He will. But today wasn’t it, and it felt like every pitch, every AB was playing with fire. The steal of home was bad. In his defense though, nobody said a word (that I heard) as the kid broke for home. It was right in front of our dugout. 3rd baseman didn’t say anything that I heard. Davis wasn’t good anyway, and while that steal was on him to some extent, I thought it was also a function of us being on our heels quite a bit. Tip your can to Kentucky, they called that at the right time.
-Zach Briwh did a very nice job. Came in and claimed it down. He gave us a chance. Kept the walks to a minimum and made them put in play. Lo and behold, the 0’s showed up.
-On Devin Obee’s last AB, I really thought he could have beaten out that slow roller. I don’t know if that’s the reason we sent up a pinch hitter for him on his next AB, but I was surprised that it was Brennan Hudson. I wish that we’d gotten him some
more ABs before today if he was going to end up being plugged in today.
-I think we’ll be ok tomorrow pitching wise. Even if we stay on our 8 inning bullpen pace, I figure that Hammond, Zeldin, and Curley can cover that. But it’s time to have a starter work into the 4th inning (or later), go through the lineup more than once, etc. It’s time. This is starting to get a little bit ridiculous with how quickly our starters are getting bounced.
-Lastly, these games are just so intense. It’s very pitch, every AB… it just feels so consequential. Each walk that Kentucky drew today, they reacted like it was the go-ahead run in the 9th inning of a College World Series game. In actuality it is March 15 and game 2 of 30. It’s not like I forget how enjoyable it is, but it’s still striking how much different it is from, say, a series with Columbia. It’s going to be a heck of a battle tomorrow.
-To that end, yes the home plate umpiring was bad. That guy caught it from both dugouts. In the past I’ve said things like “the game at this level deserves better.” And it does. But this is what we have, and there is going to be a winning team and a losing team. I’m not interested in bitching about the umpire. It was bad both ways, and we came up short.
-What I will say is that we’ve now played two four-hour games to begin league play. I know the umps are getting graded, but let’s not lose the forest for the trees… four hour games aren’t good for anyone. Fans don’t like them, the networks don’t either. We threw 194 pitches today. That’s what it took to get 27 outs. That’s not all on the umpire, but still… need to figure out how to widen this zone a bit and make these games move better.
-Was really surprised we made the change with Hoskins on an 0-1 count. He’d never really settled in, but I was still surprised we did it when we did. So, two games in he has our longest start at 1+ inning. Given that, you wouldn’t think we’d be playing a rubber game tomorrow.
-Jordan Stephens has some really good stuff, but it obviously didn’t translate today. Two times today he got squeezed on a 2-strike count. Once he gave up a liner to RF on the next pitch. Once, it was a 1-2 count and he gets squeezed, and the then throws the next two way out of the zone and walks the guy. Have to overcome that stuff. It’s easy for me to say, but you can’t let the umpires beat you.
-I honestly didn’t know if Alton Davis was going to be on the roster this weekend, and was very surprised to see him come in when he did. He’s going to help us at some point this year. He will. But today wasn’t it, and it felt like every pitch, every AB was playing with fire. The steal of home was bad. In his defense though, nobody said a word (that I heard) as the kid broke for home. It was right in front of our dugout. 3rd baseman didn’t say anything that I heard. Davis wasn’t good anyway, and while that steal was on him to some extent, I thought it was also a function of us being on our heels quite a bit. Tip your can to Kentucky, they called that at the right time.
-Zach Briwh did a very nice job. Came in and claimed it down. He gave us a chance. Kept the walks to a minimum and made them put in play. Lo and behold, the 0’s showed up.
-On Devin Obee’s last AB, I really thought he could have beaten out that slow roller. I don’t know if that’s the reason we sent up a pinch hitter for him on his next AB, but I was surprised that it was Brennan Hudson. I wish that we’d gotten him some
more ABs before today if he was going to end up being plugged in today.
-I think we’ll be ok tomorrow pitching wise. Even if we stay on our 8 inning bullpen pace, I figure that Hammond, Zeldin, and Curley can cover that. But it’s time to have a starter work into the 4th inning (or later), go through the lineup more than once, etc. It’s time. This is starting to get a little bit ridiculous with how quickly our starters are getting bounced.
-Lastly, these games are just so intense. It’s very pitch, every AB… it just feels so consequential. Each walk that Kentucky drew today, they reacted like it was the go-ahead run in the 9th inning of a College World Series game. In actuality it is March 15 and game 2 of 30. It’s not like I forget how enjoyable it is, but it’s still striking how much different it is from, say, a series with Columbia. It’s going to be a heck of a battle tomorrow.
