Around this time yesterday morning I wrote that you didn’t have to have any real insight to know that a lot of runs would be scored Saturday and that I doubted it would be as easy as it was Friday night.
So, I was half right. But I was really expecting to see a couple of 13-11 kind of games yesterday. I’m not disappointed that we didn’t. I really prefer the lower scoring contents. I really went out on a limb predicting that with our pitching, their defense, and both lineups, that there would be a lot runs. Surprising it didn’t happen.
Ole Miss’ lefty in game one, Doyle, did a really nice job for them. Kept us off balance all day. I thought he was their MVP yesterday as he kept a lot of their powder dry for the second game.
I’ll say this too. My daughter did the “Anthem Buddies” thing yesterday. We got down there to the gate about 10-15 minutes before the kids ran out. So basically just stood around waiting. It was surprisingly uncomfortable out there. To be no hotter, temp wise, than it was… it was draining. No wind, bright sun… and the pollen has been killing me here of late. I’m not a college athlete, but I could see how being out in that for three hours in the first game was taxing… moreso than normal. JD mentioned a few times on the broadcast in the second game that both teams looked drained. I think there was a lot of merit to that observation and factored heavily into the lack of offense in game two.
Couple of general thoughts as we sit here with 6 weekends done:
-I really didn’t think we’d see Matthew Hoskins this year. I don’t expect him to play a huge role, but he could help us down the stretch. Much better to be adding bodies at this point.
-I want to see Trey King every day at 2b. He’s not going to be an offensive juggernaut, but I think he’ll improve with ABs. He’s our best defensive option.
-Dylan Goldstein needs to play every day too. Let him get some ABs against lefties too.
- We are getting better (and this isn’t just on Gonzalez or Hunter) at controlling the run game. Getting that pick off Friday night got lost in the shuffle, but was big for momentum. We’ve finally started throwing out some runners and both Gonzo and Hunter continue to do an excellent job blocking the plate.
-I don’t think there is any question this was our best defensive series so far in league play. Hopefully that’s starting to turn some as well.
-I really wanted to see Kolten Smith in the rotation earlier this year, but I think he’s in the right role. Let him get the harder outs later in the game.
-We probably should be 10-8 or even 11-7 instead of 9-9. And while we’ve done some things coaching wise this year that have been questionable, I do think that Wes Johnson has squeezed about every drop of juice out of this team. I don’t mean to pile on the last coach, but Johnson has been FAR superior, coaching wise, to Stricklin in 2014. And Stricklin had been a head coach for a decade before coming here. 2014 was an F coaching wise, and that’s not really debatable (nor am I interested in debating it)… so it’s not like that should be the bar to clear. But still, Johnson’s job this year, good and bad, gives me tremendous hope about the future.
-Can’t believe there are only two home series left.
-Lastly, Charlie Condon rightly gets all the accolades. But Brian Zeldin is the other MVP of this team. We aren’t close to .500 without Zeldin
So, I was half right. But I was really expecting to see a couple of 13-11 kind of games yesterday. I’m not disappointed that we didn’t. I really prefer the lower scoring contents. I really went out on a limb predicting that with our pitching, their defense, and both lineups, that there would be a lot runs. Surprising it didn’t happen.
Ole Miss’ lefty in game one, Doyle, did a really nice job for them. Kept us off balance all day. I thought he was their MVP yesterday as he kept a lot of their powder dry for the second game.
I’ll say this too. My daughter did the “Anthem Buddies” thing yesterday. We got down there to the gate about 10-15 minutes before the kids ran out. So basically just stood around waiting. It was surprisingly uncomfortable out there. To be no hotter, temp wise, than it was… it was draining. No wind, bright sun… and the pollen has been killing me here of late. I’m not a college athlete, but I could see how being out in that for three hours in the first game was taxing… moreso than normal. JD mentioned a few times on the broadcast in the second game that both teams looked drained. I think there was a lot of merit to that observation and factored heavily into the lack of offense in game two.
Couple of general thoughts as we sit here with 6 weekends done:
-I really didn’t think we’d see Matthew Hoskins this year. I don’t expect him to play a huge role, but he could help us down the stretch. Much better to be adding bodies at this point.
-I want to see Trey King every day at 2b. He’s not going to be an offensive juggernaut, but I think he’ll improve with ABs. He’s our best defensive option.
-Dylan Goldstein needs to play every day too. Let him get some ABs against lefties too.
- We are getting better (and this isn’t just on Gonzalez or Hunter) at controlling the run game. Getting that pick off Friday night got lost in the shuffle, but was big for momentum. We’ve finally started throwing out some runners and both Gonzo and Hunter continue to do an excellent job blocking the plate.
-I don’t think there is any question this was our best defensive series so far in league play. Hopefully that’s starting to turn some as well.
-I really wanted to see Kolten Smith in the rotation earlier this year, but I think he’s in the right role. Let him get the harder outs later in the game.
-We probably should be 10-8 or even 11-7 instead of 9-9. And while we’ve done some things coaching wise this year that have been questionable, I do think that Wes Johnson has squeezed about every drop of juice out of this team. I don’t mean to pile on the last coach, but Johnson has been FAR superior, coaching wise, to Stricklin in 2014. And Stricklin had been a head coach for a decade before coming here. 2014 was an F coaching wise, and that’s not really debatable (nor am I interested in debating it)… so it’s not like that should be the bar to clear. But still, Johnson’s job this year, good and bad, gives me tremendous hope about the future.
-Can’t believe there are only two home series left.
-Lastly, Charlie Condon rightly gets all the accolades. But Brian Zeldin is the other MVP of this team. We aren’t close to .500 without Zeldin
