I was surprised last year by how ordinary they looked. Very pedestrian all around, especially their infield defense. We swept them of course, and none of the games felt like a fluke, or even all that doubtful.
They probably should not have gotten into the postseason last June. I think their name is the biggest reason they did. If Missouri or Kentucky has that exact same season, there's no June baseball.
But one thing about Florida is that they don't stay down for long under Kevin O'Sullivan. Last year may have been a surprise, their bounce back this year has not been.
Looking at them briefly on paper, their numbers are very similar to ours. Have they played a tougher schedule than we have? Probably, mainly by virtue of the fact that they played three games at Miami. But their schedule probably isn't THAT much harder than ours has been.
Anyway, Florida as a team is batting .294/.396/.462 with 21 HRs, 153 Ks, 86 BBs, 24/28 in steals
Not too bad. Over the same, we are .293/.411/.450 with 18 HRs, 119 Ks, 87 BBs, 26/29 in steals
Pitching wise, Florida has: 2.43 ERA, .204 average against, 172/45 K/BB, 8 HRs allowed
Pitching wise, we have: 2.39 ERA, .207 average against, 184/48 K/BB, 6 HRs allowed
Only two team level stats really jump out as differences. We are fielding .969 (which is somewhat surprising) while Florida is .983. But, Florida's opponents are a perfect 14/14 in steals against the Gators, while we have only allowed 4/11 in steals against us this year.
It's safe to say that Florida is the best team we will have seen to date. But we're going to be the best that they've seen too. We know that Emerson and Cole Wilcox will give us a great chance. We need to clean some things up defensively, but this ought to be more of an even series than last year...
They probably should not have gotten into the postseason last June. I think their name is the biggest reason they did. If Missouri or Kentucky has that exact same season, there's no June baseball.
But one thing about Florida is that they don't stay down for long under Kevin O'Sullivan. Last year may have been a surprise, their bounce back this year has not been.
Looking at them briefly on paper, their numbers are very similar to ours. Have they played a tougher schedule than we have? Probably, mainly by virtue of the fact that they played three games at Miami. But their schedule probably isn't THAT much harder than ours has been.
Anyway, Florida as a team is batting .294/.396/.462 with 21 HRs, 153 Ks, 86 BBs, 24/28 in steals
Not too bad. Over the same, we are .293/.411/.450 with 18 HRs, 119 Ks, 87 BBs, 26/29 in steals
Pitching wise, Florida has: 2.43 ERA, .204 average against, 172/45 K/BB, 8 HRs allowed
Pitching wise, we have: 2.39 ERA, .207 average against, 184/48 K/BB, 6 HRs allowed
Only two team level stats really jump out as differences. We are fielding .969 (which is somewhat surprising) while Florida is .983. But, Florida's opponents are a perfect 14/14 in steals against the Gators, while we have only allowed 4/11 in steals against us this year.
It's safe to say that Florida is the best team we will have seen to date. But we're going to be the best that they've seen too. We know that Emerson and Cole Wilcox will give us a great chance. We need to clean some things up defensively, but this ought to be more of an even series than last year...
