i just took at where we stand statistically thus far and, as I'm sure you'd guess, it ain't pretty.
As a team, we have a batting average of .259 without a single player hitting over .300. After 18 games against somewhat subpar competition, how is that even possible? Which goes back to what I said awhile ago, I firmly believe Stricklin's hitting approach/process is suspect. That said, all of the freshmen are in the mid .200s, which is about where you would expect them to be. If any of them hang around, it does bode well for next season...maybe.
As for pitching, our opponents are only hitting at a .248 average (slightly worse than our bats) and our pitchers own a 4.55 ERA (vs our opponents 4.22). Chase Adkins is easily our best pitcher with the most innings (26) and best ERA (2.08). There are a couple of other guys that are slinging it pretty well, and these numbers are right in line with where we finished last year.
The problem with this is that these numbers are in line with last year's end of season stats, after we had a much better start to the year (13-5) and include the SEC gauntlet where we went 11-19. In fact, they are virtually in line with every single season from 2013 on.
You have to go all the way back to 2012 to see any differences. That year we hit a cumulative .279. While not that great, we did have 4 guys hitting over .300 and our pitching staff had an collective ERA of 3.86, almost an entire run better than our opponents (4.43). And that got us to a winning record overall (31-26) and almost allowed us to hold par in conference (14-15).
Now, take a look at Mizzou who went and got them a shiny, new coach. Playing their sub-par competition (who I will admit, is probably slightly more sub par than ours), they are 16-1. They own a cumulative .326 average with 8 guys hitting over .300 with a team ERA of 2.73. Now, I can't can't compare them to last year's Mizzou stats as they have been purged from their history, much like I imagine Russian history was "disappeared" after each new strongman took the helm of the USSR. But I can guarantee they are better. And while these numbers won't hold up through the SEC, I would be willing to bet they are better than the previous year's entrants.
As hopeful as I am for us getting better, I can almost promise you it's going to get worse. Players, and especially freshmen, improve year over year, but rarely that much within a season. Especially when you have someone like Stricklin sapping their confidence as he throws them under the bus every chance he gets.
I rarely call for someone to lose their job within the season. But, if we don't put something together in the first two conference series, I would advocate that we cut bait with CSS. We may not be able to hire who we want, but we can get someone in on an interim basis who can work with the team, help them with their confidence, and maybe get them ready to hit SEC pitching next year.
As a team, we have a batting average of .259 without a single player hitting over .300. After 18 games against somewhat subpar competition, how is that even possible? Which goes back to what I said awhile ago, I firmly believe Stricklin's hitting approach/process is suspect. That said, all of the freshmen are in the mid .200s, which is about where you would expect them to be. If any of them hang around, it does bode well for next season...maybe.
As for pitching, our opponents are only hitting at a .248 average (slightly worse than our bats) and our pitchers own a 4.55 ERA (vs our opponents 4.22). Chase Adkins is easily our best pitcher with the most innings (26) and best ERA (2.08). There are a couple of other guys that are slinging it pretty well, and these numbers are right in line with where we finished last year.
The problem with this is that these numbers are in line with last year's end of season stats, after we had a much better start to the year (13-5) and include the SEC gauntlet where we went 11-19. In fact, they are virtually in line with every single season from 2013 on.
You have to go all the way back to 2012 to see any differences. That year we hit a cumulative .279. While not that great, we did have 4 guys hitting over .300 and our pitching staff had an collective ERA of 3.86, almost an entire run better than our opponents (4.43). And that got us to a winning record overall (31-26) and almost allowed us to hold par in conference (14-15).
Now, take a look at Mizzou who went and got them a shiny, new coach. Playing their sub-par competition (who I will admit, is probably slightly more sub par than ours), they are 16-1. They own a cumulative .326 average with 8 guys hitting over .300 with a team ERA of 2.73. Now, I can't can't compare them to last year's Mizzou stats as they have been purged from their history, much like I imagine Russian history was "disappeared" after each new strongman took the helm of the USSR. But I can guarantee they are better. And while these numbers won't hold up through the SEC, I would be willing to bet they are better than the previous year's entrants.
As hopeful as I am for us getting better, I can almost promise you it's going to get worse. Players, and especially freshmen, improve year over year, but rarely that much within a season. Especially when you have someone like Stricklin sapping their confidence as he throws them under the bus every chance he gets.
I rarely call for someone to lose their job within the season. But, if we don't put something together in the first two conference series, I would advocate that we cut bait with CSS. We may not be able to hire who we want, but we can get someone in on an interim basis who can work with the team, help them with their confidence, and maybe get them ready to hit SEC pitching next year.
