This was the first time since 2008 that I've missed Opening Day. We went to Omaha that year, so maybe my not being there is good luck. With a family, a new job, and living farther away from Athens, I'm not able to get to as many games as I used to. I was able to go yesterday, though, and have been able to keep up with things pretty well through the "radio" (meaning an app on my phone) broadcasts.
It's very early. I'm not sure anyone would have really thought that we were an Omaha team after two weeks in 2008. And I'm not sure that anyone would have seen us being historically bad after two weeks in 2010. There's a whole lot of season in front of this group.
With all that said, here is what I see as The Good and The Bad so far.
The Good
-Pitching has been outstanding. We have a 3.00 staff ERA and a .200 average against. Yesterday bloated the walk numbers a little bit, but still, 28 walks through 8 games is ok. Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox have both had one good start and one not so good start. I think it's important to remember that when looking at the pitching numbers this early. Those two have thrown almost 1/3 of the innings this year and both should end the season with better ERA and average against numbers than they have now. (Hancock is 4.91 and .256 while Wilcox is 3.27 and .268 - I'll look forward to checking that prediction in June).
-We've been very aggressive on the bases, and very successful with the steals. We are 17/18 in that department so far. Even better is that our fastest player, Randon Jernigan, has been limited so far and has yet to attempt a stolen base. Likewise, we've held our opponents to 1/6 in steals. Those extra bases taken and prevented really add up over the year.
-Tucker Bradley is playing like an All-American. He won't hit .467 and slug .800 all year, but the power has been great to see. Remember his freshman year? It took until late April for him to pick up AN RBI. He's a much different player now.
-Likewise, Ben Anderson looks to be as good of a leadoff hitter as we've had since Ryan Piesel... and the best/ most prototypical since Jonathan Wyatt, in the early going.
-We have a mature team. We don't panic and we don't seem to lose focus. You don't want to get in a habit of getting down by 3 runs in a game, but we've handled it as well as you could hope for when it's happened. That kind of thing breeds confidence. We aren't going to be intimidated going to Florida or Texas A&M or Arkansas. And we aren't going to get rattled if we're down 3-0 in the 4th inning (or the 7th inning) at any of those places.
The Bad
- I think that we are a very good defensive team, but we aren't as good as last year. At least as currently constructed. I think that Cole Tate has done a good job at 2nd base, but he's more of a 3rd baseman I believe. Garrett Blaylock, from what I've seen, is pretty good at 3rd base, but he's not the defender that Aaron Schunk was last year (recall though the amount of improvement that Schunk made defensively though his career). We need to get Riley King on 2nd base. That's a more natural position for him (though he does great in the OF) and I think that we'll make more plays up the middle if Riley is out there.
-But that said, we need to get Riley going at the plate. I was surprised to not see him in the lineup yesterday. He's too good of a hitter to be 4-26 with no extra base hits. He did it all of last year, he's got the ability. Just a slow start.
-Likewise, we need some offense from the catcher position. Our two catchers are 3-22 with 12 strikeouts, 1 RBI, an no extra base hits on the year. I thought that Shane Marshall had a tough game defensively yesterday, too. I wonder if he's taking some of the offensive issues behind the plate with him. Really, we can live with .150 hitting from the catcher spot if they're outstanding defensively. That's what bothered me about Marshall yesterday. He's a better player than he's shown, so far. I trust Mason Meadows too. Meadows is just a good college player. Good leader, outstanding defensively, and for two years he's done enough at the plate. So I think that both of those guys will get going, but this has certainly been a rough start for both players.
-We didn't have a good approach yesterday at the plate overall... we looked at way too many pitches and had too many non-competitive at bats. I haven't been able to see every at-bat this year, so I don't know how much that's been present in other games - though I have a feeling that yesterday was the worst game we've had at the plate this year. We're too experienced to have a game like that, and I believe that yesterday will be the exception. That said, we probably should be hitting better than .281 and slugging more than .431 based on who we've played so far.
-One last "bad"... and this obviously doesn't apply to us. Yesterday Santa Clara's manager challenged that his batter was hit by a pitch - on the THIRD pitch of the game. He later challenged whether a runner was actually out - that would have been the third out of the top of the 9th inning, with Santa Clara leading by 4 runs. Neither of those challenges made any sense in the context of when they were made. Everyone wants to get the call right. I get that. But there really ought to be a limitation to how many times a coach can challenge, if he's losing them. Between that and the Santa Clara kids clearly trying to lean into pitches it felt a little bit like lawyer ball yesterday. It wound up being a three and a half hour game that featured way too much standing around while the umpires went under the stadium to review something non-consequential. That's not good for the game.
It's very early. I'm not sure anyone would have really thought that we were an Omaha team after two weeks in 2008. And I'm not sure that anyone would have seen us being historically bad after two weeks in 2010. There's a whole lot of season in front of this group.
With all that said, here is what I see as The Good and The Bad so far.
The Good
-Pitching has been outstanding. We have a 3.00 staff ERA and a .200 average against. Yesterday bloated the walk numbers a little bit, but still, 28 walks through 8 games is ok. Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox have both had one good start and one not so good start. I think it's important to remember that when looking at the pitching numbers this early. Those two have thrown almost 1/3 of the innings this year and both should end the season with better ERA and average against numbers than they have now. (Hancock is 4.91 and .256 while Wilcox is 3.27 and .268 - I'll look forward to checking that prediction in June).
-We've been very aggressive on the bases, and very successful with the steals. We are 17/18 in that department so far. Even better is that our fastest player, Randon Jernigan, has been limited so far and has yet to attempt a stolen base. Likewise, we've held our opponents to 1/6 in steals. Those extra bases taken and prevented really add up over the year.
-Tucker Bradley is playing like an All-American. He won't hit .467 and slug .800 all year, but the power has been great to see. Remember his freshman year? It took until late April for him to pick up AN RBI. He's a much different player now.
-Likewise, Ben Anderson looks to be as good of a leadoff hitter as we've had since Ryan Piesel... and the best/ most prototypical since Jonathan Wyatt, in the early going.
-We have a mature team. We don't panic and we don't seem to lose focus. You don't want to get in a habit of getting down by 3 runs in a game, but we've handled it as well as you could hope for when it's happened. That kind of thing breeds confidence. We aren't going to be intimidated going to Florida or Texas A&M or Arkansas. And we aren't going to get rattled if we're down 3-0 in the 4th inning (or the 7th inning) at any of those places.
The Bad
- I think that we are a very good defensive team, but we aren't as good as last year. At least as currently constructed. I think that Cole Tate has done a good job at 2nd base, but he's more of a 3rd baseman I believe. Garrett Blaylock, from what I've seen, is pretty good at 3rd base, but he's not the defender that Aaron Schunk was last year (recall though the amount of improvement that Schunk made defensively though his career). We need to get Riley King on 2nd base. That's a more natural position for him (though he does great in the OF) and I think that we'll make more plays up the middle if Riley is out there.
-But that said, we need to get Riley going at the plate. I was surprised to not see him in the lineup yesterday. He's too good of a hitter to be 4-26 with no extra base hits. He did it all of last year, he's got the ability. Just a slow start.
-Likewise, we need some offense from the catcher position. Our two catchers are 3-22 with 12 strikeouts, 1 RBI, an no extra base hits on the year. I thought that Shane Marshall had a tough game defensively yesterday, too. I wonder if he's taking some of the offensive issues behind the plate with him. Really, we can live with .150 hitting from the catcher spot if they're outstanding defensively. That's what bothered me about Marshall yesterday. He's a better player than he's shown, so far. I trust Mason Meadows too. Meadows is just a good college player. Good leader, outstanding defensively, and for two years he's done enough at the plate. So I think that both of those guys will get going, but this has certainly been a rough start for both players.
-We didn't have a good approach yesterday at the plate overall... we looked at way too many pitches and had too many non-competitive at bats. I haven't been able to see every at-bat this year, so I don't know how much that's been present in other games - though I have a feeling that yesterday was the worst game we've had at the plate this year. We're too experienced to have a game like that, and I believe that yesterday will be the exception. That said, we probably should be hitting better than .281 and slugging more than .431 based on who we've played so far.
-One last "bad"... and this obviously doesn't apply to us. Yesterday Santa Clara's manager challenged that his batter was hit by a pitch - on the THIRD pitch of the game. He later challenged whether a runner was actually out - that would have been the third out of the top of the 9th inning, with Santa Clara leading by 4 runs. Neither of those challenges made any sense in the context of when they were made. Everyone wants to get the call right. I get that. But there really ought to be a limitation to how many times a coach can challenge, if he's losing them. Between that and the Santa Clara kids clearly trying to lean into pitches it felt a little bit like lawyer ball yesterday. It wound up being a three and a half hour game that featured way too much standing around while the umpires went under the stadium to review something non-consequential. That's not good for the game.
