a couple of thoughts on this team

For fan discussion of the Vanderbilt Commodore baseball program.

Moderators: kerrigjl, BrentVU, jfgogold, NateSY, KarenYates, Vandyman74, roanoke, VandyWhit

User avatar
roanoke
Admiral
Posts: 8758
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:52 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 85 times

a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by roanoke »

I really like this team - and I think the combination of youth and upperclassman talent will prove helpful.

With that said - we have been frustrating to watch often.

In fact, even in winning a doubleheader against a nationally ranked foe, there was much to chronicle in the frustrating department: thrown out at home, caught stealing by oversliding. Failing to move runners by simply missing contact. Giving away bases with walks and hbp. And giving away leads - big ones - as soon as they are obtained.

Still, there was a lot of fight and a lot of talent.

I am hoping Gillis is established as "the closer." He is good. And we need him. I am thinking Duvall made a big statement yesterday - and will see more time going forward (at the plate). He murdered two balls from good pitchers at critical times - and also threw out the baserunner in the last inning that really sealed the win.

We will get back Bleday which will only help the line-up. Paul looked zoned in yesterday - he hit several foul home run blasts and a fair one. Clarke is also very steady. The starting pitchers have really been pretty good, too. Fielding is generally excellent - Kaiser made the unsung play of the day on a runsaving grab in game 2.

The hitting needs to focus on contact in contact situations. Infante has been struggling mightily - but he did blast a SF when we needed one yesterday. Too many guys are swinging for the fences too often - we need to move runners more, strike out less. Also, baserunning mistakes continue - we just seem to make more than our share of mistakes getting thrown out.

While the Florida smackdown and mid-week derailments should still be fresh in these kids' minds - our record now includes winning series against a ton of top teams - Duke, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU -plus wins over UCLA and TCU.

Coach obviously knows what he is doing - but with just a bit more tweaking, this is a very dangerous baseball team. And he does seem to still be doing chemistry tests on the pitching - which still needs to gel a bit more to be Omaha quality.

Hopefully this series propels us into playing better mid-week. But I saw some killer instinct raise its head yesterday. I hate to say, that has been lacking earlier in the season. In Gainesville and in some mid-week games, it has looked like we are waiting for bad things to happen. If we can get hot - and tune up the contact and baserunning we will be a very dangerous team down the line.

Final pet peeve. We groove a lot of 0-2 pitches. I hate walks - and I do not advocate nibbling around to a 3-2 count. But I also think we need to think about pitch selection when the batter is in a hole. Is it my imagination or do we give up a lot of hits when the count is in our favor?


User avatar
geeznotagain
Admiral
Posts: 8877
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2016 4:04 pm
Has thanked: 32 times
Been thanked: 72 times

Re: a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by geeznotagain »

Just 4 comments:

1. Our ability to come from behind, to snatch victory from defeat, has been extraordinary. Yesterday's examples were exciting to watch.

2. The bullpen's attempts to snatch defeat from victory have also been extraordinary. When the call is made to the bullpen I now just close my eyes and pray. This has to improve for us to make a serious run.

3. Our performance in mid-week games in the past month is puzzling. I understand that we don't put our top pitchers out there, but the lack of offense is the puzzling part.

4. I haven't seen a better defensive SEC shortstop this year than Kaiser.
Commodoredave
Rear Admiral
Posts: 2022
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by Commodoredave »

The freshmen are playing like the very talented freshmen they are. Ups and downs are then norm, and we can only hope that there is a gradual development towards consistency that will kick in as we approach 40 games played.

The bullpen is a mess. I've said all along that I thought Gillis was either going to be the #3 starter or a closer. That confidence was shaken with the Sam Houston blowup, but he does look to be the most reliable guy we have.
BWestbrook
Rear Admiral
Posts: 1424
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 9:50 pm

Re: a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by BWestbrook »

roanoke wrote:I really like this team - and I think the combination of youth and upperclassman talent will prove helpful.

With that said - we have been frustrating to watch often.

In fact, even in winning a doubleheader against a nationally ranked foe, there was much to chronicle in the frustrating department: thrown out at home, caught stealing by oversliding. Failing to move runners by simply missing contact. Giving away bases with walks and hbp. And giving away leads - big ones - as soon as they are obtained.

Still, there was a lot of fight and a lot of talent.

I am hoping Gillis is established as "the closer." He is good. And we need him. I am thinking Duvall made a big statement yesterday - and will see more time going forward (at the plate). He murdered two balls from good pitchers at critical times - and also threw out the baserunner in the last inning that really sealed the win.

We will get back Bleday which will only help the line-up. Paul looked zoned in yesterday - he hit several foul home run blasts and a fair one. Clarke is also very steady. The starting pitchers have really been pretty good, too. Fielding is generally excellent - Kaiser made the unsung play of the day on a runsaving grab in game 2.

The hitting needs to focus on contact in contact situations. Infante has been struggling mightily - but he did blast a SF when we needed one yesterday. Too many guys are swinging for the fences too often - we need to move runners more, strike out less. Also, baserunning mistakes continue - we just seem to make more than our share of mistakes getting thrown out.

While the Florida smackdown and mid-week derailments should still be fresh in these kids' minds - our record now includes winning series against a ton of top teams - Duke, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU -plus wins over UCLA and TCU.

Coach obviously knows what he is doing - but with just a bit more tweaking, this is a very dangerous baseball team. And he does seem to still be doing chemistry tests on the pitching - which still needs to gel a bit more to be Omaha quality.

Hopefully this series propels us into playing better mid-week. But I saw some killer instinct raise its head yesterday. I hate to say, that has been lacking earlier in the season. In Gainesville and in some mid-week games, it has looked like we are waiting for bad things to happen. If we can get hot - and tune up the contact and baserunning we will be a very dangerous team down the line.

Final pet peeve. We groove a lot of 0-2 pitches. I hate walks - and I do not advocate nibbling around to a 3-2 count. But I also think we need to think about pitch selection when the batter is in a hole. Is it my imagination or do we give up a lot of hits when the count is in our favor?

Dead on and I would like to not see an inside pitch call on 0-2 which can result in a hit batter.
User avatar
DeefromAtlanta
Admiral
Posts: 7980
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:50 am

Re: a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by DeefromAtlanta »

Kaiser is the real deal.

Team defense is top drawer.
User avatar
sidewalkdore
Commander
Posts: 400
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 1:25 pm

Re: a couple of thoughts on this team

Post by sidewalkdore »

roanoke wrote:I really like this team - and I think the combination of youth and upperclassman talent will prove helpful. Agreed , they are fun to watch.... the bullpen has enough young arms to keep putt them in till one sticks. I also know they are working on striking out so much , so it has got to get better.

With that said - we have been frustrating to watch often.

In fact, even in winning a doubleheader against a nationally ranked foe, there was much to chronicle in the frustrating department: thrown out at home, caught stealing by oversliding. Failing to move runners by simply missing contact. Giving away bases with walks and hbp. And giving away leads - big ones - as soon as they are obtained.

Still, there was a lot of fight and a lot of talent.

I am hoping Gillis is established as "the closer." He is good. And we need him. I am thinking Duvall made a big statement yesterday - and will see more time going forward (at the plate). He murdered two balls from good pitchers at critical times - and also threw out the baserunner in the last inning that really sealed the win.

We will get back Bleday which will only help the line-up. Paul looked zoned in yesterday - he hit several foul home run blasts and a fair one. Clarke is also very steady. The starting pitchers have really been pretty good, too. Fielding is generally excellent - Kaiser made the unsung play of the day on a runsaving grab in game 2.

The hitting needs to focus on contact in contact situations. Infante has been struggling mightily - but he did blast a SF when we needed one yesterday. Too many guys are swinging for the fences too often - we need to move runners more, strike out less. Also, baserunning mistakes continue - we just seem to make more than our share of mistakes getting thrown out.

While the Florida smackdown and mid-week derailments should still be fresh in these kids' minds - our record now includes winning series against a ton of top teams - Duke, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU -plus wins over UCLA and TCU.

Coach obviously knows what he is doing - but with just a bit more tweaking, this is a very dangerous baseball team. And he does seem to still be doing chemistry tests on the pitching - which still needs to gel a bit more to be Omaha quality.

Hopefully this series propels us into playing better mid-week. But I saw some killer instinct raise its head yesterday. I hate to say, that has been lacking earlier in the season. In Gainesville and in some mid-week games, it has looked like we are waiting for bad things to happen. If we can get hot - and tune up the contact and baserunning we will be a very dangerous team down the line.

Final pet peeve. We groove a lot of 0-2 pitches. I hate walks - and I do not advocate nibbling around to a 3-2 count. But I also think we need to think about pitch selection when the batter is in a hole. Is it my imagination or do we give up a lot of hits when the count is in our favor?
Locked Previous topicNext topic