2021 stats vs 2022 stats

[geeznotagain]

Looking at stats, 2021 vs. 2022, there ARE some folks who are doing better this year. Keegan’s BA and slugging stats for 2022 are .401/.669. In 2021 they were .345/.638. Spencer Jones has improved: .356/.617 this year, .274/.583 last. Bulger and Tate are close enough to last year’s totals to call them a wash. EBJ is interesting in that his BA has dropped this year from .336 to .289, but his slugging has gone up from .414 to .491. A better stat to look at for EBJ is probably his OBP, which was .451 last year, .402 this year so far.

Not surprising to anyone, Noland and Young’s numbers have fallen; Noland from .260/.407 in 2021 to .227/.364 this year. Young from .252/.559 last year to .225/.408 this year. Young’s decline is cringe-worthy.

And let’s not forget the contributions of IT and Jayson G last year. IT batted .305 with a slugging percentage of .583 last year (great numbers) and Jayson was at .280/.497. Jayson’s replacements have been Noland (see above) and Diaz .250/.339 – both big drop-offs. We’ve had an assortment of outfield replacements, the best being Hewitt, who (based on limited numbers) is having an outstanding year: .429/.653. But I daresay we would have won a few more games had Thomas opted to play this year.

Overall, and I found this hard to believe, the team’s 2022 batting average is slightly better than last year’s (.292 vs. 2021’s .285). This year’s slugging percentage is down slightly, but OBP is up slightly. It’s important to point out that the percentage of SEC games to total games in the 2021 numbers quoted above is higher than the 2022 numbers because of where we are in the season. That same caveat applies to the team ERA numbers as well (3.15 this season vs. 3.46 in 2021).

I haven’t checked this out, but I suspect our 2022 numbers are considerably worse than our 2021 numbers if you look solely at SEC contests. I also don’t have a total stat (do they even publish such a stat?) for BA with runners in scoring position. It’s got to be a lot worse this year.

[HopsLikeHolwerda]

Young is the epitome of what happens when someone reads their draft profile. After one-year, he was an MLB prospect that was "glove-first" who "lacked power". Once he found out what scouts thought of him, he decided to completely revamp his swing and try to hit HRs. Last year, it worked to an extent. Pitchers challenged him with fastballs like the year before and he hit a number of HRs...but he also led the nation in Ks last year. Now, he's not getting any pitches to hit because he'll chase any breaking ball and his swing is "loopy", especially from the left side.

Bottom line, he sold out to increase his MLB profile. They would have overlooked the Ks from last year, because of the increase in HR. This year, both are bad. I know people hate to hear this because he's a nice kid, but that was a selfish move from someone who should have been a leader of this team for 2 years.

[baseball1234]

Not sure if selfish or sub-conscious.....He does not strike me as being selfish, mostly because he has not taken his lack of hitting success to the field. Just my opinion based on arm chair observation.

[Levon]

Young is the epitome of what happens when someone reads their draft profile. After one-year, he was an MLB prospect that was "glove-first" who "lacked power". Once he found out what scouts thought of him, he decided to completely revamp his swing and try to hit HRs. Last year, it worked to an extent. Pitchers challenged him with fastballs like the year before and he hit a number of HRs...but he also led the nation in Ks last year. Now, he's not getting any pitches to hit because he'll chase any breaking ball and his swing is "loopy", especially from the left side.

Bottom line, he sold out to increase his MLB profile. They would have overlooked the Ks from last year, because of the increase in HR. This year, both are bad. I know people hate to hear this because he's a nice kid, but that was a selfish move from someone who should have been a leader of this team for 2 years.

Hops, you confirm exactly what I've been seeing all season. Young's exaggerated uppercut swing (especially lefthanded) is designed to hit home runs at the expense of everything else. And unless he gets a fastball down, his success rate is abysmal. He never swings for contact, even when it is called for. Great defensive player, but he has become a offensive liability. Makes me sad to say these things. Maybe worse, Bradfield has developed a similar swing, though not all the time. EBjr needs to get back to swinging for groundballs and gappers. Home runs are nice, but they're not his ticket to the Bigs.

[HopsLikeHolwerda]

Young is the epitome of what happens when someone reads their draft profile. After one-year, he was an MLB prospect that was "glove-first" who "lacked power". Once he found out what scouts thought of him, he decided to completely revamp his swing and try to hit HRs. Last year, it worked to an extent. Pitchers challenged him with fastballs like the year before and he hit a number of HRs...but he also led the nation in Ks last year. Now, he's not getting any pitches to hit because he'll chase any breaking ball and his swing is "loopy", especially from the left side.

Bottom line, he sold out to increase his MLB profile. They would have overlooked the Ks from last year, because of the increase in HR. This year, both are bad. I know people hate to hear this because he's a nice kid, but that was a selfish move from someone who should have been a leader of this team for 2 years.

Hops, you confirm exactly what I've been seeing all season. Young's exaggerated uppercut swing (especially lefthanded) is designed to hit home runs at the expense of everything else. And unless he gets a fastball down, his success rate is abysmal. He never swings for contact, even when it is called for. Great defensive player, but he has become a offensive liability. Makes me sad to say these things. Maybe worse, Bradfield has developed a similar swing, though not all the time. EBjr needs to get back to swinging for groundballs and gappers. Home runs are nice, but they're not his ticket to the Bigs.

I'm not necessarily as worried about EBJr. I kind of expected a little regression from him this season. No two players are exactly alike, so this could be circumstantial...but I expect him to have the Tony Kemp college career. Freshman jumps into the Leadoff spot and provides a huge spark for an Omaha team. Sophomore year the team loses some pieces and struggles a bit (but got hot to end the season) and Kemp's numbers were down. Junior year - SEC Player of the Year. I think we could be seeing that from EBJr. Right now, pitchers have a bit of a book on him. "Won't swing on outer corner until two strikes. Attacks inside, even slightly off the plate, early in counts. Won't chase low but will occasionally chase high. " I trust EBJr to adjust over the offseason and start hitting into the Left Center gap next year.

I know some disagree on my diagnosis of CY as "selfish". I completely understand, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. What I see is a kid who completely revamped his plate approach and his swing. That's not subconscious. It's done with an intent. And I believe it was done to improve his draft stock, despite it's impact on the Vanderbilt team. And he hasn't been willing to adjust from it. At the risk of sounding terrible, I'm hoping CY gets drafted (which I expect) and leaves. Nice kid, but he's had one foot out of the door for two seasons now. Best that he move on.

[commadore]

Young is the epitome of what happens when someone reads their draft profile. After one-year, he was an MLB prospect that was "glove-first" who "lacked power". Once he found out what scouts thought of him, he decided to completely revamp his swing and try to hit HRs. Last year, it worked to an extent. Pitchers challenged him with fastballs like the year before and he hit a number of HRs...but he also led the nation in Ks last year. Now, he's not getting any pitches to hit because he'll chase any breaking ball and his swing is "loopy", especially from the left side.

Bottom line, he sold out to increase his MLB profile. They would have overlooked the Ks from last year, because of the increase in HR. This year, both are bad. I know people hate to hear this because he's a nice kid, but that was a selfish move from someone who should have been a leader of this team for 2 years.

Hops, you confirm exactly what I've been seeing all season. Young's exaggerated uppercut swing (especially lefthanded) is designed to hit home runs at the expense of everything else. And unless he gets a fastball down, his success rate is abysmal. He never swings for contact, even when it is called for. Great defensive player, but he has become a offensive liability. Makes me sad to say these things. Maybe worse, Bradfield has developed a similar swing, though not all the time. EBjr needs to get back to swinging for groundballs and gappers. Home runs are nice, but they're not his ticket to the Bigs.

I agree but think about this: Isn't this exactly what a hitting coach is supposed to correct?

[Levon]

Young is the epitome of what happens when someone reads their draft profile. After one-year, he was an MLB prospect that was "glove-first" who "lacked power". Once he found out what scouts thought of him, he decided to completely revamp his swing and try to hit HRs. Last year, it worked to an extent. Pitchers challenged him with fastballs like the year before and he hit a number of HRs...but he also led the nation in Ks last year. Now, he's not getting any pitches to hit because he'll chase any breaking ball and his swing is "loopy", especially from the left side.

Bottom line, he sold out to increase his MLB profile. They would have overlooked the Ks from last year, because of the increase in HR. This year, both are bad. I know people hate to hear this because he's a nice kid, but that was a selfish move from someone who should have been a leader of this team for 2 years.

Hops, you confirm exactly what I've been seeing all season. Young's exaggerated uppercut swing (especially lefthanded) is designed to hit home runs at the expense of everything else. And unless he gets a fastball down, his success rate is abysmal. He never swings for contact, even when it is called for. Great defensive player, but he has become a offensive liability. Makes me sad to say these things. Maybe worse, Bradfield has developed a similar swing, though not all the time. EBjr needs to get back to swinging for groundballs and gappers. Home runs are nice, but they're not his ticket to the Bigs.

I'm not necessarily as worried about EBJr. I kind of expected a little regression from him this season. No two players are exactly alike, so this could be circumstantial...but I expect him to have the Tony Kemp college career. Freshman jumps into the Leadoff spot and provides a huge spark for an Omaha team. Sophomore year the team loses some pieces and struggles a bit (but got hot to end the season) and Kemp's numbers were down. Junior year - SEC Player of the Year. I think we could be seeing that from EBJr. Right now, pitchers have a bit of a book on him. "Won't swing on outer corner until two strikes. Attacks inside, even slightly off the plate, early in counts. Won't chase low but will occasionally chase high. " I trust EBJr to adjust over the offseason and start hitting into the Left Center gap next year.

I know some disagree on my diagnosis of CY as "selfish". I completely understand, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. What I see is a kid who completely revamped his plate approach and his swing. That's not subconscious. It's done with an intent. And I believe it was done to improve his draft stock, despite it's impact on the Vanderbilt team. And he hasn't been willing to adjust from it. At the risk of sounding terrible, I'm hoping CY gets drafted (which I expect) and leaves. Nice kid, but he's had one foot out of the door for two seasons now. Best that he move on.

Sound analysis on EBjr, hope you're right. Incredibly talented, extraordinarily fast guy who should be a future big leaguer.

As for Young, my biggest fear right now is that he'll come back for his senior season. As you said, seems to be a nice kid and provides terrific D at SS, but I cringe every time he comes to bat when there's anything in the least on the line. And as Commodore said earlier in response to this line of conversation, isn't a hitting coach supposed to identify and fix problems? And if Young isn't listening and continues to have empty at-bat after empty at-bat, when will Corbs bench him? Just a sad, sad discussion.