Corbin pushing all the wrong buttons

[Commodoredave]

There was an audible groan across Commodore nation last night when Fellows took the hill in the 8th. He had just been hit hard in the 7th and escaped in large part due to a double play lineout. Zach King didn't finish things off, but the rally started with two walks and an error that should have never happened.

Then in the bottom of the inning, we have 1st and 3rd with one out and decide to send up the guy with the highest strikeout rate on the team in a spot where you can tie the game by putting it in play. Grisanti has a good eye and gets a lot of walks, but that was absolutely the wrong spot for him to be in, IMO. We compound that by sticking with Infante with two outs. So with the game on the line we have a .136 hitter and a .158 hitter, both with high strikeout rates. I know both are juniors and Infante in particular has earned some opportunities, but we went squarely against the percentages and lost.

Through the years Corbs has seemed to have a magic touch when it came to putting guys in spots where you didn't expect them to excel, and it has worked more often than not. Well nothing is working now, and the season is about to get off the rails.

[surlyrich]

It really seems like Corbs has changed a lot of his offensive coaching philosophy as the college game changed with updates to bats and balls. In the successful Omaha years, the ball was dead and home runs were rare. The Vanderbilt teams were masterful at small ball. Leadoff man gets on first, next guy bunts him over, next two outs used to put the ball in play and score a run. Now that home runs are back in play, Corbs seems to have abandoned what worked in the past and lets the team swing freely. We hit more home runs, but strike out way more, fail to move runners over, and leave tons of runners on base.

I really think Corbs needs to get back to small ball to put pressure on opposing teams to execute to get outs. The young guys hitting would benefit from making contact and moving runners. We would still get home runs but we would be playing for the single run. Those small ball activities often lead to big innings when the opposing defense can't execute.

Last night was a perfect example. In the first inning we get Martin on first and don't bunt him over to 2nd. Alonzo flies out to center. Later we get a flare to left and a runner at second would have scored. The Georgia pitcher was in trouble almost ever inning and Vandy didn't take advantage.

I would really like to ask Corbs about this philosophy change. Maybe I need to go to one of those coaches shows. We have good team speed and it seems like this team would flourish if they forced the small ball issues.

Also maybe a visit to an Ophthalmologist for Infante. He is just guessing when he's at bat. I don't think he's seeing the ball come out of the pitchers hand and can't pick up the spin. Maybe glasses would help. If not, we need to sit him.

[AuricGoldfinger]

It really seems like Corbs has changed a lot of his offensive coaching philosophy as the college game changed with updates to bats and balls. In the successful Omaha years, the ball was dead and home runs were rare. The Vanderbilt teams were masterful at small ball. Leadoff man gets on first, next guy bunts him over, next two outs used to put the ball in play and score a run. Now that home runs are back in play, Corbs seems to have abandoned what worked in the past and lets the team swing freely. We hit more home runs, but strike out way more, fail to move runners over, and leave tons of runners on base.

I really think Corbs needs to get back to small ball to put pressure on opposing teams to execute to get outs. The young guys hitting would benefit from making contact and moving runners. We would still get home runs but we would be playing for the single run. Those small ball activities often lead to big innings when the opposing defense can't execute.

Last night was a perfect example. In the first inning we get Martin on first and don't bunt him over to 2nd. Alonzo flies out to center. Later we get a flare to left and a runner at second would have scored. The Georgia pitcher was in trouble almost ever inning and Vandy didn't take advantage.

I would really like to ask Corbs about this philosophy change. Maybe I need to go to one of those coaches shows. We have good team speed and it seems like this team would flourish if they forced the small ball issues.

Also maybe a visit to an Ophthalmologist for Infante. He is just guessing when he's at bat. I don't think he's seeing the ball come out of the pitchers hand and can't pick up the spin. Maybe glasses would help. If not, we need to sit him.

Really good points. I'm not trying to be blasphemous and god knows there are a lot of things on which we can place blame right now, but I also can't help but wonder if hiring two consecutive hitting coaches who had no coaching experience isn't a factor in this. I'm not saying Mike Baxter won't ultimately pay dividends, but the timing of those hires combined with your observations above is curious.

[commadore]

Don't forget not having King up and ready to start the 8th. He apparently didn't start warming up until after the first batter was walked (this according to the announcers, who, however, were spending too much time telling us how great they were while at lsu and not watching the game).

[fldore]

Well we are more aggressive this year in the sense we steal more bases. I think we already have more stolen bases YTD than we had all of last year.

But you're right, we dont seem to make the smart play. Getting guys on, moving runners over. And the strikeout rate is alarming. Currently 27% of every atbat. Which would be one of if not the highest in Corbin's tenure. Just doing some quick math going back about 10 years, it looks like we were routinely in the high teens in strikeout percentage. And then the year after we won the national title, it jumped up to 24%. Has stayed in the low to mid 20s and has now jumped up to 27%. The year we had westlake, esposito, gomez, gregor, etc... we were at 15.9%. What a meteoric climb to where we are now.

Not sure what would be driving the change. Do we work on making contact less than we used to? Recruiting a different type of player? I remember the complaint in the past would be that Corbin would recruit athletes that were good defenders. I wonder if the type of kid he recruits now is slightly different.

[commadore]

It is like Jones. In the spirit of Willie Mayes Hayes, he should be made to drop down and do 20 pushups every time he hits it in the air. He can't use his speed if he either strikes out or flies out. That seems to me to be lack of coaching.

[BWestbrook]

Young team long season let’s just get better and be ready come tourney time and remember we have beaten some really good teams.

[GooseJones15]

I agree with the pinch hitting of Grisanti. Gonzo is strike out prone and they had a right handed pitcher. All we needed was contact. Obviously that didn’t happen. Been that way all year long. 1st and 3rd in college in college is a great bunt situation. Grisanti tried to bunt but couldn’t execute. Forcing him to swing away. It became 2nd and 3rd where a ground ball or fly ball would of tied the game. Corbs played the percentage left hitter against right pitcher. Imo was the correct move. Maybe he felt Grisanti is a better hunter and could bunt easier toward 1st base. Just my 2 cents