Approaching Halfway

FredJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,290
Location
Fredericksburg, Virginia
The baseball team has played 24 games of 56 total scheduled. Here is a summary:

13-11 Overall record
10-5 OOC record
3-6 ACC record

Just looking at those numbers, you would be inclined to say "same ol' same ol'" and assume a linear projection where we finish the season around .500 overall and below .500 in the ACC. That would equate to 'no improvement' over 2017. Could happen. But I do not think it will.

As things have played out...looking at who we've played, how we've played, and looking ahead on the schedule... I do expect the final 32 games will have higher winning percentages overall, OOC, and ACC.

The only opponent remaining on the 11 game OOC schedule with an RPI better than 80 is UGA at #8 (as I vomit in my mouth). We do play them 3 times. I am eager to beat them 3 times!! The rest of the OOC includes teams we simply should beat.... 5 against teams with RPI's south of 150.

The ACC thing is what's more important and more confounding as the Jackets find themselves in an early 3-6 hole. It is not going to be easy... but it appears it will be "easier" (slightly?). 4 of the final 7 ACC series are at home against MIA, FSU, WF, DUKE. The road series are against PITT, UNC, UVA. Many/most of those series are winnable. But the margin of error is pretty thin with this team...given the quality of the competition on that list.

I'm done making specific predictions or going game by game / series by series to guess on the final records. It's baseball. I do expect us to break through / follow through and surprise with perhaps a sweep and/or a series win over a higher ranked opponent. I will be very surprised (barring any more significant injuries) if the team doesn't show an uptick on results in the final 32 games.

Last season, FSU finished ACC play at .500... won the ACC tournament and went to Omaha. Not saying we're on a path to Omaha (or even ACC championship)... but teams can/do improve (significantly) within a season. Let's see it play out. Frankly... it is gut-check time with this group. They have plenty of time to make something positive out of this season.
 

MikeJackets1967

Helluva Engineer
Messages
14,844
Location
Lovely Ducktown,Tennessee
The baseball team has played 24 games of 56 total scheduled. Here is a summary:

13-11 Overall record
10-5 OOC record
3-6 ACC record

Just looking at those numbers, you would be inclined to say "same ol' same ol'" and assume a linear projection where we finish the season around .500 overall and below .500 in the ACC. That would equate to 'no improvement' over 2017. Could happen. But I do not think it will.

As things have played out...looking at who we've played, how we've played, and looking ahead on the schedule... I do expect the final 32 games will have higher winning percentages overall, OOC, and ACC.

The only opponent remaining on the 11 game OOC schedule with an RPI better than 80 is UGA at #8 (as I vomit in my mouth). We do play them 3 times. I am eager to beat them 3 times!! The rest of the OOC includes teams we simply should beat.... 5 against teams with RPI's south of 150.

The ACC thing is what's more important and more confounding as the Jackets find themselves in an early 3-6 hole. It is not going to be easy... but it appears it will be "easier" (slightly?). 4 of the final 7 ACC series are at home against MIA, FSU, WF, DUKE. The road series are against PITT, UNC, UVA. Many/most of those series are winnable. But the margin of error is pretty thin with this team...given the quality of the competition on that list.

I'm done making specific predictions or going game by game / series by series to guess on the final records. It's baseball. I do expect us to break through / follow through and surprise with perhaps a sweep and/or a series win over a higher ranked opponent. I will be very surprised (barring any more significant injuries) if the team doesn't show an uptick on results in the final 32 games.

Last season, FSU finished ACC play at .500... won the ACC tournament and went to Omaha. Not saying we're on a path to Omaha (or even ACC championship)... but teams can/do improve (significantly) within a season. Let's see it play out. Frankly... it is gut-check time with this group. They have plenty of time to make something positive out of this season.
I think GT will have a winning record just barely and will be looking for a new head baseball coach for 2019:rolleyes::banghead:
 

dawgbasher

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
125
Nice write up Fred. Very well done. Here is a sobering thought though. Lets say Tech wins next two ACC series at a reasonable clip, 2-1. According to my math, that puts them at 7 - 8 in the ACC, a losing record. Somehow got to sweep a series or two in order to get to .500 in the ACC. Can be done, but gonna be tough. Someone has to step up and be a big time closer out of the pen. Who is that gonna be ? I don't know. I just know that is has to happen if Tech hopes to reach .500 in the ACC and advance to the NCAA playoffs.
 

FredJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,290
Location
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Noticed this in the Game notes leading into Miami weekend. Did not know Kel was injured.

INJURY BUG STINGS AGAIN
• Georgia Tech has once again been stung by the injury bug this season, as three different starters have missed time due to an injury.
• Senior Wade Bailey had his streak of 93-consecutive starts snapped last weekend as he was forced to sit out game two of the Friday doubleheader at NC State with an injury.
Fellow senior Kel Johnson has been out of the lineup for the last five games due to an upper body injury.
• Redshirt sophomore Carter Hall has been out since the Clemson series on March 9-10 due to an upper body injury.
 

FredJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,290
Location
Fredericksburg, Virginia
This should be the point in our season where result begin to diverge significantly from 2017 in a positive way. Frankly... it has already begun (IMO) with the great weekend we just completed. Just a huge weekend in so many ways. Here is a comparison...

Records after the 4th ACC series:
2017:
15-11 overall
4-8 in ACC

2018:
17-11 overall
6-6 in ACC

In 2017... this is the point the wheels really fell off the season. Ga Tech followed their 4th (1-2) ACC series in a row by going 1-7 (overall) including ACC sweeps at ND and at home v Louisville. Out of the Louisville series, the records were 16-18 overall and 4-14 in the conference. The team bumbled and stumbled to finish regular season right at .500 overall (27-26) and 11-19 in the ACC.

I'm not saying simply "improving" over 2017 is any significant accomplishment. We've documented in grave detail how awful 2017 was. The pitching was simply terrible and the results showed. However, for me... watching how fast we manage to blow past those bad numbers (the record) this year is going to be nice. the quicker...the better (obviously). It has already been an up and down year emotionally... just not sure what we have as we struggled to win and our record was not aligning with how much improved the team seemed to be by the "eyeball" test...IMO. Hopefully, the Miami series was more indicative of the ceiling (or even more closer to the norm). We're still going to have the hiccups... this is college baseball. However, all indications are we should win more than we lose the rest of the way...both in and out of the conference. We've already matched (at 2) the number of ACC series we won in all of 2017.
 

MWBATL

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,589
This team still owes us a couple of come from behind wins ot make up for a couple of come form ahead losses they had already. Play the type of baseball we played last week, and pay me back on those, and we will be in the discussion for hosting a Regional imho.
 

MWBATL

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,589
Further evidence of the improvement in pitching.....WHIP data current (minimum 5 IP):
This is a testament to how thin we are (but then, I guess most college teams might look like this)

Under 1.50:
Curry 1.05
Thomas 1.07
English 1.19
Hurter 1.32

Archer 0.17 (!!!)
Datoc 1.38

1.50-2.00:
Gibson 1.64
Wimborne 1.90

Over 2.00 (uh-oh)
Hughes 2.13 (more walks than hits...ashamed)
Lee 2.18 (getting hit hard)
Chapman 2.32 (still wild)
Schniederjens 2.40 (being hit hard)
Shirah 2.69

Too little action but I am curious to see more:
Jake Brace
Micah Carpenter
Bailey Combs
Joe Mannelly (only 1 hit but 4 walks allowed)
 

senoiajacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,141

FredJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,290
Location
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Good. That will give us a chance at payback at their place with hopefully a healthy lineup.
Man, that will be sweet when we beat the dwags in the cesspool to advance to (and win) the CWS. If you are gonna dream, dream BIG.
Let's just use the FSU model from last year. Get comfortably into ACC tournament.... win the damn thing & host a regional.
 
Top