Ga Southern - Tuesday

[FredJacket]

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/021918aaa.html

Connor Thomas gets the start. First of only 2 road games in the pre-ACC schedule... before heading to Clemson to open conference play.

ESPN3 carrying game.

Playing better is imperative.
-Master of the Obvious

 

[THWG]

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/021918aaa.html

Connor Thomas gets the start. First of only 2 road games in the pre-ACC schedule... before heading to Clemson to open conference play.

ESPN3 carrying game.

Playing better is imperative.
-Master of the Obvious

I like the decision to start Thomas, but I would have made him the Saturday starter. I wonder if this is kind of a tryout for him to see how he does in a starting role. I was also kind of hoping to see either Chapman or Hurter start this game just to see what they can do.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Hopefully we play good baseball. (Also Master of the Obvious.) The team didn't look ready to play good baseball in the last two games.

 

[FredJacket]

Hopefully we play good baseball. (Also Master of the Obvious.) The team didn't look ready to play good baseball in the last two games.

If the true explanation (impossible to know) of the play Sat & Sun was "not ready" ...that's really bad & I want to believe that isn't the case. However, the eyeball test makes you wonder. At least we saw "good" stuff on Friday. Need a better performance for sure today/this week.

 

[MWBATL]

The real problem is if this team *was* ready to play this past weekend, and that what we saw is what we are. If so, it will be a long season and NavyNuke's yard will be gorgeous by season's end.

 

[65Jacket]

Why did we not pinch hit for Ratliff against the ace lefty who K'ed him twice.
I hope Thomas wins a starter role tonight for the week end.

 

[FredJacket]

Why did we not pinch hit for Ratliff against the ace lefty who K'ed him twice.
I hope Thomas wins a starter role tonight for the week end.

Good question. ...and to put a finer point on it, seems like a great role for X.Curry... pinch hitter.

 

[THWG]

Why did we not pinch hit for Ratliff against the ace lefty who K'ed him twice.
I hope Thomas wins a starter role tonight for the week end.

I understand that question, but I liked the decision to leave Baron in the game. You have to find out what a freshman is made of in that situation and see how he responds. I would rather find that out now early on in the season than in ACC play.

 

[FredJacket]

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/022018aaa.html

Quotes from the leadership (seniors)...
“...what's important right now, I just want to get a win and get back on track,” said Bailey.

...and Kel addressing the concerns of @GTNavyNuke feel better?

“We’re going to go down there and give it all we’ve got,” said Johnson. “We’ll be ready to play.”

 

[GTNavyNuke]

The real problem is if this team *was* ready to play this past weekend, and that what we saw is what we are. If so, it will be a long season and NavyNuke's yard will be gorgeous by season's end.

Yard will be great. Been wanting to plug the yard for a while.

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/022018aaa.html

Quotes from the leadership (seniors)...
“...what's important right now, I just want to get a win and get back on track,” said Bailey.

...and Kel addressing the concerns of @GTNavyNuke feel better?

“We’re going to go down there and give it all we’ve got,” said Johnson. “We’ll be ready to play.”

I feel a lot better since I just sat down and got a beer.

I don't know about tonight's game. I'll post my thoughts on the weekend in a bit. No reason to try and predict what's going to happen; will usually be wrong and it doesn't do any good.

I am a bit bothered by pitching Connor after his pitching 4 innings on Saturday. Not so much for him, but what it says about the rest of the talent we have when we need to start one of our few successful pitchers from the weekend. Where is the rest of the talent? Admittedly that is negative; hopefully it's a three inning limit and a staff night. But I doubt it since wins are essential in EVERY game.

 

[FredJacket]

Yard will be great. Been wanting to plug the yard for a while.



I feel a lot better since I just sat down and got a beer.

I don't know about tonight's game. I'll post my thoughts on the weekend in a bit. No reason to try and predict what's going to happen; will usually be wrong and it doesn't do any good.

I am a bit bothered by pitching Connor after his pitching 4 innings on Saturday. Not so much for him, but what it says about the rest of the talent we have when we need to start one of our few successful pitchers from the weekend. Where is the rest of the talent? Admittedly that is negative; hopefully it's a three inning limit and a staff night. But I doubt it since wins are essential in EVERY game.

I'm wondering if this was the plan all along. Thomas gets a few innings on Friday (it wasn't Sat) & starts tonight. I see no problem with that... rest wise opening the season.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Connor after 6 only 1 ER. 70% strikes (48-69). Maybe one more inning? He looks like a keeper

We've made a lot of good defensive plays. Damn this is nice. Score is nice too up 5-1. Ga Southern has given / we've taken 8 walks. I won't complain at all. We've suffered enough on that score!

 

[FredJacket]

Connor after 6 only 1 ER. 70% strikes (48-69). Maybe one more inning? He looks like a keeper

We've made a lot of good defensive plays. Damn this is nice. Score is nice too up 5-1. Ga Southern has given / we've taken 8 walks. I won't complain at all. We've suffered enough on that score!

I have a few nits to pick. We should have more than 5 runs through 7 innings. ...but I'll do your deal not complaining (any more than that).

Thomas is a weekend starter... for sure.... based on performance to date. Just sit him until the UIC weekend series. He's the glaring bright spot of 2018. 11IP... lots of strikes & only 1ER.

 

[THWG]

Good guys win 7-1!! Fantastic pitching by Thomas and Gibson tonight. One walk and one error is something that will put us in a position to win a lot of games.

 

[MWBATL]

Fred hit the nail on the head....Thomas looks like a true "find". If Curry can be half decent (and he could be better than that if someone could teach him control), and with Thomas, I'd think we have a nice 1-2 punch and a chance at a decent season. That is, assuming our bullpen (which really hasn't been all that bad yet) can give us 3-4 innings of good pitching per game.

Now, we need to find a solid #3 starter.

I must admit I have not been impressed with Kel for about 2 years now...seems to have a pretty big hole in his swing. I know Hall is loyal and Kel can get hot and carry a team for a few games at a time, but hitting him 5th isn't helping much right now. I am really hoping English gets off the schneid. As long as one of those guys is producing I think we'll be OK offensively against most teams. Against good pitching we will need to rely on base running and small ball. Hall still is in love with the HR (sigh).

 

[Buzzzard]

Fred hit the nail on the head....Thomas looks like a true "find". If Curry can be half decent (and he could be better than that if someone could teach him control), and with Thomas, I'd think we have a nice 1-2 punch and a chance at a decent season. That is, assuming our bullpen (which really hasn't been all that bad yet) can give us 3-4 innings of good pitching per game.

Now, we need to find a solid #3 starter.

I must admit I have not been impressed with Kel for about 2 years now...seems to have a pretty big hole in his swing. I know Hall is loyal and Kel can get hot and carry a team for a few games at a time, but hitting him 5th isn't helping much right now. I am really hoping English gets off the schneid. As long as one of those guys is producing I think we'll be OK offensively against most teams. Against good pitching we will need to rely on base running and small ball. Hall still is in love with the HR (sigh).

Kel hasn't looked the same since his ankle injury.

 

[FredJacket]

Memo to Tristin:
When you're up 7-1 in B9 with 2 outs in the 4th game of the season....
DO NOT LAYOUT DIVE to make a play on a little pop up in foul territory. Need you & your arm to stay healthy.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Memo to Tristin:
When you're up 7-1 in B9 with 2 outs in the 4th game of the season....
DO NOT LAYOUT DIVE to make a play on a little pop up in foul territory. Need you & your arm to stay healthy.

If you’re wired to play hard every play, it’s very hard not to.

 

[65Jacket]

My heart stopped when I say him dive with 2 out in 9th, and when he got tangled up with the runner at first. We can't afford to lose a key player.

 

[THWG]

Fred hit the nail on the head....Thomas looks like a true "find". If Curry can be half decent (and he could be better than that if someone could teach him control), and with Thomas, I'd think we have a nice 1-2 punch and a chance at a decent season. That is, assuming our bullpen (which really hasn't been all that bad yet) can give us 3-4 innings of good pitching per game.

Now, we need to find a solid #3 starter.

I must admit I have not been impressed with Kel for about 2 years now...seems to have a pretty big hole in his swing. I know Hall is loyal and Kel can get hot and carry a team for a few games at a time, but hitting him 5th isn't helping much right now. I am really hoping English gets off the schneid. As long as one of those guys is producing I think we'll be OK offensively against most teams. Against good pitching we will need to rely on base running and small ball. Hall still is in love with the HR (sigh).

I have actually been very impressed with the pen so far. It's obvious that the tier 1 guys are Datoc, Gibson, Carpenter (when he gets back), Winborne and Shirah. Then like you said a 1-2 punch of Curry and Thomas looks really good right now. I'm hoping that either Hurter or Chapman will get the Sunday spot as I would like to see what they can do.