So is anybody feeling any better about baseball?

[johnson86-1]

If they come in and win tonight, that will be a 7 game win streak. Depending on tonight, the highest score by an opponent could be 4 runs.

Are we figuring anything out or can you just tell nothing from the competition we've played?

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Yes. Looks like we're successfully weeding out some of the attitude, and getting the right guys in the lineup.

Sh*t I'm feeling good about basketball too. The hell with last night. The fact that we get to hang an NCAAT banner in the Hump is a testament to how good we should all feel. And we have some boosters who will do what they have to do NIL-wise to keep us where we are now that we've found us a coach.

 

[patdog]

Let's see how we look at the end of the month. Hard to tell much from the teams we've been playing lately.

 

[PK Dawg]

I’m starting to feel a lil tingly inside, but fully expecting my heart to be crushed any day. Thankfully I bought a pontoon recently and it does wonders for masking the pain.

 

[Thebulldogcountry1]

If they come in and win tonight, that will be a 7 game win streak. Depending on tonight, the highest score by an opponent could be 4 runs.

Are we figuring anything out or can you just tell nothing from the competition we've played?

Winning sure helps a lot, but I still have a lot of concerns.

I think we will have a decent enough offense. Guys like Clark and Hines are coming around. Chance is a nice surprise.

Defense is improving a little.

Pitching is still a major worry. Our core returning pitchers on Smith, Hunt, Kohn, and Stinnett are giving us nothing. Hunt is the only one actually playing some, but he's not reliable. Of all the transfers, Dohm is the only guy who has impressed. Gartman is okay, but will probably struggle in SEC play. The rest of the transfers can't throw strikes, but somehow could before they came here. Our most consistent pitchers are freshmen who haven't been coached up by Foxhall yet.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

We got a lot of dead weight taking up roster spots.

 

[patdog]

We got a lot of dead weight taking up roster spots.

And coaching spots.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Let's see how we look at the end of the month. Hard to tell much from the teams we've been playing lately.

The teams we are playing lately are better than VMI who we started the year against.

To me, the improvement is obvious because we seem to have mostly fixed the biggest issue (pitching), and the biggest root cause of that issue (walks / free passes). None of that is related to level of competition. Loftin is the only one still struggling there. We’ve found the guys we can count on in both the weekend rotation and the bullpen, which are two things we didn’t have last year.

 

[QuadrupleOption]

Our hitting is good but obviously SEC pitching will test that.
Still too many errors from our infield.
Pitching has been better but I don't understand how it seems like we can get tons of batters to 0-2 and then walk them.

 

[patdog]

The teams we are playing lately are better than VMI who we started the year against.

That's not saying much. We'll know a lot more by April 1. We're definitely playing better than we did the first couple of weeks. Are we playing enough better? Don't know yet.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Our hitting is good but obviously SEC pitching will test that.
Still too many errors from our infield.
Pitching has been better but I don't understand how it seems like we can get tons of batters to 0-2 and then walk them.

Looking good against 87 mph fastballs

 

[Perd Hapley]

That's not saying much. We'll know a lot more by April 1. We're definitely playing better than we did the first couple of weeks. Are we playing enough better? Don't know yet.

Did you read the rest of the post? Our issues were largely self inflicted and we have corrected a good bit of them. Some of that is guys improving, and some of it is that the main culprits are no longer seeing as many innings.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

Insert Meme of The Dude Packed with Fluffy Sheep instead of human fans and I'll be the one bitchin' at Blue behind home plate.

 

[patdog]

Did you read the rest of the post? Our issues were largely self inflicted and we have corrected a good bit of them. Some of that is guys improving, and some of it is that the main culprits are no longer seeing as many innings.

I read it. A quick check shows we've walked 22 batters and committed 4 errors in the last 4 games. It's not like we've eliminated anywhere near all the self-inflicted issues.

 

[Perd Hapley]

I read it. A quick check shows we've walked 22 batters and committed 4 errors in the last 4 games. It's not like we've eliminated anywhere near all the self-inflicted issues.

10 of the 22 walks were 6 walks from Loftin (who I acknowledged was still having issues) and 4 from Davis and Gibbs who were pitching garbage innings with an 8 run lead against Lipscomb.

2 of the 4 errors were committed by one freshmen player on one play in the Nicholls game. 1 error per game average isn’t all that unexpected anyway for most teams. The average across the board last year in the SEC was in the 0.8 ~ 0.9 errors per game range.

We’re not where we need to be yet, but improvement is happening.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

To me, the improvement is obvious because we seem to have mostly fixed the biggest issue (pitching), and the biggest root cause of that issue (walks / free passes). None of that is related to level of competition. Loftin is the only one still struggling there. We’ve found the guys we can count on in both the weekend rotation and the bullpen, which are two things we didn’t have last year.

The walks are still happening, the pitchers just aren't letting that spin out of control for big innings as much anymore. Which is improvement, for sure, just not completely fixed.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

And coaching spots.

You absolutely hated Cohen and it's fairly obvious you hate Lemonis. The former totally built our modern day baseball program and the latter won us our first national championship.

At some point, you'd think you'd stop having such strong opinions on baseball?

 

[patdog]

The walks are still happening, the pitchers just aren't letting that spin out of control for big innings as much anymore. Which is improvement, for sure, just not completely fixed.

So, the problems are all fixed. Except for the ones that aren't. Got it. Let's see how things look come April 2.

 

[Seinfeld]

When we win a weekend series against a team with a pulse, I'll start to feel better. Until then, I'm not confident that our pitching staff is even remotely where it needs to be in order to compete in this conference. Just way too much reliance on freshmen and inexperienced guys thanks to the cluster17 '21 and '22 classes.

Foxhall needs these guys to go on one helluva run to earn his job back between now and the end of the year because as far as I'm concerned, his dismissal papers have already been signed and post-dated

 

[Mayor of Little London]

Hard to be humble when you just opened a can of wup -*** on Nicholls and your in state rival can’t get past j’ville state in the midweek.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

So, the problems are all fixed. Except for the ones that aren't. Got it. Let's see how things look come April 2.

Not at all. I was just agreeing that some improvement has been made, but definitely not enough. SEC play is, indeed, the true measuring stick.

 

[Beretta.sixpack]

Ask me after our first 9 SEC games.....I do like our 7 game win streak, it is a good feeling.....but we havent exactly been playing SEC caliber talent...Loftin had control issues in high school and that was his biggest issue....he looks really good on the mound though....he is a Foxhall guy too....swing and miss type pitcher and that is what Foxhall loves....

offensively, i believe having Hines and Clark getting hot will be the key to keeping the rest going....Clark had a sophomore slump last year and hope that is gone....my fear is/was Hines would have a sophomore slump too....Larry has been a pleasant surprise....lots of new, young faces in the lineup that havent seen SEC pitching yet....

I put the over/under on SEC wins this season at 10

 

[dorndawg]

The only time I watch Bulldog baseball is when we are about to win the CWS***

 

[Perd Hapley]

When we win a weekend series against a team with a pulse, I'll start to feel better. Until then, I'm not confident that our pitching staff is even remotely where it needs to be in order to compete in this conference.

Nobody should be fully confident at present time because we are currently missing 3 cornerstone pieces of the staff due to injury. Any universe with Cade, Nixon, Kohn, Auger, and Simmons all not contributing to this season would have us in a bad spot. If / when we get those first 3 guys back, we’ll have them plus Lo, Ynetma, Gartman, Loftin, Tapper, Dohm, and Siary. That’s a solid 10 guys who have all shown some promise….with Loftin and his walk problem being the only major concern currently. We can play .500 ball in the SEC with that group, no question.

Davis, Gibbs, Hardin, Stinnett, Holcombe, and all the others shouldn’t be factors for meaningful innings. Those experiments should be over. Any long term injuries to Smith / Kohn / Nixon is going to force one or more of them into more work, which would be a problem.

 

[Xenomorph]

If they come in and win tonight, that will be a 7 game win streak. Depending on tonight, the highest score by an opponent could be 4 runs.

Are we figuring anything out or can you just tell nothing from the competition we've played?

I looked through all the numbers this morning because I was curious...

Our fielding has improved from "historically bad" .941 to just "Godawful" .956

Our walks allowed has improved from GTFO to just OMFG.

Team batting is up from .294 to .305

Instead of 13th in team ERA we're now 9th at 4.71

Our bright spot...We're 33/35 in stolen bases which leads the SEC to this point.

Are we playing better baseball? Over the past 10 days, perhaps so. Let's hold that judgement until Sunday afternoon around 4pm. We were so bad over the first 3 weeks of the season that we could be playing better now and still get our azzes kicked in Lexington.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

The walks are still happening, the pitchers just aren't letting that spin out of control for big innings as much anymore. Which is improvement, for sure, just not completely fixed.

I just want to continually improve. I don't think we could've started off much worse.

 

[MSUDC11-2.0]

Win tonight and win two in Lexington and I’ll start to feel like we might be OK. Right now I’m totally unconvinced. I don’t think this is a high ceiling team and right now I think our best case scenario is a weak 2 seed or a 3 seed in someone else’s Regional and I don’t see this as Super Regional or Omaha team.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Better? A little.
But we aren't beating good teams, and we still have pitching questions and lineup questions albeit less than pitching. 3rd? That's a huge question. I still don't believe we have a great weekend rotation.

 

[pseudonym]

7-game winning streak ain’t bad. If this were June, we’d be in the driver’s seat in Omaha.

 

[Podgy]

Feel better. Yes. We've looked better over the past week or so. This thread will still be up on Sunday evening, right?

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Tapper looks good. Gonna need him. Mershon hasn’t looked like a total upgrade at 3rd. Nixon needs to come back do Dohm can potentially be the Saturday guy. Hunt needs to keep giving good outing and take Dohm’s role when Nixon is back. Smith and Kohn could be two good long relievers

 

[trob115]

Pitching is slowly improving. 2.36 team era, 73 Ks ,and 35 BB in 61 innings. Definitely helps when you aren't walking every other batter.
The staff could get 3 arms back next week: Pico, Nixon, and Cade. All could pitch this weekend, but won't due to the extreme cold temps.

 

[onewoof]

I'm seeing signs of life and signs of dos huevos

 

[She Mate Me]

I feel better, but it is absolutely vital we get two out of three in Lexington this weekend, and that won't be easy.

This team desperately needs the confidence boost of beating a solid team in a weekend series. And the SEC is going to be brutal, so losing a series to UK would be a terrible way to start.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I can clearly remember the year that we won the national championship we were quickly knocked out in the SEC tournament and all hell broke loose on this board.

 

[tired]

If they come in and win tonight, that will be a 7 game win streak. Depending on tonight, the highest score by an opponent could be 4 runs.

Are we figuring anything out or can you just tell nothing from the competition we've played?

Just put the most talented players on the field even if that player is a freshman. Some guys are coming out of their funk at the plate. Looks like the coaches MAY have decided to get their heads out of their collective arses.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Have we beat a team this season that will make a Regional?

 

[onewoof]

Have we beat a team this season that will make a Regional?

Yes. Ourselves.

 

[She Mate Me]

Have we beat a team this season that will make a Regional?

No way to know yet, but ULL and USM have made plenty in past years.

 

[The Peeper]

7-game winning streak ain’t bad. If this were June, we’d be in the driver’s seat in Omaha.

and we would be beating respectable teams in June instead of Spring training teams