BATTING - Good Coaching leads to 103 Homeruns

Team batting average is back over 0.300, at 0.304.

7 out of 9 of our starters are batting over 0.300.

Brown is at 0.227 (with 5 homeruns).
O'Dowd and D. Kennedy are still a tad below the Mendoza line.

It would be great if Jack didn't wait until late April to wake up at bat. Remember, he really killed it at the plate late in the year and in the tournaments last year. As for D. Kennedy, well remember--last year Flores was sucking at the plate. Look at him now.

 

2024 Baseball Cumulative Statistics - University of Texas Athletics

6 of our starting lineup have an OPS > 1.000

 

Belyeu with 10 homeruns is on track for 27 homeruns on the season (assumes a 66 game season - regular season + conf tourn + region + super + CWS).

That's not Ivan, but that's getting close.

 

It seems i'm always a little critical of Pierces lineup, Kennedy should not be batting 2nd. Today it didn't matter and it may not matter till the playoffs as our schedule the rest of the season is horrendous outside TCU and maybe OU. Kennedy has been impressive though at the plate for a freshman, he's going to do well here the next two years.

I would like to see Thomas, Powell, Schuessler, Belyeu, and Flores. Would be a formidable front 5 to contend with. (Schuessler should be batting 3rd. Period!)

Dealing with Galvan, Gasparino and P. Brown on the back end, especially when they are hot, would be no easy task either.

 

Porter Brown is coming around. His batting average will keep inching up until it's in the high 200s or 300. Meanwhile, he's already shown power with 5 homeruns (on track for 12-14 over the course of the season).

2B has to hit better. I'm good with platooning Jack and D. Kennedy. Both need lots of reps and at bats. I just don't want to miss out when Jack catches fire late in the year. If he doesn't, well hopefully D. Kennedy will be batting North of 0.250 by late in the year... That (2B) is really our only weak link in the chain of our batting lineup. Brown's power makes up for his meager average at this point, and we know he's capable of hitting well North of 0.300.

 

Belyeu and Powell will be in the running for Big 12 Player of the Year.

 

Schuesler and Belyeu are both playing the role Powell played last year, and Murph the year before:

The guy who was a bench/depth player with little fanfare, then suddenly blows up the next year in a breakout year at the plate.

Schuessler may bat over 0.350 on the year, and Belyeu may hit 20+ homeruns (maybe 25+) while batting well over 0.300 on the year .

Flores is also having a breakout year at the plate, yet that was expected. MLB will be all over him. I hope he sticks around another year or two.

 

Second Base (both Captain Jack and D. Kennedy) needs to step up to the plate and get 'er done. With Brown finally heating up, 2B is the only remaining weak link in the batting lineup. In the back of my head, I think Jack will blow up and ignite at the play with explosive results--starting maybe a week or so before the conference tournament. But, in the meantime, we could use some more offensive production from 2B.

I wonder if we could try utility player Oliver Service there during some weekday games. Or work in young Ardoin some at the spot. There's always Gumbo if everyone's in a rut at the plate.

 

3/31/24

The team is batting 0.301

We have 5 starters with OPS > 1.000, led by Belyeu at 1.200. Schuessler is close at 0.930.

D. Kennedy and Porter Brown are both now well North of the Mendoza line at 0.241 and 0.233 respectively. Brown with 5 homeruns, and Kennedy with 2. Both have OPS in the 0.790s. And they're bringing up the rear. Overall, this is a really good lineup that puts a lot of points on the board.

 

3/31/24

55 Homeruns in 28 games = 1.964 Homeruns per game.

66 games (including post-season), means we're on track to hit 129 homeruns this year.

 

Dee Kennedy

He has slowly, and steadily, improved his batting. He's now batting North of 0.250 with 4 homeruns, 5 doubles, and an OPS of 0.837--which is good for a 2B.

 

More at bats for Oliver Service. Try him in CF or LF for a game or two.

Also, this thing we've been doing with Farmer, where he plays around 3 innings here and there, do that with Oliver Service.

 

Batting Avg's:

Some really big surprises in my opinion. Flores is top hitter but just as surprising, Belyeu and Schuessler have moved ahead of Powell.

I wouldn't have guessed those three doing better than Thomas and/or Powell.

Thomas has been a little streaky this year, not sure whats going on but seemed like he was more consistent toward the end of last year but at least I know he's mortal now.

Flores .365
Thomas .362
Belyeu .338
Schuessler .332
Powell .331

Team HR's at 90.

These five are why this team is so dangerous and why I believe we should expect 2-4 runs against any pitching staff. IF the lineup is made out with these guys together, it's too difficult to get through them in a 9 inning game without giving up a minimum of 2 runs. Then when you get through those 5, you have Galvan and Gasparino covering them with Gas and Borba seemingly taking a step this past weekend increasing the difficulty. It's extremely tough to pitch around this line up.

IF the pitching can settle and the defense end the errors, this team could still cause even the top teams in their bracket some serious indigestion.

 

Regarding hitting and how each has progressed this year and from last year, it is also interesting to compare the season stats versus the conference stats for the year. Thomas leads the teams in strikeouts in conference, but Gasparino leads for the season. Belyeu leads the team in average in conference play and homeruns in conference play. Gasparino has only 1 walk in conference. Powell leads the team in walks in conference, followed by Galvan. Surprisingly, as much as Galvan strikes out he seems to walk a lot. For the season, Thomas and Powell are tied for most walks, followed by Porter Brown.

It is hard to say what has happened to pitching.

I checked the D1 RPIs today and Texas moved up into the 50s. Out of curiosity I scrolled to the end to see how many schools are listed. There are 305 and Arkansas Pine Bluff fell to 305 from 304 this week with a n 8-29 record. Somehow Maryland Eastern Shore from up from 305 to 304 despite having a 0-38 record. Maybe they haven't been losing by as much recently and allowed them to jump from 305 to 304.

 

I’m sure it’s been on here before but I missed it, what’s up with Dowd?

 

O'Dowd, lack of performance (offensively), although i thought before the season that he didn't have the quick hands and arm to play second, we kept coming up just short of DP's last season so i was glad he was replaced in the field but Kennedy hasn't done any better (errors).

 

Nor batting. I think he's in the .215 range as the season nears the end.

 

Vol Horn- I didn't expect him to take off offensively, he's only a freshman, i just wanted more range at second and quicker hands, which is what we have but he's made a couple of critical errors.

I don't expect Kennedy to hit his stride till next year if he's not replaced. Has to cut down on those errors. Almost exactly like J. Duplantier. Both of those guys may not get it together till their Junior and/or Senior year.

He's tried to bunt a few times and almost has it down, if he would at least master that skillset he could help his team tremendously by just moving people over and not being an automatic out.

Essentially he's currently not much better than O'Dowd, i'm guessing Pierce is hoping he turns into more than last season's version of O'Dowd by the end when he will need him most.

 

OK but that's still about 30 points better than O'Dowd.

 

O'Dowd - likeable guy, Captain. Makes fewer errors than Kennedy, but doesn't have nearly the range of DK. His batting has been very sub-par this year, although I'd like to see him mixed in the lineup here-and-there. This is the time of year that he blew up last season and was one of our very top batters for the last few weeks and the playoffs.

 

I suspect Porter Brown is getting primed for a similar break out at the plate. Remember how he was late last year.

 

IF both D Kennedy and J O'Dowd keep crapping out at the plate, and DK's batting average gets below the Mendoza line, then let's do this:

1B....Borba
2B....Thomas
3B....Powell
C......Schuessler
RF....Belyeu
CF....Gasparino
LF.....Brown
DH...Galvan

If Porter Brown declines much more at the plate, look for Casey Cummings or Oliver Service to step in at LF.

 

A left hander anywhere in the infield but 1st is unusual, it's not a fluid move to get outs at 2nd or even 1st. Time is critical, especially in the middle infield, don't necessarily have to have an arm at 2nd, but you have to have quick hands, ball has to be in and out of your glove quicker to get the DP's or deep ground balls.

The amount of time the ball is in the hands of the 2nd baseman is more critical than the lack of throwing speed. Lefty is going to have the ball longer, it's a built in disadvantage.

 

DK's problems are frequent errors and a mediocre bat.

Jack's problems are a below mediocre bat (with occasional ultra-hot streaks), and a lack of range.

Thomas - he's just left-handed. SS to 2B to 1B double plays would indeed be more difficult. 2B to SS to 1B double plays would not be affected, and might actually be slightly easier. The bat would be an immense improvement.

I've always thought of SS (and C) as the position(s) where you can sacrifice hitting ability for good fielding. I want 2B to hit well.

But I've never coached a team to Omaha before...

 

Sacrifices for offense are a part of the decision for the middle of the field by most good managers because that's where the game is won or lost, starting with the catcher, SS, 2nd and finally CF.

If those guys keep people off base, you only need 1 run. Currently, mostly 2nd base and catcher has been the weak link in that chain (excluding poor pitching from this exercise).

 

The icing on the cake comes when you find a player in one of those positions that can not only play better defense than anyone else but can also carry his weight at the plate offensively.

but defense should come first in most every case.

 

Probably preaching to the choir here.

 

That’s the traditional view, and traditionally that’s my view. But I cannot stomach anyone batting below the Mendoza line—even if he was Ozzie Smith in the field.

 

Should I dare say it……….?














It might’ve been nice to have Daly back at 2B this year.

 

Or Luke Storm and Sweeney stayed?