Batting?

Erich Weiss ... he's hit pretty well. Loy has done some nice things.

It looks like offense is going to be a problem again this year.
 
It is very unusual to see two true freshmen hitting in the #3 and #4 spots. This is an indication of who AG sees as the better hitters.
Weiss and Payton, whose output fell off somewhat this weekend, have been near that batting order much of the new season. Loy
looks to be a little bit better than last year at this point of the season.

I have seen at least half of the games that the Horns have played this year. The bat change has not only changed the acceleration
of the ball off of the bat, but it has also changed the way the hitters seem to be swinging. Per AG's game interviews on 1300, you
can also see that the hitters have changed the way that they are swinging at the ball. The percentage of swings where they are
swinging hard and fast has decreased. Now what you see more of is the slapping of the bat at the ball in order to place the ball
over the infielders' heads. The whole reward system for the outcome of the bat has affected the mentality that the hitters have
when the hitters go to the batter's box.
 
I'm not one to get down on the club so early in the year as I know we are just trying to get it all together for later. Yet it seems to me offense will be a bigger problem than last year. And it also appears the 10 guys who will be in the lineup most are already defined very early. Augie has shown what we have to work with just by the number of at bats they have been given. There is a large drop-off between the 10th and 11th hitter in opportunities. So these 10 guys are for the most part our firepower. IMO, the 11th hitter, new face Lucas Kephart looks to be a better DH option than both Lusson and Walsh. In first 8 plate appearances, has two hits and walked once. Been on base 3 of 8 times and scored a run. So far that's production in my eyes...and his at-bats have been of quality...no strikeouts. Can't say the same for Walsh and Montalbano. Last thing you want is your DH and your lead-off guys being inept. Worst on-base % of team. I hate to say it, but our sometimes lead-off man has the worst batting average of top10 and 2nd worst at getting on base. Augie, that is a problem. If things don't pick up by next week, find a permanent new lead-off man (and NOT Maitland off the bench). Neither have the ability to lead-off and get on base often. Montalbano looks to me like a rotational batter who starts maybe 2 games a week, and pinch runs/hits now and then when needed. Definitely a pinch runner.

What I see so far overall in hitting, inconsistency will prevail and we should leave runners in scoring postion stranded more than usual. Great year for dead bats to be put in place by NCAA. lol Our long-ball power is now completely non-existent. Then again at home that may not be so bad for us. Hardly anybody will be hitting it out of the Disch on either team, and the dead bats will help our bunting placement for our small ball tactics.

Bad news, we should have about 5 of our top 10 batters (not all starters, just guys who play often and get alot of AB's) that are below .250 - .260. I think it will be that way late in the year too. I can see Felts, Lusson, Walsh, Etier, and Montalbano all ending under the .250-.260 mark before playoffs. And that's honestly not good enough for a CWS team. Especially since we are not as solid pitching this year as last. Don't get me wrong, we can be dominating by the end of the year in that area though. Cole Green gets back to form, Knebel gets the hang of the closer role, and the middle relievers find their groove...we will have the pitching of a CWS team. But once again, I just can't see the bats being consistent or potent enough to beat the best pitching staffs in the top 5.

My early prediction...we host a regional and win. Travel for a Super and lose 2 of 3. Last year we lost in our home Super and underachieved. This year I think we lose in a road Super and achieve about as well as I'd expect from our hitting woes. Really bothers me that some veterans are the ones lacking most at the plate. Kind of embarrassing. Have some pride guys and pick it up.

It is very early and I'm not concluding anything about our chances of a CWS berth. It's just an early assessment. Hope I'm wrong and will continue to cheer hard and will for the best. We do have a lot of young faces, so maybe the course of a season will produce a mean squad come June. The pitching certainly has the potential to be the nation's best by June if the younger ones develop. Green will get it together, not worried about that. But we need to greatly improve our hitting as there are other teams with stud pitching out there to match our starters.
 
Cedric Golden has a great quote from Augie in his AAS column about the 'Horns power hitting prowess (or lack thereof):

"How many balls were hit off the fence?" Garrido asked. "How many balls were hit to the fence? How many were one-bounced to the fence? None. At least not today. We don't even hit them out at batting practice. One (good) thing is we don't use as many balls."

I couldn't help but laugh.
 
BevoBeef, you are dead-on with the adjustment many hitters have made with the new bats. I also have noticed a much more-level, swatting motion from hitters. Typically you see that swing from a guy with 2 strikes in the count. Now, many guys are beginning counts that way just trying to swat a hit with better placement and not as much thump. IMO, it has really lowered the offensive intensity that I enjoyed about college baseball over MLB. And in no way do I mean huge scores, just the pop and excitement from hits. There truly has been a dulling of offensive excitement even when watching the visitor hit. They took something special away for sure.
 
Miss the Jeff Ontiveros bat. Nothing like hearing the bat hitting the ball and then knowing it's going over the fence! Bring back the power.
 
The difference is definitely noticeable simply in the lack of HRs so far. Most of our returning guys with power are well past their average AB's per HR from last year...

Lusson: HR every 15 AB's (2010)...has 24 AB's
Etier: HR every 23 AB's...has 29 AB's
Walla: HR every 29 AB's...has 37 AB's

Combined that's 23 extra AB's past the time one of them should have left the park. No way that's not attributed to dead bats and most likely swing adjustments away from power because of it. Baseball is just not baseball without an occasional blast. 356 AB's, no bombs, come on NCAA. Just for comparison...last year we hit a dong on average every 26 AB's. By those figures we'd have had 13-14 by now. No doubt those new bats have effected the game tremedously and IMO very negatively. Personally, I love college baseball because it's not much like MLB baseball. This year they've taken a chunk of that unique excitement away.
 
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