Did anyone

[centexorange]

see this coming? Im not from Austin so i don't have the inside tracks as some. But just wondering if there were any pre season signs that the horns might struggle this year.

 

[gohorns00]

I thought the Horns were in trouble last summer when they lost their 1B Wheeless and 3B Suttle (top 2 hitters). But when I saw Texas got Hernandez, Torres, and Belt as transfers, I felt like the Horns had a good chance at Omaha because they would be filling those missing spots in the infield.

*I didn't see Tucker (.307 in 2007 to .234 this year), Clark (.286 in 2007 to .240), and Russell (.336 in 2007 to .263) all struggling at the plate like they have this season.

*I didn't see a weekend rotation with two freshman starters and no closer on the staff.

*I didn't see our supposed two best pitchers struggling: Wood (8-1, 3.15 ERA in 2007 to 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA) and Kasparek (5-2, 3.80 ERA in 2006 to 2-3, 5.23 ERA)

*I didn't see 68 errors in the first 43 games.

I think the good news is the Horns obviously havent played their best baseball yet and it seems Russell is heating up. The talent on this team is really among the tops in the nation, I just think a lot of individual players have had poor seasons up to this point. I still think the Horns can turn-it-around and be a playoff sleeper, I just wonder how far the pitching staff (Texas' supposed strong point heading into the season) can take them.

 

[torre]

GoHorns - Excellent post and insight.

 

[goosehorn]

Perfection breakdown.

 

[Bubba Don]

I thought our pitching would struggle but was hopeful that either Kasparek or Boening could bounce back from inury.

Hitting wise, I thought we'd be very good. Maybe winning a lot of 7-6 games.

I never foresaw that the hot shot new 2B-SS tansfer combo would be so awful defensively.

Hook em