PITCHING

X Misn Tx said:
this is my only thought as well. if they get it figured out, we'll have a great rotation.
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We will.

But for now, conference play is upon us this weekend, against nationally ranked Texas Tech. The time for experimentation is coming to a close. LBJ could be a super-star, or he could be a guy killing a bunch of gophers in the dirt in front of home plate. Sthele could also be a star, or he could be a guy who pitches plenty of crooked-number innings. I'm glad we have both. I'm more of a proven performance/good pitching stats sort of fan. And Hurley (a starter at USC last year) sure is looking strong on the stats sheet right about now.

Of course, with our typical starter only going about 5 innings, it's almost just as good to be the first (middle) reliever off the bench as far as getting lots of innings go...
 
aUTfan said:
Hurley and Tole are going to get hit and hit hard against the better hitting teams if they have to pitch more than one round through the order.
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Maybe. Maybe not. I haven't seen any evidence that they wouldn't be good starters. Hurley started in the PAC 10 last year and did well. Tole came to us from Arkansas as a reliever, and perhaps that's his lot in his baseball life. Or, maybe he could start. He's been throwing very well lately.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have all of these guys. Our staff, especially the pen, is sooooooooooooo much better than last year.
 
But I'm more of a Moneyball guy than a "traditional baseball" guy. Traditionally, baseball loves the pitchers with great stuff. If you're scouting for MLB that makes the most sense. If you're trying to win the most games this year in college, I prefer the current stats sheets.

But I haven't taken multiple teams to Omaha.

:bevo::bevo::bevo:
 
Chop said:
But I'm more of a Moneyball guy than a "traditional baseball" guy. Traditionally, baseball loves the pitchers with great stuff. If you're scouting for MLB that makes the most sense. If you're trying to win the most games this year in college, I prefer the current stats sheets.

But I haven't taken multiple teams to Omaha.

:bevo::bevo::bevo:
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I'm a stats guy too but I watch Stehle, Morehouse, LBJ and see a lot of upside, too much to ignore, so much more that if they get their confidence, will smoke Hurley and Tole in stats. But I'm not knocking any of them. I want them all to be successful to help our team win. I don't care if i'm wrong, start'em. :headbang:
 
TexasSports has now changed our listed starting pitcher from Shaw to Hurley. Looks like it will be Hurley. He’s got real good numbers thus far.
 
A forgettable defensive game in the rain vs. UIW pushed our team ERA back over 3.00.

3/22/2023

Team ERA = 3.18
 
Hurley as the mid-week starter might work out ok.
After last night, Hurley's ERA = 1.80, and WHIP = 1.00.

We'll need a good pitcher to go against Texas State, aTm, and Air Force -- all upcoming mid-week games.
 
Big 12 Conference

3/22/2023

TOP Starting Pitchers in the Big 12 (the best 2 starters in the conference are ours!!! :bevo::bevo::bevo:, also Nos. 12 and 15 are ours.):

1. Gordon....1.37....:bevo:
2. Hurley.....1.80.....:bevo:
3. Trazel......2.03......WV
4. Klecker....2.22......TCU
5. Stebens..2.28.......Okla St
6. Southit...2.39.......OU
7. Brown....2.70.......TCU
8. Molina...2.81.......Tech
9. Boerema.2.88......KSU
10. Watts-Brown..2.96...Okla St
11. Baumgartner..2.96..KU
12. LBJ.........3.28......:bevo:
13. Hampton..3.38.....WV
14. Ireland....3.48......KU
15. Sthele.....4.07....:bevo:
 
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Chop said:
Takes from Game 2 of the Manhattan series:

Zane Morehouse -- an off day. Still showing the tendency to dig holes and then have to dig himself out of them. It wasn't so much that Zane was getting behind in the counts, its just that he kept putting men no base with no outs or one outs. He's our guy as a weekend starter and a legitimate Big 12 weekend starter no doubt, although LBJ might make a move up if he keeps throwing like he's been throwing. If that happens, then either Zane or Sthele may be starting mid-week games.

Max Grubbs -- living dangerously today, but no damage. Beaned a man, then didn't do anything else wrong. He gave up a really weird infield hit that would have been an impossible play for the pitcher to make -- effectively, it was a bunt. Then Grubbs turned in a great fielding play scooping up a very short grounder and flipping it to Galvan at the plate for an out. Grubbs gave up zero runs, so all's well that ends well. Grubbs preserved his 0.00 ERA. Grubbs isn't the 2nd coming of Roger Clemens, but what Grubbs is (for this year at least) is a guy who can come in, throw strikes, and get a bunch of ground outs. I think this year he'll be one of our most valuable middle relievers, and will likely be used about like Burke is being used now. Long-term, Grubbs has starter written all over him. As Geno Gordon put it in his interview today: Grubbs is "a strike-thrower who gets A LOT of ground outs." Gordon then favorably compared Grubbs to Tristan Stevens.

David Shaw -- this was an off day for Shaw. Worst he's done this year. Surrendered 2 runs. Shaw did get screwed by some rare Errors by Daly (only one of them was scored an Error on the books, the other..........well, anyone watching the game would have considered it an error). Still, Shaw is probably one of our top 2 go-to guys in relief right now, the other being Burke.

Heston Tole -- Good outing today. Ate innings without giving up runs and sustaining damage. His stock is rising. Another one of our go-to guys. His breaking ball was crossing the plate and getting outs. He also strikes me as a smart pitcher.
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Zane Morehouse was killing it tonight vs Texas Tech. 3+ perfect innings in relief in a 6-2 win. And Morehouse got the win.
 
Geno Gordon only allowed 2 runs in 5+ innings vs Tech. This will bump up his ridiculously low ERA a bit, but it was still a good outing against an LSU-level batting lineup.
 
After Game 1 with Tech

Team ERA = 3.11. That’s #11 in the country.

Tech and WV are at #s 24-25 in the country. After that it’s a drop off.
 
Generally, Texas needs to be top ten ERA and top 5 in fielding to be Omaha worthy.
 
mchammer said:
Generally, Texas needs to be top ten ERA and top 5 in fielding to be Omaha worthy.
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I like the direction this team is moving. Pitching is looking tops in the conference by a long shot. Batting is mostly getting it together. Our 8 and 9 spots (especially Thomas) need to step it up at the plate before the Regionals. The front half of the lineup is quite good.
 
Kennedy
Brown
Powell
Guilliamette
Campbell

That’s a good batting core.

Jack is pretty good at the plate (not bad/not great). A tad above average.

Daly has been ok—not last year’s Daly at the plate anyway. Average batter this year.

We keep waiting for someone to step up and establish himself at DH—maybe Belyeu, J DuPlantier, Flores, Carlson, or Galvan can get it together.

And Thomas must improve at the plate.

The DH and 1B bats are dragging us down. Get the DH and 1B batting at least average and this turns into a really good lineup.
 
Where are we at now in rotation, etc?

Weekend starters:

Gordon
Sthele
LBJ

Weekday starter:

Hurley

First out of the pen types:

Shaw
Morehouse
Tole
Burke
DuPlantier

Other Relievers who can usually be counted on:

Lummus
Grubbs
Howard
Whitehead
Stuart (slumping badly lately—but can go for a lot of innings)

Still need to prove themselves in blowouts before pitching with the game on the line:

Walbridge
George

Who knows because we never get to see them—ever:

O’Banan
Minchey
 
Chop said:
Where are we at now in rotation, etc?

Weekend starters:

Gordon
Sthele
LBJ

Weekday starter:

Hurley

First out of the pen types:

Shaw
Morehouse
Tole
Burke
DuPlantier

Other Relievers who can usually be counted on:

Lummus
Grubbs
Howard
Whitehead
Stuart (slumping badly lately—but can go for a lot of innings)

Still need to prove themselves in blowouts before pitching with the game on the line:

Walbridge
George

Who knows because we never get to see them—ever:

O’Banan
Minchey
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Witt???
 
Change in ERAs after 2 games vs. Tech:

Gordon is at 1.71

LBJ is down to 2.96

Morehouse is down to 3.38

Sthele is up to 4.55

We'll see if Coach uses Hurley today, or in the upcoming weekday games vs. aTm and Texas State.

Team ERA is at 3.21, the best in the conference. WV has come out of nowhere to post a 3.54 team ERA for 2nd place thus far.
 
Hurley did pretty well against Tech—game 3. Ace did allright. Very forgettable outings for Stuart and Howard. VERY forgettable…
 
After today, Hurley’s ERA should be right around 2.00.
I would expect him to stick as a starter.
 
So, who's going to start against aTm on Tuesday?

Some candidates:

- Burke 28%
- Tole 22%
- LBJ 15%
- Lummus 10%
- Whitehead 8%
- Grubbs 7%
- DuPlantier 5%
- Walbridge 2%
- Stuart 2%
- Other 1%
 
Hurley's ERA only went up to 1.86, which makes him the 2nd best starting pitcher in the Big 12, behind only Gordon.
 
Chop said:
More on Minchey

"No. 3: Kobe Minchey, RHP
On a Texas pitching staff with more questions than answers, Coach Pierce will have to find innings wherever he can get them. Freshman right-hander Kobe Minchey is as good of an option as any.

Minchey stands at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. He was homeschooled in high school and had a bit of late development, leading to recruiting rankings that do not reflect the juice he has in his arm. Minchey has gained 6+ MPH on his fastball over the past year.

His four-seamer sits in the low 90’s and can creep up to 95. He supplements that with a slider and changeup, the latter of which he is comfortable using in any count.

Coach Pierce noted that Minchey pitches with a ton of confidence. This is a must at the high D1 level and is a trait that is hard to instill in some pitchers.

I do not expect Minchey to be a weekend starter for the Longhorns, at least not yet. Coach Pierce and first-year pitching coach Woody Williams will likely deploy him as a mid-week starter and/or out of the pen on the weekend. If he holds up to start the season, Minchey could force his way to that Sunday starter role by the season’s end."

Texas Baseball: 3 freshmen poised for a breakout
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We finally got to see Minchey for an inning tonight, and he didn’t disappoint. 3 up. 3 down. His fastball was clocking in at 93mph+. Decent movement on his pitches. I hope we see a lot more of Minchey. Lummus and Grubbs too.
 
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