Good morning guys.
I just paid bail for Brandon Beckel to get out of a federal prison so the preview is a little later than normal....
Let's dive right into the hated Texas Longhorns and the keys for this weekend as TTU looks to win another series.
- Texas has admittedly played a pretty stout schedule thusfar. LSU/@Cal State FullertonX3/#8 Arky/#10 Vandy. Their RPI is still #59. Which to me says that TTU's early opponents are better than we anticipated. UT Arlington/Gonzaga/Iowa are good ball clubs. I also think that Oklahoma State will just outslug a ton of teams during conference play.
- UT has won 1 baseball game away from Disch-Faulk. Meh.
LINEUP
- Texas hits .282 as a team and really leans on their core of Powell-Kennedy-Brown. Those three have 57 RBI's out of the team total of 135.
- This team is not a group of big boppers and quite frankly doesn't jump off the page with any statistic. A team OB plus slugging of .849 is just a mild bowl of complete meh. TTU sits at .996 just for comparison.
- Really really impressed with Eric Kennedy so far. Kid hits .367 with 7 dingers and slugs .722. I think the TTU staff can pitch around him to some degree with the lack of depth in their lineup. Keep him at bay is a priority this weekend.
- Not a ton of success outside of Dylan Campbell on the bases as well. Without his 9/9, the whorns have 15 steals on the season. 9/9 is impressive as well considering he hits .238 with a .384 on base %.
- Give me the Red Raiders here and it's not particularly close. Hester/Harrelson continue getting on base for Bazzell/Green/Kash. The Red Raiders' ability to turn the lineup over with White/DH/Lopez will be huge this weekend. Even OSU had trouble putting the Tech lineup away and I really like the Pokes' staff.
PITCHING
- The Texas staff is good. Probably the best in the Big 12, IMO. They will most likely trot out Lucas Gordon/Travis Sthele/Lebarron Johnson this weekend. That trio has 75 IP on the year 24ER and 86K's. They're good.
- Their bullpen is even better. Charlie Hurley/Max Grubbs/David Shaw/Chase Lummus/DJ Burke/Andre Duplantier.......6 bullpen arms. All really impressive. 41 appearances. 64.1 IP. 62K's. and a grand total of 16 Earned Runs. UT's pitching is good top to bottom. They don't give out many free passes and strikeout 10 guys a game. This will be a challenge for the TTU lineup to put good AB's together and scratch together some crooked numbers.
- Lucas Gordon is probably the best arm Tech has seen thusfar. His stuff is electric. Outside of a poor outing at Cal State Fullerton, he's given up 1 earned run over his other 4 starts. He has a tendency to elevate his pitch count early, which isn't a big deal with the plethora of arms at their disposal in their bullpen. Friday night will be fun.
- UT actually has a pretty pronounced advantage with their pitching staff. Until Brendan Girton can figure out how to pitch deeper into games, Tech will continue to patchwork together innings with their bullpen, missing Beckel.
When I look at this matchup, the immediate attention goes to the UT staff against a potent TTU lineup. Tech still needs to iron out it's DH spot, and I wonder who mans the RF spot depending on RH/LH matchups. Washburn needs more AB's IMO but Damian Bravo has clearly put his flag in the ground with his performance at the dish last week.
DH will be a spot to watch this weekend. I don't think that Coleman just woke up one morning and forgot how to hit, but he's been off for weeks. Maybe Washburn/Voo get a shot at a DH start against UT this weekend?
Hester - L
Harrelson - L
Bazzell - R
Green - S
Coleman - R
Kash - L
Bravo - R
Lopez - L
White - R
Tadlock has shown that he loves the lineup going lefty/righty so far. It really puts opposing staffs in a bind when they can't just bring in their lefty specialist for any portion of this lineup. You could argue going lefty early against us, but Nolen Hester is unbelievable at seeing pitches and being about as annoying as possible at the plate. I love it. He's the 8th best hitter on this team at .314........... He's also one of 10 Red Raiders with an OB% above .400.
I'll take a bet and say that Girton gets things going Friday night. We need it. UT isn't going to just pound anyone with their lineup, but they're going to win a lot of low scoring games. Our 39 team errors scare me a little bit because giving up cheap runs will sink the ship against a pitching staff like UT.
Most important player - Girton. He has to give you 5+ innings Friday against Gordon. Absolutely key. Going into Saturday Molina starts with a 1-0 series lead feels damn good.
Must stop - Kennedy. Keep him quiet, and keep the guys in front of him off the bases. Bases empty AB's are a must with this guy.
Pick of the weekend - Tracer Lopez is finding himself a little bit. As his confidence grows, I see an All-Conf type player the next few years.
Texas Tech wins the series 2-1, but Friday night is massive.
Get in here @J. Apodaca with some more thoughts.
I just paid bail for Brandon Beckel to get out of a federal prison so the preview is a little later than normal....
Let's dive right into the hated Texas Longhorns and the keys for this weekend as TTU looks to win another series.
- Texas has admittedly played a pretty stout schedule thusfar. LSU/@Cal State FullertonX3/#8 Arky/#10 Vandy. Their RPI is still #59. Which to me says that TTU's early opponents are better than we anticipated. UT Arlington/Gonzaga/Iowa are good ball clubs. I also think that Oklahoma State will just outslug a ton of teams during conference play.
- UT has won 1 baseball game away from Disch-Faulk. Meh.
LINEUP
- Texas hits .282 as a team and really leans on their core of Powell-Kennedy-Brown. Those three have 57 RBI's out of the team total of 135.
- This team is not a group of big boppers and quite frankly doesn't jump off the page with any statistic. A team OB plus slugging of .849 is just a mild bowl of complete meh. TTU sits at .996 just for comparison.
- Really really impressed with Eric Kennedy so far. Kid hits .367 with 7 dingers and slugs .722. I think the TTU staff can pitch around him to some degree with the lack of depth in their lineup. Keep him at bay is a priority this weekend.
- Not a ton of success outside of Dylan Campbell on the bases as well. Without his 9/9, the whorns have 15 steals on the season. 9/9 is impressive as well considering he hits .238 with a .384 on base %.
- Give me the Red Raiders here and it's not particularly close. Hester/Harrelson continue getting on base for Bazzell/Green/Kash. The Red Raiders' ability to turn the lineup over with White/DH/Lopez will be huge this weekend. Even OSU had trouble putting the Tech lineup away and I really like the Pokes' staff.
PITCHING
- The Texas staff is good. Probably the best in the Big 12, IMO. They will most likely trot out Lucas Gordon/Travis Sthele/Lebarron Johnson this weekend. That trio has 75 IP on the year 24ER and 86K's. They're good.
- Their bullpen is even better. Charlie Hurley/Max Grubbs/David Shaw/Chase Lummus/DJ Burke/Andre Duplantier.......6 bullpen arms. All really impressive. 41 appearances. 64.1 IP. 62K's. and a grand total of 16 Earned Runs. UT's pitching is good top to bottom. They don't give out many free passes and strikeout 10 guys a game. This will be a challenge for the TTU lineup to put good AB's together and scratch together some crooked numbers.
- Lucas Gordon is probably the best arm Tech has seen thusfar. His stuff is electric. Outside of a poor outing at Cal State Fullerton, he's given up 1 earned run over his other 4 starts. He has a tendency to elevate his pitch count early, which isn't a big deal with the plethora of arms at their disposal in their bullpen. Friday night will be fun.
- UT actually has a pretty pronounced advantage with their pitching staff. Until Brendan Girton can figure out how to pitch deeper into games, Tech will continue to patchwork together innings with their bullpen, missing Beckel.
When I look at this matchup, the immediate attention goes to the UT staff against a potent TTU lineup. Tech still needs to iron out it's DH spot, and I wonder who mans the RF spot depending on RH/LH matchups. Washburn needs more AB's IMO but Damian Bravo has clearly put his flag in the ground with his performance at the dish last week.
DH will be a spot to watch this weekend. I don't think that Coleman just woke up one morning and forgot how to hit, but he's been off for weeks. Maybe Washburn/Voo get a shot at a DH start against UT this weekend?
Hester - L
Harrelson - L
Bazzell - R
Green - S
Coleman - R
Kash - L
Bravo - R
Lopez - L
White - R
Tadlock has shown that he loves the lineup going lefty/righty so far. It really puts opposing staffs in a bind when they can't just bring in their lefty specialist for any portion of this lineup. You could argue going lefty early against us, but Nolen Hester is unbelievable at seeing pitches and being about as annoying as possible at the plate. I love it. He's the 8th best hitter on this team at .314........... He's also one of 10 Red Raiders with an OB% above .400.
I'll take a bet and say that Girton gets things going Friday night. We need it. UT isn't going to just pound anyone with their lineup, but they're going to win a lot of low scoring games. Our 39 team errors scare me a little bit because giving up cheap runs will sink the ship against a pitching staff like UT.
Most important player - Girton. He has to give you 5+ innings Friday against Gordon. Absolutely key. Going into Saturday Molina starts with a 1-0 series lead feels damn good.
Must stop - Kennedy. Keep him quiet, and keep the guys in front of him off the bases. Bases empty AB's are a must with this guy.
Pick of the weekend - Tracer Lopez is finding himself a little bit. As his confidence grows, I see an All-Conf type player the next few years.
Texas Tech wins the series 2-1, but Friday night is massive.
Get in here @J. Apodaca with some more thoughts.
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