This will be a shorter post than normal, because, quite frankly, rice just ain’t what it used to be.
- Tech is cruising right now and the coolest part about it, to me, is that they are winning games in different ways. Longball-check. Dominant pitching-check. Forcing the issues with aggressive base running-check. It’s a talented roster that is a ton of fun to watch.
- I will continue to pay attention to the OF competition. Right when I thought masters had fallen to the wayside, he hits really well during the mid week double header. O’Tremba has had success, even in a limited AB’s. Marusak had a good game Tuesday as well. There are a ton of guys competing like crazy for a limited number of spots.
- The biggest thing that jumps out to me about this group compared to other Tadlock teams is the midweek games. Ttu is throwing Dobbins and Montgomery, who could arguably start for half the big 12 on the weekend. In years past, it seemed like we puzzled those midweek series together and just hoped to outhit people. It allows our bullpen arms to recover, it allows some different guys to get shots at the plate, just a ton of fun to see dobbins/queen/Montgomery throw well.
- How big of a luxury is it to not have Braxton catch 90% of innings in year? It’s really neat to see depth at that spot like we haven’t had in awhile.
- TTU is already 26 of 29 on steals and Stillwell has been thrown out twice. It’s an element that I think Tadlock rosters have lacked. Someone pointed out in another thread that the style of baseball in Omaha is different than the regular season. It seems like this team is primed for that style just as much as slugfests. Pitching depth and the ability to play small ball when you need to manufacture a run when you need to... it’s fun to project how far this team can go.
- There is no way around it, this rice team is not good. They have one player hitting above .300, Trei Cruz. They don’t hit for average, they don’t hit home runs (4 total). They don’t get on base. They strike out a bunch, over 10 times a game. And they don’t steal, 3/6 total.
- The pitching staff isn’t as embarrassing. And that’s reeeaallllyy digging for a positive about this team. Eh... hell. They are bad too. A team ERA over 5.6.... 63 free passes... just not a good year so far. I expect to see some order of Brogdon, Deleon, and Greenwood toe the rubber this weekend. Get to the pen early and often.
- The one thing I will say is that rice has played a really tough schedule so far. 3 games against Texas, 3 against UC Irvine, houston, Texas state, and Missouri state. Not a lot of teams that jump off the page, outside the yearly boner that everyone seems to get about the horns, but a bunch of good teams on that list.
Tech should sweep this weekend. It would be a disappointment if they drop a game to this squad, especially at Dan Law, but baseball is funny like that so they need to be focused. I would like to see a very disciplined team come out and take care of business for 27 innings.
- Tech is cruising right now and the coolest part about it, to me, is that they are winning games in different ways. Longball-check. Dominant pitching-check. Forcing the issues with aggressive base running-check. It’s a talented roster that is a ton of fun to watch.
- I will continue to pay attention to the OF competition. Right when I thought masters had fallen to the wayside, he hits really well during the mid week double header. O’Tremba has had success, even in a limited AB’s. Marusak had a good game Tuesday as well. There are a ton of guys competing like crazy for a limited number of spots.
- The biggest thing that jumps out to me about this group compared to other Tadlock teams is the midweek games. Ttu is throwing Dobbins and Montgomery, who could arguably start for half the big 12 on the weekend. In years past, it seemed like we puzzled those midweek series together and just hoped to outhit people. It allows our bullpen arms to recover, it allows some different guys to get shots at the plate, just a ton of fun to see dobbins/queen/Montgomery throw well.
- How big of a luxury is it to not have Braxton catch 90% of innings in year? It’s really neat to see depth at that spot like we haven’t had in awhile.
- TTU is already 26 of 29 on steals and Stillwell has been thrown out twice. It’s an element that I think Tadlock rosters have lacked. Someone pointed out in another thread that the style of baseball in Omaha is different than the regular season. It seems like this team is primed for that style just as much as slugfests. Pitching depth and the ability to play small ball when you need to manufacture a run when you need to... it’s fun to project how far this team can go.
- There is no way around it, this rice team is not good. They have one player hitting above .300, Trei Cruz. They don’t hit for average, they don’t hit home runs (4 total). They don’t get on base. They strike out a bunch, over 10 times a game. And they don’t steal, 3/6 total.
- The pitching staff isn’t as embarrassing. And that’s reeeaallllyy digging for a positive about this team. Eh... hell. They are bad too. A team ERA over 5.6.... 63 free passes... just not a good year so far. I expect to see some order of Brogdon, Deleon, and Greenwood toe the rubber this weekend. Get to the pen early and often.
- The one thing I will say is that rice has played a really tough schedule so far. 3 games against Texas, 3 against UC Irvine, houston, Texas state, and Missouri state. Not a lot of teams that jump off the page, outside the yearly boner that everyone seems to get about the horns, but a bunch of good teams on that list.
Tech should sweep this weekend. It would be a disappointment if they drop a game to this squad, especially at Dan Law, but baseball is funny like that so they need to be focused. I would like to see a very disciplined team come out and take care of business for 27 innings.
