Good Tuesday morning folks. I will admit that I didn't get to watch as much of this weekend's series as I wanted. Just had a ton of stuff to do with the kiddo including the Houston Zoo. (Good Lord the parking situation around Hermann Park is about the worst thing I've ever seen.)
Wanted to stop in and post some notes and thoughts about the opening weekend.
Weekend MVP - Girton/Molina/Blessie. Early in the year you just really need guys to go eat up some innings, and that's exactly what you're guys did. There is always pitch counts, etc. to worry about and get guys up to game speed. But they handled a pretty good Gonzaga lineup all weekend long.
Honorable Mention - Gavin Kash. He is currently 9/13 with 4 walks and an incredible 1.953 OPS. Don't overlook how well he played 1B this weekend too.
PITCHING
- I think moving forward your rotation of Girton/Molina/Blessie will be the most likely option, but I would not count against possibly using Girton like we've used Shetter/McMillon in the past. If Robinson can settle in, having Girton available to pitching multiple times a weekend would be a massive weapon.
- Robinson looked a little shaky with the command of his offspeed stuff but I expect him to be better. The first inning error didn't help matters.
- Girton/Molina/Blessie combined to pitch 17 scoreless innings, gave up 3 total hits and strikeout 18 guys. I don't like the 9 combined walks but they were dominant.
- From a bullpen standpoint I thought Beckel/Fast/Sanders/Bravo all looked to have really good stuff. I think the bulk of your weekend bullpen innings will be from those guys. Crawley and Lopez got hit around a little bit but it's always hard to see that ballooned ERA 4 days into the season.
- Gonzaga is not a bad team. And beating anyone 4 days in a row is impressive. A tournament team returning a ton, including their All American starting pitcher from Friday in Owen Wade. 4-0 is 4-0.
HITTING
- Texas Tech was phenomenal this weekend. The lineup combined to hit .328, slug .537, and score 39 runs to Gonzaga's 18. If you take out Owen Washburn's 0-12 weekend the numbers are even crazier. He will get it going. Seems to be pressing a little bit.
- The top 2 guys of Hester and Harrelson got on base around 65% of their appearances this weekend. Guys like Coleman/White/Kash/Bazzell will pile some serious RBI numbers on this season if those guys continue to pester opposing pitching. Hester was 5-11 with 8BB and a HBP. That's nuts.
- How about Gage Harrelson? Speed on speed on speed. There was an AB this weekend where he is simply trying to move Hester over to 3B and the entire stadium knows it. Guess what? Infield bunt single. Just incredible.
- Who here had your two returning guys in White and Washburn hitting 7th and 8th? Tadlock flat out Re-loaded this offseason with some serious talent in that order. Newbies combined for 33 hits/4 HR/27 Runs/24RBI.
- I was a little surprised not to see some more action on the bases this weekend with TTU only going 3/3 on stolen bases. But that will come. Your late inning availability of Curtis and Carter to run is great. Combined with a ton of depth as PH's, Tadlock is going to have plenty of toys to play with late in games. Hell, Curtis-Harrelson-Carter as a defensive OF might be the fastest trio in the Tadlock era.
- I do think this team has a lot more pop than the 4 total HR we had this weekend. It was freaking cold and a ton of our power comes from the LH side of the plate. Hell, Washburn hit what I thought was a ding dong only to be caught at medium depth in RF. Wind just destroyed it. Kash/Austin White/Washburn are all going to hit 8-10 HR this season IMO.
- I think Tracer Lopez is your SS. I just was not impressed with Will Burns this weekend defensively. Again, it's the first weekend of the year and that kid got to campus like 2 weeks ago, but I liked what I saw out of Tracer. SS will be a competition for a bit as those guys duke it out.
- If you're going to find something to dog on from this weekend, it's RISP stuff. The Red Raiders essentially started each inning with 1-2 guys on base and really had chances to blow games open all weekend. Stranding 42 baserunners in one weekend ain't gonna cut it.
DEFENSE
We return again this weekend to Dan Law Field to host a 1-3 Western Illinois team that had 30 total hits this past weekend against Southern Indiana. (20 hits come from their top 3 guys)
I expect a stat packing weekend for the Red Raiders.
Should be Robinson/Girton vs Mitchell Sampson
Mason Molina vs Jake Armstrong
Bo Blessie vs Tyler Capraun
Trendan Parrish vs Aron Harrington
Wanted to stop in and post some notes and thoughts about the opening weekend.
Weekend MVP - Girton/Molina/Blessie. Early in the year you just really need guys to go eat up some innings, and that's exactly what you're guys did. There is always pitch counts, etc. to worry about and get guys up to game speed. But they handled a pretty good Gonzaga lineup all weekend long.
Honorable Mention - Gavin Kash. He is currently 9/13 with 4 walks and an incredible 1.953 OPS. Don't overlook how well he played 1B this weekend too.
PITCHING
- I think moving forward your rotation of Girton/Molina/Blessie will be the most likely option, but I would not count against possibly using Girton like we've used Shetter/McMillon in the past. If Robinson can settle in, having Girton available to pitching multiple times a weekend would be a massive weapon.
- Robinson looked a little shaky with the command of his offspeed stuff but I expect him to be better. The first inning error didn't help matters.
- Girton/Molina/Blessie combined to pitch 17 scoreless innings, gave up 3 total hits and strikeout 18 guys. I don't like the 9 combined walks but they were dominant.
- From a bullpen standpoint I thought Beckel/Fast/Sanders/Bravo all looked to have really good stuff. I think the bulk of your weekend bullpen innings will be from those guys. Crawley and Lopez got hit around a little bit but it's always hard to see that ballooned ERA 4 days into the season.
- Gonzaga is not a bad team. And beating anyone 4 days in a row is impressive. A tournament team returning a ton, including their All American starting pitcher from Friday in Owen Wade. 4-0 is 4-0.
HITTING
- Texas Tech was phenomenal this weekend. The lineup combined to hit .328, slug .537, and score 39 runs to Gonzaga's 18. If you take out Owen Washburn's 0-12 weekend the numbers are even crazier. He will get it going. Seems to be pressing a little bit.
- The top 2 guys of Hester and Harrelson got on base around 65% of their appearances this weekend. Guys like Coleman/White/Kash/Bazzell will pile some serious RBI numbers on this season if those guys continue to pester opposing pitching. Hester was 5-11 with 8BB and a HBP. That's nuts.
- How about Gage Harrelson? Speed on speed on speed. There was an AB this weekend where he is simply trying to move Hester over to 3B and the entire stadium knows it. Guess what? Infield bunt single. Just incredible.
- Who here had your two returning guys in White and Washburn hitting 7th and 8th? Tadlock flat out Re-loaded this offseason with some serious talent in that order. Newbies combined for 33 hits/4 HR/27 Runs/24RBI.
- I was a little surprised not to see some more action on the bases this weekend with TTU only going 3/3 on stolen bases. But that will come. Your late inning availability of Curtis and Carter to run is great. Combined with a ton of depth as PH's, Tadlock is going to have plenty of toys to play with late in games. Hell, Curtis-Harrelson-Carter as a defensive OF might be the fastest trio in the Tadlock era.
- I do think this team has a lot more pop than the 4 total HR we had this weekend. It was freaking cold and a ton of our power comes from the LH side of the plate. Hell, Washburn hit what I thought was a ding dong only to be caught at medium depth in RF. Wind just destroyed it. Kash/Austin White/Washburn are all going to hit 8-10 HR this season IMO.
- I think Tracer Lopez is your SS. I just was not impressed with Will Burns this weekend defensively. Again, it's the first weekend of the year and that kid got to campus like 2 weeks ago, but I liked what I saw out of Tracer. SS will be a competition for a bit as those guys duke it out.
- If you're going to find something to dog on from this weekend, it's RISP stuff. The Red Raiders essentially started each inning with 1-2 guys on base and really had chances to blow games open all weekend. Stranding 42 baserunners in one weekend ain't gonna cut it.
DEFENSE
We return again this weekend to Dan Law Field to host a 1-3 Western Illinois team that had 30 total hits this past weekend against Southern Indiana. (20 hits come from their top 3 guys)
I expect a stat packing weekend for the Red Raiders.
Should be Robinson/Girton vs Mitchell Sampson
Mason Molina vs Jake Armstrong
Bo Blessie vs Tyler Capraun
Trendan Parrish vs Aron Harrington
