Frustrating End to Baseball Season
Two one-run losses to a team slightly better than us is a frustrating way to go. I was so impressed with our pitching this weekend. I also think, despite the small sample size of a regional, that this weekend was a good example of what our pitching would've looked like if we played in more pitcher-friendly parks. Not one betting total for the Statesboro regional went over the number, meanwhile the Stillwater regional was averaging over 20 runs per game. I think back to some of those midweek games when the wind was blowing out, and probably 75% of the home runs in those games would not have left the yard this past weekend.
Josh Sanders was absolutely filthy last night. I don't know how anyone has barreled him up this year. I hope he's a big piece of next year's bullpen because he's got big time stuff.
Compare the one-run singles by Jace Jung and ND's leadoff hitter. One was an absolute piss missile that hit off the top of the green monster and would've been a bomb at any other regional site. The other was a knucked spinner that trickled perfectly between Jace and Hudson White. Tough break. The other run they scored followed a questionable strike call that was the catalyst for J Bob's ejection. We outhit them last night and matched their pitching despite ND throwing the ACC pitcher of the year, and us treating it like a 2nd mid-week game. But they were the better team. Had a lot of really good arms and were much older and more experienced than us.
I think it's fair to say that this is the "worst" Tech team of the last 6 or so years. Also fair to argue that we underachieved a little bit. Yet still, despite having a "down" team that slightly underachieved, we made it to the regional final and were one game away from winning a share of the conference title. That says something about the state of our program. We're going to need to "hit" on some arms this offseason, but I've got 100% faith in Tadlock and company.
NCAA Baseball Tourney as a whole
UT is a Coastal Carolina win away from being the biggest favorite of the Supers to make it to Omaha. Regardless of the result of the ECU/CC game, their path to Omaha will not include a single P5 team. Unbelievable.
Oklahoma State is really, really good. They were deserving of their pre-season ranking.
Oklahoma is also really good. They are pretty much a pick'em in the regional final against Florida. I know it doesn't make a ton of sense to play the way they do in our ballpark because it's so hitter friendly, but it would be interesting to go hire a "base path analytics" guy the way OU did this past offseason. Tadlock's referenced it a few times in interviews. Their baserunning coordinator was hired from the Yankees, and totally changed their approach offensively. It would probably be stupid to do that though considering the way Dan Law plays.
There is a real path to 7 out of the 8 Omaha teams being current or future SEC teams. That would suck and makes me want to root for Oklahoma State a bit.
Tech Basketball
I think it's fair to assume we passed on Isiaih Mosley. Or at minimum, we slow played him until he decided to move on from us. He's really, really good, so I'm going to take that as a positive, because a more desperate team surely takes him.
Bart Torvik's website lists Tech's roster (without Elijah Fisher) as top 25 nationally if we land both Henderson and Walton. He would have us around top 10 with Mosley.
I'd be interested to know which one of Walton v. Henderson that we prioritize. It seems like Walton, but maybe that's just because we were linked to him first.
If we land them both and carry a 13-man roster, I think it's probably an 80% chance that we end up losing someone before Xmas. I don't think Tech's carried a full roster in years and yet we've still had midyear attrition because of all the mouths to feed. I say who cares. Let's get 13 guys and see who ends up winning minutes.
Tech Football
The first line I've seen for a Tech football single game is +14 at NC State.
Last year, the only line for Tech in this range was when we were +18.5 in Norman. I really think that if there was a line put up right now for all 12 of Tech's football games, we'd only be favored against Murray State, Kansas, and maybe WVU.
Of course, that doesn't mean we're going to go 3-9. We could even start out hot and end up being favored in half our games. But generally speaking, being an underdog in 9-10 games is not a promising sign about a team's future W/L record.
F'em. Joey is on the cover of Dave Campbells and fan optimism is at probably at a 10-year high.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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www.energyrenovationcenter.com
@TEXAST3CH
Two one-run losses to a team slightly better than us is a frustrating way to go. I was so impressed with our pitching this weekend. I also think, despite the small sample size of a regional, that this weekend was a good example of what our pitching would've looked like if we played in more pitcher-friendly parks. Not one betting total for the Statesboro regional went over the number, meanwhile the Stillwater regional was averaging over 20 runs per game. I think back to some of those midweek games when the wind was blowing out, and probably 75% of the home runs in those games would not have left the yard this past weekend.
Josh Sanders was absolutely filthy last night. I don't know how anyone has barreled him up this year. I hope he's a big piece of next year's bullpen because he's got big time stuff.
Compare the one-run singles by Jace Jung and ND's leadoff hitter. One was an absolute piss missile that hit off the top of the green monster and would've been a bomb at any other regional site. The other was a knucked spinner that trickled perfectly between Jace and Hudson White. Tough break. The other run they scored followed a questionable strike call that was the catalyst for J Bob's ejection. We outhit them last night and matched their pitching despite ND throwing the ACC pitcher of the year, and us treating it like a 2nd mid-week game. But they were the better team. Had a lot of really good arms and were much older and more experienced than us.
I think it's fair to say that this is the "worst" Tech team of the last 6 or so years. Also fair to argue that we underachieved a little bit. Yet still, despite having a "down" team that slightly underachieved, we made it to the regional final and were one game away from winning a share of the conference title. That says something about the state of our program. We're going to need to "hit" on some arms this offseason, but I've got 100% faith in Tadlock and company.
NCAA Baseball Tourney as a whole
UT is a Coastal Carolina win away from being the biggest favorite of the Supers to make it to Omaha. Regardless of the result of the ECU/CC game, their path to Omaha will not include a single P5 team. Unbelievable.
Oklahoma State is really, really good. They were deserving of their pre-season ranking.
Oklahoma is also really good. They are pretty much a pick'em in the regional final against Florida. I know it doesn't make a ton of sense to play the way they do in our ballpark because it's so hitter friendly, but it would be interesting to go hire a "base path analytics" guy the way OU did this past offseason. Tadlock's referenced it a few times in interviews. Their baserunning coordinator was hired from the Yankees, and totally changed their approach offensively. It would probably be stupid to do that though considering the way Dan Law plays.
There is a real path to 7 out of the 8 Omaha teams being current or future SEC teams. That would suck and makes me want to root for Oklahoma State a bit.
Tech Basketball
I think it's fair to assume we passed on Isiaih Mosley. Or at minimum, we slow played him until he decided to move on from us. He's really, really good, so I'm going to take that as a positive, because a more desperate team surely takes him.
Bart Torvik's website lists Tech's roster (without Elijah Fisher) as top 25 nationally if we land both Henderson and Walton. He would have us around top 10 with Mosley.
I'd be interested to know which one of Walton v. Henderson that we prioritize. It seems like Walton, but maybe that's just because we were linked to him first.
If we land them both and carry a 13-man roster, I think it's probably an 80% chance that we end up losing someone before Xmas. I don't think Tech's carried a full roster in years and yet we've still had midyear attrition because of all the mouths to feed. I say who cares. Let's get 13 guys and see who ends up winning minutes.
Tech Football
The first line I've seen for a Tech football single game is +14 at NC State.
Last year, the only line for Tech in this range was when we were +18.5 in Norman. I really think that if there was a line put up right now for all 12 of Tech's football games, we'd only be favored against Murray State, Kansas, and maybe WVU.
Of course, that doesn't mean we're going to go 3-9. We could even start out hot and end up being favored in half our games. But generally speaking, being an underdog in 9-10 games is not a promising sign about a team's future W/L record.
F'em. Joey is on the cover of Dave Campbells and fan optimism is at probably at a 10-year high.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Official Solar Panel Installer of Red Raider Sports!
www.energyrenovationcenter.com
@TEXAST3CH
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