Fayetteville Regional thread—-Baseball

[jdcatty]

We need some guys in the lineup who can get on base. Whether by a bunt or legging out a grounder or a walk, or whatever, just get on base.  When you have baserunners, you have a lot more options as to what you can do.  DVH used to champion the small ball game. He apparently abandoned that a few years ago. We almost never got the first batter of an inning on base.

[Feral]

So which booster pulls the strings for baseball?

Heresyourcheck isn't going to do anything unless told to and no one trusts him to change coaches even if is what needs to be done.

Horn is not going anywhere unless he decides to, or a booster asks him to.

Aren't the Hunts and Walkers the big money donors in baseball?

[buff2.0]

We need some guys in the lineup who can get on base. Whether by a bunt or legging out a grounder or a walk, or whatever, just get on base.  When you have baserunners, you have a lot more options as to what you can do.  DVH used to champion the small ball game. He apparently abandoned that a few years ago. We almost never got the first batter of an inning on base.

Moneyball time!

[jdcatty]

Moneyball time!

If that is what you want to call it, that's fine. We sure didn't handle K-State's approach very well.

A side note-- the only good thing I can think about yesterday is that Texas also lost and was eliminated-- by Louisiana.

[buff2.0]

I mean that was the whole point of the movie Moneyball.  "Why do we want that guy?  He gets on base."

[Feral]

We need some guys in the lineup who can get on base. Whether by a bunt or legging out a grounder or a walk, or whatever, just get on base.  When you have baserunners, you have a lot more options as to what you can do.  DVH used to champion the small ball game. He apparently abandoned that a few years ago. We almost never got the first batter of an inning on base.

I don't think DVH necessarily abandoned small ball this year as much as he was situationally hamstrung by our inability to get guys on base with less than 2 outs.

To your point, we almost never got the leadoff man on base. It seemed like we never generated traffic until we had 1 or 2 outs (usually 2) and thus no margin for error.

The other problem was that whenever we had advantage situations where we had a runner at 2nd and 3rd and a sacrifice opportunity to squeeze in a run, we were down by a margin that necessitated going for the 2 RBI base hit or 3 run homer instead of eating an out for a single run. Yesterday's game was a prime example of that, where we had that exact scenario but were down by 5 runs and in the late innings. At that point we were running out of outs.

[jdcatty]

I mean that was the whole point of the movie Moneyball.  "Why do we want that guy?  He gets on base."

Ok.  I have only seen bits and pieces of that movie, and I was never as impressed as most.

[Feral]

This is where we finished the season ranked in the SEC in numerous categories. Reposting this because it's relevant to the conversation.

Offense
BA: 12th
Slugging %: 12th
OBP: 11th
Runs scored: 12th
Hits: 11th
RBI: 12th
Doubles: 13th
Triples: 14th
HR: 11th
TB: 12th
Walks: 8th
Strikeouts: 10th (5th fewest)
Stolen bases: 8th
GIDP: 4th most

Pitching & Defense
ERA: 1st
Opponent BA: 1st
Strikeouts: 1st
Strikeouts looking: 2nd
Wins: 3rd
Saves: 1st
Runners picked off: 3rd
Hits allowed: 1st (fewest)
Total runs allowed: 1st (fewest)
Doubles allowed: 3rd
HR allowed: 1st (fewest)
Walks allowed: 4th
Wild pitches: 13th (2nd fewest)
HBP: 10th most
Fielding %: 1st
Errors: T-13th (fewest)
Double plays turned: 6th
Stolen bases allowed: 8th

[buff2.0]

I mean they seriously simplified the whole saber metrics thing but it doesn't matter if he has two blown knees and has never played the position you want him at you still have to sign Chris Pratt because he finds a way to get on base.

Let's at least use the portal to find dudes that get on base whether it's from getting hit by pitches or getting walked, as long as they don't strike out staring at fastballs down the center and then swinging at sliders in the dirt.

[hit_that_line]

You have to play gorilla ball at this level, but goddamn it doesn't kill you to take one the other way with RISP every now and then.

[Cardiac Hog]

This is where we finished the season ranked in the SEC in numerous categories. Reposting this because it's relevant to the conversation.

Offense
BA: 12th
Slugging %: 12th
OBP: 11th
Runs scored: 12th
Hits: 11th
RBI: 12th
Doubles: 13th
Triples: 14th
HR: 11th
TB: 12th
Walks: 8th
Strikeouts: 10th (5th fewest)
Stolen bases: 8th
GIDP: 4th most

Pitching & Defense
ERA: 1st
Opponent BA: 1st
Strikeouts: 1st
Strikeouts looking: 2nd
Wins: 3rd
Saves: 1st
Runners picked off: 3rd
Hits allowed: 1st (fewest)
Total runs allowed: 1st (fewest)
Doubles allowed: 3rd
HR allowed: 1st (fewest)
Walks allowed: 4th
Wild pitches: 13th (2nd fewest)
HBP: 10th most
Fielding %: 1st
Errors: T-13th (fewest)
Double plays turned: 6th
Stolen bases allowed: 8th

If offense woes were just this year, I'd blame player personnel.  We have finished 10th or below in SEC for batting avg each of the past 5 years.  We were top 3 in 2018 and 2019. 

It's coaching.   

[Barton Fink]

We struggled to get guys on base AND had no power. That is a recipe for disaster (for most teams) in this day and age. We severely lacked a power threat in the lineup. That alone might have helped how some guys were pitched.

[Son of Spam]

Running off Dave Van Horn would be the dumbest move this athletic department has ever made, and that's in a program known for catastrophic blunders. 

DVH is the reason our expectations are so high. Remember that. We won the west, which was loaded again this year. We will get back to the CWS soon, I hope and I think DVH will get us there.

[piglosopher]

.

[Hizog]

If offense woes were just this year, I'd blame player personnel.  We have finished 10th or below in SEC for batting avg each of the past 5 years.  We were top 3 in 2018 and 2019. 

It's coaching. 

This is absolutely correct.

Add in the transfer players stats before and after joining the Hogs and the argument is even stronger.

[The Whyte Boar]

It's stupid to say that Arkansas baseball doesn't have the personnel to be better.  It's coaching. 

[Cornhogio]

Do the analytics say that players shouldn't cut down their swings with two strikes anymore?  Our guys all seem to maintain the same loopy upper cut swing regardless of the count, situation, shift, etc.  I would love to have some guys that can cut down their swing and slap the ball through the left or right side, based on the shift. 

[BleedinRed]

I mean they seriously simplified the whole saber metrics thing but it doesn't matter if he has two blown knees and has never played the position you want him at you still have to sign Chris Pratt because he finds a way to get on base.

Let's at least use the portal to find dudes that get on base whether it's from getting hit by pitches or getting walked, as long as they don't strike out staring at fastballs down the center and then swinging at sliders in the dirt.

You get on base, we win. You don't, we lose. And I hate losing, Buff. I hate it. I hate losing more than I even wanna win. And there's a difference.

[Cardiac Hog]

Do the analytics say that players shouldn't cut down their swings with two strikes anymore?  Our guys all seem to maintain the same loopy upper cut swing regardless of the count, situation, shift, etc.  I would love to have some guys that can cut down their swing and slap the ball through the left or right side, based on the shift. 

We also need to recruit guys with the clutch gene.  We were last in SEC in BA with RISP.  We don't lose a single home series the past two regular seasons but get knocked out of our own regional as #3 and #5 national seeds.     

[DirkPiggler]

We also need to recruit guys with the clutch gene.  We were last in SEC in BA with RISP.  We don't lose a single home series the past two regular seasons but get knocked out of our own regional as #3 and #5 national seeds.     

I'm not sure I agree with the statistical groupthink on this, but statheads are adamant that close and late stats remain the same for players as their regular stats over a large enough sample.  I think there's some truth to it in looking at our team.  It's not that they choke in the clutch...they just aren't that great as hitters, and we don't hit for enough power in spite of a philosophy that demands it. 

Part of the problem I think is that we didn't adapt our hitting philosophy to the types of players we have on campus. You can play gorilla ball with Kjerstad, Fletcher, Cole, Shaddy, etc.  You can't when your best hitters are middle infielders (current or former) and a contact hitting first baseman.