Weekly Practice Schedule (10/8-14)

#1

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#1
Tennessee baseball continues its fall practice this week with scrimmages on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

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Discuss.
 
#2
#2
Roster cuts are happening quickly. As of today, they are down to 37.

Samuel Davis, Robert Lawhon, Kevin O'Leary, Nick Powell, and Brandon Zajac no longer appear on the fall roster.
 
#3
#3
Roster cuts are happening quickly. As of today, they are down to 37.

Samuel Davis, Robert Lawhon, Kevin O'Leary, Nick Powell, and Brandon Zajac no longer appear on the fall roster.

For having a reputation of developing pitchers DS sure did mightily fail with Zajac. You can't win them all but very disappointed that one of the best arms wasn't developed.
 
#4
#4
I'm not willing to call this a failure on Serrano's part. First, Zajac wasn't his recruit. Second, Zajac had played very little because of injuries in high school and was clearly behind other pitchers in general baseball aptitude. Third, although Zajac has a live arm, he isn't a strike thrower in the Serrano mold who gets ahead with low strikes and induces grounders early in the count. It might not be anyone's fault at all.

However, it is clearly Serrano's team now. We'll see how he develops his guys.

I continue to believe we won't see what Serrano can really do until the 2013 high school grads get here. That will be the first class he had a fair shot at recruiting.
 
#5
#5
I'm not willing to call this a failure on Serrano's part. First, Zajac wasn't his recruit. Second, Zajac had played very little because of injuries in high school and was clearly behind other pitchers in general baseball aptitude. Third, although Zajac has a live arm, he isn't a strike thrower in the Serrano mold who gets ahead with low strikes and induces grounders early in the count. It might not be anyone's fault at all.

However, it is clearly Serrano's team now. We'll see how he develops his guys.

I continue to believe we won't see what Serrano can really do until the 2013 high school grads get here. That will be the first class he had a fair shot at recruiting.

I can't disagree with anything said here. The one big concern I have is that I don't see a program being successful without a few power arms in the SEC. To my knowledge the current pitching staff is lacking greatly in that area. Zajac could have been that and my perception is the staff has such a cookie cut approach that he wasn't handled with any kind of expectation of success.
 
#6
#6
Anyone familiar with baseball in Southeast Tennessee knew Zajac was a project. The question is why is he gone 2 weeks into the fall? The kid was drafted out of high school! Someone saw a lot of potential there. He’s a lefty that throws in the low 90’s. It’s a shame CDS didn’t give this project more time. What’s surprising is that 3 pitchers are gone on a young staff to begin with. This pitching staff could be worse than last years.
 
#7
#7
Anyone familiar with baseball in Southeast Tennessee knew Zajac was a project. The question is why is he gone 2 weeks into the fall? The kid was drafted out of high school! Someone saw a lot of potential there. He’s a lefty that throws in the low 90’s. It’s a shame CDS didn’t give this project more time. What’s surprising is that 3 pitchers are gone on a young staff to begin with. This pitching staff could be worse than last years.

Yes he was a project and as I said above the "cookie cutter" approach that DS seems to have by steering away from power arms worries me. My perception is the staff looked at Zajac as a kid that didn't fit their mold and never really had any expectation of success for developing him. DS won't succeed without a few power arms and I don't see those on this roster. Are there power arms on the roster now that I am missing?
 
#8
#8
I don't think Serrano is in the project development business right now. Maybe later, but right now he needs immediate solutions.
 
#9
#9
I don't think Serrano is in the project development business right now. Maybe later, but right now he needs immediate solutions.

Maybe he has some immediate solutions but reports I am hearing are far from that. The fact is none of the polished power arms are coming to rocky top and if DS isn't concerned with developing a power arm project or two he is destined to fail IMO.
 
#10
#10
I don't think we disagree. By project, I meant someone rough but with a high ceiling who is at least a year away from making a meaningful contribution (i.e., a 92 mph arm with pro-potential frame who lacks control or quality secondaries). By solution, I meant someone he can use to get outs this year.
 
#13
#13
I don't think we disagree. By project, I meant someone rough but with a high ceiling who is at least a year away from making a meaningful contribution (i.e., a 92 mph arm with pro-potential frame who lacks control or quality secondaries). By solution, I meant someone he can use to get outs this year.
Agreed. I just question is their any real solutions on the roster. I am told no by a few that have seen the new crop. Time will tell but Zajac had such a high ceiling they are making a mistake by cutting their losses. Obviously I don't know if he is beyond help or not but my opinion is based on his ceiling.


If this was about getting a large scholarship back I could understand cutting losses but it's not. Scholarship players can't be cut to get under the 35 man roster rule. So either he was a walk on all along or his money was cut after last year.
 
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#14
#14
Money was cut last year just like the majority of the returning players on the roster. Does this burn a year of eligibility for these players?
 
#15
#15
Money was cut last year just like the majority of the returning players on the roster. Does this burn a year of eligibility for these players?

If they wanted to go d1 and play now they couldn't. Juco or NAIA could play immediately. I am not sure on D2 or 3
 
#16
#16
Money was cut last year just like the majority of the returning players on the roster. Does this burn a year of eligibility for these players?

They all should have left but I am sure they were give a line of bs to stay and not hurt apr. Now that they are walk ons they dont hurt apr. Bad all the way around
 
#17
#17
If they wanted to go d1 and play now they couldn't. Juco or NAIA could play immediately. I am not sure on D2 or 3

They can transfer to another D1 at Christmas, sit out the spring and fall semesters, and play in spring, 2014, having burned one year on the five year clock but no more of their four years of eligibility.
 
#18
#18
They can transfer to another D1 at Christmas, sit out the spring and fall semesters, and play in spring, 2014, having burned one year on the five year clock but no more of their four years of eligibility.

Correct. The NCAA needs to make kids immediately eligible when they are cut and/or their money is taken away. No reason for them not to be IMO unless there are academic or criminal issues.
 
#19
#19
Davis and OLeary were red shirted last year. This leaves few options. If it wasn't discipline or academic issues this is a bad way to treat people.
 
#20
#20
Davis and OLeary were red shirted last year. This leaves few options. If it wasn't discipline or academic issues this is a bad way to treat people.

The decision was made on those kids last spring when their money was taken away. The right thing by those kids was to let them go then not now but apr kept that from happening. DS did what was right for the program but very bad for the kids. It's a tough world but the program is the only thing he answers to.
 
#21
#21
I disagree, treating players this way will hurt recruiting! With facebook and Twitter its easy for kids to talk. We have already had commits change their mind. This was part of the problem with Raleigh, the mistreating players and this effects recruiting. This sheds a negative light on our program. CDS has done some underhanded treatment of the players that reminds me of when Raleigh took over.
 
#22
#22
I disagree, treating players this way will hurt recruiting! With facebook and Twitter its easy for kids to talk. We have already had commits change their mind. This was part of the problem with Raleigh, the mistreating players and this effects recruiting. This sheds a negative light on our program. CDS has done some underhanded treatment of the players that reminds me of when Raleigh took over.

I agree to some degree thats why I lean toward the best thing to do was let these kids go last spring. That would have given then plenty of time to find best fit for them
 
#23
#23
youre all guessing, and even if youre partially right, welcome to D1 baseball. Every big program ***tions in this manner. As I tell players, careful what you wish for, it's a brutal game, both on and off the field. With that said, my glass will remain half full regarding DS, this isn't his first picnic, and not his first pitching staff he's molded and won with.
 
#24
#24
Everybody found out where they stood at the end of the season in May. Some were cut loose or encouraged to transfer, and I heard Serrano helped at least some of them find other places to play.

Others had their money taken away (or never had any to begin with) and were invited back to compete for roster spots with no guarantees. That's a much tougher situation. Anyone who came back on those terms knew they were taking a chance. That doesn't make it easier for them when they get cut, but it does mean they were warned.

Some of the guys who didn't come back for whatever reason used the summer and landed on their feet: Richard Carter at Coastal Carolina, Conner Stevens at Duke, and Jake Rowland at Tennessee Tech.

It is a tough business. Serrano is getting paid a lot of money to turn things around, and he has to make some tough decisions. There's no way around it unless you're willing to wait a couple extra years to see results. I do feel bad for guys who burned a redshirt year, then got cut this fall, and now either have to move to their third school or give up on baseball.
 
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#25
#25
Everybody found out where they stood at the end of the season in May. Some were cut loose or encouraged to transfer, and I heard Serrano helped at least some of them find other places to play.

Others had their money taken away (or never had any to begin with) and were invited back to compete for roster spots with no guarantees. That's a much tougher situation. Anyone who came back on those terms knew they were taking a chance. That doesn't make it easier for them when they get cut, but it does mean they were warned.

Some of the guys who didn't come back for whatever reason used the summer and landed on their feet: Richard Carter at Coastal Carolina, Conner Stevens at Duke, and Jake Rowland at Tennessee Tech.

It is a tough business. Serrano is getting paid a lot of money to turn things around, and he has to make some tough decisions. There's no way around it unless you're willing to wait a couple extra years to see results. I do feel bad for guys who burned a redshirt year, then got cut this fall, and now either have to move to their third school or give up on baseball.

Good post.
 

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