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#1
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zachpack

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#1
OK, I have seen enough. I've been supportive of this young team and young staff, but some things need to change IMHO.....

- time to sit our freshman outfielder. Yes, he has a huge potential but let's develop it this summer and next fall. He cannot hit curve balls and strikes out more than any starter I have seen in years. I get that the coaches like the potential but it is time to see what else we have.
- time to move our senior catcher to DH. He is not a good defensive catcher and this is year 4 so it isn't going to suddenly improve. I know he has an decent arm but his play behind the plate is not SEC caliber. Passed balls every game, cannot frame a pitch to save his life, and doesn't know how to catch a curve ball. Arencibia and Anderson have to know this, right?
- I see some pretty decent stuff out of the pen but I am not seeing enough of certain pitchers. I have seen a couple of pitchers do really well but then they disappear and throw one or two innings every two weeks. You HAVE to build your staff up to be successful in the SEC. Now that we are in SEC play our starters will not be going 8-9 innings every weekend. Also, not sold on the pitches we are calling. We have to use more off speed stuff. The FBs I have seen from most of our staff have very little run on them. Go back and watch tonight's ETSU replay and you will see what I am talking about. It was like BP for ETSU most of the game...same for Ole Miss.
- We are letting teams crawl back into games after we get leads due to errors and sloppy play. Just watch the ETSU game replay and tell me we don't look like the bad news bears.
Thoughts?
 
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#2
#2
The dearth of appearances for much of the pitching staff has me perplexed. We are not going to win this year, so why not give the young pitchers a chance to learn how to pitch at this level.
 
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#4
#4
NorCalVol67 said:
The dearth of appearances for much of the pitching staff has me perplexed. We are not going to win this year, so why not give the young pitchers a chance to learn how to pitch at this level.
Click to expand...

Butch Jones did the same thing and never developed any depth.
 
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#5
#5
Titan05 said:
Butch Jones did the same thing and never developed any depth.
Click to expand...

He doesn't care about developing depth. He is trying to win as many games as possible this season and then he is clearing house. No reason to coach for the future.
 
#10
#10
BruinVol said:
100% happening. Not sure what you mean
Click to expand...

I think it has to happen. Maybe not to this extent, but clearly a lot of our guys aren't SEC caliber. DS only got 5 years, so you can't wait around 3 years with a roster that isn't going to get it done.
 
#11
#11
Well, if that’s the case, it will be interesting to see how he “plays that game”. Based on NCAA power 5 conference rules he can’t just cut scholarship players based on performance. Guess he can tell them they will get no playing time and “encourage” them to move on. And as a player I wouldn’t want to be where I’m not going to play. I’m sure there are ways around all that. I just remember the Alabama coach trying to do that last year and it didn’t work out in his favor.
 
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#12
#12
My rant is this: Our present everyday line up has a few players without a clue to hitting. No approaches..Watch these players hit when they get in a GOOD HITTERS count...Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the pitcher but that's not the case a lot of the times with UT....... This is just one of many...
 
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#13
#13
Volsbaseballfan said:
My rant is this: Our present everyday line up is full of players without a clue on hitting. No approaches..Watch these players hit when they get in a GOOD HITTERS count...Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the pitcher but that's not the case a lot of the times with UT....... This is just one of many
Click to expand...

I can agree with that. I have been to many of the games. It looks to me like many times hitters are guessing, even deciding that they are swinging before the pitch is thrown. Then, swinging at awful pitches out of the zone. Also, would like to see more focus on quality at bats and doing their job. Example is having runners on 2nd and 3rd, and a RH pulls a ball to third base. Groundout, runners don’t advance, etc. What ever happened to situational hitting and hitting behind runners, etc?
 
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#14
#14
6-4-3 said:
Well, if that’s the case, it will be interesting to see how he “plays that game”. Based on NCAA power 5 conference rules he can’t just cut scholarship players based on performance. Guess he can tell them they will get no playing time and “encourage” them to move on. And as a player I wouldn’t want to be where I’m not going to play. I’m sure there are ways around all that. I just remember the Alabama coach trying to do that last year and it didn’t work out in his favor.
Click to expand...
Yep knowing what I know about he and Fulmer getting sideways he better be careful or we might have a Bama all over again situation
 
#16
#16
The next two weekends are huge. If we go sub .500 in these, it will be like the last few years all over again.

Hopefully we can find a group that can get us some wins...if not... then it is time to start the young guys, let them gain some SEC experience.
 
#17
#17
BruinVol said:
100% happening. Not sure what you mean
Click to expand...

I mean that you either get the Bama situation from last year and/or you overwork the few pitchers you plan on keeping next year into the ground with greater risk of injury and then they are no good to you next year. Meanwhile, the locker room is completely toxic as the losses mount.
 
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#18
#18
Titan05 said:
I mean that you either get the Bama situation from last year and/or you overwork the few pitchers you plan on keeping next year into the ground with greater risk of injury and then they are no good to you next year. Meanwhile, the locker room is completely toxic as the losses mount.
Click to expand...

This season is truly year zero for TV.
 
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#19
#19
If the over/under for this team's number of SEC wins is 8, would any of you bet the over? This is one of the least talented teams in Tennessee history. There are not enough D1 level pitchers to win mid week games. They have to save every arm for the weekends just to be competitive. Very hard to judge Vitello this year based on what he inherited.
 
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#20
#20
well, Coach V has experimented with this team lineup...offense and defense...I'm sure he's a little frustrated also...

PS. may think I'm crazy, that's ok, but if I was the coach with this pitching staff my starter would only go 4 innings, then a new pitcher every two innings and add a closer for the 9th...yes, a minimum of four pitchers (SEC games only)...I want them "all" to get a turn, not burn them out and try to keep our opponents on their heels as much as possible...doubt very seriously we'll see too many complete SEC games from our staff...sometimes you gotta be creative...:)

GO BIG ORANGE!
 
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#21
#21
Backwards K said:
If the over/under for this team's number of SEC wins is 8, would any of you bet the over? This is one of the least talented teams in Tennessee history. There are not enough D1 level pitchers to win mid week games. They have to save every arm for the weekends just to be competitive. Very hard to judge Vitello this year based on what he inherited.
Click to expand...

I’d take Over in a minute.....

Might be a good Pick’em Bonus question for extra points. 😊
 
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#22
#22
I would also take the over...

Even though it can be frustrating, I’m willing to give those boys a fighting chance and see how the season ends up.

GBO
 
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#23
#23
Backwards K said:
If the over/under for this team's number of SEC wins is 8, would any of you bet the over? This is one of the least talented teams in Tennessee history. There are not enough D1 level pitchers to win mid week games. They have to save every arm for the weekends just to be competitive. Very hard to judge Vitello this year based on what he inherited.
Click to expand...

Seriously? What pitching staff have you watched? As of today, the average era of the top nine pitchers is only 3.90. That is very good. Good enough to win, for sure. Even more impressive is that they are primarily freshmen and sophomores! I'll be shocked if all nine of these, plus a couple that don't pitch much, aren't eventually draft picks at some point. The question is, are they using them correctly? Seems like we leave starters in too long and only pull them after they are in trouble. I think RollerVol is all over the answer in his response above. Use the staff you have, smarter. Use lefty, lefty match- ups better, use righty, righty match-ups better. We have enough good arms to win this year.

Hunley 1.59 freshman
Walsh 1.69 freshman
Stallings 3.06 sophomore
Neely 3.64 junior
Lingo 3.68 sophomore
Heflin 3.68 sophomore
Wallace 3.86 freshman
Crochet 4.60 freshman
Benoit 6.30 freshman

AVG. 3.90
 
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#24
#24
zachpack said:
Seriously? What pitching staff have you watched? As of today, the average era of the top nine pitchers is only 3.90. That is very good. Good enough to win, for sure. Even more impressive is that they are primarily freshmen and sophomores! I'll be shocked if all nine of these, plus a couple that don't pitch much, aren't eventually draft picks at some point. The question is, are they using them correctly? Seems like we leave starters in too long and only pull them after they are in trouble. I think RollerVol is all over the answer in his response above. Use the staff you have, smarter. Use lefty, lefty match- ups better, use righty, righty match-ups better. We have enough good arms to win this year.

Hunley 1.59 freshman
Walsh 1.69 freshman
Stallings 3.06 sophomore
Neely 3.64 junior
Lingo 3.68 sophomore
Heflin 3.68 sophomore
Wallace 3.86 freshman
Crochet 4.60 freshman
Benoit 6.30 freshman

AVG. 3.90
Click to expand...

That isn't good for the sec at this stage
 
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#25
#25
BruinVol said:
That isn't good for the sec at this stage
Click to expand...

Not sure how it always goes back to pitching. I’m pretty happy with the staff. Although a few of the guys still need extra innings. Also, the ERA for several of the pitches got scorched from that one 22 run game.

The focus of losing needs to be directed more towards the defense and offense. How many dropped and misjudged balls have caused runs? Last Friday (Ole Miss) the 1st inning routine fly ball hits the ground and leads to 2 runs, Saturday misplayed ball in the outfield clears the bases, 2 out infield errors, and twice this season the catcher has thrown the ball away each time allowing a baserunner to score (last night with 2 outs). Heck, Saturday we lost 7-1 with 4 unearned runs. At the plate, our combined offensive output for Saturday and Sunday…1 run! The best pitching staff in the NCAA may have trouble winning with that offensive output.
IMO, if the pitching staff keeps the score under 5 ER’s than the bats and defense should be the main concern and focus.
 
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