Line Up Questions

[a vol n tears]

The regress for Brown is due to facing SEC caliber pitching plus a season to expose his weaknesses as a hitter in the American Athletic Conference. Point was Dreiling couldn’t start as a freshman LFer as he was a liability in the field. Dreiling was relegated to an occasional DH and PH against RHP. In one season, he became a plus LFer. Same will likely happen for Brown if he’s dedicated to the work required and change needed from his free swinging approach.

Can’t / won’t happen, but base his pay on his play, and he will become dedicated to the work required

 

[vol66]

Brown seems to be taking the brunt of all that ails this team. It’s unwarranted. There’s lots of blame to go around. Lots. Row the boat.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Brown seems to be taking the brunt of all that ails this team. It’s unwarranted. There’s lots of blame to go around. Lots. Row the boat.

…pull the rope…

 

[BigOrangeCrush32]

Brown seems to be taking the brunt of all that ails this team. It’s unwarranted. There’s lots of blame to go around. Lots. Row the boat.

Brown has come up in big situations a lot lately and is almost a guaranteed out. He is either pulling the ball into the teeth of the shift or striking out on a down and away pitch trying to pull it. If he would let it in his head to go middle oppo, he would see his BA increase tremendously but he seems to be a strictly pull hitter.

 

[vol66]

Brown has come up in big situations a lot lately and is almost a guaranteed out. He is either pulling the ball into the teeth of the shift or striking out on a down and away pitch trying to pull it. If he would let it in his head to go middle oppo, he would see his BA increase tremendously but he seems to be a strictly pull hitter.

Maybe. But he didn’t walk the lead off batter and then give up a two run shot. Where’s the thread calling out that guy? Enough blame to go around. Can we just leave it there?

 

[BigOrangeCrush32]

Maybe. But he didn’t walk the lead off batter and then give up a two run shot. Where’s the thread calling out that guy? Enough blame to go around. Can we just leave it there?

I'm not laying all the blame on him, but the pitchers aren't playing EVERY game and getting multiple at bats like he is. I was just curious as to WHY he hasn't been benched at least one game in a weekend series, if not the whole series, and let someone have a chance. It's like the trying to put a square peg in a round hole over and over again hoping for better results. I'm rooting for the kid but at some point, he has to either figure it out or sit.

 

[Vols4us]

JMO -

If the goal is to develop this roster this season, you play Brown. If the goal is to win more games this season you sit Brown. Unfortunately, they are mutually exclusive currently. He has been too unproductive in many situations with RISP and is not a contact hitter. Play him midweek and take extra batting practice to work out approach and swing issues.

When a guy stands upright, opens his lead shoulder, and cannot/will not step toward the pitch - he is an easy out unless the pitcher makes a mistake pitch. All of the opponents have the book on him at this point. He would benefit by doing what Clark did for a time, which is to widen his stance with a shorter step to level his swing as well as lower the sight line of the ball. This helps the batter to stay back on the ball and see it longer before the swing. The approach can lead to more opposite field hitting.

Yes, I played the game, D1 for a time in the dark ages. Also a 2-4 handicapper in golf before age/back got me. Both sports have unique challenges and are difficult to play at a high level. Love them both.

 

[Local Yokel]

The regress for Brown is due to facing SEC caliber pitching plus a season to expose his weaknesses as a hitter in the American Athletic Conference. Point was Dreiling couldn’t start as a freshman LFer as he was a liability in the field. Dreiling was relegated to an occasional DH and PH against RHP. In one season, he became a plus LFer. Same will likely happen for Brown if he’s dedicated to the work required and change needed from his free swinging approach.

Plenty of players who come from a different league who translate. This was one of the most coveted players in the portal. He’s very emotional, which I don’t find a good fit for a failure game like baseball. No one is throwing him an at bat full of strikes. He chases. Answer? Take. Shorten your swing. If you won’t, then have a seat.

I see it collectively. You have a bunch of returning guys who’ve faced SEC pitching who are getting worse and slumping. Levi is your best against SEC competition and he’s still batting around .200 for the season.

I don’t think it’s any surprise that the analytics guy who is usually on Elander’s hip wasn’t visible Sunday. At least when I looked. I suspect they’ve implemented some things that aren’t working out as they’ve hoped. The plate approach isn’t working .

 

[bpalmer28]

He's been putting together some better at bats over the past couple weeks and has made pretty good contact, but I'd like to see this lineup (dream on, I know):

Wright (LF)
Chapman (RF)
Ford (3B)
Grimmer (2B)
Grindlinger (DH)
Marin (SS)
Lawless (C)
Clarke (1B)
Abernathy (CF)

 

[bpalmer28]

He's one dimensional. Needs to learn how to push to the opposite field.

Agreed. Off speed away, off speed away, off speed away... batter out.

 

[Local Yokel]

Though his bat has slowed down some. But he is 3rd on the team in HR’s (and that’s because Grimmer just passed him yesterday) and 2nd on the team in RBI’s.

That’s because the team has struggled at hitting HRs. You would have expected Reese, Stone (injury), Ford (illness), and Levi to be ahead of where the are. At one point Ariel has more homers than Reese. Reese, being a lefty, pull hitter, is the biggest puzzler. Granted, he leads the team in doubles, but I expected him to have double the HRs he has now (5).

Grimmer, who missed the first part of the year, is the only one who is pacing where I thought he would. I had high hopes for Myatt and think he’d been a better long term plan for right field.

 

[Bigvalley84]

I think E will continue to roll with the guys with the most sec at bats come Thursday , I wish he would use the bench more myself , I think he should ph at least a couple of times a game to get guys a few meaningful at bats , there were times I didn’t think Tony used the bench players enough , that’s just comparing us to our sec opponents

 

[Bigvalley84]

I think E will continue to roll with the guys with the most sec at bats come Thursday , I wish he would use the bench more myself , I think he should ph at least a couple of times a game to get guys a few meaningful at bats , there were times I didn’t think Tony used the bench players enough , that’s just comparing us to our sec opponents

 

[BigOrangeCrush32]

I think E will continue to roll with the guys with the most sec at bats come Thursday , I wish he would use the bench more myself , I think he should ph at least a couple of times a game to get guys a few meaningful at bats , there were times I didn’t think Tony used the bench players enough , that’s just comparing us to our sec opponents

Good grief, we heard you the first time.

 

[tennrich1]

I actually heard he’s working hard with E on shortening his swing. As a pro golfer told me once …”it’s NEVER too early to shorten your backswing swing”. Even touring pros have to work on this as well. Same applies to baseball. Hopefully he’ll get it worked out.

Replying to myself...maybe a Volnation low...However wanted to add...I had a good conversation this morning with a friend who was a long time D1 head baseball coach with great success about changing a hitters approach, swing (long, slow, fast, short etc), and launch angle. He basically said shortening a swing on the collegiate level is extremely difficult to accomplish. Usually the culprit is the swing trigger, which generally is the natural pre-set to start the swing. He said he NEVER talked launch angle (his opinion only MLB players...the 1%ers...should even concentrate on launch angle at all). His experience of changing a swing, if successful, takes a long times with hours upon hours of cage time etc. So hopefully Brown is a 1%er and can effective shorten the swing and learn not to pull ever pitch. Coach did say the level of pitching in the SEC (he mentioned the Fri/Sat starters for Ole Miss) will 100% expose your weakness, tendencies, and ways to "get you out".

 

[Local Yokel]

At the game. That HR was the funkiest travel I’ve seen on a ball. Line drive to opposite field with some crazy action on it:

 

[Orange.]

...If he can't/won't go oppo, make him bunt...

 

[vol66]

Well played!!!

 

[taylorvol]

At the game. That HR was the funkiest travel I’ve seen on a ball. Line drive to opposite field with some crazy action on it:

Brown has obviously been working on driving the ball the opposite field and it showed today on his double and HR. He reset himself in the best possible way. Let’s hope that approach continues as it will make Brown ridiculously successful.

 

[vol66]

Brown has obviously been working on driving the ball the opposite field and it showed today on his double and HR. He reset himself in the best possible way. Let’s hope that approach continues as it will make Brown ridiculously successful.

Isn’t that just baseball? Sometimes you put in the work but you don’t immediately see the results and then…click. There are still gonna be naysayers.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Isn’t that just baseball? Sometimes you put in the work but you don’t immediately see the results and then…click. There are still gonna be naysayers.

I have rarely seen beisbol “fans” return a pitchfork to the shed once it’s been drawn.

The honorable may pass through for a serving of humility, and yet Blaine needs to continue to grow.

Great to see him have a great outing.

 

[taylorvol]

Isn’t that just baseball? Sometimes you put in the work but you don’t immediately see the results and then…click. There are still gonna be naysayers.

perhaps but I think some have been successful being pull happy so they didn’t feel the need to change. When failure occurs often, they are forced to surrender their old ways and change their approach. SEC pitching will force hitters to change their approaches.

 

[vol66]

perhaps but I think some have been successful being pull happy so they didn’t feel the need to change. When failure occurs often, they are forced to surrender their old ways and change their approach. SEC pitching will force hitters to change their approaches.

Again, that’s just baseball, well, to me. There’s has to be an evolution for every player, more tricks in the bag so to speak.

 

[taylorvol]

I have rarely seen beisbol “fans”return a pitchfork to the shed once it’s been drawn.

Wow. You really misconstrued my comments. No pitchfork or vitriol from this fan. I‘m a huge fan of Blaine Brown—-just thought he needed some time on the bench to reset himself. He obviously needed to continue to play through it. I’m thrilled with his success tonight and hope it continues. He’s young and inexperienced but this year‘s struggles will pay huge dividends for him and the team next season.

 

[vol66]

Wow. You really misconstrued my comments. No pitchfork or vitriol from this fan. I‘m a huge fan of Blaine Brown—-just thought he needed some time on the bench to reset himself. He obviously needed to continue to play through it. I’m thrilled with his success tonight and hope it continues. He’s young and inexperienced but this year‘s struggles will pay huge dividends for him and the team next season.

I don’t think it was directed at you.