Blaine Brown Returning 2027

[RumpleVolskin]

I’m 62 and stand a better chance hitting outside breaking ball. He swings and whiffs every time

Actually the down and in is and was a known and opposing pitchers who had offspeed stuff used it. Fastball pitchers had issues off and on.

 

[utVolFanInVA]

Apples and oranges. I was comparing Soph seasons in SEC. SEC pitching is deep and elite. Brown had never seen the depth and consistent quality of arms that he saw this past season. I’m not saying he will take a Burke like jump as Burke was one of most improved players in all of college baseball his junior year. I’m just saying too many fans are writing Brown off and they don’t understand that players can and do get better.

Apples & oranges? You can't compare class years without looking at the actual playing time that leads up to the class year. Burke had less than 50% of the ABs Brown had as a FR. So to say their SO class years are a fair comparison is misleading. Time in the box against live pitching is irreplaceable.

Agree, players can make great strides from one year to the next but accurately forecasting that is not a science. Too many variables so there will always be "hits" & "misses." As a coach, you try to have more "hits" than "misses." Doesn't have to be 100% but needs to be greater than 60% for consistent success.

Brown is no Shohei Ohtani. Wonder if he would be better served to focus on pitching or hitting but the workload of doing both is slowing his progress.

 

[cardvolfan]

I question why we are keeping Brown and letting Eisfelder leave but I am also the same guy who criticized letting Chapman come back last year so I will trust the decisions made by this staff.

What would lead you to project the opinion of keeping Eisfelder over Brown? In my opinion, I wouldn’t have to think a split second before choosing Brown.

 

[SNAFU]

Some of these folks need to call JG Wentworth they want there monies worth Now .


Edit. I wish the coaches knew as much about the players as most fans seem to know.

Me too! I’m getting tired of doing their job and not getting paid for it.

 

[taylorvol]

Apples & oranges? You can't compare class years without looking at the actual playing time that leads up to the class year. Burke had less than 50% of the ABs Brown had as a FR. So to say their SO class years are a fair comparison is misleading. Time in the box against live pitching is irreplaceable.

Agree, players can make great strides from one year to the next but accurately forecasting that is not a science. Too many variables so there will always be "hits" & "misses." As a coach, you try to have more "hits" than "misses." Doesn't have to be 100% but needs to be greater than 60% for consistent success.

Brown is no Shohei Ohtani. Wonder if he would be better served to focus on pitching or hitting but the workload of doing both is slowing his progress.

Fair enough. My point is MLB Scouts will tell you that the SEC is deep and wide with elite pitching. The ACC is a distant second. There’s a reason why Myatt knocked the cover off the ball in JUCO but struggled mightily during his first season against SEC pitching. I think year 2 in the SEC for Brown (and for hopefully Myatt) will be a huge jump if he puts the work in.

PS. Brown seems like an awesome teammate and both he and Myatt are easy to pull for….

 

[volfan411]

What would lead you to project the opinion of keeping Eisfelder over Brown? In my opinion, I wouldn’t have to think a split second before choosing Brown.

IMO there was more upside to Eisfelder. Brown has a LOT of work to do this offseason to become the leader we will need in the dugout next season. I hope he puts in the work and takes the next step but only time will tell.

 

[rockytop25]

IMO there was more upside to Eisfelder. Brown has a LOT of work to do this offseason to become the leader we will need in the dugout next season. I hope he puts in the work and takes the next step but only time will tell.

Just my opinion, I would put Brown above Eisfelder in terms of upside

Or maybe Brown has a higher ceiling but Eisfelder has a higher floor would be a better way to put it.

 

[fryeguy93]

I think
I hope

BB will have a blow out year.
He's got the athletic ability to be a superstar. I think he needs to become a baseball player.
I assume he will give up on the pitching distraction- but maybe the new pitching coach will see what he's got first.

I don't know his baseball background. I don't know if he played other sports. I don't know what kind of coaching he received in high school or AAU/Travel/etc.

The ONLY thing holding him back is in his own head. He's one of the guys that has terrible body language after a bad call or bad at bat. Contrary to what he likely thinks, he would play better with less emotion.

Read about the stoics. I am serious!
Think about what went wrong. Don't react.
Take the field like you OWN the field. Not with swagger, Not with enthusiasm.. Just take the field and KNOW you belong there .
Don't worry about being a leader. Be a professional baseball player! You can still have fun playing the game but you will be above the game.

 

[volfan411]

Just my opinion, I would put Brown above Eisfelder in terms of upside

Or maybe Brown has a higher ceiling but Eisfelder has a higher floor would be a better way to put it.

I agree with this and you said it more elegantly than I did .

Brown has to find some consistency next season and hopefully he does that over the summer and fall workouts. I also take into consideration that we would have had Eisfelder two more seasons but in the world of NIL not sure that matters as much.

 

[WaywardVol]

No one knows how much or how little was paid for Brown. His upside and skill set is tremendous. I bet you’d be shocked how little he’s receiving.

We actually know how much he was receiving at Rice due to the lawsuit. So, we know it’s more than that. Likely, considerably more. If no one knows, then your statement is self defeating. I love your stuff Taylor, but I think you’re overplaying your hand here.

 

[WaywardVol]

Reps are a hell of a thing in baseball

A volume of bad reps doesn’t make you better. He has some serious swing issues.

 

[WaywardVol]

Fair enough. My point is MLB Scouts will tell you that the SEC is deep and wide with elite pitching. The ACC is a distant second. There’s a reason why Myatt knocked the cover off the ball in JUCO but struggled mightily during his first season against SEC pitching. I think year 2 in the SEC for Brown (and for hopefully Myatt) will be a huge jump if he puts the work in.

PS. Brown seems like an awesome teammate and both he and Myatt are easy to pull for….

I’m more inclined to see the jump in Myatt. I dare say if he’s gotten the leash that Brown got, we might be looking at a different post season.

 

[taylorvol]

We actually know how much he was receiving at Rice due to the lawsuit. So, we know it’s more than that. Likely, considerably more. If no one knows, then your statement is self defeating. I love your stuff Taylor, but I think you’re overplaying your hand here.

Agree to disagree—obviously a small circle around Brown know what he's making. What Brown is making at UT obviously isn’t known by the public. It may NOT even be “considerably more” as the visibility he receives playing in the SEC is huge. Most fans assume baseball players are getting paid much more than they are. I‘ve been guilty of that as well. I don’t think $125K per year at Rice was an outrageous financial commitment. I know there were performance incentives over the 2 year contract that could have bumped it up to ~$350K over the 2-year term. My original point remains the same.

 

[CobbWebb71]

A volume of bad reps doesn’t make you better. He has some serious swing issues.

So how would you suggest the issues get fixed?

 

[WaywardVol]

So how would you suggest the issues get fixed?

I’ve already said it half a dozen times. Do exactly what Burke did. Skip summer ball and work with a swing coach. What other sport exists where players continue playing? Football? Basketball? No. They train and intensely work on specific skill development.

Why in the hell these players, pitchers specifically, want to use up their juice in these meaningless leagues is beyond me.

 

[rockytop25]

I’ve already said it half a dozen times. Do exactly what Burke did. Skip summer ball and work with a swing coach. What other sport exists where players continue playing? Football? Basketball? No. They train and intensely work on specific skill development.

Why in the hell these players, pitchers specifically, want to use up their juice in these meaningless leagues is beyond me.

A lot of them get scouted and improve their draft stock over the summer.

Who says he can’t work on his swing and play summer ball at the same time?

 

[WaywardVol]

A lot of them get scouted and improve their draft stock over the summer.

Who says he can’t work on his swing and play summer ball at the same time?

I’m sure that’s the case if you’re in anonimity. He isn’t. I’d say Burke improved his stick be his massive improvement from his sophomore to junior year. There’s no mystery how that happened. We all know what Tony thought about those leagues. Particularly when it came to pitchers. He didn’t like them.

I guess we can make up fantasy scenarios that there’s some magic swing coach up in Cape Cod, but I think we know that’s not how this works.

 

[rockytop25]

I’m sure that’s the case if you’re in anonimity. He isn’t. I’d say Burke improved his stick be his massive improvement from his sophomore to junior year. There’s no mystery how that happened. We all know what Tony thought about those leagues. Particularly when it came to pitchers. He didn’t like them.

I guess we can make up fantasy scenarios that there’s some magic swing coach up in Cape Cod, but I think we know that’s not how this works.

If the Cape isn’t good for development/draft stock, why do all the best players go play there?

 

[WallyBalls]

I’ve already said it half a dozen times. Do exactly what Burke did. Skip summer ball and work with a swing coach. What other sport exists where players continue playing? Football? Basketball? No. They train and intensely work on specific skill development.

Why in the hell these players, pitchers specifically, want to use up their juice in these meaningless leagues is beyond me.

What exactly do you think happens at the Cape? They just go up there and play for some summer time rec league coach?

Come on, man.

 

[WaywardVol]

What exactly do you think happens at the Cape? They just go up there and play for some summer time rec league coach?

Come on, man.

I could give two ***** about draft stock. I know how Tony V felt about these leagues. Hell, Antiqua batter .442 in the Appy league.

 

[fryeguy93]

I’ve already said it half a dozen times. Do exactly what Burke did. Skip summer ball and work with a swing coach. What other sport exists where players continue playing? Football? Basketball? No. They train and intensely work on specific skill development.

Why in the hell these players, pitchers specifically, want to use up their juice in these meaningless leagues is beyond me.

GREAT POINT.

Developing new muscle memory takes thousands- or more, meaningful repetitions.

It's a different sport, but consider Rick Barnes's first season at Tennessee in 2015-2016. He persuaded Kevin Punter to change his jumpshot and that kid shot endless nights alone = or with trainer, shooting over and over and over again.

A coach could break down BB's swing and set him on a similar course. Live pitching would be helpful but BB would best be advised to bat, bat, bat, bat, , and bat some more, and carefully use the same, new mechanics every time. Laying off the balls in the dirt could be corrected without sitting in a host family's basement for the summer and getting pregame BP

 

[fryeguy93]

If the Cape isn’t good for development/draft stock, why do all the best players go play there?

Why do all the family's spend endless summers on the road in travel ball?
Just because everyone does it, does not mean it's the right thing to do.

Coming back in Spring and increasing BA, OBP, and OPS by 25-50% against Div 1 pitchers, will do more good than anything he does in a wood bat summer league against a mix of arms at every level.

 

[rockytop25]

Why do all the family's spend endless summers on the road in travel ball?
Just because everyone does it, does not mean it's the right thing to do.

Coming back in Spring and increasing BA, OBP, and OPS by 25-50% against Div 1 pitchers, will do more good than anything he does in a wood bat summer league against a mix of arms at every level.

I disagree but to each their own. Every year players have gotten drafted because of what they have done in the Cape.

It’s possible for him to go play in the Cape AND also have a bounce back junior year. Those 2 things aren’t mutually exclusive

 

[knoxvol52]

Sad that this kid probably never plays at Tennessee.

 

[beachvol23]

I’m amazed at how much detail people are writing about the baseball player that frankly sucks at the SEC level! He can’t see the ball coming or going, he can’t field = total bust! Huge swing and miss! And JE doubled down on him but ran off at least two better players.