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Game Day

Canes drop to 2-1. Next up: midweek game vs. Missouri followed by a weekend series vs. Florida, with all four of those being at home.
 
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Walks and errors lead to a seven-run inning for Rutgers. It was early enough that I thought we'd still be able to come back, but we went six consecutive innings without scoring for the only time all weekend, I think. Disappointing to finish the weekend with a bit of a whimper.

Reyes can rake. Hopefully Romy heats up soon because Missouri and UF could make this a long week if we're not hitting. We'll need more than one of our starting pitchers to get through three innings too.
 
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Well when you are playing almost all true freshman that's the way it is sometimes. This is gonna be a very interesting season. I have never seen us field a team so young.
 
furd said:
Well when you are playing almost all true freshman that's the way it is sometimes. This is gonna be a very interesting season. I have never seen us field a team so young.
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Yeah, I figured someone would trot out the "young team" excuse, even though Florida has owned us for several years now, no matter how much experience we have.
 
Disappointed in the way the series ended. Even though I expected us to lose a game for defensive reasons, blowing a five run lead is always tough.

Defensively, we seem solid in the outfield and in the middle infield. Mental error by Escala not covering first base aside, he and Zamora exceeded my expectations. Toral, Gil, and Amditis are question marks.

The bullpen was strong as expected, with Federman in particular impressing me. Didn't really like any of the starting performances. Jeb was very hitable and Veliz obviously hasn't outgrown his habit of walking batters early in games. I don't really know what to make of McKendry's performance. He struggled in the 4th after a dominant first three innings, but seemed to make the pitches he needed to get out of it only to be thwarted by errors. ERA for the series was 3.33 vs 5.67 last year against Rutgers.

Offensively, we're better. The contact is better throughout the lineup. Our batting average for the weekend was .281 vs .211 the same series last year. OBP was a little higher at .374 vs .342. Reyes in particular is the difference between last season and a season like 2012 where we comfortably make the tournament despite having Peter O'Brien and not much else. It didn't translate into hits yet, but Jenkins has a great plate approach for the leadoff spot. Baserunning leaves something to be desired, but Morris seems to be a trying a more aggressive approach on the basepaths this year instead of sac bunts. Hopefully that pays off in time.

Tough week ahead. 2-2 for the upcoming week is probably what success looks like. That's not where we should be as a program but it's where are we are right now.
 
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Mid-town looked really good on Fri. in a short set, If Veliz and McKenrdy cant figure it our i can see him snatching one of their spots sooner than later. I missed the Sunday game but 7 run 4th doesn't sound too positive and Veliz is gonna be a problem if he cant stay around the strike zone. For me a much more aggressive hitting approach out of our guys this weekend makes me feel a lot better about our outlook.
 
We were spoiled by Barr's defense at 1B; let's hope Toral simply needs more experience playing his position or it was first series jitters, because 1B is a very important defensive position in college.

I can see him at DH some giving Allen a shot, and sitting Burns potentially if he starts to struggle offensively.
 
One bad inning bit us in the *** Sunday, and then down the stretch, we couldn't string together any hits after looking pretty competent at the plate early on. Like a switch flipped. Hopefully the kids learn from that and realize they have to stay focused for a full 9 innings. I want us to take the mentality that no lead is safe, and to stay locked in until the last out is recorded.

One thing I will say - I saw a lot less backwards K's than I expected out of this bunch. Either we're producing outs by trying to swing, or we're hitting the ball right at someone. Sooner or later, the more aggressive approach will pay off...assuming they continue with this approach. If you're at the plate to swing the bat, good things happen. If not, take a seat on the bench and let someone else go up there who WILL swing the bat.

A few smaller takeaways:

-Hunter Tackett looks lost at the plate. Not sure if they can justify giving him more PT if he can't produce, especially with some Freshmen on his tail that more reps would help grow and develop. He reportedly has talent and practices well, but if you can't produce when the light comes on...well, we can't use you.
-Everyone looked lost against that reliever for Rutgers that kept throwing change-ups (Heatter, I think his name was - oh, the irony). Nearly every collegiate pitcher's 2nd pitch is the change-up. If that trend continues...well, we'll be exposed and anemic offensively again this year.
-He had some struggles Sunday in relief of McKendry, but impressed with what I saw out of Federman this weekend. I like him in middle relief...no fear, and good intensity.
-Very impressed with Reyes and his approach at the plate. If we can get him/Romy/Toral going, that's a potent middle stretch of the lineup (with Burns tossed in at the 5 spot).
-Zamora and Escala up the middle is going to be fun to watch for a while...very high caliber middle infield.
-I've got a good feeling about Gil. He stays really calm and level. Could be a mainstay for the next 3-4 years at 3B. Really steady guy.
-In spots where we could have bunted (and last year/previous years, would have) - it looks like we swung the bat a little more. That was a welcome sight.
-Bargfeldt is solid, but I wasn't impressed with Veliz or McKendry. McKendry looked unhittable for a few innings, but fell off the table the 2nd time thru the order. Not good.
 
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That inning was really bad luck more than anything sustainable. Few things:

- It's not Escala's fault on that ball to Toral that opened the floodgates. That's totally on Toral. Escala ran to the bag as soon as he realized Toral wasn't going to cover. Toral has to take that ball to the 1B bag. Know the time and score and not play hero ball there.

- The next hit was right to Zamora but McKendry deflected the ball. If McKendry lets that get through Zamora steps on the bag and completes the double play with the game 5-1.

-McKendry needs to understand situations better as well. Too much nibbling led to lots of pitches. When you're up 5-0 the most important thing to do is make the opponent hit the ball before the bases are loaded.

- Their freshman lefthander took complete advantage of our youth. Our hitter all wanted to be the hero and were all pulling off the ball with a pull-heavy approach. In that situation he simply didn't have the velocity to blow it by hitters if they approached the ball the other way and then turn on mistakes. I praised our approach earlier, but in this game when the pressure was on, they all wanted to try harder and swing harder. On multiple occasions the count was 2-0 or 3-1 and we were swinging away at pitches on the edges. In those situations you need to get on base. Getting on base is the number one objective as a hitter but with our youth no one wanted to actually walk. Tony Jenkins made me audibly yell when he had a 3-1 count leading off an inning and he hits a fly ball to RF. Dude, you're 150 pounds. Work the count and get on base somehow.

- I'd like to see more aggression on the base paths, but first and foremost I want to see hitters understand situations and how you win baseball games. Sometimes conceding a play, making the smart play, rather than being the hero is the winning play.
 
HurricaneVision said:
Tony Jenkins made me audibly yell when he had a 3-1 count leading off an inning and he hits a fly ball to RF. Dude, you're 150 pounds. Work the count and get on base somehow.

- I'd like to see more aggression on the base paths, but first and foremost I want to see hitters understand situations and how you win baseball games. Sometimes conceding a play, making the smart play, rather than being the hero is the winning play.
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Welcome to the travel ball generation. Kids simply aren't taught how to unselfishly win baseball games anymore.
 
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