Thoughts on the season

[kbtiger151345162906 0]

There is no way around it, we underachieved.  I thought before the season we would be 2nd or 3rd in the west, make the tourney and comfortably make a regional.  Injuries didn't help (Bryant, Andrews, and Gamache were all missed) but all teams deal with injuries.  The pitching really hurt us all year although it got better toward the end of the year.  The tennessee series and sec tournament disappointments were due more toward hitting.

I'll try to be respectful here but I think a lot of our struggles were due to upperclassman not stepping up.  I thought todays game was a microcosm of the season as we needed Patterson and Hargett in that last inning and they struck out.  Last year the experienced guys (Morris, Fletcher, Mummy, Jenkins, Dayton) all had big years, it was there time to shine and they did.  This took some pressure off and allowed younger guys like McElroy, Gamache, Fradejas(jr but his first year in auburn) to really contribute as they knew, "hey if I don't get it done, Mummey will pick me up."  I was really looking for guys like Patterson, Hargett, Simpson, Gilmer, Luckie, and Hendrix to step up.  None of these guys had the years they were hoping for and that really hurt us.

I'm not sure about our recruiting class coming in, but I don't expect a big increase in talent for next year.  We will probably have to replace at least 6 position players (Caldwell, Patterson, Hargett, Gilmer, Fradejas, maybe McElroy).  I'm not confident Varnadore is coming back.  Its almost impossible to predict how pitching will go next year.  I thought Irvin and Morris would be huge for us this year, but those guys didn't pan out.

The team will look completely different in 2012, but hopefully some of the young players (Dial, Wade, Gonzalez) really step up and surprise people.  Unfortunately, I think we'll all look back on this season and think "what could've been?"

[TigerPaw1 0]

To me what was discouraging was the lack of development. Coach P did an outstanding job of taking Fletcher, Mummey, and Morris's games to the next level. However guys like Simpson, Fradejas, Patterson, and Hargett all seemed to take steps backwards at some point in the season. Fradejas finished pretty strong but Simpson and KP has very average season. The defense continues to be awful as does the pitching. I'm hoping this season was big wake up call to the younger talent. Losing McElroy and Caldwell will really hurt as those are the only 2 guys to have the ability to compete at a high level day in and day out. For Coach P there's no excuse for him next year. It will be his 4th year. All the players for the most part will be his. I hope and expect we will be in a regional. What killed us was too many midweek losses. So many told us "oh no big deal its just a midweek game" but if we win two of those we are in a regional. A lot of work needs to be done in the offseason. Really hope Morris and Irvin find their confidence and provide us with some kind of solid weekend rotation. Again very disappointing season hope we can turn things around next year

[kingofhill1 2]

There is no excuse for not being able to recruit baseball players to Auburn. My goodness, it's not like Auburn, Alabama is the armpit of the world. It should not take forever to build a successful baseball program on the plains.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

To me what was discouraging was the lack of development. Coach P did an outstanding job of taking Fletcher, Mummey, and Morris's games to the next level. However guys like Simpson, Fradejas, Patterson, and Hargett all seemed to take steps backwards at some point in the season. Fradejas finished pretty strong but Simpson and KP has very average season. The defense continues to be awful as does the pitching. I'm hoping this season was big wake up call to the younger talent. Losing McElroy and Caldwell will really hurt as those are the only 2 guys to have the ability to compete at a high level day in and day out. For Coach P there's no excuse for him next year. It will be his 4th year. All the players for the most part will be his. I hope and expect we will be in a regional. What killed us was too many midweek losses. So many told us "oh no big deal its just a midweek game" but if we win two of those we are in a regional. A lot of work needs to be done in the offseason. Really hope Morris and Irvin find their confidence and provide us with some kind of solid weekend rotation. Again very disappointing season hope we can turn things around next year

I thought Irvin left the team???? I've been behind on stuff lately....so what's the deal with him?

[auburn4ever 1,266]

How could we lose to uga? heck, how could anyone lose to uga?

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

How could AU lose to TN?

[WarEagle10 77]

This is just my opinion.....(this comes from watching only 5 games this year and following another 10-15 on here so TIFWIW)

We HAVE to recruit better. We have two clutch hitters, Casey Mc and Caldwell. We have one SEC arm, Varny. I have never seen a team produce less at the plate, in the clutch, than this team has. We have guys with solid averages who just can't get the job done in any way shape or form with RISP. I hate we didn't win today, but let's be honest, we had no chance of advancing in the CWS so we just saved money from our athletic budget today. As anybody who has read my posts knows I am a huge Coach Paw fan, but he has to bring better talent in for us to get to be a top tier SEC team again.

[28Auburn27 0]

To me what was discouraging was the lack of development. Coach P did an outstanding job of taking Fletcher, Mummey, and Morris's games to the next level. However guys like Simpson, Fradejas, Patterson, and Hargett all seemed to take steps backwards at some point in the season. Fradejas finished pretty strong but Simpson and KP has very average season. The defense continues to be awful as does the pitching. I'm hoping this season was big wake up call to the younger talent. Losing McElroy and Caldwell will really hurt as those are the only 2 guys to have the ability to compete at a high level day in and day out. For Coach P there's no excuse for him next year. It will be his 4th year. All the players for the most part will be his. I hope and expect we will be in a regional. What killed us was too many midweek losses. So many told us "oh no big deal its just a midweek game" but if we win two of those we are in a regional. A lot of work needs to be done in the offseason. Really hope Morris and Irvin find their confidence and provide us with some kind of solid weekend rotation. Again very disappointing season hope we can turn things around next year

I thought Irvin left the team???? I've been behind on stuff lately....so what's the deal with him?

Irvin did leave the team

[AU64 10,122]

I see people talking about how long Coach P should have to build a team...three years or five years or ???

IMO however, college baseball is unique in that the coach has fewer scholarships to give than players needed for a squad and is competing against professionsal baseball which usually gets the best HS grads.  This means the college coaches have to take the next level of skilled players and then develop them into solid college level players.  From my observation, the development work is not getting done and the players are making the same kind of mistakes they did 50 games ago.   

So where do we get enough players capable of competing in the SEC?  The history at AU lately is to bring in kids from community colleges who already have used a year or two of eligibility....and last, the best players stay maybe two years and are gone.  Under Coach P at least, there has been huge turnover from season to season and frankly many of the guys who have signed for some sort of scholarship aid have not lived up to the glowing articles when their signings were announced.  That happens in every sport but in baseball, you can't make any recruiting mistakes and have a winning team.   

I don't know where I'm going with this except to say that allowing the current coaches to continue in their jobs does not mean much if the roster of players is turned over every year and the ones coming in are no better than the ones that leave for various reasons.    It shouldn't take five years to see the trend.

[waregl87 0]

My thoughts are the season was a disaster, but not a colossal disaster. Only reason it wasn't a colossal disaster is because we made the SEC tourney again. But it was as close as you could get. Put together an abysmal bullpen, unexplainable midweek losses, no offense outside of Caldwell and McElroy, getting swept 3 times in conference play and losing 2 out of 3 to the worst team in the entire conference, and you get a disaster. Plain and simple.

I fully believe next season will either make or break Pawlowski. Some may think it's too early for Pawlowski to be on the hot seat, but like I said in a thread earlier this year, coaches in modern college athletics don't get 6+ years to turn a program around. Coaches just don't have that luxury anymore. You better get it done in 5 yrs or less or you're out. Next season will be the first year that Pawlowski will have a team full of his own recruits, and it will truly be the team that he recruited. I think next year is a huge year for this program and for the state of Pawlowski's future here.

I think Pawlowski can get it done here and you can't pin the entire disappointment of this season on him, but there is absolutely no reason for this team to not be in a regional. We had more than enough talent, especially offensively, to at least get to one.

There's no other way to explain the second half of this season other than a complete collapse. Next year will be very interesting. Pawlowski should already be on the recruiting trail.

[TigerPaw1 0]

To me what was discouraging was the lack of development. Coach P did an outstanding job of taking Fletcher, Mummey, and Morris's games to the next level. However guys like Simpson, Fradejas, Patterson, and Hargett all seemed to take steps backwards at some point in the season. Fradejas finished pretty strong but Simpson and KP has very average season. The defense continues to be awful as does the pitching. I'm hoping this season was big wake up call to the younger talent. Losing McElroy and Caldwell will really hurt as those are the only 2 guys to have the ability to compete at a high level day in and day out. For Coach P there's no excuse for him next year. It will be his 4th year. All the players for the most part will be his. I hope and expect we will be in a regional. What killed us was too many midweek losses. So many told us "oh no big deal its just a midweek game" but if we win two of those we are in a regional. A lot of work needs to be done in the offseason. Really hope Morris and Irvin find their confidence and provide us with some kind of solid weekend rotation. Again very disappointing season hope we can turn things around next year

I thought Irvin left the team???? I've been behind on stuff lately....so what's the deal with him?

Irvin did leave the team

Yes I'm an idiot I forgot that.... So I guess someone else will have to step up

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I wasn't trying to call you out TigerPaw1!  I have been busy and not keeping up, and I thought maybe there had been a change with Mr. Irvin.

I wish he'd stuck around. He showed moments of potential.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

I see people talking about how long Coach P should have to build a team...three years or five years or ???

IMO however, college baseball is unique in that the coach has fewer scholarships to give than players needed for a squad and is competing against professional baseball which usually gets the best HS grads.   This means the college coaches have to take the next level of skilled players and then develop them into solid college level players.   From my observation, the development work is not getting done and the players are making the same kind of mistakes they did 50 games ago.   

So where do we get enough players capable of competing in the SEC?  The history at AU lately is to bring in kids from community colleges who already have used a year or two of eligibility....and last, the best players stay maybe two years and are gone.   Under Coach P at least, there has been huge turnover from season to season and frankly many of the guys who have signed for some sort of scholarship aid have not lived up to the glowing articles when their signings were announced.  That happens in every sport but in baseball, you can't make any recruiting mistakes and have a winning team.   

I don't know where I'm going with this except to say that allowing the current coaches to continue in their jobs does not mean much if the roster of players is turned over every year and the ones coming in are no better than the ones that leave for various reasons.    It shouldn't take five years to see the trend.

I like your points and I think it points to maybe a change in coaching if we are not improving after 5 years.  Most of the points you make are inherent in the system, so it's not as though it is a handicap to just the AU coaches.  I think this year was a step back, but I don't get to follow AU baseball as close as I would like.

War Eagle!!

[auburn4ever 1,266]

In years past, when our football and basketabll teams were having problems winning and bringing in the fans, we could ALWAYS count on having a very strong baseball program for many year with HB.

[kbtiger151345162906 0]

I'm sure every athletic director has a way of evaluating success.  One point I want to make is that not every sport is comparable.  In basketball, 2 or 3 guys can lead you to the tournament.  In football, we know what lack of depth can be for a team (2009 defense).  Football, also gives you the opportunity to bring in nearly 30 guys in a signing class and this is not something I would've believed before last year but 2 guys can lead a team to a championship.

Whats the timeline for baseball?  I'm not really sure, maybe Jacobs knows.  I agree that some of the challenges mentioned earlier (scholarship limitations and lack of lottery) make things very tough.  I also believe evaluating talent in baseball is tougher than football or basketball.  In football a kid that runs a 4.4 will still run a 4.4 when he gets on campus, throwing 90 mph won't get guys out on the diamond you have to have the control and mental toughness to be an SEC pitcher.  Maybe there's not much of a difference, I'd be interested to see everyone else's opinion on which sport is easier to turn around the quickest?

[AU64 10,122]

Turning around baseball is difficult but a couple teams (USCe and Vandy) have shown that you can win big if you have a handful of good pitchers....and our pitching has been a problem.    Even with the scholarship limitations, quick turnaround is about the only way it can be done in baseball since a team can't stockpile talent over a period of a couple years and overwhelm the opposition with depth.  Players have to be ready to participate as freshmen it seems (or Juniors which is frequently the case). 

Take a look at the roster this year and notice how many key players will be gone.  Appears we will lose most of our offensive power which is what happened last season too.  Some folks have commented about Coach P playing Slaters players (and perhaps thus excused from the results this year) but it appears that Slater's players have pretty much carried the team this season. 

I'm  not sure whether the current staff has brought in anyone who can replace the many seniors we are losing.    There is the suggestion that we should wait until P has a chance to play " his players" but considering all the problems at the end of the season, who is sitting on the bench right now that can make a difference next season?    Will fielding improve and will the pitchers be able to throw strikes when it counts?   

Perhaps I'm missing something but I sure would like to see some evidence that the program is heading in the right direction.

[blayton23 0]

Agreed. I havent seen any proof that this staff has brought anybody in that is ready to step up. i hope im wrong but i dont see that this staff can judge talent. regardless of what happens, we need a new pitching coach and DEFINITELY a new 3rd base coach.

[Cat4AU 0]

Agreed. I havent seen any proof that this staff has brought anybody in that is ready to step up. i hope im wrong but i dont see that this staff can judge talent. regardless of what happens, we need a new pitching coach and DEFINITELY a new 3rd base coach.

So glad someone else saw what i did this season on 3rd base. Awful.................! :banghead:

[Droxside 0]

Good question. To me this year was an aberration in the respect that Auburn has a very good coach and staff along with talent, but the team just never really fully meshed as a unit. Easy to blame this or that, but too me that along with such a strong conference full of the very best college baseball has to offer with little room for error was the 2011 season in a broad nutshell...I fully expect us to bounce back next year and do well...

[Ronald McDonald 0]

i hope im wrong but i dont see that this staff can judge talent.

You need to get on the recruiting trail and watch some high school baseball my friend.

[blayton23 0]

I watch plenty of high school baseball my friend. U need to know what ur talking about before u open your mouth. U and some of the other people on here think you are the only ones that know anything about sports. Just bc someone has a differing opinion doesn't mean they don't know what they are taking about.I will compare my credentials notonly in baseball but athletics in general versus yours any day.

[Ronald McDonald 0]

I was a part of the 6A team that won state this year. If we didn't have talent and didn't face plenty of talent then I'd be shocked at the definition of talent. Wasn't trying to get personal here and it's not about who knows more than who.. Frankly I don't give a crap. But thank you for your insight.

Edit: My team alone had 10 seniors sign to play baseball in college. Two in the SEC and 1 in the SOCON. Three will be drafted on June 6th. And while you're calling me out on my sports knowledge and posting in all aspects, go ahead and throw some others under the bus too. What high school baseball were you watching?

[yeaauburn 21]

 

[TigerPaw1 0]

Not sure why so many baseball threads turn into pissing matches.... I think what is concerning is that you look at a lot of these lower classmen and it doesn't give you much hope. The key is development. I saw great development in 2009-2010 season not so much last year. So if Coach P can develop these kids then we will be good to go