Thoughts after 2 weekends

[kbtiger151345162906 0]

-Crazy to think that we've won series against LSU and Ole Miss for 3 straight years.

-If we can take 2 of 3 next weekend we'll have the tiebreaker against the 3 other teams in the middle of the pack in the West.

-I've followed Auburn baseball since 2001 and this is the most confidence I've ever had in our pitching staff.

-Is Ethan Wallen still alive?

-Trey Cochran-Gill has sick stuff.

-Pawlowski bunts too much, IMO

-Our defense is improving.

-Stealing bases has slowed down in SEC play.

-I know the bats are dead, but I'm still surprised at the low number of home runs.  I thought Tella and Cooper would have 4 or 5 by now.

-This team has confidence and I like them a lot.

[AUTUmike 79]

I agree that we're bunting too much. 2 on, nobody out isn't a bunting situation IMO--it's bailing out a struggling pitcher. But anyway, I'm very happy with the state of Auburn baseball overall right now. We need to keep dominating the midweek games and take of business these next three weekends against one of the softer portions of our SEC schedule.

[aaronl22 0]

2 on nobody out is almost an automatic bunting situation for every coach with the new dead bats. I am a high school coach and we have put down a sacrifice with our 3 and 4 hole hitters this year in those situations. I think it feels like we bunt to much because we don't score those runs a lot of times and leave way to many runners on base. Runners left on and timely errors is what keeping this team back right now. I agree though with our pitching staff. The starting four combination of Varnadore, Kendall, Koger, and Jacobs in the midweek is legit. I think the confidence these guys show on the mound and the work of Luckie, Bryant, and Smith in relief is a confidence booster for the lineup. They know they don't have to score many to win games but if the offense ever turns it on and can bring guys home on a more consistent rate than what we are doing now we can play with the big boys like Florida and Arkansas. The key though will be winning series, have to beat State, bama, Vandy, so when we get to the last weekends with the Gators and Hogs we know our place in Hoover is booked.

[AU64 10,122]

Bunting problems...not just too many of them but too many failed attempts.  Problem I see is that it is taking us two outs to get a run in when the lead-off batter gets on base....and leaving too many RISP.  

Base running still a bit loose...guys picked off or doubled up.  All in all, a surprisingly good start against some good SEC competition.

[mustache eagle 2,412]

I had not thought about the tie-breaker angle against the sec west foes.  great thought.  at least we have miss. state at home.  appears that bama is struggling, which is helpful.  arky will be tough at their place.

the pitching has been great.  but, they seemed to zone in on smith on saturday after his successful outing on friday. 

our starting pitching is getting hosed by our errors and our RISP - also, has there been a team get picked off leaning at first as much as our guys.  btw, lsu successful on 2 pitch outs in 1 series??? 

i know we will get base runners thrown out as much as we steal.  for you guys that know baseball ... where is the risk/reward percentage of steals attempts versus thrown out???  when do those outs become counterproductive to the successful attempts. (besides momentum)

i am not sure i agree about our defense improving.  we had something like 8 errors this weekend.  we have simply been lucky that it hasnt hurt us more.  it cost us the game on sunday.  now, i agree there has been some fantastic defensive play, but the errors have been harsh with these dead bats.

i hate the low number of homers, but our guys hit some hard line drives yesterday that would have been out of the park 2 years ago.  they have barreled a fair share of balls over this weekend.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

IIRC...Auburn leads the SEC in successful stolen bases. LSU is just a really good team defensively, and they are tough to steal on. But Auburn had to try, because it's part of the game this team plays.

As for bunts...I don't see that there's too many attempts. It's been a good strategy in these close games.

The biggest issue is still the costly errors. Other than that, I think Auburn is playing some pretty good baseball. This is a resourceful bunch of kids, and I really like that.

[AuburnTigers1 0]

I will be the first to admit I've been pretty down on CJP in the last year or so. I'm really impressed with the direction he has this team going. Our pitching has been absolutely dominating for long stretches in games. They get into jams and get the needed ground balls and K's to stop the big innings from happening. That is very important in the college game now that the 10+ run games are no longer normal. If we can get some timely hitting here and there this is a team capable of making a TON of noise in Hoover and beyond.

[augolf1716 21,268]

I will be the first to admit I've been pretty down on CJP in the last year or so. I'm really impressed with the direction he has this team going. Our pitching has been absolutely dominating for long stretches in games. They get into jams and get the needed ground balls and K's to stop the big innings from happening. That is very important in the college game now that the 10+ run games are no longer normal. If we can get some timely hitting here and there this is a team capable of making a TON of noise in Hoover and beyond.

really AT1 ... j/k big boy j/k

[kbtiger151345162906 0]

I'm a subscriber to moneyball so I think you only bunt when you're playing for one run or if a hitter is really struggling.  The dead bats call for more bunts than two years ago, but giving up outs is hardly ever smart, IMO.  I do think there is some intangible benefit to playing small ball that the SABER metrics folks have a hard time quantifying.  The pressure it puts on a defense is evident.

For example, on saturday. Creede hit a grounder that bounced over the 3rd baseman that was playing in on the grass.  The threat of the bunt made that hit, but I still think CJP bunts too much.

[Cat4AU 0]

Do not like bunting. Auburn does not have anyone that can lay down a really good bunt.

[VA Tiger 0]

Cat, bunting is extremely hard to do, and takes some real courage to try.

Now, I saw more than a few very nice bunts laid down by Auburn batter the last two weekends.  Very fine.  Your argument doesn't hole water to me.

[AuburnTigers1 0]

Cat, bunting is extremely hard to do, and takes some real courage to try.

Now, I saw more than a few very nice bunts laid down by Auburn batter the last two weekends.  Very fine.  Your argument doesn't hole water to me.

Bunting is hard to do? I don't think so. Why do you think coaches get so angry when players are unable to lay bunts down? I laughed out loud at "takes courage to do". This is collegiate baseball. If a player has to pump themselves up to bunt they are playing the wrong sport. I'm not trying to be a butt, but that's craziness.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I saw some really nice bunts too....

I also saw a couple that weren't pretty but got the job done.

We won the series against LSU... an outstanding baseball team that does everything well, and has one of the better coaches in college baseball. That's really an accomplishment.

Whatever CJP thinks will win games is fine by me. He seems to have Auburn baseball headed in the right direction.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Cat, bunting is extremely hard to do, and takes some real courage to try.

Now, I saw more than a few very nice bunts laid down by Auburn batter the last two weekends.  Very fine.  Your argument doesn't hole water to me.

Bunting is hard to do? I don't think so. Why do you think coaches get so angry when players are unable to lay bunts down? I laughed out loud at "takes courage to do". This is collegiate baseball. If a player has to pump themselves up to bunt they are playing the wrong sport. I'm not trying to be a butt, but that's craziness.

It does take practice and skill to bunt. There's different ways to hold the bat depending on what kind of bunt the hitter wants, and it's a little bit of pressure to place the bunt just right so that the runner advances. There's sort of an art to it, and even some Major Leaguers struggle with getting a bunt down right.

[AuburnTigers1 0]

Cat, bunting is extremely hard to do, and takes some real courage to try.

Now, I saw more than a few very nice bunts laid down by Auburn batter the last two weekends.  Very fine.  Your argument doesn't hole water to me.

Bunting is hard to do? I don't think so. Why do you think coaches get so angry when players are unable to lay bunts down? I laughed out loud at "takes courage to do". This is collegiate baseball. If a player has to pump themselves up to bunt they are playing the wrong sport. I'm not trying to be a butt, but that's craziness.

It does take practice and skill to bunt. There's different ways to hold the bat depending on what kind of bunt the hitter wants, and it's a little bit of pressure to place the bunt just right so that the runner advances. There's sort of an art to it, and even some Major Leaguers struggle with getting a bunt down right.

Bunting is like free throw in basketball. If you practice it you will be better at it. The fact of the matter is bunting isn't glamorous. It fells like a wasted at-bat.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I don't get the wasted at bat. Since the point of a bunt is to get a runner into scoring position....if it's a good bunt and that happens, then it's not wasted. And sometimes the batter is safe at first if the defense doesn't play it well so that's a bonus that can happen too.

As for as glamour goes....

Home runs are supposed to be special and somewhat rare. I like classic baseball better than having 3 or 4 homeruns in a game, every time. If lots of batters can hit a long ball over the fence, it's just not that big of a deal, and it's less exciting to me. I like the mix a little better,the tougher homeruns, and I like watching pitchers dueling it out.

[wareagle13 88]

I don't think anyone here denies the effectiveness of a well timed bunt. The problem everyone has right now is that we are fouling off that first pitch 90% of the time and getting ourselves in a quick 0-1 hole. And several of our bunts, when hit fair are popped up. Then throw in the fact that if we get the first runner on and it's almost a guarantee that were gonna bunt so they position their team around for it, so anything other than a perfect bunt could possibly lead to a double play. This weekend I predicted steals and bunts with close to 85% accuracy. If I can do that don't you think trained coaches can do better and adapt/prepare for it?

Small ball works, but you still gotta let our guys swing the bat every now and then. I bet we have missed on a few potential rallies cause the first guy gets on and we try to bunt him over to second and it fails.

[AuburnTigers1 0]

I don't get the wasted at bat. Since the point of a bunt is to get a runner into scoring position....if it's a good bunt and that happens, then it's not wasted. And sometimes the batter is safe at first if the defense doesn't play it well so that's a bonus that can happen too.

As for as glamour goes....

Home runs are supposed to be special and somewhat rare. I like classic baseball better than having 3 or 4 homeruns in a game, every time. If lots of batters can hit a long ball over the fence, it's just not that big of a deal, and it's less exciting to me. I like the mix a little better,the tougher homeruns, and I like watching pitchers dueling it out.

I agree with your point about the wasted at bat. I was fortunate enough to play college baseball. I loved bunting. I always batted second and was asked to do so many times in both high school and college. Bunting is a very important part of the game. I've seen it win a ton of games. As I said though, for the most part guys dislike it because they want to be the hero. Just watch any pro game and see what kind of reception a player gets when he gets back to the dugout. I'm not saying our guys don't like to do it. I'm just saying for the most part the average player doesn't like it.

[AuburnTigers1 0]

I don't think anyone here denies the effectiveness of a well timed bunt. The problem everyone has right now is that we are fouling off that first pitch 90% of the time and getting ourselves in a quick 0-1 hole. And several of our bunts, when hit fair are popped up. Then throw in the fact that if we get the first runner on and it's almost a guarantee that were gonna bunt so they position their team around for it, so anything other than a perfect bunt could possibly lead to a double play. This weekend I predicted steals and bunts with close to 85% accuracy. If I can do that don't you think trained coaches can do better and adapt/prepare for it?

Small ball works, but you still gotta let our guys swing the bat every now and then. I bet we have missed on a few potential rallies cause the first guy gets on and we try to bunt him over to second and it fails.

I agree. "Slashing" would cut down on teams playing up so far. You smash a couple of balls down the line and they'll be reluctant to over play the bunt in obvious bunting situations.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

Gonzalez laid down a beauty Saturday, i believe. He couldn't have rolled it out toward third any better with his hand.