1-10, season; 54-77 career SEC record.

[Swamp Eagle 5,144]

But Butch is the man for the job. Carry on.

[Gowebb11 9,340]

1 hour ago, Swamp Eagle said:

But Butch is the man for the job. Carry on.

As much as I like Butch, it’s time to start having this discussion. You are what your record says you are. His winning % puts him solidly behind Renfroe and Pawlowski, and narrowly ahead of Golloway. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,144]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

As much as I like Butch, it’s time to start having this discussion. You are what your record says you are. His winning % puts him solidly behind Renfroe and Pawlowski, and narrowly ahead of Golloway. 

Talk about perspective. 

[fredst 9,064]

2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

As much as I like Butch, it’s time to start having this discussion. You are what your record says you are. His winning % puts him solidly behind Renfroe and Pawlowski, and narrowly ahead of Golloway. 

Ouch....

[PUB78 1,359]

Love Butch too and I think you have to give him a pass on his first season due  to how little time he had to prepare with the players.

Unless the team makes a remarkable turnaround the remainder of this season, he can’t afford another poor record next year .

[steeleagle 2,945]

I was surprised by his avg to poor SEC record.

As a true baseball fan, we know you can't turn around a team like a basketball team w one player, or a super player like a QB or a RB on a football team. Saying that, CBT, while a wonderful personality, and humble guy, he has to show better improvement either towards the end of this year or definitely next year. OFc, he will lose his best pitcher, so he has to find that #1 pitcher again he has been lucky with. 

The issues are all over the team. Pitching breakdowns w too many walks, hitters not being clutch or timely, and mistakes in the field. Discipline comes from coaching ,and that has to come from that core group of Thompson, Gross, and Huddy. I have to give Huddy a pass as just bc he was a great MLB pitcher, trying to be a coach in his first year, he has to adapt and learn to be a better pitching coach. So I give him some time....

But i hate that we  are having to discuss this staff at all, with the hope we had after going to the WS. But CBT teams are going the other way and underperforming.

[tgrogan21 6,198]

58 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I was surprised by his avg to poor SEC record.

Not really surprising when you look at the state of the SEC. The teams are VERY good. So good, in fact that to make it to the post season most people believe you only need to go about .500 in conference play. If you look at the RPI this season, all but 3 teams are in the top 60. With 9 of them in the top 30. SEC record minus this year and his first year is .500. It can and should be better this year with the experience we have but again, I'll give Butch a pass on this year because it's his first really bad season since his first. But we have to see some sort of improvement in the final games of the year now that our pitchers are starting to come back from injury.

[steeleagle 2,945]

58 minutes ago, tgrogan21 said:

Not really surprising when you look at the state of the SEC. The teams are VERY good. So good, in fact that to make it to the post season most people believe you only need to go about .500 in conference play. If you look at the RPI this season, all but 3 teams are in the top 60. With 9 of them in the top 30. SEC record minus this year and his first year is .500. It can and should be better this year with the experience we have but again, I'll give Butch a pass on this year because it's his first really bad season since his first. But we have to see some sort of improvement in the final games of the year now that our pitchers are starting to come back from injury.

I agree with needing to see improvement. Butch is saying the right things, and his personality is one of showing a steady demeanor even when things are falling apart and they are in such a rut. But he also has to tinker and show them ways to get out of these slumps. That is what the better coaches are able to do. Minimize the slumps and then when back on course, take off on long winning streaks. 

The relief pitching has to have some shut down innings when we do tie or get the lead. Then I think the offense will add to it. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

24 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I agree with needing to see improvement. Butch is saying the right things, and his personality is one of showing a steady demeanor even when things are falling apart and they are in such a rut. But he also has to tinker and show them ways to get out of these slumps. That is what the better coaches are able to do. Minimize the slumps and then when back on course, take off on long winning streaks. 

The relief pitching has to have some shut down innings when we do tie or get the lead. Then I think the offense will add to it. 

I agree with everything you've said. Also, can't remember if it was you or another poster but I do think Ward needs to sit for a few games. He is hurting us more than helping us in the lineup with his lack of plate discipline.

It sucks that when our bullpen shows up like last night, the starting pitching and offense don't. Seems like we can't get all 3 aspects of the game to work in the same game.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

That’s also counting 2016 in which he was left a reck of a program in terms of chemistry. 
 

Take 8-22 away.

That’s now 46-55. Actually had a winning record from 2017-2019.

[mustache eagle 2,410]

Yep this year sucks but W-L doesn’t tell the story in the sec.

hes 3 out 5 ncaa tourneys.  2016 was a throwaway and last year doesn’t count.

2 regional champs

no. 1 overall draft pick and another 1st rounder.  Until this year the starters have blossomed under him.

and a single out away from 2 trips to Omaha.  That doesn’t exactly suck.

This year sucks.  No doubt about it.  But give me a break on the hot seat talk based on W-L.  That simply doesn’t apply in the sec like other conferences/sports.

[Mikey 16,640]

I don't think it's time for "The Discussion". In 2019 we were in the CWS. Last year was set up to be a repeat, with Tanner Burns and Jack Owen as starters and the Bull coming out of the pen. The virus killed what should have been a truly banner season for Auburn baseball..

This season puzzles me, but Thompson has earned a chance to set things to rights.

[AUpreacherman22 3,888]

I have been pleased with Butch, and seeing improvement every year with depth, talent, recruiting, team morale, etc.   At this point, this year seems to be the exception to the rule.   I fully expected this year’s team to be really good, so obviously I’m extremely disappointed!   Better luck next year.   

[steeleagle 2,945]

CAn you imagine what was going through Butch's mind, seeing his starting pitcher get the first out in the first inning, and then proceed to walk batters, hit batters, throw a wild pitch, make an error, and end up giving up 8 runs? 

It has to demoralize a coach hoping Sunday is the one day they can win one to get out of a slump and this happens before they get even 1 at bat.

[nurbis 572]

5 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I have been pleased with Butch, and seeing improvement every year with depth, talent, recruiting, team morale, etc.   At this point, this year seems to be the exception to the rule.  

Things were looking like they were going in a bad direction last year before the season was cancelled. We were swept by UCF and were not even competitive in that series. We also lost to Georgia tech and Wofford. That is the concern for me. One bad year can be an aberration but two years is a downward trending program. Going to have to make some staff changes after the season. Got to do something.

[boomstick 1,315]

On 4/10/2021 at 6:46 PM, Swamp Eagle said:

But Butch is the man for the job. Carry on.

Just my two cents. IMO you can't hold the first season against Butch. He took over in October and had almost no fall with the current roster and less than a month to put together a recruiting class. Hold this season against him and hold the projections and how you felt about the potential of last season against him. But 2016 was a dang near impossible situation, even though that team had some talent. 

[boomstick 1,315]

I think Butch is going to have to make some staff changes. Losing his original staff of Sisson and Bohannon and then Smith were all big blows. While the offensive numbers are "good" right now, they're largely padded by beating up on weak OOC teams, and that's been the case the last 2-3 years. And the pitching staff has been a disaster this year. We only lost two arms off of last year's roster. Granted, they were big arms in Tanner Burns and Bailey Horn. But to go from what we had last year to what we have this year and to be so uncompetitive is just shocking. I get the lack of SEC play and summer ball stunted some growth, but this is more than stunted growth. Whatever it is has to change this offseason, which likely means Butch will have to go hire a pitching coach with a bunch of experience or take it over himself.

[Gowebb11 9,340]

Every team in the SEC lost some big arms from last year, have had some injuries, and  have some youth. But we are the only ones 1-11 in the SEC. 6 years in there should be a more talented roster, better pitchers, more capable catchers, and experienced juniors and seniors should not be the weakest links in the batting order. There’s a lot going on with this team. I’m pulling for this staff and team to turn it around. I feel for BT because I know he’s a good coach, but he’s facing some difficult decisions for his players and staff prior to next season.