LA Regional Day 3 Recap - The End of The Road
by PodKATT on Jun 7, 2010 8:55 AM CDT
in Baseball
17 comments
It always hurts to lose to Gillespie, even more to be eliminated by him. At least UCLA took care of business and ended that madness.
I was worried about the decision to start Watkins, and despite his late game heroics on Friday, it's clear he still has a little more work to do getting his swing back, going hitless with 2Ks. Dean got to go yard one last time as a Tiger, sparking a rally in the next inning that fell just short of bringing us back. Landry continues to sacrifice himself to make insane catches in center, and I can only selfishly hope we get him for another year. Alsup was not as good as his last start and had no K's, but he can hardly be faulted for a 5 hit, 3 run performance. One of the few bright spots was an old-school, nearly lights out performance from Ott, who faced 7 and got 3Ks.
In the end, our lack of timely hitting is what cost us the season and this has been a problem all year. Also the lack of ability to bunt the ball at all, which Hawthorne has been hammering on about nearly all year, is a serious deficiency on this team. I'm not saying we want to become a "small ball" team, but instances like Gaudet's "attempts" at a bunt this weekend point out a glaring weakness that needs to be fixed this offseason.
You can be disappointed, but you can't be bitter. As bad as this season has been, the team could have easily just packed it in and enjoyed a nice, long summer off. But with just a slim hope of even making the SEC tourney, they gave all they could and we went much farther than expected. We play for Omaha, not Hoover, but winning the GREAT MARBLE OBELISK is nothing to sneeze at. It was a good, no, a great year for LSU baseball, it just wasn't a championship year. At least we forced'em to update the video for next season.
And what of Omaha? Certainly Bertman and Walker will be there to accept their awards. And there are quite a few Tiger fans (myself included) who are going just to give a proper goodbye to the 'Blatt and the old neighborhood. Sending the old stadium out with LSU was just too perfect of a story, and in the end, not meant to be. We'll just have to be ready to christen the new place in beer and boudin next year.
A full assessment of this season and an insanely early look ahead to next season is coming, but not until after we know who we lose to the MLB draft, which begins at 6pm today.
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I would agree with this, but
I also think Gillespie overcoaches, and Garrido overcoaches. What do those guys have in common? A lot more championship rings than me. With that in mind, I’ll defer to Manieri’s judgment.
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jun 7, 2010 9:26 AM CDT up reply actions
Correction
The Tigers played the same ball they had all season and they came up lacking against equal or superior talent.
Our pitching (Ranaudo vs UCLA, Alsup vs UCI) was par for the course. It didn’t suck but it sure didn’t dominate.
Our hitting, especially timely hitting, was as bad as ever. What was our batting average with runners in scoring position? How many men did we leave stranded?
I disagree with the bunt hypothesis
We didn’t lose this weekend because UCI and UCLA outbunted us. We lost because they flat outpowered us. If you would’ve told me that UCI, who hit 33 homers all year coming in, was going to hit 10 in a single weekend, I’d have called you crazy. But that’s what happened; UCI hit home runs while LSU displayed warning track power. Flukey, yes, but the regionals are a flukey thing.
OK, so Gaudet looked like a fool bunting. But it’s not Gaudet’s job to bunt, anymore than it’s Hanover’s job to hit towering 420 foot home runs. Asking Gaudet to bunt is like asking him to play catcher for an inning — it’s putting him in a position to fail. If Manieri really wanted to bunt there, he should have inserted a pinch hitter.
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jun 7, 2010 9:25 AM CDT reply actions
I'm not saying we need to bunt
And I really don’t want us to bunt. I love the long ball game and i know it’s what has and will always power this program to victory.
But it flat-out isn’t even an option right now, we can’t bunt period. I don’t even agree with asking gaudet to bunt either, I’m honestly not even sure what CPM was thinking there, but it is a skill we should at least be barley competent in, and we were not for most of this year.
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook
Good
If you’re good at bunting, the coach will be tempted to ask you to bunt. And college teams, even LSU, bunt far too often. 1st and 2nd with no outs, down by one run in the 8th, the middle of your order up… you swing away. You need a hit, nut an extra base.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
http://www.andthevalleyshook.com
Well, there is no correct answer, we are just talking strategy, not facts.
But I agree with Pod. It is a skill that our players should have. It never hurts to have an extra tool in the tool belt.
Sure I want to blast Home Runs to win games. But when you are facing good pitching that isn’t always an option. Being able to bunt at least gives you an option that you can control somewhat. We had nothing to turn to when our “brute force” approach wasn’t getting the job done.
I’d have bunted the runners over in the eigth last night. Then you don’t need a hit to score, you can score a lot more ways. Does it suck to bunt with a player who hits .390? Sure, but Gibbs was in a slump anyway, and the pitcher we were facing was lights out.
I am not at all concerned that Manieri will all of a sudden begin giggling with delight at his new found masters of the bunt if we devote some time to it. I’m way more concerned with our inability to hold runners/pick off runners when stealing, our affinity to give up HRs.
Also, we only hit like 75 HRs this year or so. We are losing Dean, Gibbs, Landry (probably), and Geudet. Where exactly are those 40 bombs going to come from next year? Sure we have some guys that will step up, but I certainly don’t expect our HR numbers to increase next year. We may need some more effective bunting next year.
No no no no no no no no!!!
You do not respond to losing offesnive power by then implementing a strategy that is specifically designed to score LESS RUNS. The reason you don’t bunt is because one-run strategies lead to less scoring. an already challenged offense should not be trying to score less.
We didn’t need a home run. We needed a single. A base hit probably scores a run in the 8th. And three chances to get that hit is better than two. This is so obvious I still find it stunning we have this argument. Bunting in the 8th inning yesterday would’ve been borderline criminal. It doesn’t just “suck” to bunt a player hitting 390, it’s a terrible misallocation of resources. It’s mangerial negligence. The pitcher was lights out? Exactly! Which is why you give yourself MORE opportunities to get the needed hit. Oh, and actually let your best hitter take a crack at it.
Could you have “scored in another way” if you bunted Gibbs? Sure, you now have added a long fly ball as a posibility. Wow. So, by sacrificing a chance to get a base hit from a near 400 hitter, you’ve added the possibility you can tie the game if your lesser hitter gets out in a specific way. Oh, and you’ve made a big inning a lot less likley. That’s an awful trade. We weren’t trying to just tie the game, we were trying to win it. Managing not to lose is what losers do. We shouldn’t start adopting one-run strategies while losing by a run. We should be thinking how to score two runs and win. The percentages favored swinging away. It didn’t work. That’s baseball. but I’d rather lose with the game put on the shoulders of my best player than lose by taking the bat out of his hands.
This isn’t about waiting for homers. That’s a straw man argument. LSU needed a base hit. It’s about NOT GIVING AWAY OUTS (or writing off your best hitter). Giving away outs hurts your offense and decreaes run scoring. “Effective bunting” means getting out. I don’t want that. We need base hits and less getting out. Not more of it.
Fake Pundit. Real Fan.
http://www.andthevalleyshook.com
preach it brother Poseur!
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jun 7, 2010 7:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Well, that's just your opinion. It's not fact.
God knows I agree with you most of the time. I hate bunting. But it is a necessary evil.
I think it was the better strategy in that situation. 50% of the baseball world would agree with me. The other 50% are right too.
That’s why it’s baseball.
Could you have "scored in another way" if you bunted Gibbs? Sure, you now have added a long fly ball as a posibility. Wow.
And no, you can score a lot more ways.
Fly ball, throwing error, wild pitch, deep ground out etc. Banking on a guy who gets a hit 39% of the time is not necessarily playing the percentages just because he’s “our best hitter”.
None of which happened
And any of which would be equally applicable with a runner on second
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jun 8, 2010 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Plus, simply showing that sometimes bunting is good doesn't mean it's good to bunt
Sometimes you’ll hit on 19 and draw a deuce. That doesn’t make it a smart idea to hit on 19.
Don't Panic.
by 4.0 Point Stance on Jun 8, 2010 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions
Good season Tigers...
Sorry you couldn’t get out of your regional. I was a little puzzled when you were put in a regional that was paired with CSF. I figured the committee would “try” to get the power teams to Omaha for a good send off of the Blatt. I was actually hoping you would get out of the regional. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait until next season to see an awesome match up. ESPN better televise the game (and I don’t mean ESPNU).
I love the colors Orange and Blue. Go Broncos!!! Go Titans!!! BAD WORD Gators!!!
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