No longer premature Tulane baseball observations

[TUPF]

It has only been two games and entirely too premature to make season long predictions but would like to hear the board's take. I assess what I would call tightness at the plate in game one to opening game jitters and did not take issue with the walkoff dogpile--figured it was the catharsis of kids.

After a few turnovers of the batting lineup it looks like runs and hitting with RISP will be precious commodities. We go into the ninth last night with a one run lead and the bullpen cannot hold the lead. With the exception of the kid who could not throw a strike I thought the the bullpen did ok, not stellar, but good enough to win but had no run support. Team BA at 0.164 is aspiring to reach the Mendoza line. So is this what we are? Eking out a run here or there and praying the bullpen can protect a razor thin lead? It's a lot to ask.

As for throwing mistakes from the catcher and one relief pitcher which really doomed us in game two I don't know what to say. I'd sit Aviles for a game or two because he looks tentative right now.

[randymc]

fyi the Tulane vs. Miss. State games next weekend will all be on the SEC Plus TV network....game times 4 pm Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 pm Sun.

[NJwave]

I thought I saw our first baseman look at the dugout and point towards his eyes when Gillies was in as if to say he couldn’t see the ball. Assuming ULL either saw that or felt the same way, it would explain them running at will. You can get a great jump if you don’t think the pitcher will throw over. For what it is worth, I don’t remember Gillies throwing over.

We have one stud pitcher, but do we have enough else for the 3 other weekend starts come conference play? Do we have enough of a bullpen to eat up all those innings and can we win slugfests.

For me, there is nobody that comes to mind thinking things would turn around when so and so gets his at bat. Thinking of recent years, I always felt that there was a Hoese, ‘Spoon or Williams coming to save the day. This team doesn’t have that.

[wavedom]

The hitting is a concern but it is very early. Englehard stepped up yesterday. Minder and Aviles are good hitters. Anyone know the status of Niemann- injured, COVID? He was supposed to start at first and would help at the plate.

As to pitching we'll see Aldrich today. He was good last year too. Trent Johnson, the bulldog himself , showed up nicely yesterday. He could become a starter. Slagel looked real good. Might see Mahmood and McDonald today. They got talked up some by the staff in the preseason.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Hitting isn't there. Maybe the 2 game sample will turn out to be an anomaly, but we are lucky to be 1-1 given the offensive performance. ULL has made mistakes and thats why we had a chance in both games. I don't really know what ULLs ceiling is, but I don't think they are a surefire Supers team or anything.

Today is a really important game. Dont know how we win, but we better find a way to get it done.

[wavedom]

They were picked 3rd in their division of the Sun Belt. Yesterday's starter for them was their only pre-season All Conference pick. So likely not a Regional club.

[Yankeewave]

Their Friday night guy looked good. A true freshman i think

[Wandering Quaker]

It was great to watch most of both games. I missed that during the past couple years. What a gift to see the team live last year before the Wu-Flu killed the season.

It's too early. I am a little concerned that more guys aren't getting solid contact at the plate. Maybe that will improve. Overall, batters looked pretty patient at the plate (for 20-year-olds), which is a good sign. If they can't see the pitch, though. . . .

Bullpen has worried me since 2005 (or so it feels, anyway). No news there. All the pitchers have looked really tight to me on the mound. Maybe that will improve, too.

Fielding looked pretty good to me so far. No reason to expect that to implode.

[purplehaz3]

Premature is the key word. They’re 1-1 and ULL isn’t a bad team. Give them a few games. Let’s see how they play today.

[NJwave]

Freshman Bennett Lee getting the start at catcher today.

[gerryb323]

Freshman Bennett Lee getting the start at catcher today.

Maybe he can throw!

On edit: following brief research, recruiting sites seem to like his transfer and throwing ability coming out of high school. Fingers crossed.

[TUPF]

Maybe the thread wasn't too premature.

[visualmagic]

3 starting catchers in 3 days was interesting. Don’t think any of them threw anyone out

[tulaneoutlaw]

Used to be no matter how bad football and basketball were, baseball gave us a chance to look forward to a post season appearance. Now we are barely making bowls in football, scuffling still in basketball, and meh at best in the one thing we used to be able to count on.

It's regional or bust Jewett. Get it done or take a hike.

[waverider]

I didn’t realize we were going to rely on so many freshmen. We are still inconsistent at the plate and it looks like we may need another 20 pitchers. Hopefully we get things figured out over the next few weeks before conference play starts.

[Roller]

I didn’t realize we were going to rely on so many freshmen. We are still inconsistent at the plate and it looks like we may need another 20 pitchers. Hopefully we get things figured out over the next few weeks before conference play starts.

We have 23(!) pitchers on the roster. Just hope a few of them can step up.

[Sophandros]

A few pitches here or there this weekend and we sweep them. Or they sweep us.

We have about 468 more innings to play in the regular season, give or take a few.

R-E-L-A-X

[tulaneoutlaw]

A few pitches here or there this weekend and we sweep them. Or they sweep us.

We have about 468 more innings to play in the regular season, give or take a few.

R-E-L-A-X

A few pitches is the problem. Unless ULL is secretly a regional team, we should be beating them 2/3 easily. That is, assuming we are a regional team, which we clearly don't look like at the moment.

This year's tournament is different. With very few non con series, the ACC and SEC are expected to hog a bunch more at large berths by default. That means our margin for error at home against a Sun Belt team is even smaller than normal.

So in this particular shortened season, when expectations are justifiably high and we lose 2/3 to a team we should be better than, I'm not going to relax. I'm tired of missing the postseason and I'm far from alone on that. I really hope I eat crow on this and welcome anybody to bring it up if we make the postseason. But you can't tell me what you saw this weekend in 3 games makes you think all is well.

[Yankeewave]

If you are fine With status quo you can relax.

Want to make a regional? This hurts a ton

[visualmagic]

Wouldn’t shock me at all if ULL is a regional team. Deggs is a really good coach.

[tjtlja]

I see where someone stated we were inconsistent hitting. We had 20 hits today, so I think we probably are going to be somewhere in the middle with consistency developing as these kids get a 100+ at-bats.

It is way too early to make any concrete observations. We have 53 games left. How can a baseball player be assessed after one, two, or 30 games? He can’t.

This is a tough crowd. Jake & Country would have been packing after 50+ games by this bunch. In 2014, Jake hit .202, with no HR’s and 5 doubles in 52 games, and Country hit .083 in 18 games. The transition from high school to college is huge.

There were a lot of encouraging signs this weekend. Engelhard, Lee, Hart, Stevens, Burns, Mindor, Groff, and Aviles all had their moments offensively. Defensively, we did a lot of nice things in the field. Olthoff, Aldrich, Keagan, Slagel, Johnson, and several others had fine outings on the mound this weekend.

We will be ok. The schedule is tough the first month with Miss St, UL, LSU, and probably Grand Canyon (they swept Missouri). This will give us some much needed experience heading into conference.

[gerryb323]

Who is this "UL" to which you refer?

[NJwave]

I see where someone stated we were inconsistent hitting. We had 20 hits today, so I think we probably are going to be somewhere in the middle with consistency developing as these kids get a 100+ at-bats.

It is way too early to make any concrete observations. We have 53 games left. How can a baseball player be assessed after one, two, or 30 games? He can’t.

This is a tough crowd. Jake & Country would have been packing after 50+ games by this bunch. In 2014, Jake hit .202, with no HR’s and 5 doubles in 52 games, and Country hit .083 in 18 games. The transition from high school to college is huge.

There were a lot of encouraging signs this weekend. Engelhard, Lee, Hart, Stevens, Burns, Mindor, Groff, and Aviles all had their moments offensively. Defensively, we did a lot of nice things in the field. Olthoff, Aldrich, Keagan, Slagel, Johnson, and several others had fine outings on the mound this weekend.

We will be ok. The schedule is tough the first month with Miss St, UL, LSU, and probably Grand Canyon (they swept Missouri). This will give us some much needed experience heading into conference.

We are relying on a lot of young kids. I agree they will improve over time as all freshman do. It’s why freshman typically don’t start from day one in all college sports. Do you think recruiting was subpar the last few years if we are having to rely on so many young guys? Without the extra years for Johnson and Gillies, we would have very few reliable arms out of the pen.

[tulaneoutlaw]

I see where someone stated we were inconsistent hitting. We had 20 hits today, so I think we probably are going to be somewhere in the middle with consistency developing as these kids get a 100+ at-bats.

It is way too early to make any concrete observations. We have 53 games left. How can a baseball player be assessed after one, two, or 30 games? He can’t.

This is a tough crowd. Jake & Country would have been packing after 50+ games by this bunch. In 2014, Jake hit .202, with no HR’s and 5 doubles in 52 games, and Country hit .083 in 18 games. The transition from high school to college is huge.

There were a lot of encouraging signs this weekend. Engelhard, Lee, Hart, Stevens, Burns, Mindor, Groff, and Aviles all had their moments offensively. Defensively, we did a lot of nice things in the field. Olthoff, Aldrich, Keagan, Slagel, Johnson, and several others had fine outings on the mound this weekend.

We will be ok. The schedule is tough the first month with Miss St, UL, LSU, and probably Grand Canyon (they swept Missouri). This will give us some much needed experience heading into conference.

A lot of this very fair and I want to be clear I'm not giving up on the players. Many of them are young and may develop over the course of the season and in coming years. My frustration is directed at the situation. Why, in year 5, are we so short on veteran players? And why, five years in, have we not made the postseason when previous staffs did so in much less time? This is when good programs are hitting their stride and winning consistently. It's time to see that. If we can't get there this year, the young players are just a symptom. This coaching staff will have failed yet again.

[visualmagic]

Is it postseason or bust for Jewett this year? What’s everyone thinking on that