No longer premature Tulane baseball observations

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gerryb323
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by gerryb323 »

visualmagic wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:40 pm Is it postseason or bust for Jewett this year? What’s everyone thinking on that
Is it? Or should it be? Which are you asking?
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by visualmagic »

gerryb323 wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:46 pm
visualmagic wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:40 pm Is it postseason or bust for Jewett this year? What’s everyone thinking on that
Is it? Or should it be? Which are you asking?
I’m asking if y’all think it is. I think most agree that it should be, but due to circumstances like last year being cut short, maybe it is not.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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I don't think it will be. He'll be back
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by NJwave »

Things did seem different last year. The players were much looser and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Winning will do that, but I thought he had changed some which led to that.

While the players were clearly in to the games this weekend, it felt like pre-2020 again. The players seemed tight and it seemed like we played not to lose.

Under TJ, it has always felt like we don’t do the little things well. We can’t ever seem to get a bunt down, I don’t remember the last hit and run that worked and we have never been able to steal a base when we needed to. Our opponent, whatever they are called did those things when it mattered the last two games.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by tjtlja »

NJwave wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:17 pm
tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:46 pm 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.
I think several circumstances led to our youth -

1. When Matthews was drafted, a lot of people thought he would leave. Recruiting first basemen was not a priority when he came back.
2. No one thought Artigues would be back in his graduate year, thus 2B was not a priority.
3. Pitching was the priority. Our staff has been greatly improved, though Jannetta was expected back.
4. Ty Johnson was expected back this year, thus another void.
5. COVID - Burns would be a junior. Groff would be a sophomore. Stevens would be a junior. Baumgart would be a sophomore. Minder would be a senior. Aviles would be a senior. Niemann would be a senior.

Recruiting has been good, not great. There was a total rebuild when the 2017 class graduated. Losing Johnson & Haskin has not helped. And Pierce did a poor job of recruiting pitchers.

Don’t give up on McDonald, Knueppel, Mahgood, Campbell, and others. There is a long way to go.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by tjtlja »

tulaneoutlaw wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:26 pm
tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:46 pm 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.
Outlaw, see my response to NJ above.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by visualmagic »

tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:39 pm
NJwave wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:17 pm
tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:46 pm 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.
I think several circumstances led to our youth -

1. When Matthews was drafted, a lot of people thought he would leave. Recruiting first basemen was not a priority when he came back.
2. No one thought Artigues would be back in his graduate year, thus 2B was not a priority.
3. Pitching was the priority. Our staff has been greatly improved, though Jannetta was expected back.
4. Ty Johnson was expected back this year, thus another void.
5. COVID - Burns would be a junior. Groff would be a sophomore. Stevens would be a junior. Baumgart would be a sophomore. Minder would be a senior. Aviles would be a senior. Niemann would be a senior.

Recruiting has been good, not great. There was a total rebuild when the 2017 class graduated. Losing Johnson & Haskin has not helped. And Pierce did a poor job of recruiting pitchers.

Don’t give up on McDonald, Knueppel, Mahgood, Campbell, and others. There is a long way to go.
How are we still talking about Pierce’s recruiting in 2021? If not for COVID, there would not be a single player that he signed that was even eligible to be playing right now. As it is, 2 of his signees(Gillies and Price) appear to be guys that we rely on.

Replacements for Artigues and Mathews should have been priorities. They were never going to be at Tulane for the 2021 season.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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The reference to Pierce class was a reflection of subsequently having to build the pitching roster year after year. Solesky leaving didn’t help. You can’t a deep staff in one year unless you are Vanderbilt. There was definitely a ripple effect.

Grant & Tigues staying left the staff with some options, which they used on some arms. In the end, I don’t think it will be a big deal. We are fine at 2B, and there are high hopes for Burchfield.

Remember, we are talking about why we are young. Clearly the biggest reason is COVID. A lot of these kids would have a full year or two under their belt, and that added experience is necessary to being a good college baseball player (especially offensively).
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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The reference to Pierce class was a reflection of subsequently having to build the pitching roster year after year. Solesky leaving didn’t help. You can’t a deep staff in one year unless you are Vanderbilt. There was definitely a ripple effect.
This is year 5, nobody asked for anyone to build a deep pitching staff in 1 year.
Solesky was last at Tulane in 2019, his ERA was over 5. There’s no world where we should be relying on him in 2021.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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Solesky had the makings of a very good pitcher. The catchers on that roster really liked his potential. Do you remember, in this world, the pitching coach we once had?

These are just some of the reasons why I think we are so young today. Just my $.02 opinion. And in Year 5, Jewett has added some nice pieces year after year. Let’s just see how this plays out.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by wavedom »

tulaneoutlaw wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 5:50 pm 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.
We haven't been able to count on it since 2009.
We deserve so much better
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by visualmagic »

tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:43 pm Solesky had the makings of a very good pitcher. The catchers on that roster really liked his potential. Do you remember, in this world, the pitching coach we once had?

These are just some of the reasons why I think we are so young today. Just my $.02 opinion. And in Year 5, Jewett has added some nice pieces year after year. Let’s just see how this plays out.
We’re going to see how it plays out, I’ve not made any strong proclamations based on the 3 games we played. I’m disappointed that we lost but ULL may be a good team, we don’t know yet.

Whether or not Solesky had the makings of a good pitcher isn’t too relevant, nobody should have been counting on him to be here this year. And I do remember the last pitching coach, I think I identified him as a problem pretty early, not to Pat myself on the back.


As for the regional or bust, here’s my thoughts. Even if you assume that we’d have made a regional last year had the season played out, I think we should be a program where that’s the standard. All the goodwill built up from last year kind of goes out the window if you can’t sustain it. You go 0 for your first 3 years in regional appearances, then you get in a regional in year 4, you can’t go back to missing the regionals in year 5. Got to prove that you can repeat it.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by BACONWAVE »

tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:39 pm
NJwave wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:17 pm
tjtlja wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:46 pm 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.
I think several circumstances led to our youth -

1. When Matthews was drafted, a lot of people thought he would leave. Recruiting first basemen was not a priority when he came back.
2. No one thought Artigues would be back in his graduate year, thus 2B was not a priority.
3. Pitching was the priority. Our staff has been greatly improved, though Jannetta was expected back.
4. Ty Johnson was expected back this year, thus another void.
5. COVID - Burns would be a junior. Groff would be a sophomore. Stevens would be a junior. Baumgart would be a sophomore. Minder would be a senior. Aviles would be a senior. Niemann would be a senior.

Recruiting has been good, not great. There was a total rebuild when the 2017 class graduated. Losing Johnson & Haskin has not helped. And Pierce did a poor job of recruiting pitchers.

Don’t give up on McDonald, Knueppel, Mahgood, Campbell, and others. There is a long way to go.
Wait I am soooo confused....Did I miss something during Covid....I have had this position that we have had a total rebuild before along with new coaching staff every year & was shot down.....by you! I don't even know what witchcraft you are using. This must be opposite day....... :wink:
You're killin' me Smalls!!!
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by tulaneoutlaw »

gerryb323 wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:57 pm I don't think it will be. He'll be back
I agree with this. With Covid it's not hard to see non-revenue sport coaches getting a pass.

Does anybody know what TJs contract structure looks like? I know we won't know specifics, but is in his last couple of years or did he sign an extension at some point?
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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is Niemann out ill, injured?
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by purplehaz3 »

tulaneoutlaw wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:25 am
gerryb323 wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:57 pm I don't think it will be. He'll be back
I agree with this. With Covid it's not hard to see non-revenue sport coaches getting a pass.

Does anybody know what TJs contract structure looks like? I know we won't know specifics, but is in his last couple of years or did he sign an extension at some point?
I would expect him to get fired if we don’t make post season play. We were picked to finish 3rd in the conference and even better.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by GretnaGrn »

It's obviously early, and there's room for things to change, but you can't feel good about dropping 2/3 to ULL. While they're not terrible, this is a team you should win the series from at home. We looked tight and grossly ineffective (other than the endgame on Friday) in crunch time.

I hope it improves; we should expect a regional at this stage, and Jewett should be held accountable if it doesn't happen. Time will tell.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by TUPF »

After the disappointment of dropping 2 of 3 extra inning games, today, Monday, will be the day to flush them and get ready for the next 6 days. Always tough crosstown UNO tomorrow at Turchin followed by a 3 game set at Mississippi State. Time to get untracked and not leave games to extra innings.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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At least this got us ready for 32 innings per weekend for conference time!
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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Miss state playing texas tech right now. Guess we have to root for the SEC here. Gag
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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Yankeewave wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:13 am Miss state playing texas tech right now. Guess we have to root for the SEC here. Gag
FWIW, they started their season Saturday with a win over Texas. Lost to TCU yesterday. Texas Tech today and then Jackson State on Wednesday. May Texas Tech and JSU go roughly 40 innings each.
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

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randymc wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:59 am is Niemann out ill, injured?
Injured
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by Yankeewave »

So of course It looks like a pitchers duel!
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by rjc »

Three games doesn't make a season, but leaves a few questions. Hopefully they can be addressed and the season becomes a success. Baseball is strange game. We get three hits Friday and win the game and get 21 hits Sunday and lose. Some of the things that concerned me was the lack of arm strenght by all three catchers, not running the bases very well, not many of our young arms made a good first impression , still strikeout way to much, seem to be late on our swings at the bat, our starting pitchers while not terrible, did not control the game like they will have to for us to be successful. Some plusses, were the way the new second baseman swung the bat, the overall play of Burns the shortstop, Hart the CF looked like a good defensive player, good outing by Trent Johnson and Gillis out of the pen. Goeff and Minder should be better than they showed this series. Hope we get things right and the wave can roll again. rjc
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Re: Extremely premature Tulane baseball observations

Post by Duggie35 »

GretnaGrn wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:48 am It's obviously early, and there's room for things to change, but you can't feel good about dropping 2/3 to ULL. While they're not terrible, this is a team you should win the series from at home. We looked tight and grossly ineffective (other than the endgame on Friday) in crunch time.

I hope it improves; we should expect a regional at this stage, and Jewett should be held accountable if it doesn't happen. Time will tell.
Many here are disappointed for not taking the series from the Cajuns and seem to think beating UL should be a given. These are two very evenly matched teams that fought all weekend. If Tulane made a few more plays, they could have won, and possibly even swept the series. On the other hand, if the Cajuns make another play or two Friday night, they sweep the series. Tulane has a storied program that was nationally ranked during the Rick Jones era, but UL has also been prominent on a national level. As recently as 2014, the Cajuns were ranked #1 in the country heading into the NCAA tournament and rated as the #6 overall national seed, missing the CWS by a single game. Let's face it, loosing to the Cajuns is not a disgrace, as they have won 8 of the last 13 games played between the two teams. These were good RPI games for both teams.
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