tjtlja wrote:
wavedom wrote:
wavedom wrote:
tjtlja wrote:
His recruiting wasn’t terrible either. He recruited Massey, Hoese, Spoon, Jeremy, Soleski, Gillies, Glancy, Zubia, Gozzo, Matthews, Simms, Edwards, DeHart, Kobi Owen, and Artigues. His recruiting of pitching was not what we hoped, but who is to say he wouldn’t have coached them up given the success he has had at Sam Houston, Tulane, and UT.
I know it was a challenge for him here and he said so, but he did manage to recruit some pretty good talent, especially offensively.
That list proves the point that he didn't recruit well while here. Thank goodness you're just a fan and not our recruiting coordinator.
Spoon is the only one who played consistently well for three years and got better each year. You do know how we got him. He was a basketball player that realized late his sport at this level would be baseball. He visited Northwestern State. The coach their could tell he wanted something bigger and called the Tulane staff to bring him to our attention. Thanks to him for that. . Gillies showed this year. Mathews got hot late and if he picks up where he left off he'll be good. Jeremy was good enough. Massey has been a one hit wonder. Is it coaching or is it something else? We'll soon find out. Hoese and Artigues are limited defensively. Hoese also needs to hit for more power. The rest didn't come here or aren't the type we need to make Regionals. The lack of pitchers on your list tells one all they need to know.
Wavedom, I will respectfully disagree. Here are my thoughts as to why these guys would be recruited and signed -
Massey - who passes on a freshman all-American
Hoese - hit .291 in his second year with five HR’s. Has already has 3-4 HR’s in summer league (wooden bats). Drafted by Royals. Defense will improve and once he fills out, power will increase. A lot to look forward to.
Spoon - great hitter and we agree on this one.
Jeremy - projected in rounds 5-12 before a couple of injuries.
Soleski - our best pitcher as a freshman from a numbers standpoint. Back injury has really set him back. A no brainer as far as signability out of high school
Gillies - most improved player on the team. Size projected him as someone you don’t pass on. Terrific kid.
Glancy - very good player all the way around. Had terrific fall before the knee injury (which was as bad a knee injury as you could have). Showed some flashes and hope that continues.
Zubia - four hole hitter for UT as a freshman
Gozzo - two year starter who has yet to have that breakout year. Probably projects more as a second baseman. The Cape should help his development. Signable out of high school - yes
Matthews - could always hit and will continue to hit
Simms - threw 94 and was drafted in 2017. I sign this type of guy all day
Cade Edwards - terrific glove and was a contact hitter. Played very well when Steph was hurt. Keeper
DeHart - 15 HR guy per year - I can find a scholarship for this type of production
Kobi Owen - can play anywhere in OF and can hit. TJ surgery was unfortunate. Talented player you don’t pass on
Artigues -hit .303 in 57 games this past year. I would say this is a good signing
All of these kids listed above are kids that can make your team better and can get you to a regional and further. We agree Pierce missed on some pitchers. But on the flip side, we just fired the guy who was responsible for making our pitchers better. And remember, Pierce handled the pitchers. Bottom line is Pierce signed some really good players and some developmental guys that he left behind. He was a terrific coach and if he stayed, we would most certainly be better off today than where we currently sit.
We'll have to agree to disagree. Massey did have a great freshman year. He hasn't done anything since. Hopefully Latham figures it out for him.
Hoese is serviceable but I don't see the defense coming around for him. The range to either side is not there. He really reacts poorly.
We all agree Spoon was a good get.
we agree Jeremy got derailed by injuries. Not saying this b/c he's your son but he had started coming on on the mound before the arm injury. Then to tough it out and put the surgery off to hit for us makes him a favorite.
As to Soleski that's not saying much. He could never give more than 3 or 4 decent innings in a start.
Gillies did come on this year. Hopefully he takes a similar step forward next year. He has a bad habit of giving up a homer almost every time out. Gotta get that behind him.
Glancy hasn't done much. Has a lot to prove.
Zubia didn't come here.
Gozzo has to be replaced.
I'm a big fan of Mathews but no he couldn't always hit. He was given chances early and didn't cash in. He even went 0-17 during one period. The staff didn't give up on him and it paid off. we'll have something if he picks up where he left off.
Simms was ok. As we know there's more to it than throwing hard.
Strongly disagree on Edwards.
DeHart never hit 15 home runs while he was here.
Owen hasn't done anything at this point.
Artigues is another favorite for being willing to volunteer to help catch last year after the position was devastated by injuries. He's not up to snuff defensively.
As you said we agree he didn't bring in the pitching that's much needed. Jewett brought some in this year that hopefully Latham makes shine as they showed good stuff when they got it over. We would have been better off with him but he would have seen his Regional streak broken.