Mid-Season Grades

[theboardref]

Alright fellas, it may not be exactly but its close to mid-season. I'd like everyone (if you don't mind) to evaluate your team as briefly of lengthy as you want. I have said it before, baseball fans seem to be the most level headed fans and this is where I tend to get my info on teams other than the ones I watch. So try to be unbiased and let us know what you would grade your team at this point.

Schedule Strength- so far this season
Starting Pitching
Bullpen Pitching
Lineup Stability- is there a constant shuffle in the line-up?
Fielding
Hitting
- hitting runners in scoring position
- small ball
- swinging away
Coaching


Again, I just threw out some topics you can choose to go about it like I did or not.

 

[theboardref]

LSU

Schedule Strength: B+, I was going to give it an A- but the pre-SEC schedule was very weak other than playing ULL who has been a surprisingly dominant team this year and a road trip to a scrappy Southeasten team. Vandy and Florida on the road were two excruciating tasks for the Tigers, neither team has a huge venue for baseball but both environments aren't easy. Mississippi State is always a good team regardless what the critiques say, a huge sweep for LSU this past weekend.

Starting Pitching: A, best pitcher in the nation with Aaron Nola, he will be the best pitcher I may ever see wearing a Tiger uniform. He is the best I have seen so far and even many old time fans say he is better than Ben McDonald which I am sure is true. Jared Posche is a freak of nature frosh who is hitting his stride at the right part of the season. Anytime a freshman is your Saturday starter at an SEC school he has to be something special. Bouman was hurt for a bit of the season but is back. He may or may not be the Sunday starter by the end of the season, but the strength is cleary with the 1-2 punch of Nola and Posche.

Bullpen Pitching: C, the Tigers lack a sturdy bull pen. Broussard is a damn good closer, may be one of the best in the SEC along with two great relievers in Cartwright (big righty chunks 95) and Person (lefty throws low 90's). The issue is no depth other than those three guys. Any other guy on the hill could turn into what looks like a pinata at a childrens birthday party, everyone gets a turn to hit the crap out of it.

Lineup Stability: D+, a huge point of concern for the Tigers is no stability. Looks like Maneri may have finally found a formula but he has been known to shake the line-up at any given point in the season (including SEC tournament).

Fielding: B, nothing spectacular in the field from the Tigers. They make a large chunk of their plays but can have their moments of inadequacy.

Hitting: C-, maybe grading a bit high here. The sticks seemed to be coming around after a 20 hit game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs but who knows. Bats have severely struggled in SEC play, a lot of concern in this area.

- hitting runners in scoring position: D, as bad as the overall hitting has been, runners in scoring position has been flat out bad (again excluding Mississippi State). Improvement is a must in this department for any type of run this season.

- small ball: C-, not a brand of baseball LSU is use to but they have looked decent this season playing small ball. It is like being right handed and trying to use your left hand though, very unnatural to this squad. It has been producing wins though so can't complain. Biggest issue is getting the coaching staff on board.

- swinging away: D, again it has been a bad year at the plate to say the least.

Coaching: D+, almost seems this team has been winning despite coaching. The team finds something that works then the staff goes to the drawing board for reasons unknown. Win 2 games against Georgia then decide to Find a line-up that works then see a brand new line-up in the field.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

I'll keep my critic short-n-sweet...

OREGON STATE BEAVERS

Right where they need to be, great pitching so far, decent pen, timely hitting and sitting right on top of the Pac12 where they should be.

GRADE...A

 

[Red_Alert]

Never really know which Husker team will show up. The one that beat Oregon St (9-2) or the one that lost to them (7-15).
They split games @ Arkansas (1-1) a week ago and swept Ohio St, so they can be good

Schedule Strength- so far this season (B-)
Starting Pitching (C-)
Bullpen Pitching (B-)
Lineup Stability- is there a constant shuffle in the line-up? Yes
Fielding (B)
Hitting
- hitting runners in scoring position (C-)
- small ball (C)
- swinging away (C)
Coaching (C-)

Huskers are down (2-0) to Creighton right now in the top of the 6th @ TD Ameritrade Park. Creighton hit a home run in the 1st. There were only 3 homers hit there through the entire CWS last year. However, he had a 15 mph wind blowing out, where in June it's generally blowing in.

 

[charlie42s]

Compared to the Longhorns last 2 seasons I feel pretty good. Especially as we have no injuries AFAIK.

The pitching staff is 5th in the nation in ERA. We've got Senior Nathan Thornhill who is 8th Nationally in ERA.
Fielding % is 6th.
Brooks Marlow and Mark Payton are 5th and 12th in getting walked.
Batting is improving, but it is sporadic.

 

[jeffro151]

UVa started the season very poorly in regards to the offense, but as of late, the Hoos play is very reflective of the #1/#2/#3 various rankings that the polls currently have them.

 

[theboardref]

UVa started the season very poorly in regards to the offense, but as of late, the Hoos play is very reflective of the #1/#2/#3 various rankings that the polls currently have them.

Kid that threw 18 K's and a no hitter... is he really good or are those numbers a bit skewed because he was pitching against Pitt?

 

[jeffro151]

Kid that threw 18 K's and a no hitter... is he really good or are those numbers a bit skewed because he was pitching against Pitt?

He is very good.
Nathan Kirby
1.03 ERA
6 wins, 1 loss
8 games
1 CG
52.2 IP
178 batters faced
.146 opponent batting average
26 hits= 22 singles, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR
7 runs
6 earned runs
10 walks
3 HBP
55 K's

 

[theboardref]

Solid numbers.

 

[SuperGnat]

He is very good.
Nathan Kirby
1.03 ERA
6 wins, 1 loss
8 games
1 CG
52.2 IP
178 batters faced
.146 opponent batting average
26 hits= 22 singles, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR
7 runs
6 earned runs
10 walks
3 HBP
55 K's

Not looking forward to facing the Hoos.