Gator Baseball Talk/Questions

FireFoley

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DZ where are you? The Gators have dropped 2 games in a row at Auburn and still can't hit a lick. I am surprised at just how awful the offense has been basically all year. Before I get accused of bashing Sully, I am not, I am just asking a few questions. I know we have a lot of young guys, but was curious why Sully would choose to start Baker in CF (finally) in the first SEC series and on the road? And he started Reese in left field on Friday and he immediately butchered a routine fly. He had already butchered 3 o4 routine balls in CF and Sully moves him to left in that situation? and why play Hicks at SS when Guthrie rests? I know Hicks was high school SS (they all were) but India is their best defensive infielder and I would move him to SS. I don't think it is time to panic but being in this hitting funk all year is most concerning. And it just seems like guys are pressing already. Why no Langworthy this weekend or Larson, Heck Larson actually has a few hits this season.
 

MertzJay26

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Sully isn't the greatest strategist IMO. He can recruit like crazy (especially pitching), but comes up short in the strategy department.

I'm sure we will pick it up soon and go on a run based on our weekend rotation alone. We do need a hitting coach though, somebody had said we don't really have one which is odd if true. Gotta start focusing on offense rather than being so pitching centric.
 

ChompTown

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I’m at a loss with this team so far, not bashing anyone but there is no excuse for hitting the way that we are. I trust Sully will get it fixed, but I agree that there was some questionable lineup changes today. Again, if we learn to stop trying to pull every pitch we would have fared well today. Just put the ball in play guys!
 

GatorJ

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Where's @oxking ? Ox's dad would punch Sully right in the mouth if given the opportunity.
 

dz_23

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I think he is trying to catch lightning in a bottle, but agree we should have a "set" lineup with SEC play. The only thing I can figure is the last few years his strategy of winning every game and getting a top 8 seed has not worked. Maybe this year he is resting /rotating players early with hopes on getting hot late. I know this, the teams that are hot come tourney time do best in Omaha. That said, and Im concerned with the offensive approach. Those who follow me know I have been hard on Sully for his shyness to small ball. I cant for the life of me figure how we ALWAYS get runners on base with no outs and cant score. Sully mentioned, after getting burnt in Omaha last year, how he will change the approach.

Well..Im waiting...Omaha is clearly a different game that we are once againnot prepared for..

Go Gators
 

cover2

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I first thought that we might struggle more with the mid-week pitching, which we have, while being solid as usual with the weekenders, which we have up until this weekend it seems. I'm not shocked that the offense is what it is, as that has seemed to be characteristic of many of Sully's squads. Even his best offensive teams aren't necessarily marked with great consistency. I've often thought, as mentioned above, about why we don't play more small ball. Hell, if you can't drive in enough runs to win or stay in the game, you got to manufacture them. At this level, you sure can't wait around for the opponents to play Santa Claus. I don't look at the stats much, so I don't know who's swinging the hot bats right now (Liput, India perhaps :dunno:), but I wonder how often we get runners on in front of the better bats?

Found the comment about Reese to be kind of perplexing. Know him from Tallahassee Babe Ruth and saw him in high school and in a post season all-star game. Despite what he's done in the OF, the kid's a good player. Of course, as was mentioned, he was a HS shortstop. Kind of like the old coach's joke to the anxious parent...what do you call a great high school shortstop when he gets to college? An outfielder! It can be more of a transition than many realize, so I hope Reese and any of our other kids in this spot reduce the learning curve.

Good thing is the season's young, so hopefully we see the bats heat up. Pitching should only get better so like most of the last few seasons, offense holds the key.
 

oxking

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Sully isn't the greatest strategist IMO. He can recruit like crazy (especially pitching), but comes up short in the strategy department.

I'm sure we will pick it up soon and go on a run based on our weekend rotation alone. We do need a hitting coach though, somebody had said we don't really have one which is odd if true. Gotta start focusing on offense rather than being so pitching centric.
If you're waiting for the manager to win you a close game, Sully is a complete bust. Also, these guys are the worst hitting team in the conference. They are a depressing team to watch. If Sully was a good manager, he would teach these kids how to bunt so they could squeeze a few strategic runs across. It would have been enough to win yesterday. And I have one major gripe in general. What a bunch of crap to have the coach calling the pitches from the dugout. It's worse than little league. I detest it in football as well. I've just lived too long.
 

Gator87

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Sully is baseball's version of Leonard Hamilton, gets all the talent in the world can't coach them up.
 

FireFoley

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So I started this thread on Saturday asking some questions about the first 2 games of the Auburn series. Without having made a mistake, I questioned why Sully has Hicks playing SS instead of India when Guthrie is out? Well as luck would have it, Hicks just completely butchered a routine infield pop up with the bases loaded and 2 outs that would have ended the inning and kept the momentum. so 2 runs score on his misplay then another on a wild pitch, so we go from a 3 run lead to a tie game. This team needs a miracle to get it turned around. Hicks butchered a pop that a T-ball kid would have caught. All the while India is still playing 3rd base and he was only the top rated defensive middle infielder in all of high school baseball 2 years ago. Some things seem simple to me, but I guess in reality it is truly rocket science!!!!!
 

FireFoley

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Sadly the good guys got swept this weekend by a very average Auburn team. I am confident in saying that a routine infield popup that was botched cost them this game! How sad that it is always simple fundamentals that seem to doom this team on a yearly basis.
 

dz_23

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I was not able to see any baseball this weekend, why is Hicks playing SS? Injury?

Thanks
 

FireFoley

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Guthrie played SS on Friday nite but then DH'ed Sat. and Sun. The Auburn announcers mentioned something about shoulder soreness, but it might have been his elbow that I think he had surgery on and kept him from throwing all fall. I wanted to move him to 1B in the fall and have India play SS, but I was just thinking out loud. BTW you did not miss anything. We were awful
 

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