Gator Baseball Gator Baseball: Season Opening Series

FireFoley · Feb 16, 2019

Once again we benefit greatly from the Dirtbags inability to catch a routine pop up in the shallow outfield, but goes to show you if you put the ball in play never know what might happen. Mace was pretty good for his first outing and it appears that the frosh Crisp is set to be the closer when needed. Enrolled in Jan so had no fall ball, but in what little I saw today he is similar to Byrne in one way. Not saying as good yet, and he is barely 5'9" on a good day, but throws a little harder than Byrne. His ball does not quite have as much movement as Byrne's, but like Byrne he seems to have excellent control and is always around the plate. His misses were very close pitches. Probably means, like Byrne, he will occasionally get torched with some hard hit balls, but give me a good control pitcher as a closer over one who might walk guys around the bases.

FireFoley · Feb 16, 2019

solarman said:
Who was Sully going to use as a closer last year before Byrne took over the position? I can't remember.

If not mistaken, I believe Byrne became the closer 2 years ago by happen stance and Sully penciled him in from day 1 last year as the closer. But 2 years ago,Byrne was still an unknown as he barely pitched as a frosh and only became the closer later on in the season. From what I was told, 2 years ago when Dyson was a frosh they had hoped he could be a closer b/c he could really bring it 95+, but when he pitched early in the season he could not throw a strike. But Byrne became consistent and then Dyson found something in the Supers and in Omaha and was one of the biggest reasons we were able to win it all in 2017 thanx to his 3 weeks of excellent pitching.

Ocalaman · Feb 16, 2019

FireFoley said:
If not mistaken, I believe Byrne became the closer 2 years ago by happen stance and Sully penciled him in from day 1 last year as the closer. But 2 years ago,Byrne was still an unknown as he barely pitched as a frosh and only became the closer later on in the season. From what I was told, 2 years ago when Dyson was a frosh they had hoped he could be a closer b/c he could really bring it 95+, but when he pitched early in the season he could not throw a strike. But Byrne became consistent and then Dyson found something in the Supers and in Omaha and was one of the biggest reasons we were able to win it all in 2017 thanx to his 3 weeks of excellent pitching.

I think everything you said it right. With all the pitching unknowns it's hard to tell how things will shake out. Dyson still looks inconsistent and unable to locate his pitches like last year. Hopefully he'll come around, but I'm more confident in Mace & Leftwich as weekend starters. A lot of guys are going to get chances coming out of the pen, with Jordan Butler and the McMullen brothers the only ones with significant experience. Lots of raw new talent for O'Sullivan to work with.

solarman · Feb 16, 2019

FireFoley said:
If not mistaken, I believe Byrne became the closer 2 years ago by happen stance and Sully penciled him in from day 1 last year as the closer. But 2 years ago,Byrne was still an unknown as he barely pitched as a frosh and only became the closer later on in the season. From what I was told, 2 years ago when Dyson was a frosh they had hoped he could be a closer b/c he could really bring it 95+, but when he pitched early in the season he could not throw a strike. But Byrne became consistent and then Dyson found something in the Supers and in Omaha and was one of the biggest reasons we were able to win it all in 2017 thanx to his 3 weeks of excellent pitching.

That's right.... Thanks
My son and I were talking about this when we went to the alumni scrimmage. I don't know why but I was thinking it was Garrett Milchin and he didn't remember either.

dz_23 · Feb 17, 2019

3-1 and first weekend sweep! Go Gators

Ocalaman · Feb 17, 2019

dz_23 said:
3-1 and first weekend sweep! Go Gators

O'Sullivan gets his 500th win and Gator pitching once again dominates. It's incredible how he is able to bring in top tier pitchers year after year and get them to perform at a consistently high level. Will be interesting to see which guys he starts mid-week. Tues they play at USF, then Wed at home vs. UNF. Bats weren't very strong against LBS, but an opening weekend sweep is pretty much the norm under this guy.

FireFoley · Feb 17, 2019

Much better pace of game today and a few lineup changes just so Sully could get some guys some action. The Miozzi kid was the catcher today and I was ready to anoint him the full time starter as he made contact his first 2 plate appearances, but then struck out looking. However it was clear he receives the ball much more naturally than matt Damon, so perhaps it will be Greenfield who is the odd catcher out. Plus Miozzi is a transfer so he has played and looked comfortable. but it is still early. Reese was injured and not sure what the details are, so wondering who would go to 2B if he is out? Perhaps Acton would as he sat out today at 3B and another frosh started

maheo30 · Feb 17, 2019

FireFoley said:
As for the game, not a lot to say. Not going to throw Dyson under the bus, but many of us are not sure he is a Friday nite guy.

Dyson has been a bit of a head case for a while. Do you think he finishes the season in the rotation? Who replaces him if he doesn’t settle down?

FireFoley · Feb 17, 2019

Personally I don;t think Dyson remains the Friday nite starter by the time conference season rolls around. I also think he is mental and the last thing you want to do is have to go into the bullpen early in Game 1 of an SEC series. I think Leftwich will be the guy but both he and Mace throw strikes so probably either. B/C those 2 throw consistent strikes they are more susceptible to the long ball (like today Leftwich gave up a leadoff homer), but I would prefer to see a leadoff homer over a leadoff walk any day. I know that sounds silly, but those leadoff walks tend to lead to crooked numbers on scoreboards. Very seldom does a team lose a game b/c they got solo homered to death. As for who could start should one of those 3 guys falter, i really don;t know. I am not familiar with the newer guys enough to have an opinion. Maybe Hunter MacMullen, but it was weird not to see him this weekend. His was talked about as a closer in the fall, but I think his inability to throw strikes is why he was not seen this weekend. But he has a good arm so maybe we might see him start Tuesday or Wednesday?

diehardg8r · Feb 17, 2019

Ocalaman said:
I agree about the catching woes. I know it was only 1 game and Smith is a solid hitter and can play many positions, but catcher is NOT one of them. He was horrible tonight. In addition to Greenfield we have Girand back from last year, plus a JC transfer named Santino Miozzi, who hit .291 with 21 RBI's in 41 games last year. You can't drop 2 foul opps and have so many balls go flying to the backstop and expect to bre a title contender. Sully will figure it out, though.

A good catcher can save more runs defensively than he will ever produce at the plate. He hitting should be a secondary thought. The best defensive catcher should be your starter....IMO.

Ocalaman · Feb 17, 2019

FireFoley said:
Much better pace of game today and a few lineup changes just so Sully could get some guys some action. The Miozzi kid was the catcher today and I was ready to anoint him the full time starter as he made contact his first 2 plate appearances, but then struck out looking. However it was clear he receives the ball much more naturally than matt Damon, so perhaps it will be Greenfield who is the odd catcher out. Plus Miozzi is a transfer so he has played and looked comfortable. but it is still early. Reese was injured and not sure what the details are, so wondering who would go to 2B if he is out? Perhaps Acton would as he sat out today at 3B and another frosh started

Reese separated his shoulder, but they popped in back in place and O'Sullivan said they would rest him during the week and hopes to have him back for the weekend series vs. Miami. He, also, said Hunter McMullen was starting Tuesday's game at USF. Acton and Pena are typical Sully recruits. They can play any infield position. Pena battled Acton for 3rd base, but is a pretty equal talent from what I've read. Hunter Ruth is a guy to look for this year on the mound. He was highly touted coming out of Buchholz High in Gainesville, but had surgery after high school and redshirted last year.

Jbossgator8 · Feb 17, 2019

Sully hits 500 WINS in his 12th season at UF. Dave Fuller owns the UF wins record at 556 in 28 SEASONS. Wow so Sully will break the record next season. Sully has taken UF to the CWS in 7 of his 11 seasons at UF so we will see if its 8 in 12 seasons this year. UF has had very staggered success under various coaches. Sully has ELEVATED our program into new heights that have NEVER been seen around here. Hate on Sully all you want, but he has done the unthinkable at UF and that is WIN consistently. Go Gators!!

FireFoley · Feb 18, 2019

Ocalaman said:
Reese separated his shoulder, but they popped in back in place and O'Sullivan said they would rest him during the week and hopes to have him back for the weekend series vs. Miami. He, also, said Hunter McMullen was starting Tuesday's game at USF. Acton and Pena are typical Sully recruits. They can play any infield position. Pena battled Acton for 3rd base, but is a pretty equal talent from what I've read. Hunter Ruth is a guy to look for this year on the mound. He was highly touted coming out of Buchholz High in Gainesville, but had surgery after high school and redshirted last year.

Thanks for the info Ocala. Guess that told me what I thought about Hunter Macmullen. Hope he can throw strikes. Regarding Pena and Acton, in the fall at scrimmages it looked to me like Acton was the better defender, a little more athletic and a better arm. But Pena is very strong and saw him park a few over the mesh into the ODome parking lot. Hopefully see a lot of arms this week and have some good reinforcements this weekend when scrotUM comes to town. See you all at the park!

Search

Gator Baseball Gator Baseball: Season Opening Series

FireFoley

Senior Member

FireFoley

Senior Member

Ocalaman

Well-Known Member

solarman

Optimistic

dz_23

Rich and Famous

Ocalaman

Well-Known Member

FireFoley

Senior Member

maheo30

WiLLLLLLLie! WiLLLLLLLie!

FireFoley

Senior Member

diehardg8r

Junior Member

Ocalaman

Well-Known Member

Jbossgator8

Senior Member

FireFoley

Senior Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Settings Notifications

Options

Birthdays

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics