O' Sullivan to USC?

[CGgater]

Sully is on record as saying he'll take an elite pitcher over an elite hitter every time. I can't say that I disagree with that. But I really think he develops his entire team around a pitching staff and then he just recruits good all around baseball players to back them up. I think big hitters is last on his list of priorities when recruiting.

Is there a reason he can't take both???

 

[Thick&ThinG8r]

Is there a reason he can't take both???

12.7 scholarships for baseball and softball would be one reason, but the talent pool in Florida and the fact most baseball players qualify for bright future scollys you would think he has a huge advantage.

 

[GatorTAG]

Is there a reason he can't take both???

I think he just values a players defensive skills over offensive skills. Smaller players are usually quicker.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Not saying it's the very best approach, but take two is a strategy used by several teams with marginal hitting that will try and pile up the opponent's pitch count. Having good pitching and defense are other important variables. It isn't offensively exciting and sometimes it doesn't work, but given our offense, it has been a pretty good piece of coaching, this year at least, by Sully IMO. Hope we can recruit our way into a more power/BA-centric offense upcoming.


Agreed about how small we look at the plate comparatively. I'd think Sully would like the big, strong guys, but we don't seem to get them in bunches. Why?

No issues with your take cover, but everything you've stated is based on the premise that our poor offense dictates the style of play. I disagree wit this. We play that way bc that's how he wants to play. Poor offense isn't the reason we are playing take 2, his desire to play take 2 is the reason for the poor offense. Chicken or egg thing.

 

[Gatorbait_007]

I work with Sully's ex wife's dad. From what he said she wants to be closer to them but he doesn't know if Carolina has offered him or not. If she goes the kids may go. And from what I am hearing up here Tanner already said he was going after a coach in the southeast

 

[Fishon]

All I know is that we've taken power hitting teams to Omaha before and not done well in part because of the size of the field. A lot of would be homers become deep fly outs there, so I think Sully started to stack his starting pitching staffs as a response to those failures. The south carolina team that beat us in the finals was not a power hitting team

 

[Gator2222]

Look, I am not the biggest Sully fan as a baseball coach, especially when it comes to fundamentals and in game managing, but he does have a great record. But look at it from his perspective. The product he puts on the field is well above average and you look into the stands and we can't draw flies. It is embarrassing. Look at this coming weekend. We are hosting a super regional and I guarantee it will not be a sell out. And you will hear the excuses that it is Wake Forest and nobody has heard of them. Well they happen to be a good team, but it is the supers for heaven's sake, and it should be SRO regardless of opponent. We don;t draw flies unless it is FSU or scrotUM for a super regional. So why wouldn't Sully entertain going to a place where they sell out and he can get the same or more money?

TOP SCHOOLS IN AVERAGE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE FOR '15 SEASON
1 LSU 10,726
2 Ole Miss 8,028
3 Arkansas 7,434
4 South Carolina 6,946 (down 6.8% from previous season)
5 Mississippi State 6,598
6 Texas 4,915
7 Texas A&M 4,743
8 Florida State 4,349
9 Clemson 3,967
10 Nebraska 3,904
11 TCU 3,680
12 Louisiana-Lafayette 3,630
13 Virginia 3,515
14 Florida 3,464 (up by 8.4% from previous season)
15 Texas Tech 3,299
16 Hawaii 3,266
17 Creighton 3,126
18 Arizona State 3,038
19 Rice 2,903
20 Wichita State 2,877
21 Vanderbilt 2,848
22 Alabama 2,808
23 Auburn 2,707
24 Arizona 2,701
25 Southern Miss 2,670

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2015/05/19/Research-and-Ratings/NCAA-baseball.aspx

 

[MertzJay26]

We have a good shot of going to Omaha...again. Everybody please shutty.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

All I know is that we've taken power hitting teams to Omaha before and not done well in part because of the size of the field. A lot of would be homers become deep fly outs there, so I think Sully started to stack his starting pitching staffs as a response to those failures. The south carolina team that beat us in the finals was not a power hitting team

This convo has zero to do with "power" hitting. It has to do with offense, scoring... ya know, the stuff that wins games. It's not about the type of hitting, it's about SOME type of hitting. The team BA is in the toilet, we have one guy barely over .300. One!!!

We have been beaten by plenty of teams who weren't power hitting but they still won convincingly bc they score. It's about runs, period.

 

[NVGator]

Nothing to worry about. I've been told year over year that O'Sullivan knows what he's doing, will get us to Omaha (which is all that matters), is the best recruiter and we'll never be as good without him. It's true, it's what the Pumpers say every year.

 

[gatorkev85]

Nothing to worry about. I've been told year over year that O'Sullivan knows what he's doing, will get us to Omaha (which is all that matters), is the best recruiter and we'll never be as good without him. It's true, it's what the Pumpers say every year.

Some say the same about Mac but in reverse, year after year I'm told Mac knows what he's doing he can't recruit but "can coach" and he wins the east (which it sems is all that matters)

 

[NVGator]

Some say the same about Mac but in reverse, he can't recruit but "can coach" and he wins the east which is all that matters.

And yet, for the most part, it's a lot of the same folks making those choices. Purdy kewl, huh?

 

[cover2]

No issues with your take cover, but everything you've stated is based on the premise that our poor offense dictates the style of play. I disagree wit this. We play that way bc that's how he wants to play. Poor offense isn't the reason we are playing take 2, his desire to play take 2 is the reason for the poor offense. Chicken or egg thing.

No problem. I think he's pretty cautious offensively anyhow, but maybe more so this season with a poor offense and a relative lack of speed. I think he also knows he's got to have a good game every time from the starting rotation, at least they've got to get it to where Byrne can close it. Middle relief isn't up to par this year IMO. Can't say this for certain, but our approach might also be designed to lengthen the innings somewhat so the pitcher doesn't have to turn right around after about a dozen pitches, even though that has happened :).

If I've got an issue beyond the fact that we are a poor, poor hitting team, it's that we don't go small often enough. I think we miss opportunities to manufacture some runs or at least get guys in scoring position to apply a little pressure if nothing else (sorry Sas, I think the sac bunts are effective, saber metrics be damned, when properly utilized ;)). I think back to past teams that had some offensive punch (Zunino, Johnson, Alonso, and I'm leaving out the lefty that plays for Houston now) that didn't get it done in Omaha. A good part of that Sully has to wear, but gotta credit the teams that knocked us out as well. I'm in the camp that believes he gets one before all is said and done. Probably not this year, but if we can somehow get past Wake and the weather, I don't know that with the make up of this year's team that this might be one of his best coaching seasons. Now go get us some hitters in this next recruiting cycle to add to what you do with the arms.

 

[B52G8rAC]

Just to fire up SwampDonk. I am going to propose an NCAA rule change that requires all member institutions to allocate operations funding proportionally based on the number of student athletes participating without regard to revenue or gender. Extra funding would be rewarded to programs based on GPA and graduation rate. Discuss?

 

[Durty South Swamp]

I think we miss opportunities to manufacture some runs or at least get guys in scoring position to apply a little pressure if nothing else

Couldn't agree more. Remember when we were a slugging machine and made it all the way to the championship series against texas? I do. We were the big hitting team while texas was just a grind it out however possible team. They played small ball the whole time and bunted themselves into two straight easy wins, scoring routinely in the process. We flew home with our tail between our legs. Ive said it so many times, its not about the TYPE of offense you play, its about offense period. You dont have to be a big hitting, big swinging team to consistently score, and conversely, being big hitting doesnt mean your going to be big scoring. The teams that find ways to consistently get runs, however the technique, are the ones that win.

I get that the assessment is we arent very good at hitting and we dont want to wear out the pitching staff so make the opposing pitcher throw as many times per at bat as possible... but youve also got to understand that doing this is a double edged sword. If the pitcher is throwing strikes you're basically giving him 2 strikes on 2 pitches uncontested, then asking the batter to pull one out his ass on a ball thats probably going to be marginal but that he's still forced to seriously consider swinging at b/c of the situation. This batting approach can just as easily lead to a quick, easy inning for the pitcher as it can anything else. For a team thats struggling at the plate, as many chances as possible is the only way to 1) improve, and 2)increase your chances of a hit. Letting two strikes go by so you can chase one that the pitcher is undoubtably going to put at the edge or even a bit outside the zone is not a good formula IMO.

 

[cover2]

... but youve also got to understand that doing this is a double edged sword. If the pitcher is throwing strikes you're basically giving him 2 strikes on 2 pitches uncontested, then asking the batter to pull one out his ass on a ball thats probably going to be marginal but that he's still forced to seriously consider swinging at b/c of the situation. This batting approach can just as easily lead to a quick, easy inning for the pitcher as it can anything else. For a team thats struggling at the plate, as many chances as possible is the only way to 1) improve, and 2)increase your chances of a hit. Letting two strikes go by so you can chase one that the pitcher is undoubtably going to put at the edge or even a bit outside the zone is not a good formula IMO.

No doubt. I believe this is the big foil to the two strike approach. If the guy you're facing is dealing, then you've got to adjust accordingly.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

I hope he takes the current hitting coach with. From what I have observed it seem that his strategy is to have all hitters stand there with the bat on their shoulder and watch strikes go past but to swing wildly at every pitch that is out of the strike zone.

You are clearly watching the same games I am. The strategy seems to be....watch the first two perfect fastballs belt high across the plate. Then wait for a breaking ball to swing wildly and then bang your bat on the ground before walking to the dugout.

 

[rogdochar]

A batting coach's first obligation is to make his every pupil the fiercest hitter that aspiring player can be. That developing kid desires stats that will make MLB scouts drool. Having MLB hitting stats will give us better chances of winning each game.
A batter mechanically assuming the "pretend bunt" stance, ruins the readiness of his "coiled" stance. It's an impedence to the batting advice of all HOF MLB hitters. At least give us coiled batting stances focusing on rifling line drives.

 

[Thick&ThinG8r]

It looks like this has legs it also seems like the players seem to know it's happening and want to send him out with a bang.
I personally like owning the state in recruiting and going to Omaha yearly, we will eventually win it all and maybe go on a big run and be the biggest name in college baseball.

We will officially be building a new stadium in the grove by the softball complex, maybe it will be enough to keep Sully here.
I'm interested in others thoughts after making it this far with what most would consider one of his least talented teams.

 

[MertzJay26]

Nothing to worry about. I've been told year over year that O'Sullivan knows what he's doing, will get us to Omaha (which is all that matters), is the best recruiter and we'll never be as good without him. It's true, it's what the Pumpers say every year.

glad I revisited this thread. It delivers.