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Post by easyheat on May 24, 2023 22:24:44 GMT -8
Over the years, Oregon State baseball has established a reputation of strong pitching and defense. "A team equipped to win close games" is frequently mentioned by baseball writers. That was our road to success last year, winning 48 games and being a Super Regional host and coming within an eyelash of traveling to Omaha. With youth and enthusiasm, The Beavs embarked on the ‘23season hoping to pitch well and play good defense until the offense developed and jelled with adequate run production.
The offense improved significantly and midway through our season we were trending up in team statistics. Once the lineup was set, the combination of speed and power began showing up 1 through 9 in the order and scoring accelerated. That continues today but our pitching began to struggle 20 games ago and that was apparent in today’s loss to Arizona.
In the last 13 PAC-12 Conference games we have played, here are some results,
In the 3 game series with Arizona State, we allowed 34 runs
In the 3 game series with Arizona, we allowed 15 runs
In the 3 game series with Utah, we allowed 22 Runs
In the 3 game series with UCLA, we allowed 21runs
In the PAC-12 Tournament today, we allowed Arizona 13 runs.
In those 13 Conference games, we allowed 105 runs or an average of 8.07 Runs/Game.
Our 7 non-conference games, we have fared a little better. We allowed 40 runs in those 7 games, or 5.71 Runs/Game.
The totals for all 20 games are 145 runs allowed for an average of 7.25 Runs/Game. Even at the lofty run number, the offense has been so good, even prolific at times, the Beavers have won 14 of those 20 games (8-5 v PAC-10 opponents, 6-1 v Non-conference teams).
As the coaches begin to address the pitching situation, these are a few of the questions that might be asked:
1. Were there any recruiting “misses”? Pitchers that were either over-valued in the recruiting process or failed to reach their perceived potential.
2. Did the development process fail to materialize with any of the pitchers.
3. Did the starting rotation give us an opportunity to win – in what % of our games?
4. Was the use of the bullpen optimized?
5. How badly did the “big inning” hurt us? OSU allowed a 3 to 6 run inning 17 times in the last 13 PAC-12 games. How do we stop that?
6. How many losses did we have after leading through 7 innings?
The trend of OSU pitching isn’t where it should be. We have games left in Scottsdale and more importantly in Regional play, there is time to fix it and redirect the trend.
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Post by flyfishinbeav on May 25, 2023 8:58:01 GMT -8
Weird how our hitting was nonexistent earlier.....and our pitching was nails.....it's flip flopped now. Hopefully we can be more even across the board going forward.
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Post by irimi on May 25, 2023 10:00:16 GMT -8
It was a nice thought.
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Post by 93beav on May 25, 2023 10:06:13 GMT -8
I honestly just don't believe our staff has "the stuff" to make it far in Omaha, if even to Omaha. In previous successful years it just seemed (yes, anecdotal) that there were at least 2 solid pitchers that could be counted on to give quality starts. I don't see that with this team. I don't know if the pitchers just aren't that skilled, or just highly inconsistent, or maybe they expect the offense to bail them out and let down their guard. I don't think it's the coaching, although I know many think pitchers should be pulled sooner to prevent big innings. But at that point the entire game becomes pitch by committee.
I DO, however, see some young pitchers for next year that could be outstanding.
Who are the go-to-two this year? Feller? Sellers? Kmatz?
We really need to find a solid set of weekend starters next year.
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Post by flyfishinbeav on May 25, 2023 11:38:09 GMT -8
Let's see what happens in a regional
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Post by Judge Smails on May 25, 2023 11:38:56 GMT -8
Let's see what happens in a regional As long as we're not in a regional in Arizona, things should be better. |
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Post by flyfishinbeav on May 25, 2023 11:43:13 GMT -8
Let's see what happens in a regional As long as we're not in a regional in Arizona, things should be better. Good thing no ARZ schools will be hosting |
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beav74
Freshman
Posts: 741
Grad Year: OSU 1974
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Post by beav74 on May 25, 2023 12:09:41 GMT -8
Giving up 27 runs in 17 innings.....wow!
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Post by ricke71 on May 25, 2023 12:20:51 GMT -8
Going back to May 12, in 6 games (NOT counting RPI 200 Western Carolina), and assuming ASU wins today, the Beavs are 2-4 and have given up an average of greater than 10 runs per game in those 6 games.
That's at time in the season when bad habits (by young and veteran pitchers alike), should have been flushed out.
Have to wonder about the quality of, either a.) the arms, or b.) Dorman's coaching.
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Post by badwack on May 25, 2023 12:40:20 GMT -8
I guess there is some good news about the Pitching. Nobody will be hyping our ERA at the Regional.
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Post by lebaneaver on May 25, 2023 12:43:07 GMT -8
Going back to May 12, in 6 games (NOT counting RPI 200 Western Carolina), and assuming ASU wins today, the Beavs are 2-4 and have given up an average of greater than 10 runs per game in those 6 games. That's at time in the season when bad habits (by young and veteran pitchers alike), should have been flushed out. Have to wonder about the quality of, either a.) the arms, or b.) Dorman's coaching. Fair assessment |
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Post by hottubbeaver on May 25, 2023 12:50:36 GMT -8
I honestly just don't believe our staff has "the stuff" to make it far in Omaha, if even to Omaha. In previous successful years it just seemed (yes, anecdotal) that there were at least 2 solid pitchers that could be counted on to give quality starts. I don't see that with this team. I don't know if the pitchers just aren't that skilled, or just highly inconsistent, or maybe they expect the offense to bail them out and let down their guard. I don't think it's the coaching, although I know many think pitchers should be pulled sooner to prevent big innings. But at that point the entire game becomes pitch by committee. I DO, however, see some young pitchers for next year that could be outstanding. Who are the go-to-two this year? Feller? Sellers? Kmatz? We really need to find a solid set of weekend starters next year. Effective to dominate pitching is more than just physical talent, there needs to be a certain mindset and grit to go with the physical tools. As a coach wanting to instill that type of mentality in your pitchers, does pulling them at the first sign of trouble help or hurt toward that end? Some argue it's better in long run they learn how to work their way out of a messy situation? |
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Post by easyheat on May 25, 2023 13:02:55 GMT -8
The P-12 Tournament was revealing, we scored 22 runs in two games and came away without a win. Since when does an OSU pitching staff allow 27 runs in two games late in the season?
The idea is to have your staff improve as the season wears on, not regress beyond the point where we were at the beginning of the year. I think you have to ask the fundamental question, is our pitching better now than it was 57 games ago? Where is the development?
Today the 10th ranked team in college baseball, playing in an important tournament elimination game, started a Short-arming JC transfer and followed with two kids a year out of high school. To me, that is worrisome.
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Post by hottubbeaver on May 25, 2023 13:07:49 GMT -8
Over the years, Oregon State baseball has established a reputation of strong pitching and defense. "A team equipped to win close games" is frequently mentioned by baseball writers. That was our road to success last year, winning 48 games and being a Super Regional host and coming within an eyelash of traveling to Omaha. With youth and enthusiasm, The Beavs embarked on the ‘23season hoping to pitch well and play good defense until the offense developed and jelled with adequate run production. The offense improved significantly and midway through our season we were trending up in team statistics. Once the lineup was set, the combination of speed and power began showing up 1 through 9 in the order and scoring accelerated. That continues today but our pitching began to struggle 20 games ago and that was apparent in today’s loss to Arizona. In the last 13 PAC-12 Conference games we have played, here are some results, In the 3 game series with Arizona State, we allowed 34 runs In the 3 game series with Arizona, we allowed 15 runs In the 3 game series with Utah, we allowed 22 Runs In the 3 game series with UCLA, we allowed 21runs In the PAC-12 Tournament today, we allowed Arizona 13 runs. In those 13 Conference games, we allowed 105 runs or an average of 8.07 Runs/Game. Our 7 non-conference games, we have fared a little better. We allowed 40 runs in those 7 games, or 5.71 Runs/Game. The totals for all 20 games are 145 runs allowed for an average of 7.25 Runs/Game. Even at the lofty run number, the offense has been so good, even prolific at times, the Beavers have won 14 of those 20 games (8-5 v PAC-10 opponents, 6-1 v Non-conference teams). As the coaches begin to address the pitching situation, these are a few of the questions that might be asked: 1. Were there any recruiting “misses”? Pitchers that were either over-valued in the recruiting process or failed to reach their perceived potential. 2. Did the development process fail to materialize with any of the pitchers. 3. Did the starting rotation give us an opportunity to win – in what % of our games? 4. Was the use of the bullpen optimized? 5. How badly did the “big inning” hurt us? OSU allowed a 3 to 6 run inning 17 times in the last 13 PAC-12 games. How do we stop that? 6. How many losses did we have after leading through 7 innings? The trend of OSU pitching isn’t where it should be. We have games left in Scottsdale and more importantly in Regional play, there is time to fix it and redirect the trend. You make some great points. Improvements need to be made and the opportunity to do so is still on the table before it's all over. I would be curious to know/see, if their has been any trend (up or down) across ncaa in offensive production? With transfer portal allowing experienced players who excel at a D-II or III school the opportunity to jump to a D-1 program, coupled with the amount of hitting instruction and experience an 18 year old of today has received versus 20 years ago it would not surprise me if offensive numbers overall are up. I also think the balls used today compared to 10 years ago are different, seems were lowered can't recall when, that seemingly (pun intended) small change can result in a significant impact on certain type of pitches effectiveness and favors offense over pitching. |
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Post by Henry Skrimshander on May 25, 2023 13:09:17 GMT -8
I'm probably reading way too much into it, but Parker did not sound his usual distraught self after this one. Even sounded rather upbeat.
That tells me he's been told by the coaches (as I said earlier) that we are locked in as a host, or that there was no chance we'd host, no matter what happened at the tournament. So, no need to burn Sellers or Kmatz on 100-degree days in games that are essentially meaningless.
I'm thinking we've been told we are not hosting, so he's saving arms for the regional.
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