The vaunted "Plate Discipline"
Jun 20, 2017 13:22:19 GMT -8
TonySoprano and wilkyisdashiznit like this
Post by pezcat on Jun 20, 2017 13:22:19 GMT -8
After thinking about it a little bit, I've come to a conclusion on this, which is just another facet of an incredibly special team that still possesses a chance to make college baseball history:
We are flat-out spoiled when it comes to plate discipline.
I honestly don't think our opponents have been THAT bad with it, for much of the year. Bear in mind what they've had to look at in terms of opposing pitching. We've now had sixty games with which to watch opponents get stymied, shut down, and otherwise vexed by the top pitching staff in the country - and they're number one by a wide margin in ERA and lead in numerous categories (#1 WHIP and Hits per 9, #5 in Walks per 9 being notable ones).
Contrast that with a Beaver team that can, almost literally, squeeze blood from a stone when it comes to milking counts, drawing walks, making adjustments, and chasing quality pitchers (see Peterson, Wright, Fullerton, and LSU for examples of high-quality pitchers that bent). This may actually be the best disciplined team we've ever seen at the plate, bar none. Everyone can milk a count, get the dirty hit, and steal a walk. And with threats 1-9, pitchers stress more, pitch from the stretch more, give up that quarter-inch more that turns a swing-and-miss into a foul which lets the at bat continue. Add to that the efficiency that the Beavers unleash hell with two outs (usually damage starts getting limited drastically at that point - as of late, it seems like that's "go time" for the Beavs), and it's hard to argue that there's a tougher out in college baseball.
Oregon State's pitching is enough to make anyone's plate discipline look more inferior than it is. When it's combined with the incredible job Casey and his staff has the offense doing with playing smart at the plate, there's noone in the country that can touch the Beavs in the "Plate Discipline" department. And if a team doesn't know how to deal with it (which is really, really hard to do, given that generally, most teams will see an opponent three times at most in a season), they're going to have a lot of trouble, which is clearly one of the huge reasons we're three games away from history.
It's not over yet. But by God is it fun to watch.
We are flat-out spoiled when it comes to plate discipline.
I honestly don't think our opponents have been THAT bad with it, for much of the year. Bear in mind what they've had to look at in terms of opposing pitching. We've now had sixty games with which to watch opponents get stymied, shut down, and otherwise vexed by the top pitching staff in the country - and they're number one by a wide margin in ERA and lead in numerous categories (#1 WHIP and Hits per 9, #5 in Walks per 9 being notable ones).
Contrast that with a Beaver team that can, almost literally, squeeze blood from a stone when it comes to milking counts, drawing walks, making adjustments, and chasing quality pitchers (see Peterson, Wright, Fullerton, and LSU for examples of high-quality pitchers that bent). This may actually be the best disciplined team we've ever seen at the plate, bar none. Everyone can milk a count, get the dirty hit, and steal a walk. And with threats 1-9, pitchers stress more, pitch from the stretch more, give up that quarter-inch more that turns a swing-and-miss into a foul which lets the at bat continue. Add to that the efficiency that the Beavers unleash hell with two outs (usually damage starts getting limited drastically at that point - as of late, it seems like that's "go time" for the Beavs), and it's hard to argue that there's a tougher out in college baseball.
Oregon State's pitching is enough to make anyone's plate discipline look more inferior than it is. When it's combined with the incredible job Casey and his staff has the offense doing with playing smart at the plate, there's noone in the country that can touch the Beavs in the "Plate Discipline" department. And if a team doesn't know how to deal with it (which is really, really hard to do, given that generally, most teams will see an opponent three times at most in a season), they're going to have a lot of trouble, which is clearly one of the huge reasons we're three games away from history.
It's not over yet. But by God is it fun to watch.
