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Post by beavadelic on Apr 8, 2018 16:48:11 GMT -8
Two consecutive series losses on the road is a tough pill to swallow. I realize that last year was a colossal aberration in which we won every series and had it all, but losing 5 of our last 7 in league play just sucks.
I hate that Nick’s last season in Corvallis is playing out this way. He breaks his hand the second week of the season on a weird play (though typically a hustle play in his case) in a meaningless OOC game. Initially they’d predicted he’d be back in 4-6 weeks, and at least for this series. I was hoping it would be more like 5 weeks, but I can’t recall many Beaver athletes who have gotten back and actually been ready early. In fact, it usually takes longer than projected. Maybe they’re close to 100% relatively soon after their return, but it seems like 2 or 3 weeks of game activity is reasonable even if they are fortunate enough to get back to full strength. If that is the case with Nick now, we’ll be lucky to have the guy we’ve come marvel at and count on for the last 1/3 of the season. When you’re talking about a great player like this, it’s hard to not feel ripped off, I’m just glad that college baseball teams get great players for more than 1 year.
The rest of the team has done a pretty solid job until the last couple of weeks of masking our shortcomings and getting by without Madrigal, but the kid is our heart and soul, and without some luck, we could have lost BOTH Nevada (yes, NEVADA) games and be staring at losing 7 of our last 9.
Our pitching is annoying. Even our most “reliable” arms have been shaky at times. Interesting how Yeskie can go from being National Pitching Coach of the Year one season to being second-guessed in nearly every game for his decisions just a few months after receiving that honor. Casey is a great coach, no question, but his failure to press the issue on a foul ball call in Omaha and some decisions this season have people questioning him - kind of like the clock management complaints with a certain football coach that made a significant impact on that program. Bottom line: when you’re winning, most fans keep the criticism in check, but when you start to lose, it falls on the coaches most often, right or wrong.
We all know that there is enough talent on the bump, in the field and at the plate on this team to be really, really good. I highly doubt that even an infused offense with the return of Madrigal will be enough to offset a mysterious issue with our pitching staff unless the NPCOTY works some type of miracle with what appears to be a bunch of talented arms who are just not refined pitchers and/or lack the mental toughness to go all Buck/Nickerson/Boyd/Moore, etc. on folks and battle every batter with tenacity.
It’s just extra tough when football has been horse 💩 and hoops has been akin to a bi-weekly root canal. Granted, the women’s hoops team was a delight, and several niche sports teams on campus have had wonderful success, but the big 2 revenue producers are what grab everyone’s attention. With the lack of success there, I personally put way too much importance on our baseball success. I try to get over that tendency, but every loss - and particularly series losses in conference play - just mess my weekends up. I know it’s not rational, but it is how it is for me. I wish that bleeding would stop and we’d get our swag back. We may not deserve to be rated in the top 5, but we’re talented enough to get there. Come on Beavs, get this thing back on track!
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Post by ricke71 on Apr 8, 2018 18:18:04 GMT -8
Two consecutive series losses on the road is a tough pill to swallow. I realize that last year was a colossal aberration in which we won every series and had it all, but losing 5 of our last 7 in league play just sucks. I hate that Nick’s last season in Corvallis is playing out this way. He breaks his hand the second week of the season on a weird play (though typically a hustle play in his case) in a meaningless OOC game. Initially they’d predicted he’d be back in 4-6 weeks, and at least for this series. I was hoping it would be more like 5 weeks, but I can’t recall many Beaver athletes who have gotten back and actually been ready early. In fact, it usually takes longer than projected. Maybe they’re close to 100% relatively soon after their return, but it seems like 2 or 3 weeks of game activity is reasonable even if they are fortunate enough to get back to full strength. If that is the case with Nick now, we’ll be lucky to have the guy we’ve come marvel at and count on for the last 1/3 of the season. When you’re talking about a great player like this, it’s hard to not feel ripped off, I’m just glad that college baseball teams get great players for more than 1 year. The rest of the team has done a pretty solid job until the last couple of weeks of masking our shortcomings and getting by without Madrigal, but the kid is our heart and soul, and without some luck, we could have lost BOTH Nevada (yes, NEVADA) games and be staring at losing 7 of our last 9. Our pitching is annoying. Even our most “reliable” arms have been shaky at times. Interesting how Yeskie can go from being National Pitching Coach of the Year one season to being second-guessed in nearly every game for his decisions just a few months after receiving that honor. Casey is a great coach, no question, but his failure to press the issue on a foul ball call in Omaha and some decisions this season have people questioning him - kind of like the clock management complaints with a certain football coach that made a significant impact on that program. Bottom line: when you’re winning, most fans keep the criticism in check, but when you start to lose, it falls on the coaches most often, right or wrong. We all know that there is enough talent on the bump, in the field and at the plate on this team to be really, really good. I highly doubt that even an infused offense with the return of Madrigal will be enough to offset a mysterious issue with our pitching staff unless the NPCOTY works some type of miracle with what appears to be a bunch of talented arms who are just not refined pitchers and/or lack the mental toughness to go all Buck/Nickerson/Boyd/Moore, etc. on folks and battle every batter with tenacity. It’s just extra tough when football has been horse 💩 and hoops has been akin to a bi-weekly root canal. Granted, the women’s hoops team was a delight, and several niche sports teams on campus have had wonderful success, but the big 2 revenue producers are what grab everyone’s attention. With the lack of success there, I personally put way too much importance on our baseball success. I try to get over that tendency, but every loss - and particularly series losses in conference play - just mess my weekends up. I know it’s not rational, but it is how it is for me. I wish that bleeding would stop and we’d get our swag back. We may not deserve to be rated in the top 5, but we’re talented enough to get there. Come on Beavs, get this thing back on track! And YET! The Beavs are ONLY a game out of 1st in the PAC 12 - and by the time we have our next PAC 12 series. Nick WILL be back. I'd hesitate to ever mention the football or men's basketball programs in the same breath as the Baseball program. Despite the troubles of the past 2 weeks on the diamond (w/o one of the best baseball players in the country)...there is simply NO comparison. When was the last time the FB or MBB programs had even the 30th best player in the nation? (Brandon Cooks?....that was 5 years ago). Agreed - woman's hoops has been a delight.
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Post by beavadelic on Apr 8, 2018 19:17:39 GMT -8
Two consecutive series losses on the road is a tough pill to swallow. I realize that last year was a colossal aberration in which we won every series and had it all, but losing 5 of our last 7 in league play just sucks. I hate that Nick’s last season in Corvallis is playing out this way. He breaks his hand the second week of the season on a weird play (though typically a hustle play in his case) in a meaningless OOC game. Initially they’d predicted he’d be back in 4-6 weeks, and at least for this series. I was hoping it would be more like 5 weeks, but I can’t recall many Beaver athletes who have gotten back and actually been ready early. In fact, it usually takes longer than projected. Maybe they’re close to 100% relatively soon after their return, but it seems like 2 or 3 weeks of game activity is reasonable even if they are fortunate enough to get back to full strength. If that is the case with Nick now, we’ll be lucky to have the guy we’ve come marvel at and count on for the last 1/3 of the season. When you’re talking about a great player like this, it’s hard to not feel ripped off, I’m just glad that college baseball teams get great players for more than 1 year. The rest of the team has done a pretty solid job until the last couple of weeks of masking our shortcomings and getting by without Madrigal, but the kid is our heart and soul, and without some luck, we could have lost BOTH Nevada (yes, NEVADA) games and be staring at losing 7 of our last 9. Our pitching is annoying. Even our most “reliable” arms have been shaky at times. Interesting how Yeskie can go from being National Pitching Coach of the Year one season to being second-guessed in nearly every game for his decisions just a few months after receiving that honor. Casey is a great coach, no question, but his failure to press the issue on a foul ball call in Omaha and some decisions this season have people questioning him - kind of like the clock management complaints with a certain football coach that made a significant impact on that program. Bottom line: when you’re winning, most fans keep the criticism in check, but when you start to lose, it falls on the coaches most often, right or wrong. We all know that there is enough talent on the bump, in the field and at the plate on this team to be really, really good. I highly doubt that even an infused offense with the return of Madrigal will be enough to offset a mysterious issue with our pitching staff unless the NPCOTY works some type of miracle with what appears to be a bunch of talented arms who are just not refined pitchers and/or lack the mental toughness to go all Buck/Nickerson/Boyd/Moore, etc. on folks and battle every batter with tenacity. It’s just extra tough when football has been horse 💩 and hoops has been akin to a bi-weekly root canal. Granted, the women’s hoops team was a delight, and several niche sports teams on campus have had wonderful success, but the big 2 revenue producers are what grab everyone’s attention. With the lack of success there, I personally put way too much importance on our baseball success. I try to get over that tendency, but every loss - and particularly series losses in conference play - just mess my weekends up. I know it’s not rational, but it is how it is for me. I wish that bleeding would stop and we’d get our swag back. We may not deserve to be rated in the top 5, but we’re talented enough to get there. Come on Beavs, get this thing back on track! And YET! The Beavs are ONLY 1/2 game out of 1st in the PAC 12 - and by the time we have our next PAC 12 series. Nick WILL be back. I'd hesitate to ever mention the football or men's basketball programs in the same breath as the Baseball program. Despite the troubles of the past 2 weeks on the diamond (w/o one of the best baseball players in the country)...there is simply NO comparison. When was the last time the FB or MBB programs had even the 30th best player in the nation? (Brandon Cooks?....that was 5 years ago). Agreed - woman's hoops has been a delight. I agree 100% about baseball in comparison to the money makers. The reason that people are so frustrated is because we have a top 10 baseball program year in and year out (in reality probably top 5) for the past 12-13 years, so we’ve come to expect total dominance. The only reason I desecrated the baseball site with any talk of football or baseball is to illustrate how important it is to me that the Beavs excel in baseball. The irrational thinking that I alluded to leads me to an expectation that we never lose. By the spring, the number of losses has piled up so heavily from football and hoops, that I can’t bear any more losing. In reality, the best baseball teams in the land typically lose 12-15 games each year, including a series or two.
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Post by nforkbeav on Apr 8, 2018 22:01:21 GMT -8
We're getting contributions and building valuable game experience for those who will factor into the long term season goal.
2007 was not a smooth ride through conference play if anyone remembers. Qualifying is king, peaking at right time just as important.
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Post by badwack on Apr 9, 2018 5:39:05 GMT -8
Not what I say matters, but the fact is last year was an exceptional year because of the Pitching. Luke was overwhelming and Jake T at times was even better. Bryce was good and baffling on occasion. I thought the Hitting and Defense this year might overcome the development of the Staff. Not sure that is going to happen. Something is wrong with Luke. Watching 5 Straight shots off Luke Sat. was stunning. #2 and #3 have been below average and the BP no better. At this time we are not a Top Ten Team and look to be Mid Level in Conference. I am beginning to wonder about the make up of this teams attitude. The Fit Abel displayed yesterday was very uncharacteristic of OSU. I wonder.
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Post by nexus73 on Apr 9, 2018 6:46:20 GMT -8
If we suck to the point we wind up 5th in the Pac-12, we'll be right where we want to be if the past is an indicator. The Beavs won the CWS with such a finish. Last year we were the best team in the nation until we weren't...LOL! Sneaking in out of left field would be about right. Obviously this team has room to grow with the winning streak to start the season showing our potential.
Heck, we might even get some decent spring weather eventually! The NY Yankees had their season home opener snowed out. It hasn't gotten that bad here at least...
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Post by lotrader on Apr 9, 2018 7:51:55 GMT -8
Everything is OK. The biggest issue right now is our pitching, and specifically, our very young pitching. Luke will get it together, he needs another pitch he can throw. Just to predictable vs Arizona, given he didn't have command of any of his pitches, he ended up throwing fastballs when he got behind. Abel will get it together, or he won't be pitching. I was impressed yesterday with Grant Gambrell. Not sure why he was pulled, as he built great momentum. I thought our defense and hitting was fine. Our coaches will have these guys well prepared for the post season, and the return of Nick M, will jumpstart our season again.
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Post by mbabeav on Apr 9, 2018 11:56:52 GMT -8
Bryce had the right approach IMO. AZ has a hell of a hitting team, and keeping the ball down just let them hit line drive after line drive - in that huge ball park with the wind blowing in, Bryce might have given up two solos, but he also got a ton of flyouts, barely put any pressure on the fielders. AZ also had great plate discipline, forcing our pitching to have to put the ball in the strike zone - I don't know that we are going to see a better hitting team than them the rest of the year.
I was really expecting Brandon to come out for the 8th inning yesterday....sigh.
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