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Recruit [91]
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Observations so far
2
Feb 27, 2023, 10:21 AM
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Quick observations on our program so far:
We have taken huge strides in fundamental areas of the game. The two biggest I have seen so far are baserunning and situational hitting. We are WAY better in those areas then in the last few years. I feel as though coach Bakich is focusing on the things that can be improved immediately i.e. the fundamentals. With that being said, the ACC is LOADED this year in baseball. We do not have the front line starter to compete on Fridays. He will have to address that problem via HS recruiting or the portal. The process of rebuilding might be painful to watch but in the long I feel we will be happy.
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Heisman Winner [108392]
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Orange Blooded [2445]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 10:37 AM
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Spot on. It’s way too early but I too could see improvements in certain areas. Didn’t UCF have a veteran ball team?
GO TIGERS!!!!
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All-In [26476]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 10:51 AM
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I believe Bakich is the man to get it done. However, he has to deal with what he has which, apparently, just O.K. We won't do that well this year because of what he inherited. We won't do so well in conference and the coots will probably win 2 of 3 or sweep. It will take at least 2 more years in my opinion.
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Orange Blooded [3238]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 11:14 AM
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I watched all 3 games this weekend and had the following take-aways.
We played well enough to not deserve to get swept. We put the ball in play and, quite often, we made solid contact that went right to a defender. We easily could have scored a few more runs to give us at least 1 win. Cooper Ingle probably should have had 3-4 more hits by himself. However, baseball can be a cruel game. Sometimes bloopers fall and line drives get caught.
Our pitching is severely lacking. Through 2 weekends, we have what appears to be 1 solid starter on Friday night and not much else we can depend on after that. In today's game, with the current bat and ball combination, 6-8 runs should be enough to win a game as long as you have reliable pitching. Unfortunately, we do not. I am not sure there is much we can do about it this year. You solve this problem through recruiting, not in-season coaching.
Side note: How do we have so many pitchers on a D-1 staff that do not have a secondary pitch? Even the announcers were remarking that UCF didn't even try to hit anything other than a fastball. With the exception of Ammons, no one could throw anything off-speed for a strike.
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Orange Blooded [3013]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 11:25 AM
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I believe Monte’s recruiting strategy was to offer pitchers with strong fastballs. Otherwise they were development projects to throw the extra pitches needed. The few that worked with that strategy are now in the minors, and rest are now Coach Belanger’s headache.
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Orange Blooded [3305]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 12:21 PM
[ in reply to Re: Observations so far ] |
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Where is Billy Barlow? Where is Tristan Smith? Those 2 guys deserve looks as starters. Not sold on our Friday night guy being a true #1, but he is viable. Our Saturday starter pitches up in the strike zone too much to be able to get through a lineup more than 1 time without getting hit. The rest of the staff really needs to work on throwing strikes with their primary pitches before they worry too much about secondary pitches.
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All-In [27665]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 12:03 PM
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Our pitching rotation is the achilles heel right now. No way to sugarcoat it.
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Asst Coach [736]
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Re: Observations so far
Feb 27, 2023, 12:42 PM
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Worried about the chickens and future acc opponents. We will get better. Still we gotta be patient. We were right there all weekend vs ucf. But yes pitching has been a problem for years. Hope it gets better.
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