Thanks for starting this thread. I was afraid no one remembered (although the clocks did spring forward, and then they started the game early due to travel reasons).
It's also Super Mario day at the park. I was going to name an all-Mario team in Rice annals, but the only Mario I can recall is Mario Ramos (he would absolutely be our starting pitcher on the team).
We're also honoring plumbers today (no kidding). I'm hoping at the least they have replaced the dizzy bat race and made it a dizzy plunger race in their honor.
(03-10-2019 01:33 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Thanks for starting this thread. I was afraid no one remembered (although the clocks did spring forward, and then they started the game early due to travel reasons).
Bats are silent against OU starter Levi Prater. Just 1 hit thru 5 innings. Jackson P doing fine on the mound. He's allowed nothing since the 2 runs in the 1st. But it's 2-0 OU after 5. Our pen is fine and Jackson P at 76 pitches or so. But we're going to need to do something at the plate to salvage the series.
Moss got out of that jam. But Bordwine allows a 3-run homer in the 8th, and this game is probably over. We're down 5-0 - still with just 3 hits against the OU starter.
IMO, not as bad as they looked the last two games vs. OU, and the games against UT, AZ, UCI and TXSt. But not as good as they looked Friday night or last weekend vs. Baylor and TCU.
There are going to be speed bumps, some of them rather large.
I have only two issues with this weekend: the way we coughed it up and the questionable quality of our opponent. We were well ahead in the second game after winning the first, and then it turned into a tire fire the rest of the way. Also, I don't think we lost to a great team, or even a solid one. OU is decent, but I will be surprised if they make noise in the Big XII.
The opportunity was there and Rice let it slip away. I hope the players can make it a learning experience. On to the next game.
I said this last year and I say it again, I'm still unsold on Janish. The Mickey mouse club fielding has seemingly expanded on his watch - This has to be fixed.
I dare say, watching our fielding reminds me of Driesbach's defense.
(This post was last modified: 03-10-2019 07:46 PM by Antarius.)
Some things Bragga has done has impressed me, and some have not.
He definitely has an easier demeanor publicly than Graham. And he seems to be giving a lot of pitchers a lot of chances to show their stuff. And even a few hitters too. But at the same time, I think he's catching Collins too much.
At this point, it's pretty clear this season is all coming down to conference play. So I hope he rests Collins some in the midweek games to make him fresher for the weekend. And we should pretty much know who the reliable arms are at this point for the weekend games.
(03-10-2019 08:02 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: Some things Bragga has done has impressed me, and some have not.
He definitely has an easier demeanor publicly than Graham. And he seems to be giving a lot of pitchers a lot of chances to show their stuff. And even a few hitters too. But at the same time, I think he's catching Collins too much.
At this point, it's pretty clear this season is all coming down to conference play. So I hope he rests Collins some in the midweek games to make him fresher for the weekend. And we should pretty much know who the reliable arms are at this point for the weekend games.
Agreed on both the midweeks and on the use of Collins. Several of us were just commenting on Collins catching 5 games a week at the game today.
Perhaps he's waiting for Frazier to get back from his strained knee injury. He's clearly our best defensive catcher.DiCap is getting more comfortable every day at 1B, and my sense is Bragga wants to keep him there.
Even in the last two losses, both Kravetz and Parthasarathy pitched well. I think our current weekend rotation can keep us in games against any team in CUSA, provided the defense doesn't gift too many runs. As I mentioned the other day, I would not worry about the midweek games, and I'd use Moss and Jefferies as co-closers-- each pitching 2 - 3 innings twice a week. That will give us a reliable stopper in the pen each of our weekend games. Hopefully, Gayle comes around, but I'd use him much more as a 1 inning guys several times a week.
The one thing I'm puzzled that Bragga has not yet addressed is the ridiculously high frequency of striking out looking, especially on 3-2 counts.
(This post was last modified: 03-10-2019 08:21 PM by waltgreenberg.)
(03-10-2019 08:14 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote: think our current weekend rotation can keep us in games against any team in CUSA, provided the defense doesn't gift too many runs.
Well......
a) the game 2 fiasco underlies that once you scratch the first level pitching-wise, at *best* the pitching is mediocre. At worst it is 9 run innings.
b) 'provided the defense doesnt gift too many runs' --- that seems to be asking a lot with the present look. The first part of the current completed season seemed to be *exceptionally bad* 'gifting/error-wise'. The Minute Maid streak looked good. Followed by two games that looked like a reversion to the first 4 games. With all respect, this, to me, is the equivalent of 'I can win the Presidency of the United States, provided I can corral 280 EVs'. I dont think this iteration of the team has shown anything more fielding-wise than became de rigueur through last season.
I hope to be proved wrong. I would have also hoped that, at this point, I would have been proved wrong.
