04-19-2010, 10:33 AM
We were clicking our heels a la Ron Santo when they were beating St. John's and people were talking about post-season berths.
But if my math is correct the Bucs have now lost 11 of 15 as they get into their A-Sun schedule.
Maybe we should remember what happened to the 1969 Cubs when Ron Santo clicked his heels.
I was looking through some stats. Yes, with the metal bats and scholarship limitations college baseball stats often read like 1930 in the National League, but here's what I learned.
Most baseball teams in the conference have ERAs of more than 6.00 and a ton of heavy hitters batting more than .300. ETSU's opponents ERAs are more than 8.00.
The reason for this is that many of the glamour teams the Bucs have beaten have been throwing the back end of their staffs against them. For instance, Kansas State.
The Bucs beat the Wildcats, 10-6, with 5 runs in the top of the ninth. However, KSU threw the back end of the pitching staff against them.
First was a guy named Jake Doller, who has thrown all of 13 1/3 innings this year and he gave up three runs before being lifted. To close out the ninth they sent out Keith Picht, who has thrown a whopping 3.1 innings on the season and batters are hitting .500 against him.
In the two victories against St. John's, the Redwhatever they are, in the 8-6 game St. John's threw Miguel Valcarcel, who has only appeared in five games and has thrown all of 14 innings this year. In the 11-7 victory, the Bucs beat up on starter Nick Cenatiempo, who isn't at the back end of the St. John's pitching staff- he's just not that good.
Point is- it seems a lot of the Bucs success came because opponents were pitching the back end of the staff at them in out-of-conference play. When ETSU faced St. John's top starter, Bruce Kern, for instance, they lost 10-2.
Now, this isn't surprising. If you're Kansas State and you are playing in a tournament, do you put in your ace closer in a 5-5 9th inning tie, which means that will be one less time you can use him against the more powerful teams in the tourney, or do you try to see what your non-scholarship pitchers can do against a team that was 10-20 in their conference last year?
When else are you going to get a chance to see what they can do under pressure and if they're ready for conference competition?
This said, ETSU is the only non-Florida team currently battling for the A-Sun flag. Lipscomb is down this year and ETSU did take two of three from Jacksonville, whose 10-8 victory against No. 6 Florida State the other day came against the back end of the Seminoles' pitching staff as well- but certainly those pitchers were of a higher caliber than what KSU threw at the Bucs.
The team has unquestionably improved from recent years, but one wonders if they haven't already peaked.
Thoughts?
But if my math is correct the Bucs have now lost 11 of 15 as they get into their A-Sun schedule.
Maybe we should remember what happened to the 1969 Cubs when Ron Santo clicked his heels.
I was looking through some stats. Yes, with the metal bats and scholarship limitations college baseball stats often read like 1930 in the National League, but here's what I learned.
Most baseball teams in the conference have ERAs of more than 6.00 and a ton of heavy hitters batting more than .300. ETSU's opponents ERAs are more than 8.00.
The reason for this is that many of the glamour teams the Bucs have beaten have been throwing the back end of their staffs against them. For instance, Kansas State.
The Bucs beat the Wildcats, 10-6, with 5 runs in the top of the ninth. However, KSU threw the back end of the pitching staff against them.
First was a guy named Jake Doller, who has thrown all of 13 1/3 innings this year and he gave up three runs before being lifted. To close out the ninth they sent out Keith Picht, who has thrown a whopping 3.1 innings on the season and batters are hitting .500 against him.
In the two victories against St. John's, the Redwhatever they are, in the 8-6 game St. John's threw Miguel Valcarcel, who has only appeared in five games and has thrown all of 14 innings this year. In the 11-7 victory, the Bucs beat up on starter Nick Cenatiempo, who isn't at the back end of the St. John's pitching staff- he's just not that good.
Point is- it seems a lot of the Bucs success came because opponents were pitching the back end of the staff at them in out-of-conference play. When ETSU faced St. John's top starter, Bruce Kern, for instance, they lost 10-2.
Now, this isn't surprising. If you're Kansas State and you are playing in a tournament, do you put in your ace closer in a 5-5 9th inning tie, which means that will be one less time you can use him against the more powerful teams in the tourney, or do you try to see what your non-scholarship pitchers can do against a team that was 10-20 in their conference last year?
When else are you going to get a chance to see what they can do under pressure and if they're ready for conference competition?
This said, ETSU is the only non-Florida team currently battling for the A-Sun flag. Lipscomb is down this year and ETSU did take two of three from Jacksonville, whose 10-8 victory against No. 6 Florida State the other day came against the back end of the Seminoles' pitching staff as well- but certainly those pitchers were of a higher caliber than what KSU threw at the Bucs.
The team has unquestionably improved from recent years, but one wonders if they haven't already peaked.
Thoughts?