WSU vs Air Force (3/13)

[pogo]

In Mike's defense Brent Kemnitz had zero D 1 experience and did not pitch at the highest level but he did pretty well. But your original premise has some truth to it. I prefer to withhold judgement for a little while.

[1972Shocker]

I imagine Air Force was already in town and didn’t just wanna come down for 1 game against WSU in Tucson. That’s my guess anyway since we already got 2 in with Zona.

The original schedule was for the Shocks to play a split doubleheader with Arizona on Saturday to finish off their trip. Air Force was initially scheduled to play the Shocks on Saturday and Airzona on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday afternnoon game is still on the schedule for both Arizona and Air Force. So the change was to replace the late Saturday game between WSU and AZ to an Air Force - AZ game.

So the Shockers ended up with 3 games instead of 4, Air Force ended up with 3 instead of 2 and Arizona will get all 5 of its orginally schedule games in.

Not sure what the catalyst for this change was. Perhaps it was a deal between WSU and Air Force and was okay with Arizona. Maybe HCEW will have an explanation on his radio show on Monday.

[1972Shocker]

As far as the pitching, it hasn’t been good for a while. I hate to knock former WSU greats but maybe Pelfrey doesn’t have it. Great pitchers doesn’t necessarily translate to great pitching coaches, especially ones that have zero D1 experience anyways. I’m just saying.

This seems to be generally true of all sports. Whether that is true with Mike Pelfrey is hard to say. Not sure if there is a lot of value comparing the stats for the 12 games this year vs the 15 games we played last year but last year's team had an ERA of 2.91 with largely the same pitching rosters as this year. This year the team ERA is at 5.43 after 12 games. Granted we had Jake Hamiilton and Connery Peters last year and they have not pitched yet this year although Jake had a 4.26 ERA, the worst among our weekend starters, and Connery only pitched 7 of the Shocks 133 innings last year. This year's team ERA is more in line with the 2019 team which had a team ERA over a full schedule of 5.39 as the team finished 28-31. This year's team as a slightly higher OPS after 12 games at .808 than the .792 put up over a full season by the 2019 team. Not sure that is going to be the case by the end of this year. Last year's team had a OPS of .795 in the Covid shortened 15 game season. This year our opponents to date have an OPS of .750 vs last year's 15 game season of .600 an 2019's OPS of .761.

So far the stats are looking very much like 2019 so far. Perhaps last year's 15-game season pitching numbers have far more to do with the offensive capabilities of the teams played as the OPS of .600 would seem to indicate with the Shocker offense functioning mostly at the same level as last year and as in 2019, Corrigan Bartlett and Garrett Kocis are off to good starts at the plate this year. Unfortunately, Corrigan for sure and perhaps Garrett as well, if he gets a good draft, will gone next year.

So was last year's opponents OPS of .600 due to good Shocker pitching or weak opponent hitting? The latter seems would seem to make more sense based on the start this year but perhaps the sample size is just too small to be determinitive.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

This is where Downtown Shocker Brown goes into hiding and I say “I told you so”.

Ok KU fan.

[1972Shocker]

Air Force hung close for 4 inning but fell to Arizona 14-5 this afternoon.

[ShockerFever]

Ok KU fan.

Try to make sense when responding back, even when tongue-tied.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Try to make sense when responding back, even when tongue-tied.

Have you ever noticed that every one of your “I told you so” moments is when the Shockers fail?

I went back and wasted as much time as I will on both baseball and basketball forums. Not one single positive prediction for a Shocker program except for a couple bs game predictions.

You look for, and find, the negative in every situation. What a sad person you must be. You take such pride in the failures of 18-22 year old kids. And call yourself a fan. You’re a joke.

As for me, I support every student athlete at Wichita State. Regardless of what sport, where they are from, and especially not based on athletic success. I support them creating friendships and bonds that last far beyond the fields of play. I support them becoming contributing parts of our society. Finding success in whatever they decide to do.

But you be you. Keep predicting and celebrating the failures of young men and women under the guise of “just being real”. I’m sure that will get you far in life.

[Shockm]

As far as the pitching, it hasn’t been good for a while. I hate to knock former WSU greats but maybe Pelfrey doesn’t have it. Great pitchers doesn’t necessarily translate to great pitching coaches, especially ones that have zero D1 experience anyways. I’m just saying.

I would say that our pitching has been very inconsistent for this year. I have a feeling that our pitchers are talented, but so much of pitching (and hitting or that matter) is approach. outlook, and toughness. One can throw a ball hard, but if they can't harness location (and walk a couple of guys), then they get a pitch up on the wrong count, so the player gets an extra base hit and unloads the bases, then momentum is going against, umpires squeeze the pitcher and it is a circular problem.

I don't know Pelfrey very well as a pitching coach, but I trust Wedge, and he knows pitching too, and he is still building a foundation for this team of mental toughness, I have questioned why they haven't pulled certain pitchers sooner but that is probably part of the process too. As the season goes on, and we get into league play, I'm hopeful, this team improves and gets some of what Wedge envisions for the program. He probably doesn't pull pitchers sooner right now, because, Wedge sees some talent, and he wants the pitcher to get out of it, and learn, and it would prove too easy for the pitcher to take him out. I'm going to give Wedge the benefit of the doubt and look from the long view at this time.

[ShockerFever]

Have you ever noticed that every one of your “I told you so” moments is when the Shockers fail?

I went back and wasted as much time as I will on both baseball and basketball forums. Not one single positive prediction for a Shocker program except for a couple bs game predictions.

You look for, and find, the negative in every situation. What a sad person you must be. You take such pride in the failures of 18-22 year old kids. And call yourself a fan. You’re a joke.

As for me, I support every student athlete at Wichita State. Regardless of what sport, where they are from, and especially not based on athletic success. I support them creating friendships and bonds that last far beyond the fields of play. I support them becoming contributing parts of our society. Finding success in whatever they decide to do.

But you be you. Keep predicting and celebrating the failures of young men and women under the guise of “just being real”. I’m sure that will get you far in life.

You’re one weird dude.