STONE COLD REALITY CHECK

[Shockm]

RPI is meaningless right now.

Let me ask this ... what RPI do you think we will finish with this season with?

You are right. At the current time, RPI means little.

I have been disappointed by two group performances (one game hitting, and one pitching). Otherwise, there are more bright spots than dark ones.

1. Our first game (against LBSU) showed a tremendous lack of batting IQ. Some of our hitters didn't compete (probably against a good pitcher), and our free swinging, which resulted in lots of strike outs was disappointing. It appears that there has been some improvement in this area. Our pitching was pretty good though.

2. Our lack of pitching against Utah Tech on the first game of the series (they shouldn't have been able to score 12 runs).

[ShockerFever]

2a. See Oakland game on Friday.

[Kung Wu]

In our shutout (first game of the year and away game) against LBSU, they started Osman Graham who pitched for 7 innings against us. That's the same pitcher they started against #9 ECU a few days ago and beat 3-2. Graham has 3 wins and a combined 2.3 ERA on the season so far. Tough out for your very first match.

[Kung Wu]

WSU is ranked 92 in batting average
WSU is ranked 72 in HR/game
WSU is ranked 136 in scoring offense

The stats have been updated. The above stats have changed to:

WSU is ranked 62 in batting average
WSU is ranked 41 in HR/game
WSU is ranked 53 in scoring

[WuDrWu]

The stats have been updated. The above stats have changed to:

WSU is ranked 62 in batting average
WSU is ranked 41 in HR/game
WSU is ranked 53 in scoring

94 in ERA and 17 in Ks/BB which is usually more telling.

Look, I have zero qualms with anyone that feels pessimistic about the future or even this year. I've made the argument many times that the 90s are never coming back and that the baseball landscape is so much different now as compared to then that even trying to compare is fruitless.

This is the most talented roster that we've had in more than a decade. Top to bottom. We have some depth for the first time in I can't remember. And we have some high upside guys that we aren't counting on at all right now. Jack Little is a stud. Hopefully we'll get him back in a week or 2. Austin Henry was one of the best RHP coming out of HS. TJ surgery went well and by all accounts he looks absolutely fantastic in rehab. There's a decent chance he'll get a shot at crunch time at the end of the season. Snead hit 98 Sunday and has a thunderbolt for an arm. Mulhollon is going to be a stud. Gustafson has all the tools but needs to learn how to play. Even if just one of Snead or Mulhollon were to step up this year, that changes the dynamics immediately.

Also, and not to sound like Dave Dahl but I'm absolutely going to sound like Dave Dahl, our best pitcher (returning All Conference guy) coming into the season is Cam Bye. Take out his disastrous 3.2 innings and 6 ER and our team ERA drops to 4.46 good for 73. Cam Bye is going to be a lot better or he won't pitch. Either way those numbers won't continue.

And again, I'm not calling a trip to Omaha for these guys. They have the Friday issue still and they, as a team, have not learn to win consistently yet. Those are 2 big obstacles to overcome. But they are better than we've seen in several years and I believe they have every opportunity to be right there competing for a post season birth in late May, and if we can get a little help from the freshman, perhaps a lot more.

[SB Shock]

RPI is meaningless right now.

Sorry that is wrong. 25% of the season has been played and Boyd Nation has released his first ISR rating (college baseball equivalent to KenPom). He doesn't do his first release until there is enough results to be meaningful.

Wichita is 78 in the ISR.

Let me ask this ... what RPI do you think we will finish with this season with?

Boyd Nation released his first experimental Projected RPI. He has WSU at 108, record of 26-29

Warren Nolan projected RPI (updated throughout the season) has WSU at 95 with 32-24 record.

Warren Nolan only has AAC as 1-bid league, with WSU finishing 3rd.

[SB Shock]

The stats have been updated. The above stats have changed to:

WSU is ranked 62 in batting average
WSU is ranked 41 in HR/game
WSU is ranked 53 in scoring

Right about where I said they would be - correct? But that is not good enough with the schedule WSU has played to this point and with where the pitching ranks. Pitching = championships

[Kung Wu]

Sorry that is wrong. 25% of the season has been played and Boyd Nation has released his first ISR rating (college baseball equivalent to KenPom). He doesn't do his first release until there is enough results to be meaningful.

Wichita is 78 in the ISR.



Boyd Nation released his first experimental Projected RPI. He has WSU at 108, record of 26-29

Warren Nolan projected RPI (updated throughout the season) has WSU at 95 with 32-24 record.

Warren Nolan only has AAC as 1-bid league, with WSU finishing 3rd.

I didn't ask what the projections are. What RPI do YOU think we will end the season with?

[Kung Wu]

Right about where I said they would be - correct? But that is not good enough with the schedule WSU has played to this point and with where the pitching ranks. Pitching = championships

"Not good enough" ... now we are getting somewhere. Not good enough ... for what? What are YOUR expectations for this season?

[WuDrWu]

Sorry that is wrong. 25% of the season has been played and Boyd Nation has released his first ISR rating (college baseball equivalent to KenPom). He doesn't do his first release until there is enough results to be meaningful.

Wichita is 78 in the ISR.



Boyd Nation released his first experimental Projected RPI. He has WSU at 108, record of 26-29

Warren Nolan projected RPI (updated throughout the season) has WSU at 95 with 32-24 record.

Warren Nolan only has AAC as 1-bid league, with WSU finishing 3rd.

I didn't realize Boyd had us that high...Warren Nolan's ELO (similar to Pablo for Volleyball, a good measuring stick of performance) has WSU at 129 but they both project WSU at around 100. That seems fair to me right now. ISR of 78 is a win at Okie State from being mentioned as a bubble team. And that's kind of where I think we are now. Gotta win some quality games and eliminate the bad losses. Road win at LBSU certainly was quality...and should have had 2. We're close...the question is will we get over the hump?

[Shockm]

In our shutout (first game of the year and away game) against LBSU, they started Osman Graham who pitched for 7 innings against us. That's the same pitcher they started against #9 ECU a few days ago and beat 3-2. Graham has 3 wins and a combined 2.3 ERA on the season so far. Tough out for your very first match.

Three of our supposed Top returning batters struck out 7 times (Graham had 9 SO total I think that game). That is not high IQ hitting (making hitting adjustments), no matter how good Graham is.

[Kung Wu]

Three of our supposed Top returning batters struck out 7 times (Graham had 9 SO total I think that game). That is not high IQ hitting (making hitting adjustments), no matter how good Graham is.

I'm not writing this team off based on Thornhill and Tolle struggling to hit in the first game of the season, against a damn good pitcher, in California.

I hope you don't either.

[Shockm]

I'm not writing this team off based on Thornhill and Tolle struggling to hit in the first game of the season, against a damn good pitcher, in California.

I hope you don't either.

That’s not what I said, and you forgot Ingram. I didn’t say anything about them not hitting. I said they showed a poor hitting IQ and struck out (7 times) without adjusting their approach. Hopefully this has changed. Ingram’s always had a strikeout problem. The other two not as much. Top notch hitters shouldn’t strike out that much.

Graham didn’t hold use to 2 runs like ECU, he only pitched 10 pitches an inning (70+ total). We made him into a First Round Pitcher that game.

[Kung Wu]

That’s not what I said, and you forgot Ingram. I didn’t say anything about them not hitting. I said they showed a poor hitting IQ and struck out (7 times) without adjusting their approach. Hopefully this has changed. Ingram’s always had a strikeout problem. The other two not as much. Top notch hitters shouldn’t strike out that much.

Graham didn’t hold use to 2 runs like ECU, he only pitched 10 pitches an inning (70+ total). We made him into a First Round Pitcher that game.

I'm not writing this team off based on Thornhill and Tolle struggling with STRIKING OUT in the first game of the season, against a damn good pitcher, in California.

I hope you don't either.

Sheesh.

[SB Shock]

"Not good enough" ... now we are getting somewhere. Not good enough ... for what? What are YOUR expectations for this season?

It has been 10 years since this program has did anything, longer if you don't count the vacated season, which was a fluke anyway.

My expectation for WSU baseball regardless of the year is they are playing at minimum for at-large bid. If they can not do that with the resources that the program is being given, then they should cancel the program. Give the resources to softball, and tear the stadium down and free up the valuable land.