Serious Questions about Schedule

[mjbaker84]

I think we are all in that state. Graduated a few years ago and played my entire carreer there. I talk to my buddies and old teammates and its just sad, i wish i could brag and say "ya i went there and played there" unfortunately we cannot even do that without being embarrassed. And i was there during genes downfall and his firing, i really didnt think shocker baseball would get worse than it was when i was there. Sad days my fellow shocker friends, sad days.

that sucks to hear that as well. I hope butler turns it around or if he can't they bring in someone that has the ability to do it... whether its Kevin hooper or not.

[BostonWu]

The lack of rioting in the streets seems to indicate the fan bases' apathy. I have to admit since moving out of the area I have no idea what is going on with the program - or specifically why each season seems to get progressively worse. I'm wondering if the apathy is a good or bad element for Butler right now.

[SB Shock]

Im sure they have been. I generally give pitching a pass when they have horrible offense.

How do you give the pitching a pass? This pitching staff is the worst pitching staff since the program started (6.26 ERA). A 7.38 ERA since the N. Colorado games. The only pitching staffs that are close to being as bad was last year (5.10 ERA) and 1979 (6.20). Yes the hitting has sucked, but the drop off in pitching has been much more significant.

If the pitching had only given up 4 runs a game, this team could be 7-4 with 3 games that are pushes at 4-4, with another game where the pitching threw a shutout and won 2-0.

Meanwhile if the offense had scored 6 runs a game, the record would be 6-7 with one game a push at 6-6, and of course there is the 2-0 shutout. Even in the worst of times this program could depend on a pitching staff that game them a chance to win, it now losing them games along with the offense.

[shelback]

Graduated from WSU in 1999, still go to most of the home games and love listening to the road games on the radio. Hard for me to take the current status of the program. I was actually excited when Butler was first hired.

I wasn't excited about Butler! I root for the guy but nothing in his resume trilled me.. kinda like the Scott Thompson of baseball.

[bleed yellow]

It seems like a lot of teams across the nation are doing what WSU did after firing Gene, going out and hiring a SEC assistant because it looks good. What we are all witnessing is a pretty simple lesson: Winning in D-1 sports isn't easy. I mean, it's possible for one guy to come in and turn everything around, but it doesn't happen everyday.
Butler has yet to build a culture.. They have like one quality win since he became coach and haven't shown any consistensy at all. I think next year the pressure starts to ramp up because it's clear what needs to happen. Instead of hiring a guy just because the letters SEC are on his resume, hire someone who can recruite.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

How do you give the pitching a pass? This pitching staff is the worst pitching staff since the program started (6.26 ERA). A 7.38 ERA since the N. Colorado games. The only pitching staffs that are close to being as bad was last year (5.10 ERA) and 1979 (6.20). Yes the hitting has sucked, but the drop off in pitching has been much more significant.

If the pitching had only given up 4 runs a game, this team could be 7-4 with 3 games that are pushes at 4-4, with another game where the pitching threw a shutout and won 2-0.

Meanwhile if the offense had scored 6 runs a game, the record would be 6-7 with one game a push at 6-6, and of course there is the 2-0 shutout. Even in the worst of times this program could depend on a pitching staff that game them a chance to win, it now losing them games along with the offense.

I said I generally give pitching a pass when the offense is bad. And while the pitching is bad the defense has been worse

So if you're implying that Im giving the pitching a pass Im more worried about shitty defense and shitty offense than I am the pitching staff at the moment.

[SB Shock]

I said I generally give pitching a pass when the offense is bad. And while the pitching is bad the defense has been worse

So if you're implying that Im giving the pitching a pass Im more worried about shitty defense and shitty offense than I am the pitching staff at the moment.

WSU offense is ranked 143
WSU defense is ranked 111

WSU pitching is ranked 244

The root cause of WSU problems start at the pitching staff.

[Cdizzle]

Will we win any games left on it?

[shockfan89_]

ASM - Not to pile on here but I also don't understand giving pitching a pass when the offense is bad? They are two completely different phases of the game. CSF is a pretty good example of this. CSF is not a good hitting team, but they are a great pitching team. They will win a lot of low scoring games by manufacturing runs and shutting down other teams, and like WSU, they can score runs against below average pitching.

I guess I take a completely different view. I tend to give pitching a pass when the offense is good, and tend to give the offense a pass if the pitching is good. Bottom line is you need to score more runs than the other team whether that be 1-0 or 14-13. The problem we are seeing this year is we have decent defense, average to below average offense, and bad pitching. Factor in the lack of baseball IQ displayed at times and that equals a 4-11 record.

[shockfan89_]

Will we win any games left on it?

It is very depressing to look at the warrennolan projections for our season. I know we will do better than this but they predict the following record for WSU:

6-50 overall
1-20 in MVC play

I am going on record and predicting a win today against RPI against North Dakota State!

[Cdizzle]

I do not understand how anyone could classify our defense as 'decent.'

[SB Shock]

I looked up a couple other comparisons:

K/BB Ratio: 188th
H/9 innings: 193rd
WHIP: 223
BB/9 innings: 244th

Bavg: 159th
HR/G: 143
SB/G: 165th
SLG: 131st
OBP: 123rd

DP/G: 226th


With this type of metrics, I don't see how Butler survives after this year - except because of $$$. Butler recruiting strength was suppose to be pitching, weakness recruiting hitters. It looks like he not particularly adept at either.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Only four more years.

[_kai_]

It is very depressing to look at the warrennolan projections for our season. I know we will do better than this but they predict the following record for WSU:

6-50 overall
1-20 in MVC play

I am going on record and predicting a win today against RPI against North Dakota State!

wow.

[shockfan89_]

I do not understand how anyone could classify our defense as 'decent.'

Decent seemed appropriate since we are 111 out of 300 D1 teams and we have only committed 17 errors in 15 games (1.133/game) for a .969 fielding %.

In 2015 we committed 69 errors in 59 games .970 fielding %
In 2014 66 in 59 games - .970%
In 2013 61 in 67 games - .977%
In 2012 62 in 60 games - .974%
In 2011 96 in 65 games - .962%
In 2010 90 in 60 games - .961%

At this point fielding is one of our stronger areas of the struggling team. I whole-heartedly agree that those 17 errors have been very costly in prolonging innings and have hurt us a lot.