Oh, are you? game thread

[ICT Ragman]

'Son, there ain't no draft'.

'There was one' ?

[shock49]

If things are so bad and you can't stand the state of the program,YOU can become a Wingnuts fan.Adios Muchachos!

[ShockTalk]

Great work and diagrams SB Shock!

I love the baseball program, but can't help not being concerned over our offensive trend. It took a big dip in 2000 with 5 out of the last 7 years being nothing more than an average D1 offense. Let me re-state -- Our offensive production in 5 of the last 7 years has been barely better than the middle of the pack of all the D1 programs! That by itself will only make a team slightly better than a .500 ball club.

It has been our pitching that has kept our head well above water. One would think that a D1 program would have a much bigger problem not only finding quality pitching, but have deep quality pitching. We are extremely fortunate to have BK and what he has meant to our continued success with pitching staffs.

We have been solving the tough part of the equation. Why aren't we solving the hitting part? I would think that good hitters would be attracted to a team that always has good pitching, but for some reason this has not been happening of late.

As this offensive problem has been a trend since 2000, sooner, rather than later, top quality pitchers are going to stop coming here where they get only mediocre hitting support. If you're an excellent pitching prospect, are you going to want to go to a school where you may feel that you have to throw a shutout against quality teams just to have a shot at beating those quality teams?

Whether it's the recruiting or the hitting instruction, or a combination of the two, something needs to turn this trend around!

:wsu_posters:

[longlimbs22]

Where's that sharp knife we have?

[ICT Ragman]

I'd say the examples of Andy Dirks getting on base every game last year in a streak that rivals anything in Shocker history , Conor Gillaspie playing in the big leagues last fall just 3 months after leaving here based on his hitting , Dusty Coleman and others from the last 2 or 3 years are a fair rebuke to some of the heat of the moment theories. Maybe most importantly as we look to the future, all those hitters and others got consistently better over their time here - within a season and in the off season- and the MLB draft results back that up.

So far this year we have faced the best pitchers from Pepperdine, TCU , The Dirt Bags and ORU's senior ace. Of course, there is room for improvement but keep in mind a lot of our guys are 20 games into a 3 year career.

[Rosewood]

Ok, thanks for the entertainment here folks. You people crack me up saying things like Sexton needs to do well anything with Baseball.

That is some funny stuff.

[William]

I'd say the examples of Andy Dirks getting on base every game last year in a streak that rivals anything in Shocker history , Conor Gillaspie playing in the big leagues last fall just 3 months after leaving here based on his hitting , Dusty Coleman and others from the last 2 or 3 years are a fair rebuke to some of the heat of the moment theories. Maybe most importantly as we look to the future, all those hitters and others got consistently better over their time here - within a season and in the off season- and the MLB draft results back that up.

So far this year we have faced the best pitchers from Pepperdine, TCU , The Dirt Bags and ORU's senior ace. Of course, there is room for improvement but keep in mind a lot of our guys are 20 games into a 3 year career.

You should study SB Shocks graphs on the history of our offensive production, then come to grips with the fact that those numbers are 50% against crappy mvc pitching, and maybe then you will realize that mediocre offenses leave us at a dissadvantage against postseason quality opponents. This dissadvantage needs to be addressed, and until then, bunt the damn ball Kenny Powers.

[ShockTalk]

Ragman - I didn't say every year in the last 7. Last year was one of the two better offensive years of those 7. I'm also not talking about 2-4 players, but the team's offense as a whole. Nevertheless, even those 2 better offensive years were only comparible to 3 of the Shocks 6 worst offensive years in all the years prior to 2000. Basically, our best last two offensive years would have been considered "off" years in the 20+ years prior to 2000. Yet during the last 30 years, college teams have consistently average between 6 to 7 runs. While our run production has hit its lowest points, run production in college baseball as a whole has remained virtually the same as it always has.

And if you're wondering how we could have had any success over the last 7-8 years, you'll notice on the graph that between 2002-2008, the Shocks had the most consistent, quality pitching in their history.

What has kept the Shocks out of the CWS in the 2000s is not its pitching, but its less effective offense. I truly hope that our young hitters' growth and performance will match what appears to be a very fine pitching corp.

:wsu_posters:

[Ashockalypse]

We are slumping badly this year probably worse than ever but We willl probably get much better before the season's over and I still expect us to win the league. We will come back.

[WSUwatcher]

Huh?

Kenny Powers?

[shockandawe08]

Oh, man! This was especially tough for me. My special Shocker was doing really well and then....pfft! I want to believe it would have been different if he'd had some help...
Sorry. I just can't seem to separate the young man I know and love from the job he is asked to perform. I'm hoping he will still win us all over with his mad skills! lol.

[ICT Ragman]

You should study SB Shocks graphs on the history of our offensive production, then come to grips with the fact that those numbers are 50% against crappy mvc pitching, and maybe then you will realize that mediocre offenses leave us at a dissadvantage against postseason quality opponents.

I respect your opinion, but to your two main points here : 1) Most MVC teams have at least one starting pitcher that is as good or better as those in any other conference. 2) A couple of our best offensive performances last year were against OK St/TCU in the regional and Fla St in the Super. We averaged 7 runs a game in those two series against CWS caliber arms. I am not denying some of the points you guys are bringing up, but just wanted to challenge some of the broad generalizations I saw on the board. I'm done for now. We all want the same thing: a team worthy of our proud tradition and I remain confident we will have just that.

[SubGod22]

Re: Huh?

Kenny Powers?

You need to watch East Bound and Down on HBO.

Kenny Powers cracks me up

[ShockTalk]

ICT Ragman - No rebuttal to me? Lucky you, William.

I'm not talking about "just this year", but a 7 year trend.

[ICT Ragman]

Your research over 7 years is appreciated. I am not trying to argue with it and in fact I refer to it when I said above 'I am not denying some of your points'. My comments were in response to the overall generalizations set forth by some here, so I took some examples over the last couple of years to try and make a counterpoint. Nothing more, nothing less.