1. I noted and mentioned this last year and it hasn't changed - our pitchers have to be setting records for hit batsmen. Anecdotally, it seems like they are always hitting an opponent when I watch. So i looked up the stats and sure enough, we've hit 60 guys this year - that's 1 per game, yikes! Dowd leads with an "impressive" 12 this year.
2. Speaking of control by our pitchers, we not only give up way too many walks, but run the counts up. As a side note, I watched our guys on the mound more carefully in the regional. One of the key pitching mechanics to throw strikes is striding straight with the front leg. A few other things can be a problem too, but if you don't get the front foot planted straight to where you want the pitch to go, it throws everything off in your delivery. I noticed that too often our guys were not only failing to do so too often, but also often off balance. OTOH, Bruno whose control was a concern, I noticed that in the last two games in pitched, he got it right almsot every pitch and in resulted in him being much sharper.
3. Any opposing pitchers who throws Bowser anything other than sliders off the plate outside, especially low and away, ought to have his head examined. Bowser seems to have little discipline at the plate and he can't lay off those pitches that are not even close to being strikes - and of course he swings and misses the. Graham does this too, but not as bad. Bowser has done it all year.
4. Gotta believe that Jones and Williams lowered their draft stock and perhaps lost some money with how they looked in the regional. Besides subpar performances, they showed some weaknesses that I'm scouts picked up. I think Jones is correctable, but not sure about Williams. He needs to develop more velocity and accompanied movement.
5. Our coaches did a nice job handling the pitching staff in what was a dicey situation. I also think that most of them developed more confidence - that's a good thing going forward.
6. I would like to see us running more i.e. stealing bases, and putting more pressure on the opposing pitchers and catchers. We were slightly too conservative.
7. From what I can tell by looking at stats, CT has a good team both hitting and pitching. Looked at schedule, and though theirs was quite as tough as ours, theirs wasn't too bad. Haven't seen them, but it appears that they are far from being a creampuff and they look to be a scrappy team. I still believe that we will beat them in two games. My optimism on this has less to do with CT and their ability than with seeing how Stanford has gelled. The guys are really playing well as a TEAM and they are showing lots of toughness and mental toughness to go along with their abilities and skills. The top 5 ranked and seeded teams are all in the super regionals and I think they all go to the CWS as they look a cut above the rest of the field.
2. Speaking of control by our pitchers, we not only give up way too many walks, but run the counts up. As a side note, I watched our guys on the mound more carefully in the regional. One of the key pitching mechanics to throw strikes is striding straight with the front leg. A few other things can be a problem too, but if you don't get the front foot planted straight to where you want the pitch to go, it throws everything off in your delivery. I noticed that too often our guys were not only failing to do so too often, but also often off balance. OTOH, Bruno whose control was a concern, I noticed that in the last two games in pitched, he got it right almsot every pitch and in resulted in him being much sharper.
3. Any opposing pitchers who throws Bowser anything other than sliders off the plate outside, especially low and away, ought to have his head examined. Bowser seems to have little discipline at the plate and he can't lay off those pitches that are not even close to being strikes - and of course he swings and misses the. Graham does this too, but not as bad. Bowser has done it all year.
4. Gotta believe that Jones and Williams lowered their draft stock and perhaps lost some money with how they looked in the regional. Besides subpar performances, they showed some weaknesses that I'm scouts picked up. I think Jones is correctable, but not sure about Williams. He needs to develop more velocity and accompanied movement.
5. Our coaches did a nice job handling the pitching staff in what was a dicey situation. I also think that most of them developed more confidence - that's a good thing going forward.
6. I would like to see us running more i.e. stealing bases, and putting more pressure on the opposing pitchers and catchers. We were slightly too conservative.
7. From what I can tell by looking at stats, CT has a good team both hitting and pitching. Looked at schedule, and though theirs was quite as tough as ours, theirs wasn't too bad. Haven't seen them, but it appears that they are far from being a creampuff and they look to be a scrappy team. I still believe that we will beat them in two games. My optimism on this has less to do with CT and their ability than with seeing how Stanford has gelled. The guys are really playing well as a TEAM and they are showing lots of toughness and mental toughness to go along with their abilities and skills. The top 5 ranked and seeded teams are all in the super regionals and I think they all go to the CWS as they look a cut above the rest of the field.
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