#191 in hitting and #180 in pitching

And look how those regionals turned out. One included an 18-2 season ending loss to South Alabama. In no logical world is that just bad luck or random chance.
I was thinking this week about a comparison between Cal and Sully. Great recruiters, but both still using old school tactics, including relying on high school guys. And still not doing much at the end of the year when it matters most years.
To your question, think we need to be much more active in the portal to fill our holes, and we need to modernize our hitting approach. And that includes teaching kids that getting to the opponent’s bullpen has value, especially in a three game series, so make them earn outs. Even in a midweek we are seeing their best pitcher, and we often let them get deep in games with low pitch counts because we see a strike and swing. So we never see the guy with the 6 ERA, only the guy with the 3, and their best reliever. Not all strikes should be swung at, make them throw your pitch, not theirs.
Pitching is a whole other can of worms and a larger discussion (walks and free passes drive me crazy), but that has at least has shown years where it can carry us. Our base running has been subpar for many years, find a coach that can properly teach it if the current staff can’t. That’s where I would start.
And that’s my last post on baseball for the year, nothing I would write changes anything anyway…if folks think I’m crazy, have at it. If we magically turn it around, consider this my pre-order of crow. Hope it happens. But to those who have hung in to watch 19 run games against us by rivals, I tip my hat to you.

 

Debate and sensible discussion is great. You always justify your position well and if some of us disagree or have a different take, that's all good as far as I'm concerned. That's what these boards are supposed to be about, I think.

 

87 listed pitchers who transferred, but didn't assess the lost value. A couple transfers were young with potential that didn't blossom while they were here and haven't especially done so elsewhere. Hartzel has pitched well for Troy against competition well below SEC level. Nesbitt had the best Gator career, but his experience would have been his biggest asset had he returned. His UCF stats are less than mediocre. As a group, the ten frosh are more talented than any recent cohort, but the absence of comparable talent remaining from past recruiting classes seems the bigger problem. Sully has said he will work at bringing in transfers with both talent and experience, but that will complement top frosh talent, not replace it.

The fact remains that year in and year out, Sully has produced teams at the top of college baseball. Only LSU and Vandy regularly have had programs at that level for the same period and both have had much worse dips than the Gators. Ark is doing very well for now, but hasn't had nearly the long term success as the Gators. MissSt has a good history and won it all before diving to the bottom. SoCar had a nice run, but lost their coach and fell to the middle. KY and Tn are long term bottom dwellers who doing better than they usual, but I wouldn't trade our program for theirs or Ga or Miss or Aub.

Ahhh!!! I have the answer for the front runners/what-have you-done-lately group: Mizzou just swept a top ten team and will be happy to welcome new fans.

 

We gators might just as well appreciate what we’ve had and what we’ve got and understand that in the new world of NIL, if our ‘backers’ don’t go all in on providing the dough to bring the talent in, things simply aren’t going to be the same as they were. Go Sully. Squeeze all the juice you can out of what you’ve got !!!

 

But you are equating 3 years of qualit into 2-3 poor games. Yes, they laid an egg vs USA. But no shame in a heartbreaking one run loss to a very good Okla team in a regional final. And losing one game in 2020 certainly can't be criticized. Overall the team performed pretty well all 3 seasons....the only gripe can be Sully set the bar so high it's Omaha or bust.
Certainly some of the approaches you suggest are fair and I agree with many (baserunning,working counts, shorten up w 2 strikes). But again, the portal is about $$, and we only have so much so unless that changes not sure how we can complain.

 

This kid may have never gotten over the line drive hit to his head in his senior year

 

Actually we have (according to the roster) 11 freshman pitchers.

Freshman pitchers from years past
Bold font and underline - CWS years

2010 - 10
2011 - 5
2012 - 6
2013 - 7
2014 - 10
2015 - 11
2016 - 6
2017 - 9
2018 - 8
2019 - 7
2020 - 6
2021 - 11
2022 - 9
2023 - 4

 

I, for one, agree with most everything you expressed. I also agree with your above-expressed position.

 

I am pissed because I hate losing, but I am going to hang in there and support the team and hope they can turn it around. I agree a little with most everyone, but baseball is a funny game, and we have time to turn it around if only the pitching can develop. Out hitting can definitely come around. Hopefully everyone can see that we have enough talent to compete with anyone, and will keep working hard to get where we need to be. Right now, I think the team is splintered and the effort is not where it needs to be. Sully needs to get the team to play for each other.

 

Didn’t have to have 10
freshman pitchers. That was a choice.

 

Thank you. Mentioned months ago that this was a concern.

 

Nesbitt

Career: Totaled 69 1/3 innings across 36 appearances including six starts in three seasons at UF. Concluded with a 4-3 record, 3.25 ERA and . 236 batting average against.


I’ll disagree. Because Nesbitt isn’t doing what he did last year doesn’t mean he would not have helped us.
This was a big loss- easy to see based on very good stats. Because some people could not see what he was doing. Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. His numbers show that he was a very good pitcher. He would have helped us.

 

Agreed, only Prevesk would have made a difference this year and he doesnt pitch.

 

and we have no idea why he left. we don't know if he was pushed out or begged to stay. we don't know if he was offered something at ucf that uf wouldn't give him. just the way of the world today. we're going to lose players every year. some of them won't be players we wanted to lose.

 

Who on this roster should Sully be playing that he is not that would make a significant difference? I may be wrong but it seems to me that he has given everyone on the roster a shot, but I think half the team is batting under .200 in SEC play. Criticism for player recruitment seems fair but the rest not so much.

 

Im as big a fan of small ball as anybody, but I would point out that the Gators made the final game last year and Lsu won it all with both teams playing HR ball, not small ball.

Agree that pitching as long been the key to Sully's success and its been a major failure this season. Not getting a starting pitcher out of the portal (UCLA dude that went pro) and a couple of returners not progressing as expected (actually regressing) seems to be the biggest issues to me.

When you lose, the coaches always get the blame and vice versa when you win so I get it. Have no idea how effective the assistant coaches are but most folks seemed to like them last year when we were winning. As for the AD, Id say he has bigger issues right now than Sully.

 

I haven't actually watched the Diamond Gators this season and came over to this board to ask what the problem was. This thread pretty much answered it for me.
Ah well, maybe we'll turn it up when the young pitchers get some more experience later in the season.

 

Pitching, hitting, defense, baserunning. Other than that stuff, we’re doing pretty good.

 

Bickering on this forum speaks volumes that things are not copacetic in Gators baseball. We're not as mediocre as we've shown to date and of course Stricklin will not fire Sully as he just gave the man a 10-year extension. But... the assistant coaches have not been doing their job. Hitting approach is horrendous and pitching coach seems to be less than one would hope. After the NC, we dipped big time and Sully threw coaches under the bus – I expect the same this year. But- they are buddies from Sully’s Clemson days- so SS will have to force his hand some.

 

But there's always a post or 2 in a game thread about how there are all of these players who transferred out who could be helping us this year.