Baseball vs OU, Monday 6/6, 1:00 pm

We lost Barco and our next star lefty Pierce Coppola to injury. That’s hard to recover from. Hopefully we can build can get guys healthy next season as we have new stars in the making in Jac C, Ty E, Rene L and a ton of pitching. Add in preseason player of the year, Wyatt L and it should be a fun team to watch.

 

mind boggling a college coach messed up baseball managing 101 with 1 out in the 8th runners on 2nd and 3rd in a tie game - runner at 3rd cannot score...we just play back and let the run score...huh? Infield has to be in or at worst, walk the batter and set up a double play possibility...insane mismanagement of situational baseball

 

Can’t afford to play back in that situation (if Rivera was in we cut that last run down) -gators should still be playing. Solid season but was hoping for more.

 

Agree, nobody knows why. If in ground ball to short causes runner to hold or he’s hosed.

 

The last two seasons were supposed to be fun to watch.

 

Not defending Sully here for screwing the pooch, but he did made a lot of right moves this year too. He (and Walton in softball) did some head scratching things at crunch times. But they both pulled more correct strings than wrong and improved their teams during the year. Some great moments in softball, fewer in baseball, but winning the doubleheader Saturday was a ball...with an heroic effort by Finn. Some credit is due.

 

Anybody who watched this season and didn't appreciate the growth this team showed and their continued battle from being 6-12 in the SEC after what they lost, to fight back to finish the season as strong as they did, they just might just be doing the "fan" thing wrong. This season was a lot of fun; feel bad for the folks that weren't able to enjoy it.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Wes I agree. It was a up down up season and I still give Sully a lot of credit in turning the ship around. The last month or so was great gator baseball. I liked that Sully changed things up, he started going to the mound, he inserted new players, he rearranged the batting order. But that's what made the 8th inning so sickening, he made so many positive moves that the 8th inning was a head scratcher. He usually was quick with the hook but not in this case. Why? We will never know. But it does not discount what the team did to get to where they were hosting.

 

I am not bashing Sully, nor think he should go or be on hot seat. Coaching has its ups and downs. But as a baseball fan back to the 50s, I wonder about today's game decisions. Here they are:

1- It became obvious mid season that Wyatt was best hitter and a long ball guy. Why have him lead off? If you want that 1st inning at bat, put him in 3 spot. At 1 during game he will often come to bat after the 8-9 spots. I would have looked at 1 stat, OB%, and go with a decent one...as in Rivera. Then Thompson, then Wyatt. Lead off HRs in first are 1 run, not 2 or 3.

2- It also was obvious that the best def CF was Jud, but hitting sub .250, is not a 3 or 4 or even 5 spot hitter. I would have moved him down to 6 or 7. When Halter went cold, yet put him at 8 or 9 spot. Jac C belonged in the 4 or 5 spot early on. In addition, when we got to men on 2nd and 3rd two outs with a pitcher with questionable control, why swing at first pitch...make him throw strikes. Jac swing at 1st pitch and grounded out to 1B, end of an inning that could have blown it out.

3- Sully seemed to not use some pitchers. What's wrong w/ Milchin? Vet been there done that. Didn't use him much.

4- Last game vs Ok. 5 hr delay. Can Neely go warm up and keep loose and return? I dont know why mgr do not reinsert a pitcher after a rain delay. Do their arm's rot? Go numb? No, like golfers who go low, end up having to wait, they warm up, then go play in playoff or restart. Slater for 1 batter, yes, but after that? I'd gone to Sprout or maybe even Fic since his arm only throws slow pitch soft balls.

5- I watch the St Louis Cards and notice when Harrison Bader gets hot he is moved up in lineup to 6-7, when cool dropped to 8 or 9.

 

"11". . . . is that you?

 

In fairness, Rivera's SEC OBP at the time the move was made was .246. He finished much stronger down the stretch!

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

He would have gotten "out of a jam" if Sully had taken him out of the game at the first sign of his struggles on the mound. Before we gave up 4 impossible points to replace... in the last 2 innings.

 

Yes, and coach-speak in a presser will not cut it. He has to own it in a way that explains his thought process. What was he thinking? I want to know...

 

This season was full of head scratcher decisions such as:

- Staying with D.F. way too long.
- Not moving J.F. around in the order.
- Not moving C.H. down in the order sooner.
- Letting numerous pitchers implode.

The top three likely cost us numerous games.

I only expect Baseball 101 decisions. It appears to me that Sully made some promises to the Fabian family that hurt the team.

 

I said this before, it was win or go home. He should have changed pitchers after the lead off double. He stood there and watched the lead evaporate.

 

I agree with what you have said, in fact I thought we should have bunted a lot more thus avoiding double plays and moving runners to scoring positions. But I think the biggest miscues was relying on so many freshmen pitchers and not dipping into the Portal especially for capable relief pitchers. Our relief pitchers all season were highly inconsistent. I still think he needs to dip into the portal and replace some of the relief pitchers we do have.

 

Actually, it does get cold there and every other SEC location. People who have the option of sitting in a sun-warmed location probably like it. Most other SEC teams have more Saturday afternoon games than UF for that reason. Many fans DO like a sunny location, but there are more than enough shady seats to eliminate that excuse for not attending games. It doesn't eliminate complaints in general, but makes them less valid.

I join those who regret losing the short walk to midtown bars, but the big problem there is parking at the new ballpark. When there is a scheduling cluster with softball and lacrosse, parking is scarce. I took an Uber to a sports bar between game 1 and 2, which was very convenient, but doubled my tab.

 

I'm still in state of disbelief with how we let the game and season slip through our fingers last night. When I got back to the ballpark after delay --(just at the moment Gators took 3-1 lead)-- I thought it odd that only Sproat was stretching and no else- I assume Sproat would pitch the 9th and close... but what about the 8th? After the Sooners' double a few stirrings in pen but still no movement and finally after HR tied the game -- some movement but in blink of an eye the game was 5-3 and playing the infield back in a tie game in the 8th inning in a win-or-go-home game was stunning. It will take me a few days to get over that 8th inning--and how poorly it was game managed. It's not as if Slater is a lights out closer like Byrne. Nick Ficc was available.

 

He had 7 straight appearances where he didn't give up a run in his first inning pitched. He was in his 3rd inning of pitching when he gave up those runs to Arkansas, 2nd inning of pitching when he gave up the runs to CMU. We had significant leads in each of those games. Not saying leaving him in was the right call after he took some damage, just saying the precedent was absolutely there to hope to get 1 inning out of him (plus the batter in the 7th).

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS