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We chased their "Friday" starter and it was their long reliever, Giersting (sp???) who went something like 5 scoreless innings. Or was it Easton...?? Regardless, whatever his name, he did a great job.Originally Posted by PawDawg
Charlotte is a good hitting team, throughout their lineup. I was not impressed with their pitching, except that one guy who pitched Thursday.
Coming back I think. They took two “sleeper” busses and according to LB it was much less hassle than making flights. Also less expensive.
Hopefully, we are changing the order of our starters. I like Jennings, then Cade, then Whorff. From what I have seen, each of them can go 6 or they can go 3 depending on how they wake up that day. Burroughs needs to be on top of that for a change.
Here's how I see it...
First thing is to beat Charlotte. That might sound ridiculous, like OF COURSE, but it means to pull out whatever stops are needed to begin the tourney 1-0. The point is, don't get too cute and try to manage for the whole tourney and save any one arm...i.e. Crigger's. Ideally, we can manage to beat Charlotte without having to go deep into the bullpen, especially using Crigger. The question is, is there a certain number of wins that will get us into the NCAAs as an at-large? For instance, if we knew that beating Charlotte is enough then I would say throw the kitchen sink at 'em! Other than that, it's probably just a good guess and of course will depend on what else happens in other tourneys. Hopefully those who would qualify for an at-large bid win the auto-bid for the other conferences.
Yes, those of you who know recognize how important it is for LB to make the right calls, the right decisions, at the right times during the week. And not just handling the staff, but the lineup and pinch hitters too. Our hitters have to get better and fast. Seen some encouraging signs from our hitters the past two series, but WKU and CLT do not have strong pitching. We'll see much better this week. Be smart, don't help the opposing pitcher, guard the plate with 2 strikes. Too many wild, one-handed swings chasing balls out of the zone and lifting their heads (eyes) up and out. Watch the ball all the way to the bat!
Guess we need a new thread for the conference tourney.
Wrong, but not about Young being our best hitter. The 3-hole should be the 5th-best hitter at avoiding outs because the 3-hole comes up to bat with no one on and 2 outs more than any other spot in the lineup. That scenario gives you the lowest possible run expectancy. The 4 and 5 spots in the order should be given priority over the 3.
Will say it again, your best OVERALL hitter should bat 3rd. I suppose it is necessary to explain what is meant by OVERALL. He is not, necessarily, your highest batting average, although he can't be very far down that list. He is not usually your best HR hitter, although he can't be very far down that list. And so on. What he is, is the one hitter who rates the highest, overall, if you gave points in every category. There are articles out there, and pundits, who support other places in the lineup and those are 4th, and then 2nd. But there are also articles stating your best should be hitting 3rd. Again, best OVERALL.
This is Major League stats:
But let's look at another element. How often does each lineup position come up with men on base?
The number four position has the most over the course of a season. In fact, it's 104 times more than the leadoff position, quite a significant difference. The third spot in the order is not far behind.
[SIZE=+.5]Lineup Position[/SIZE] [SIZE=+.5]Number of Times With Men on Base[/SIZE] 1 259 2 323 3 351 4 363 5 333 6 314 7 304 8 293 9 288
What does this tell me? Your best hitters should bat in the number three and number four spots in the order. Put the speedier (and/or higher on-base) of the two in the number three slot. Follow that up with your next best on-base guys in the number one and two spots.
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