Now what?

[maverick]

Tonight was UGLY!! Team looked dead, coaching decisions (or lack of) didn't seem to affect the game. I just don't know what happened.

I was surprised several times when Sim did not PH, like for Combs that last time. He had looked bad at the plate! And haven't we been PH for him nearly every game he starts? Why not tonight? And Albie facing a leftie when Bascle was available with a pretty hot bat. I thought for sure Wade would PR for Hudson--great player, but no speed. Cobb couldn't hit. Why not PH for him the last time? If for no other reason than to spare the kid one more negative AB! And please...BUNT occasionally.

One last comment--we have burned Alsup three or four times in a losing effort. Not smart!

On the positive end--Rike is the man. He rarely disappoints. This team will bounce back. The kids are resilient. And don't jump on me---y'all know I respect the coaches' decisions. They are theirs to make. I just hope they make some soon!

[larhob]

I guess we are going to suck in baseball now!

[grimey]

I guess we are going to suck in baseball now!

Off the bandwagon now?

[OmahaDawg]

I never knew that larhob was on the bandwagon.

[falcon]

Tonight was UGLY!! Team looked dead, coaching decisions (or lack of) didn't seem to affect the game. I just don't know what happened.

I was surprised several times when Sim did not PH, like for Combs that last time. He had looked bad at the plate! And haven't we been PH for him nearly every game he starts? Why not tonight? And Albie facing a leftie when Bascle was available with a pretty hot bat. I thought for sure Wade would PR for Hudson--great player, but no speed. Cobb couldn't hit. Why not PH for him the last time? If for no other reason than to spare the kid one more negative AB! And please...BUNT occasionally.

One last comment--we have burned Alsup three or four times in a losing effort. Not smart!

On the positive end--Rike is the man. He rarely disappoints. This team will bounce back. The kids are resilient. And don't jump on me---y'all know I respect the coaches' decisions. They are theirs to make. I just hope they make some soon!

They say that if you do what you've always done that you'll get what you always got:icon_wink: We don't need any drastic changes but here are a few suggestions. #1. We have to play small ball and manufacture runs .If there is a runner on 1st base and nobody out the nex't batter is going to bunt or walk trying.If there are runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, DITTO.Every batter should be called on to bunt...no exceptions. Did any one notice that when Sacramento got a runner on base they moved him immediately into scoring position,either by stolen base or bunt? Ok #2. We need to tighten our defense a bit. Instead of alternating Nick Grunenwald with Kevin Winn @ 2nd base, we should alternate him with Dennis Winn @ ss.Errors are killing us. Also, we need to stick with catcher Matt Combs behind the plate. If you've been observing the games you know why. I don't want to pick at the shortcomings of the other catchers but we're at a disadvantage when Combs is not in the game. #3 Move Ryan Rupert to the bullpen until he's ready to start (hopefully soon).On all 4 of his starts our bullpen has inherited a mess ( down 4-3, 4-0, 4-3, 3-1) We can't be expected to come from behind every game and we can't put that kind of a load on our bullpen. Our starters need to go 5-7 innings,not 3 and out. Well,there is my 2 cents. If we don't make any changes we will get more of the same results. Baseball is a game of adjustments and I hope we make the proper adjustments. I have complete faith in coach Sim and that he will continue to fine tune the Bulldogs. Any other suggestions out there ?

[mentechsters]

They say that if you do what you've always done that you'll get what you always got:icon_wink: We don't need any drastic changes but here are a few suggestions. #1. We have to play small ball and manufacture runs .If there is a runner on 1st base and nobody out the nex't batter is going to bunt or walk trying.If there are runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, DITTO.Every batter should be called on to bunt...no exceptions. Did any one notice that when Sacramento got a runner on base they moved him immediately into scoring position,either by stolen base or bunt? Ok #2. We need to tighten our defense a bit. Instead of alternating Nick Grunenwald with Kevin Winn @ 2nd base, we should alternate him with Dennis Winn @ ss.Errors are killing us. Also, we need to stick with catcher Matt Combs behind the plate. If you've been observing the games you know why. I don't want to pick at the shortcomings of the other catchers but we're at a disadvantage when Combs is not in the game. #3 Move Ryan Rupert to the bullpen until he's ready to start (hopefully soon).On all 4 of his starts our bullpen has inherited a mess ( down 4-3, 4-0, 4-3, 3-1) We can't be expected to come from behind every game and we can't put that kind of a load on our bullpen. Our starters need to go 5-7 innings,not 3 and out. Well,there is my 2 cents. If we don't make any changes we will get more of the same results. Baseball is a game of adjustments and I hope we make the proper adjustments. I have complete faith in coach Sim and that he will continue to fine tune the Bulldogs. Any other suggestions out there ?

What if we are down by 5 runs? Do you bunt those runners over? It's not a given that you should bunt every time a runner is on 1st or 1st and 2nd w/ no outs. Simoneaux knows what he is doing. Let the man coach.

[RXDAWG]

I think you pretty much nailed it falcon. Only thing I will add is the pitchers are not getting ahead in the counts and, of course, are walking too many batters.

[littledawg50]

Everybody wants to be a coach so I'll give it a shot. I think Falcon needs to apply for the job since he has all the answers. Its easy to say we love Sim, he's a great coach,etc. but he should have done this and that. Any time you lose you can second guess. My biggest concern for the team right now is #1-consistent pitching #2- defense #3 Jericho doesn't look like the same player he was last year, good stats but not enough clutch hits, same with Coutney. Not to be picking on the Jones boys but take out the SWAC games and you'll see. #4- both catchers have been inconsistent but you can blame some of that on the pitchers. As a former catcher I know that if a pitcher is all over the place and constantly in the dirt some balls will get by, at any level. If you don't believe that you've probably never caught. The only guys I feel good about when they are at the plate are Rike, Bunting,P Thomas and Hudson. But after saying all of that I still think we'll be o.k., lets just take a deep breath and let Sim coach and if he can't get it done we'll get somebody else.

[grimey]

Everybody wants to be a coach so I'll give it a shot. I think Falcon needs to apply for the job since he has all the answers. Its easy to say we love Sim, he's a great coach,etc. but he should have done this and that. Any time you lose you can second guess. My biggest concern for the team right now is #1-consistent pitching #2- defense #3 Jericho doesn't look like the same player he was last year, good stats but not enough clutch hits, same with Coutney. Not to be picking on the Jones boys but take out the SWAC games and you'll see. #4- both catchers have been inconsistent but you can blame some of that on the pitchers. As a former catcher I know that if a pitcher is all over the place and constantly in the dirt some balls will get by, at any level. If you don't believe that you've probably never caught. The only guys I feel good about when they are at the plate are Rike, Bunting,P Thomas and Hudson. But after saying all of that I still think we'll be o.k., lets just take a deep breath and let Sim coach and if he can't get it done we'll get somebody else.

After the year Jericho had last year, he will not see any good pitches. He will adjust and be what he was last year. It is not uncommon for this to happen. All the catchers we have this year are an improvement defensive wise than that past few years.

[KDawg]

After the year Jericho had last year, he will not see any good pitches. He will adjust and be what he was last year. It is not uncommon for this to happen. All the catchers we have this year are an improvement defensive wise than that past few years.

Not trying to start anything and surely not dogging Jericho, who is a great kid, I don't understand "he's not seeing any good pitches". From the games I've seen most teams are going right after him. Any pitcher wants the hitter to swing at the bad pitches, its the hitters job to make the pitcher throw him pitches to hit. He has only 8 walks so he probably needs to be more patient.

[Designated Hitter]

They say that if you do what you've always done that you'll get what you always got:icon_wink: We don't need any drastic changes but here are a few suggestions. #1. We have to play small ball and manufacture runs .If there is a runner on 1st base and nobody out the nex't batter is going to bunt or walk trying.If there are runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, DITTO.Every batter should be called on to bunt...no exceptions. Did any one notice that when Sacramento got a runner on base they moved him immediately into scoring position,either by stolen base or bunt? Ok #2. We need to tighten our defense a bit. Instead of alternating Nick Grunenwald with Kevin Winn @ 2nd base, we should alternate him with Dennis Winn @ ss.Errors are killing us. Also, we need to stick with catcher Matt Combs behind the plate. If you've been observing the games you know why. I don't want to pick at the shortcomings of the other catchers but we're at a disadvantage when Combs is not in the game. #3 Move Ryan Rupert to the bullpen until he's ready to start (hopefully soon).On all 4 of his starts our bullpen has inherited a mess ( down 4-3, 4-0, 4-3, 3-1) We can't be expected to come from behind every game and we can't put that kind of a load on our bullpen. Our starters need to go 5-7 innings,not 3 and out. Well,there is my 2 cents. If we don't make any changes we will get more of the same results. Baseball is a game of adjustments and I hope we make the proper adjustments. I have complete faith in coach Sim and that he will continue to fine tune the Bulldogs. Any other suggestions out there ?

Nice analysis. If you look at their stats it will support your thoughts on sacrifice bunting and before anyone jumps on bunting, "no" you don't bunt down a bunch of runs late, but when you get this far in season and everyone has very good scouting reports on you by now, showing bunt and pulling back is not going to fool many good teams any more. Besides more of the first 2 conference games generally will not be high scoring games and will have to fight to get runs, especially when going on road to bigger yards. It was known that Tech was short 1 top starter for their weekend rotation with unknown how well Rupert would come back or be able to start and throw a lot of innings. Defense has been below average for the capability of this team. Neither catcher is going to hit much, but you you are correct in which one is better defensively behind the plate and the opponents know it.

Hope team rebounds, but finding that key other starter for conference without depleting bullpen may be #1 priority of the items you mentioned.

[Rooster]

I think more than anything the BB's by our pitchers are killing us. If we fix that, we win 2, maybe 3 more games already. I won't even try to seconcd guess Sim's coaching, he has forgotten more baseball than I know. We have got to have a #3 pitcher step up. I think Lorio deserves a shot. I don't think Rupert is ready yet. This team will come around.

[dhussdawg]

I trust Sim and the gang to get their stuff together. I think they will correct mistakes and put another run together, similar to the one last season. I just hope it comes at the right time to coast them into post-season play.

Another note, I get tired of these guys on here that keep getting pissed when someone makes a suggestion about what the team should be doing. I didnt see the same guys coming to Bick's defense after some bad football games, at least be consistent. If you are going to use the "he is a coach and your are not" argument, you might as well go around to each thread that makes a suggestion about what any of our coaches should do and whine about each comment. I like Sim as much as anybody, but I dont think he is above criticism. So basically, quit being titty babies when someone makes a suggestion about what this team should be doing. If you dont agree, list why you dont agree and we can discuss it.

[grimey]

Not trying to start anything and surely not dogging Jericho, who is a great kid, I don't understand "he's not seeing any good pitches". From the games I've seen most teams are going right after him. Any pitcher wants the hitter to swing at the bad pitches, its the hitters job to make the pitcher throw him pitches to hit. He has only 8 walks so he probably needs to be more patient.

I bet if you check with Coach Sim, he will tell you the reason he is moving Jericho around in the batting order, is to make them pitch to him differently. So he will get better pitches to hit.

[KDawg]

I bet if you check with Coach Sim, he will tell you the reason he is moving Jericho around in the batting order, is to make them pitch to him differently. So he will get better pitches to hit.

No disrespect but I don't have to check with Coach Sim. Has less base on balls than most starters. Sure we would like for opposing teams to throw JJ nothing but fastballs down the middle but it ain't gonna happen for JJ or any of our guys. Not trying to argue but if they were pitching around him or not giving him anything to hit he should have 20 plus walks.