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re: How did the Pitching dramatically improve so quickly?
Posted on 6/28/23 at 11:35 pm to Champagne
Posted on 6/28/23 at 11:35 pm to Champagne
Seems like after Miss State game Wes Johnson never went to the mound, only CJJ from that point forward. Seems like CJJ took more control of the pitching strategy/management.
2
Posted on 6/29/23 at 12:04 am to Cubera
quote:
Seems like after Miss State game Wes Johnson never went to the mound, only CJJ from that point forward. Seems like CJJ took more control of the pitching strategy/management.
I noticed the above as well. And we also threw more fastballs (except for Guidry).
Many are saying we only pitched the relievers “we trusted”, but look at who all got rocked/walked everyone against Miss State. It was several of the guys that pitched their butts off in Omaha
The Miss State Sunday game was rock bottom. And there was a good “come to Jesus” meeting amongst the coaching staff following.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 2:10 am to WylieTiger
quote:This.
The SEC zone went away and for the most part the wind blew in.
SEC zone was very tight, once the hitters learned it, it became impossible to blow it past a guy unless you're Skenes level of good. You either give up meatballs, or you miss the plate, walk guys, and end up throwing meatballs with the bases full.
Combine this with a lot of newer parks, where things have been laid out to accentuate the offense (excite the fans and draw them in), and we saw a lot of guys get beat up bad.
Come to Omaha when the wind is blowing in, and with a looser strike zone, you get some calls that force the batters to swing at things they can't crush. And even when they do connect, if they put some loft under it, it's held inside the park. People whined about that, we saw what happens when it's blowing out. Popups sail over the fence. Contact hitters (like Morgan) and line drive hitters (like Skenes, etc) weren't really affected by that, especially since they were already good hitters to begin with (and White too, he can go down and get some nasty pitches).
As an aside, this is why I'm not so in favor of electronic strike zones. You eliminate any random change of zone that an umpire might have, technically every batter should be able to learn exactly what his zone is. It's the same no matter the park, no matter the pitcher. There are very few guys like Skenes that can straight overpower hitters, you'd start to see guys really tee off. That SEC zone might not be as 'tight' as we thought, it might be what is actually there.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 3:14 am to Champagne
Maybe they are more talented than we gave them credit for! and
The strike zone expanded a bit in CWS
They challenged the hitters more over the plate, and less walks allowed
Wind blew in a big park
CWS made them step up a notch
The strike zone expanded a bit in CWS
They challenged the hitters more over the plate, and less walks allowed
Wind blew in a big park
CWS made them step up a notch
Posted on 6/29/23 at 3:20 am to Cubera
quote:
Seems like after Miss State game Wes Johnson never went to the mound, only CJJ from that point forward. Seems like CJJ took more control of the pitching strategy/management.
Yes, more control. And it has brought results. Why wasn't it done earlier?
Posted on 6/29/23 at 3:32 am to Champagne
Amphetamines.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 4:30 am to Champagne
quote:
How did these guys do it? How did they manage to step up the level of pitching so dramatically?
Thatcher Hurd started turning it on, on his own about halfway through the year and continued to get better and better. Floyd had a great season from start to finish. Those two pieces were the biggest regarding the look of the pitching in the college world series.
The Bullpen arms are a different story. Riley Cooper looked great at times even last year. I think the biggest thing for him were the ball park conditions at Charles Schwab field. The big park feel really played into his hands. His biggest issue was giving up homeruns. (He pitched in nearly every game for LSU in the college world series and was our go to closer.)
Another major thing that changed the performance of the bullpen in the college world series was the fact that they stuck with a trusted rotation of their most reliable pitchers out of the pen. During the season they weren't able to do that. In the one game that LSU pitched Collins, Little, Dutton, and Money, Florida scored 24 runs and tied the record for most hits in a college world series game.
Lastly, there's a lot to be said about confidence sweeping through the pitching staff. When Skenes, Floyd, Hurd, and Cooper began stepping up all of the talk started about the change in pitching and the confidence swept through the staff. Herring was great for most of the season because of his control. Ackenhausen (a lefty with a day game and shadows) trusted the park and just found the zone. He said before he pitched he knew that players were smashing pitches and the ball still hung up and didn't get out so he just let it ride and trusted the park and his defense. Guidry honestly didn't look great and hung several breaking balls that were smashed for homeruns and he was taken out quickly. In the final game he had a huge lead and it didn't matter.
This post was edited on 6/29/23 at 4:56 am
Posted on 6/29/23 at 5:18 am to Champagne
Skenes and Wes. Skenes was like the best big brother to all of them. And Wes is just the best. We are going to miss him.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 6:06 am to Champagne
Improved about the time CWJ was announced coach at UGA
Posted on 6/29/23 at 6:35 am to Choupique19
quote:
And we also threw more fastballs (except for Guidry).
This is what I noticed most. During the season it seemed like the pitch calls were overly committed to the breaking pitches. The guys obviously had a a harder time getting those in the zone consistently which led to so many walks. The heavier dose of command-able fast balls led to confidence and made the breaking ball mixed in more effective.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 7:13 am to Choupique19
I think we fans underestimate the amount of practice that is being done during regular season games. Pitchers are trying out techniques and stretching their capabilities. When playoff time came several things happened.
1. No more practicing
2. Narrowed down group of pitchers who would see the mound
3. SEC strike zone went away
4. Favorable ball park in Omaha with prevailing winds allowed more aggressive pitching.
1. No more practicing
2. Narrowed down group of pitchers who would see the mound
3. SEC strike zone went away
4. Favorable ball park in Omaha with prevailing winds allowed more aggressive pitching.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 7:20 am to financetiger38
quote:Hyperbole is definitely your strong suit.
Stopped walking a dozen batters a game
BB numbers
2023 W/O CWS 4.09 BB/9 IP
CWS 3.24 BB/IP
CWS Wins 2.10 BB/IP
The numbers are definitely better but not staggeringly better. But they are notably better.
I honestly believe some of the performance you saw was the result of Jay being willing to risk a few things in the regular season to get a feel for his pitchers in crucial situations and to condition them for just such a time. And I think that cost us a few regular-season games, which is perfectly acceptable because the goal is never to be the best regular-season team.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 7:29 am to Penrod
It also wasn’t a quick turnaround. After the Mississippi State debacle the pitching staff specifically the bullpen kept getting better and better. The postseason they narrowed down the staff and it went to another level.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:01 am to WylieTiger
Have to agree, cannot exclude the fact the SEC umps were brutal & inconsistent!!
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:17 am to WylieTiger
quote:
The SEC zone went away and for the most part the wind blew in.
A lot of this, plus the park was gigantic in Omaha. It's a pitchers venue - except for our last 2 games there.
But also the pitchers themselves just made big pitches when they had to.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:28 am to WylieTiger
Yea, I agree with the SEC strike zone going away but it actually benefited us. It taught us to aim small and miss small so whenever we got to Omaha the kids were having a field day
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:29 am to Champagne
A guy like Hurd you could tell early in an outing of he would be good or bad. Most of the time in the last month or so it was good. He harnessed the over throwing and threw more offspeed pitches
For Cooper, his velo went up noticeably late in the year. He went from hanging around 89-90 to 92-93, and he got more swing and miss. Just with the naked out, this was an effort thing you could see in his windup. He was just putting more on his throws.
I think for Ty Floyd, you kept hearing Johnson in his press conferences hint that Floyd has always been in his own head. To me, his pitches down the stretch had more intent and purpose and he started to trust his stuff. The strike-zone helped him the most out of all the pitchers, but his control actually improved a good deal as well.
Im not sure anyone else pitched abnormally outside of the Ackenhausen outing, but we just didn't really see enough of him to judge. He certainly had never thrown that long, but there were days when his stuff was that good.
For Cooper, his velo went up noticeably late in the year. He went from hanging around 89-90 to 92-93, and he got more swing and miss. Just with the naked out, this was an effort thing you could see in his windup. He was just putting more on his throws.
I think for Ty Floyd, you kept hearing Johnson in his press conferences hint that Floyd has always been in his own head. To me, his pitches down the stretch had more intent and purpose and he started to trust his stuff. The strike-zone helped him the most out of all the pitchers, but his control actually improved a good deal as well.
Im not sure anyone else pitched abnormally outside of the Ackenhausen outing, but we just didn't really see enough of him to judge. He certainly had never thrown that long, but there were days when his stuff was that good.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:43 am to Champagne
Floyd had already shown that he was ready for the next level as had Hurd. The great performances by the relief pitchers was Lagniappe. Unexpected.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 8:49 am to Gus007
It seemed like to me that after all the walks, JJ probably had a discussion with Wes and told them to just mix pitches for strikes and stop trying to do too much.
And sitting little.
And sitting little.
Posted on 6/29/23 at 9:00 am to FMtTXtiger
Floyd came through in a huge way. Hurd found the strike zone, looked awesome. Cooper was on point, and ackenhausen pitched the game of his life. Guidry would give up a Homer and strike out the side.
This was our pitching. It just came together at the right time.
This was our pitching. It just came together at the right time.
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