Ive been thinking about what went wrong with UK baseball in 2019 but I’m curious. Where do you guys think the train fell off the tracks? And why? Was it youth? Bad coaching? A lack of talent? Was 2017 fools gold? Just want a cordial discussion.
2019 in Review
- Thread starter Big_Blue_1018
- Start date
I could probably write a novel on this (maybe I will) but it would be a long winded way to say that I don't know. There are so many things that, taken from a different perspective, can change my conclusion. All I know in the end is that it must get better.
I may write my novel later, but that's the summary. Lol
I may write my novel later, but that's the summary. Lol
My biggest concern is pitching......2017 we had known established pitchers, same pitchers in 2018 and due (in part to injuries) this group looked to regressed. Now in 2019 we have no pitchers and no prospects who look ready to lead us in 2020.
In the field it looks like we have no 3rd baseman or shortstop (we have guys that are serviceable at best for these two positions). To me most of the fielding/batting/base running issues can/could be related to youth.
But pitching is where I think we need change the most.
In the field it looks like we have no 3rd baseman or shortstop (we have guys that are serviceable at best for these two positions). To me most of the fielding/batting/base running issues can/could be related to youth.
But pitching is where I think we need change the most.
UK had 1 upperclassman in the rotation and bullpen that played and it was the future 1st rd pick, 14. For whatever the reason, UK was stuck with a lot of inexperience and there was no chance in France UK could beat SEC competition on a consistent basis. I’m still hoping for an improvement for next year. I’m a glass half full guy and I think the pitchers will be better next season. With 2, 25, 37 and 42 returning, it gives UK somewhere to start with the everyday players. I know I’m in the minority on this but I think UK can be a good team next year.
Youth and over expectations. So many new faces, only Z Thompson, R Shinn, and C Kessler played up to and a little above expectations.
The juco guys, save for E Curtis' late season rush, did NOT come thru. Defense was both physically and mentally terrible, especially on the infield.
And last, but not least other than Thompson, the pitching staff was pretty much woeful, there seems to be some decent arm talent, but due to coaching or inexperience, it hasn't surfaced.
The juco guys, save for E Curtis' late season rush, did NOT come thru. Defense was both physically and mentally terrible, especially on the infield.
And last, but not least other than Thompson, the pitching staff was pretty much woeful, there seems to be some decent arm talent, but due to coaching or inexperience, it hasn't surfaced.
2020 is going to be a disaster. Think about how bad we were on days when Zach wasn't pitching. There is no safety net next year. It's gonna be bad....
Mingione, in my opinion, came in and did something Henderson never could have and never would have done at UK. In 2016 we finished 8th in the league at 15-15 and had 34 wins. We did not make the NCAA tournament, essentially losing a play in game to Alabama (9 seed) in the SEC tournament. This was with Kyle Cody, Zack Brown, and Dustin Beggs as three of our weekend starters. Logue was on the roster and I think he got the start in the Alabama game in the SEC tournament. That was our lone returning SEC start. We replaced everyone on the weekend. Despite that, our ERA dropped from 3.97 in 2016 to 3.85 in 2017. We were fairly young in 2016 at the plate, but we only hit .270. Mingione and his staff raised that to .316. I think we improved every metric that you could have defensively and offensively. Guys like Pompey went from hitting .233 to hitting .361. Pretty sure every returner raised their average a good bit. Of course, this while playing a hard schedule which kicked off with UNC and a few weeks later featured UCSB. We won 19 league games and finished the year with our first super regional. All the credit, IMO, for that goes to Mingione. While most the players, if not all, were Henderson guys, it was Mingione who coached them up and made them play much better than Henderson ever could have. This year alone buys him some time.
So, now lets talk about 2018...
So, now lets talk about 2018...
Next year we will probably find out...year 4 and all the players are his. Time to for some coaching up to be done.
2018 was set to be a huge year. We returned all two starting pitchers and Thompson was clearly going to be an ace as a sophomore, and we added a top JUCO prospect (Haake) and getting another year of Machamer, who emerged as a dominant bullpen force. We lost Salow, who was dominant, but Machamer looked to be able to take over his role. We lost White, Mahan, Heady and Reks which were massive losses, but we returned a great offensive core. Offensively, the step back was probably what was expected after losing some great players. However, it was the pitching that really killed us. We went from a 3.85 ERA to 5.37. Haake had an ERA above 8 and spent part of the year injured and almost everyone had a higher ERA in 2018 than they did in 2017. Hjelle lowered his but he wasn’t as successful in 2018 going just 7-5 rather than 11-4. Thompson was injured for a large chunk and struggled thanks to that injury.
It is hard to know exactly what to chalk this up to. It is easy to look at Haake and Thompson being hurt and having ERAs at or above 5.00, and understand why we struggled. However, we also had guys like Schaenzer who we relied heavily on go from an ERA under 4 to an ERA pushing 7. Numbers wise, few guys showed marked improvement and several took big steps down. We also had guys like Jordan, Dobzanski, Marzoas (sp) and Macciochi (sp) injured before ever stepping on campus and so their depth didn’t get to play a factor.
So, who do we blame for this? Bad luck with injuries? Still doesn’t necessarily explain others taking big steps back, and the coaching staff knew the four pitchers would be coming in injured and possibly unlikely to play. It is hard to write this year off and not blame someone. Taken alone, it isn’t too bad, but it is disappointing.
It is hard to know exactly what to chalk this up to. It is easy to look at Haake and Thompson being hurt and having ERAs at or above 5.00, and understand why we struggled. However, we also had guys like Schaenzer who we relied heavily on go from an ERA under 4 to an ERA pushing 7. Numbers wise, few guys showed marked improvement and several took big steps down. We also had guys like Jordan, Dobzanski, Marzoas (sp) and Macciochi (sp) injured before ever stepping on campus and so their depth didn’t get to play a factor.
So, who do we blame for this? Bad luck with injuries? Still doesn’t necessarily explain others taking big steps back, and the coaching staff knew the four pitchers would be coming in injured and possibly unlikely to play. It is hard to write this year off and not blame someone. Taken alone, it isn’t too bad, but it is disappointing.
Without being accused of being a Pollyanna, do you think that our young arms will be improved next year with a year to mature and summer ball? I am not talking about winning the SEC, but enough improvement where we can at least think about the post season?
That’s the million dollar question. But nothing leads me to think that they will. I will hold out hope though.
I think this team is going to have some major turnover. I think you will see several guys head to the pros that you either don't expect to or that you'd hoped would be back.
The problem with pitching is that I don't think we really saw any of them develop that much over the course of the season, so it is somewhat hard to see them making giant leaps over the course of the off season. It certainly can happen and they will make strides, but the distance that we have to go is pretty huge. There is also the possibility that we drop our pitching coach and try someone else. I don't know how much that will play in, but maybe that helps these guys.
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