Cole Ayers Transfer story

[CliffDweller25]

Here's some fuel for the Belanger haters.

http://www.chathamanglers.com/index.cfm?base=28&articleID=1595

 

[Comebakatz3]

This is bad. Very bad. Ayers was statistically our best and most promising freshman arm. He is leaving while giving a scathing report about UK to his Cape Cod league team's reporter.

Any team that wants to negatively recruit us can and probably will point to that article as exhibit 1. Of course, not that they need to after only winning 8 SEC games.

Regardless... UK pitching has to improve. It has been poor, on average, for years. Our team ERA under Henderson averaged being ranked around 96th. Under Belanger that has ballooned to 139th. It is just inexcusable, and until we figure out how to improve our pitching talent and develop that talent as an entire bullpen and not just as a couple of starters, we will continue to largely struggle.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

I was actually fixing to post that story. There is a lot to unpack out of that. Part of my wants to believe that it’s a player scorned but when you compare stats from summer ball to what actually happens at UK, you have to wonder.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I was actually fixing to post that story. There is a lot to unpack out of that. Part of my wants to believe that it’s a player scorned but when you compare stats from summer ball to what actually happens at UK, you have to wonder.

I think it is hard to compare stats. He has pitched around 5 innings in 2 appearances. That isn't a whole lot to compare to. At UK he had an ERA around 4.00 and in the Cape it is around 2.00. One could also reasonably argue that it should be lower in the Cape given that you have a lot more room for error with wooden bats.

I think this is probably a mixed bag. I think that this staff has a tendency to micromanage. So, it surprises me that he is somewhat claiming that no one worked on him with mechanics and that he couldn't get them fixed.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

I think it is hard to compare stats. He has pitched around 5 innings in 2 appearances. That isn't a whole lot to compare to. At UK he had an ERA around 4.00 and in the Cape it is around 2.00. One could also reasonably argue that it should be lower in the Cape given that you have a lot more room for error with wooden bats.

I think this is probably a mixed bag. I think that this staff has a tendency to micromanage. So, it surprises me that he is somewhat claiming that no one worked on him with mechanics and that he couldn't get them fixed.

I’m sorry. I wasn’t real clear on my reply. I wasn’t really talking about his stats only. But if you look at what others have done in other leagues, like summer ball, there’s something amiss. I’ll give you the wooden bat deal. And I agree, the micro management is a concern. It just sucks for him and his dad to come out publicly with this.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I’m sorry. I wasn’t real clear on my reply. I wasn’t really talking about his stats only. But if you look at what others have done in other leagues, like summer ball, there’s something amiss. I’ll give you the wooden bat deal. And I agree, the micro management is a concern. It just sucks for him and his dad to come out publicly with this.

I haven't looked through all of our pitchers so far, but the ones that I have seen have been doing pretty well.

Will Gambino didn't pitch for UK this year and took a redshirt. I don't know his whole story, but I believe he has only been pitching for a short time, since junior year apparently. He is in the PGL and has appeared in 9 games with 10 innings pitched and a 1.80 ERA. Daniels and Lockhart are also on that team and both are doing all right with 2.07 and 3.93 ERAs respectively.

Hazelwood is in the Cape with a 2.07 ERA in 3 appearances and 8.2 innings pitched (second most on team).
Harper is in the Cape with a 2.70 ERA with 6.2 IP.
Coleman is in the cape but has struggled with a 13.50ERA in just 2 innings pitched.
Ramsey has also struggled on the Brewsters with a 12.85 ERA in 2 starts, 3 appearances and 7 innings pitched.

Rigsby is in Alaska and is making some people here look really smart (not me) with 6 appearances, a 0.00 ERA in 15 innings of work. He has 20 strikeouts to just 6 walks. He started off going one or two innings, but has thrown 9 scoreless in his last 2 appearances.
Cottongame is on the same team and has a 2.57 ERA with 3 starts and 14 innings of work.

Jordan is in the Cal Ripken League and has 4 starts with a 2.64 ERA, 17IP and 24 strikeouts.

A good chunk of positives there.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Just a question for debate. Why has UK constantly struggled to field a decent pitching staff? These guys can pitch. It’s evident by their numbers in summer leagues and once they get into pro ball. Is it coaching? Is it their roles aren’t right?

 

[Brown is the new Blue]

Just a question for debate. Why has UK constantly struggled to field a decent pitching staff? These guys can pitch. It’s evident by their numbers in summer leagues and once they get into pro ball. Is it coaching? Is it their roles aren’t right?

Mississippi State has had four head coaches in four years. It is a red flag that Mingione was never serious candidate.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Just a question for debate. Why has UK constantly struggled to field a decent pitching staff? These guys can pitch. It’s evident by their numbers in summer leagues and once they get into pro ball. Is it coaching? Is it their roles aren’t right?

Super hard question. Part of it for me is that I don't think we ever recruit complete bullpens. We get a good player or two per class, but then it is often a sharp drop off.

Then there is a question of whether the players we get are just not good enough, or poorly developed. Like Hjelle and Lewis... ERAs as juniors above 4.00 and Lewis was the highest on the team other than Thompson who had just 13 innings pitched.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Here is another silly UL comparison that I am sure the Card fans here will enjoy. Top 5 round draft picks, pitchers only, by school since 2007:

Kentucky:
Thompson (1)
Hjelle (2)
Brown (5)
Cody (2) - Also went in the 6th after returning.
Reed (1)
Littrell (5)
Meyer (1)
Paxton (1s)
Green (3)
Total: 9

Louisville:
McAvene (3)
Wolf (5)
McKay (1)
Henzman (4)
Burdi (1)
Harrington (3)
Funkhouser (4) - He also went 1st round the year prior
Kime (3)
Burdi (2)
Thompson (3)
Koch (3)
Zych (4)
Royse (3s)
Marks (3)
Magnuson (1)
Total - 15

It isn't a glaring difference, but I think it is a pretty big one given that it typically means that they are going to have multiple top 5 round picks in their bullpen at one time while UK is probably getting them more sparsely.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Mississippi State has had four head coaches in four years. It is a red flag that Mingione was never serious candidate.

You are a stupid and ridiculous troll.

First off, while it is true that they have had 4 coaches in 4 years, they have had just 2 job searches as one of the coaches was the retiring Cohen and the other was interim coach Henderson taking over for a coach fired 3 games into the year due to off the field issues. Hardly as bad as you want to make it out to be.

Second, the first coaching search for Miss. State was in 2016 and concluded in November of 2016 when they hired the aforementioned Cannizaro. At that point, Mingione had been named the UK baseball coach for just 5 short months. I hardly believe Cohen, who himself only named AD in November of 2016, is the type of man to go steal a coach just 5 months into his very first head coaching gig, and even less so given that it is from a school Cohen was at previously and who he maintains a positive relationship with. So, it is ridiculous to try to hold this against Mingione.

Third, the second coaching search did have Mignione's name mixed into it. Note who is listed first here: https://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls....mississippi-state-baseball-coaching-hot-board Most publications that actually spoke on the matter, even those that are Miss. State publications, mentioned Migione as a serious possible candidate. I'm sure you'll give some garbage excuse that he wasn't seriously considered. That's fine, but you really don't have any way of knowing that and you're just talking out of your rear. It is asinine to think that Cohen wouldn't at least consider the 2017 SEC COTY to take over at Miss State, especially considering that Ming did something in his first year that no other UK coach, including Cohen himself, had ever done. Not to mention that Henderson took them to the CWS and even he was passed over for the job. So, again, you really can't hold this against Mingione.

Just stop.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I haven't looked through all of our pitchers so far, but the ones that I have seen have been doing pretty well.

Will Gambino didn't pitch for UK this year and took a redshirt. I don't know his whole story, but I believe he has only been pitching for a short time, since junior year apparently. He is in the PGL and has appeared in 9 games with 10 innings pitched and a 1.80 ERA. Daniels and Lockhart are also on that team and both are doing all right with 2.07 and 3.93 ERAs respectively.

Hazelwood is in the Cape with a 2.07 ERA in 3 appearances and 8.2 innings pitched (second most on team).
Harper is in the Cape with a 2.70 ERA with 6.2 IP.
Coleman is in the cape but has struggled with a 13.50ERA in just 2 innings pitched.
Ramsey has also struggled on the Brewsters with a 12.85 ERA in 2 starts, 3 appearances and 7 innings pitched.

Rigsby is in Alaska and is making some people here look really smart (not me) with 6 appearances, a 0.00 ERA in 15 innings of work. He has 20 strikeouts to just 6 walks. He started off going one or two innings, but has thrown 9 scoreless in his last 2 appearances.
Cottongame is on the same team and has a 2.57 ERA with 3 starts and 14 innings of work.

Jordan is in the Cal Ripken League and has 4 starts with a 2.64 ERA, 17IP and 24 strikeouts.
A good chunk of positives there.

Competition in Alaska for Rigsby?

 

[sluggercatfan]

I’m sorry. I wasn’t real clear on my reply. I wasn’t really talking about his stats only. But if you look at what others have done in other leagues, like summer ball, there’s something amiss. I’ll give you the wooden bat deal. And I agree, the micro management is a concern. It just sucks for him and his dad to come out publicly with this.

Had a pro scout tell me back in the day that if they had their way HS and college players would not be allowed to use metal. These kids can't swing anything in the pros like they do in HS and college. A 33/34" wooden bat can't be any less than 3oz of the bat length. A lot of hits these kids get in amateur ball using aluminium would be broken bats at the next level.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Competition in Alaska for Rigsby?

Alaskan League is pretty unique and solid. Midnight games.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Not to bring up old threads but I saw on twitter where Cole Ayers committed to Oklahoma State. He followed Roland Fanning there.