Kentucky v. South Carolina (Saturday)

[Comebakatz3]

Looking a bit better at the plate.

Here is what concerns me about this team... seems like we can rake and put up a ton of runs when we walk. When we don't walk we struggle. That's simple, but great teams not only take advantage of walks but also get hits when the pitching isn't giving you free passes.

 

[Old_Red]

So we have Friday's game where we take 2 tenths off of our team ERA and we have tonight where we are going to be adding that and then some.

 

[irishcat1965]

It appears we are saving our bullpen for tomorrow. And scoring 10 or more runs against their pitcher is going to be a tall task.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today...another one out. I give up!

It's a veteran baseball move not to blow your bullpen in a game you won't/can't win and lose two games in one. South Carolina did that very thing last night.

 

[Comebakatz3]

So we have Friday's game where we take 2 tenths off of our team ERA and we have tonight where we are going to be adding that and then some.

This team is allergic to close wins...

 

[sluggercatfan]

It's a veteran baseball move not to blow your bullpen in a game you won't/can't win and lose two games in one. South Carolina did that very thing last night.

Sorry, but I would have brought Ramsey in after run #2

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

Just leave Hakke in, and let them beat us 14-1 today ..... Geeze almighty !

 

[Old_Red]

So much for the South Carolina players not liking the cold.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Haake simply has no strikeout pitches. He gets up in the count and throws nothing close and then finally grooves one. Not shown an ability to make hitters chase.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Why the hell take him out now!!!??? The damage is done!!!

 

[sluggercatfan]

Haake simply has no strikeout pitches. He gets up in the count and throws nothing close and then finally grooves one. Not shown an ability to make hitters chase.

Have not been impressed with him from the get-go. Would replace him in the rotation with Ramsey. Kid is going to be a keeper! He is all business out there.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Sorry, but I would have brought Ramsey in after run #2

He'd done fine to that point. None of the singles were particularly hard and one was a bunt. He then got what could have been a double play ball. He very much could have pitched his way out of that inning, and was more likely to do so than to give up a home run to a guy who, I believe, had only hit one on the year.

 

[Old_Red]

Morris is pitching a good game. I haven't seen many mistake pitches. He gets ahead and then works the batter. That seemed to be Haake's problem. He kept having to groove one and they pounded them.

 

[Old_Red]

Collett just golfed a very good pitch to get a hit. Then Johnson reaches down and pops up another good pitch.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Morris is pitching a good game. I haven't seen many mistake pitches. He gets ahead and then works the batter. That seemed to be Haake's problem. He kept having to groove one and they pounded them.

Even worse was that he didn't have to groove them and he did. That last double he gave up he was up in the count 1-2 and just threw it down mainstreet. Two of the home runs were on 1-1 counts. Just one was a full count. So, they really weren't even working the count as much as he just made a ton of mistakes and grooved too many for no reason.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

This team needs to drop outta the T25

 

[Old_Red]

Now Lockhart walks the leadoff hitter. We are headed to more trouble.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

Yesterday was a fluke with all the walks we have

 

[sluggercatfan]

Is Thompson ever coming back this season? It's getting late and he has lost a lot of work. Might not even be worth it.

 

[timocee]

This year's team just isn't that good.

 

[Old_Red]

And Bringhurst uncorks a wild pitch. Showing the whole arsenal tonight.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Bringhurst isn't putting his front foot down before he throws and that's causing him to be wild.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Bringhurst isn't putting his front foot down before he throws and that's causing him to be wild.

It's almost like in a game like this that Belanger LIKES to experiment.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

We are stinkin the place up right now, but just like last night's rout it is only ONE game !

 

[Gabewcat]

Is it on Mingione or Belanger that keeps these pitchers in too long and then brings in the bottom of the barrel for relief appearances. You just can't save everybody for Sunday and threw away a chance to win on Saturday. My hunch is that Belanger has failed as pitching coach, this staff has under preformed this season and is the main reason for our inconsistency.

 

[sluggercatfan]

12K's by SC pitcher in 5 innings...WOW!!!

 

[Old_Red]

Very good at bat by Pompey to draw a leadoff walk. We've been swinging at that inside pitch that he took for ball 4.

 

[Comebakatz3]

It's almost like in a game like this that Belanger LIKES to experiment.

He should be experimenting in this game. The odds that we win this game are very very small. So, we should be getting pitchers who have struggled or who have not pitched a lot some work. We might need these guys like Lockhart and/or Bringhurst later in the year or next year and it is better to get them this SEC experience.

Now tomorrow if need be we have the luxury of pitching Machamer, Coleman, and Ramsey. If Lewis struggles to hit his spot early we should have no problem taking him out and trusting those three to go a long way for us.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Is it on Mingione or Belanger that keeps these pitchers in too long and then brings in the bottom of the barrel for relief appearances. You just can't save everybody for Sunday and threw away a chance to win on Saturday. My hunch is that Belanger has failed as pitching coach, this staff has under preformed this season and is the main reason for our inconsistency.

Gabe, after they left him in at 5-0 I think they sent a message to the team that this one is over...and it has to be on Ming as he is the boss. This team CANNOT afford to lose another series at home, and that includes Fla, and expect to make the tournament.

 

[sluggercatfan]

He should be experimenting in this game. The odds that we win this game are very very small. So, we should be getting pitchers who have struggled or who have not pitched a lot some work. We might need these guys like Lockhart and/or Bringhurst later in the year or next year and it is better to get them this SEC experience.

Now tomorrow if need be we have the luxury of pitching Machamer, Coleman, and Ramsey. If Lewis struggles to hit his spot early we should have no problem taking him out and trusting those three to go a long way for us.

Why is tomorrow anymore important than today was...I still say after today Haake should be taken down and replaced with Ramsey.

 

[Old_Red]

The one good thing about this game may be Marshall coming in and doing well for an inning. He appeared to have pretty good control and looked to get the South Carolina hitters off balance.

 

[Gabewcat]

Gabe, after they left him in at 5-0 I think they sent a message to the team that this one is over...and it has to be on Ming as he is the boss. This team CANNOT afford to lose another series at home, and that includes Fla, and expect to make the tournament.

He should have made a change with a quality reliever when it was 5-0, with our offense that is not too much to overcome.We cannot afford to keep giving away games.

 

[Old_Red]

Collett gets a two base gift. but we haven't done anything pretty much all day with base runners.

 

[Old_Red]

We've only gotten two runners to 2nd (ignoring the bases empty HR). That is almost as disappointing as the pitching today.

 

[Old_Red]

Now that we have one down, I wonder why we get so few double plays? We certainly are getting a lot of base runners. Is it pitchers failing to induce ground balls (seems like it is usually an extra base hit off the wall)? Or are we just not cohesive in the infield to turn it?

 

[Comebakatz3]

Is it on Mingione or Belanger that keeps these pitchers in too long and then brings in the bottom of the barrel for relief appearances. You just can't save everybody for Sunday and threw away a chance to win on Saturday. My hunch is that Belanger has failed as pitching coach, this staff has under preformed this season and is the main reason for our inconsistency.

I would say that this year has been a total failure for Belanger. Last year our SEC play ERA was 4.36 and this year, before today, it was 6.10. The major contributors from a year ago have raised their ERAs in SEC play rather than matching the performances from a year ago. Hjelle was at 1.90 and now he is at 3.94. Lewis was at 3.81 and now he is at 7.56. Machamer was at 3.52 and now he is at 6.75. Thompson has pitched in SEC play this year, but his ERA overall is much higher than a year ago. We lost Logue (6.37) and replaced him with Thompson/Haake and instead of getting improvement, we have gone down significantly. Haake now has an ERA of 8.40 through 18.2 innings of SEC work.

On top of that, I cannot really say that we have another Thompson-type who I feel like is going to be a sure thing SEC starter next year. Harper could be that guy, but he started a few weeks ago against Arkansas and gave up 5 runs and get through the first. Ramsey could be that guy, but he hasn't necessarily been overly impressive in SEC play with an ERA of 5.79 in 4.2 innings of work. So, it is very scary that we will have to replace 2 SEC starters next year. Plus, Haake is projected to be a big time prospect and could technically also go pro, so we might not even have him as a possible stand in. Of course, we have some guys redshirting or injured that would help, but still.

I guess the simple way to put it is that Belanger's pitching staff is ranked last in the SEC in ERA. Henderson never had good pitching staffs (IMO), but he was also never ranked last.

 

[law1127]

It’s a shame we don’t have 3 SEC quality pitchers! Season doesn’t seem to be what we anticipated . Very disappointed in our pitching and inconsistencies !

 

[Old_Red]

This is a bad game to be on nation wide TV. We are getting totally smashed.

 

[Old_Red]

"A team that hasn't won a road game all year" sheesh.... And we can't even hit it to the pitching mound now.

 

[law1127]

Embarassing!!