SEC Stats (9 games in)

[Comebakatz3]

Another series gone and we're all a bit depressed about this one. The numbers are bad, but there are some positives...

UK came into the weekend 2nd or 3rd in batting average in league play. They left the weekend 10th overall in batting average (.241). Last week we were at, IIRC, .273. Again, we were pretty propped up by Kessler hitting .611. I mentioned that the team average a week ago, outside of Kessler's gaudy numbers, were actually .240. So, I don't know if this is where the average will fall, or if we might see some bump in it. He is still hitting .517, so the rest of the team is hitting an abysmal .211.

Interestingly, for all the power that UK throws out there... we haven't seen it. Just 7 long balls so far in league play. Only 2 teams have fewer, and a few more have the same. USC and Bama lead with 17.

Pitching remains fairly decent with a 3.99 ERA, which puts us at 5th best in the league. The bad number is that UK has now given up a whole lot of walks (41), that puts us in 10th in the league. To make matters worse, our pitching is not great with strikeouts, we're in 12th in the league in that category with just 70. LSU is up this weekend and they have been very poor at hitting, so these numbers can go up quite a bit.

That is the biggest positive... we again face a team that we should be able to beat. So, we lost this weekend, but we could conceivable come back to Lexington and get 2 or 3 this weekend.

Another big positive, to me, was that we really never got blown out this weekend. We could have stole a game or two from State and we were right in it during the Thursday game before our error filled inning. They didn't hit us particularly well, but we just hit them worse. That is a top 5-10 team and we at least went toe to toe against them on the road.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

In reality, UK should go at worse 3-1 this week. UofL is not what I thought they would be at the beginning of the season. They’re pitching is not what it was. Offensively, they’re extremely streaky. But they love to steal bases. But it being a midweek game, all that goes out the window.

LSU is a strange team. On paper, they’re pitching should be outstanding. It just hasn’t happened yet. Offensively, they’re good but rely a ton on home runs. I think they’re second in the country. They can score a ton of runs. But they also allow a ton of runs too.

 

[Comebakatz3]

In reality, UK should go at worse 3-1 this week. UofL is not what I thought they would be at the beginning of the season. They’re pitching is not what it was. Offensively, they’re extremely streaky. But they love to steal bases. But it being a midweek game, all that goes out the window.

LSU is a strange team. On paper, they’re pitching should be outstanding. It just hasn’t happened yet. Offensively, they’re good but rely a ton on home runs. I think they’re second in the country. They can score a ton of runs. But they also allow a ton of runs too.

I would be pretty happy with 2-2. Louisville is a top 10 team, so a win against them would certainly be massive, even if it is during the midweek and they aren't probably as big of a title contender as we thought they might be.

LSU is still LSU and could wake up at any point. They have had a murderers row of games to start league play having played Miss State, Vandy, and Tennessee. They know their backs are against the wall... we're right at 1/3rd of the way done and they have just 1 win. To make the NCAA tournament, you have to pretty much be .500 in league play. So, LSU has to win 14 more games and they only have 21 games to do it in. Every win matters for them and they still have to play Arkansas, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. They need this weekend desperately, so UK better be prepared. It will be a hell of a fight.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

I would be pretty happy with 2-2. Louisville is a top 10 team, so a win against them would certainly be massive, even if it is during the midweek and they aren't probably as big of a title contender as we thought they might be.

LSU is still LSU and could wake up at any point. They have had a murderers row of games to start league play having played Miss State, Vandy, and Tennessee. They know their backs are against the wall... we're right at 1/3rd of the way done and they have just 1 win. To make the NCAA tournament, you have to pretty much be .500 in league play. So, LSU has to win 14 more games and they only have 21 games to do it in. Every win matters for them and they still have to play Arkansas, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. They need this weekend desperately, so UK better be prepared. It will be a hell of a fight.

That’s why the emphasis is strong on should. I know it’s just as likely UK can go 1-3 this week. I think it’s extremely important that UK is successful this weekend. They’re murderous row starts in two weeks.

 

[167Hike]

The power numbers are interesting and a tail tale sign......no one on our team scares me at the plate.

To go with our discussion last week about shaking the lineup with Harmon coming down to earth/inserting Cam Hill....I liked the move but I hated shuffling Kessler up in the batting order. I would have left him 5th/6th in the lineup.

Going into this weekend I would play with moving Estes up (especially tonight. Maybe has high as second in the order). I’d leave Hill in and i may give Anu the night off in place of Harmon or even Shelby. And I would stress to all the players to eat up pitches. Need to make the other pitchers work. Not only did we record too many K at the plate, we were/still are bad at swinging at the first pitch thrown.

 

[Comebakatz3]

The power numbers are interesting and a tail tale sign......no one on our team scares me at the plate.

To go with our discussion last week about shaking the lineup with Harmon coming down to earth/inserting Cam Hill....I liked the move but I hated shuffling Kessler up in the batting order. I would have left him 5th/6th in the lineup.

Going into this weekend I would play with moving Estes up (especially tonight. Maybe has high as second in the order). I’d leave Hill in and i may give Anu the night off in place of Harmon or even Shelby. And I would stress to all the players to eat up pitches. Need to make the other pitchers work. Not only did we record too many K at the plate, we were/still are bad at swinging at the first pitch thrown.

I don't really know what to do about the lineup. It is basically impossible to do anything with just 3 guys hitting above .215.

Until some of the other 6-7 start hitting consistently, it won't matter where you put them.

The problem with/for Kessler is that he's hitting over .500, but it has been largely useless hits. He has just 2 RBIs and one those was off a home run and he's scored just 4 times. So, he's getting on, but he's not hitting in runs and he's not scoring himself. So, the .500+ stat is great, but it really isn't a major factor UK winning. So, putting him higher up was, I guess, trying to get him into a spot where he could actually get some help around him, but he went 3-4 on Thursday hitting in the 6 hole and then UK messed with it and he went hitless. Kind of the risk you take, but it just seems painful that we can't figure out the right combo.

As far as Hill... he struggled (like everyone) this weekend, but the positive with him, IMO, is that he can manufacture runs if/when he gets on base. OB% in league play is still above .400 and he's scored 3 runs in something like 14 plate appearances. 5 of our starters have fewer runs scored than that. So, I think, for the offense... at least he gives you some increased chances of scoring with him in there.

I think you have to get Shelby going somehow. He hasn't had enough at bats to see the ball really well. The kid has a ton of value, even if it is off the bench. Power to spare and speed to burn. Not the best at hitting for average, but at this point it doesn't really matter given that you have 7 guys hitting below .215 in league play.

I might also play Liebert tonight in some fashion. He hasn't hit in a while, but he is .333 on the year. Kessler can't play catcher every single game.