Well, since the saying starts with good, we will start with it as well:
The Good:
Cam Hill - Hit .400 (2-5) this weekend with 2 RBIs. Also had a HBP to load the bases in the 9th. Reached in all three games. Had a throwing error in the Sunday game that seems like it is rightly attributed to him, but it was not really his fault. Golda should have been covering third, but headed shallow left and acted as a cutoff there instead. Golda didn't touch the ball, so can't get the error, but it is ultimately on him.
Trae Harmon - Also hit .400. Struggled in a pinch hitting role, but came on strong in the Sunday game. Got the first home run of the year, and the first of his career with a 3 run blast to left. I imagine the ball will only get bigger for him as the at bats get more frequent.
John Rhodes - Hit last in the lineup in the first two games, but he showed promise. Hit .300 over the weekend thanks to a 2-4 day yesterday. He really hit the ball hard at times. Rhodes did all right at third, but didn't exactly flash gold glove stuff.
These three, combined, through 20 at bats had just 3 strikeouts. So, very good job on them. The three of them also had 2 free bases (BB + HBP).
Mason Hazelwood - Got the start on Saturday and pitched quite well. Went 4 scoreless before getting into a bit of trouble. Gave up just 1 hit and 1 unearned run. Needs to clean up the 3 walks, but opponents hit just .071 against him and that is outstanding. Had 3 strikeouts as well. Not an amazing number, but not mad at it.
Alex Degen - Had one appearance and dominated. 1.2 innings of scoreless and hitless pitching, striking out 4 of 5 batters he faced. Love to see this from the young 6'8 guy.
Cole Stupp - The numbers are high, but the stuff was good and the young kid was just left in a bit too long. That happens. He will bounce back, IMO. Still, he went 2 scoreless and worked out of a monster jam in his first appearance as Roszel stuck him in the lineup with the game tied (IIRC) and the Horned Frogs with 2 on and no outs. He got out of that jam and pitched another scoreless frame before finding his own troubles. Coleman let him down by giving up the two he walked.
The Bad:
Defense. Holy mother of... I didn't believe our defense could get worse... it did. By a whole lot. Last place a year ago at .963 and this year we're currently at .917. We should have actually even had another one tacked to that, but the scorer generously called it a hit. Maybe, maybe, you could blame the change from turf to natural, but the problem was that many of the errors were of the throwing variety and not due to being unfamiliar with the surface. 6 of our starters have at least one error on them so far. Rhodes should have 3, and has to be considered the worst culprit at the moment, but no one is immune, even the pitchers got in the act a couple times.
Schultz - The kid is fairly celebrated and he did have a decent weekend with a double, a single, and and triple, but he also struck out 4 times in 11 at bats and had a couple throwing errors at short.
Breydon Daniel - 6 strikeouts... 0 walks. The kid almost struck out in half of his at bats. Just cannot have that, especially out of a two hole hitter. Hit just .154 over the weekend. Credit for solid defense and a double.
Coltyn Kessler - What a weekend to forget. Kessler is our best returning player by the numbers. He didn't show it in any phase of the game this weekend. Hate to be harsh, but he might as well have stayed in Lexington. Went 0-11 with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Behind the plate he had a throwing error, I believe it led to a run. TCU runners also exposed him and his arm all weekend stealing on 6 of 7 attempts, and those 6 weren't even close. I don't know if that is entirely on him, but it isn't a good sign.
Anu/Collett - Going to lump them together. Anu was a major disappointment. Went 0-8. Only positive was an RBI. Collett was only marginally better with a couple of hits, going .182 on the weekend. These guys are supposed to make opposing pitchers fear them. The middle of the UK lineup was largely ineffective, and really didn't even hit the ball all that hard as far as I remember.
Middle infield - Schultz, Curtis, Grace, Golda. Nothing inspiring here defensively and the offensive numbers are lacking. Curtis and Grace combined went 1-8 (.125). Add Lewis to that as a potential second baseman and it goes to 1-12 (.083). Gotta find a remedy there. Grace didn't strike me as having a particular strong arm, and neither does Schultz. Curtis screwed the pooch several times at second as well. Golda did go 1-1 at the plate, but had the mental error that shouldn't happen to an elite level SS.
Carson Coleman - Just makes you want to throw your hands up and quit. Kid has so much potential and good stuff and can look dominant and then just flat out stinks at other times. That played out in his one appearance. A couple walks, a couple hits, a couple strikeouts. Gave up 4 runs total, 2 of them his own.
Daniel Harper - Remember his freshman year? Ahh... good times. Wish we had that Daniel Harper again.
The Ugly:
Just overall, the numbers are super ugly. 7.13 ERA while walking 16 batters, giving up 9 extra base hits, including 5 doubles. 25 hits in 24 innings with 22 runs, 19 earned. Just bad bad numbers. They get worse... on the flip side we hit just .194 as a team and struck out 25 times (about 26 percent of our at bats). Just 5 extra base hits the entire weekend and just 7 walks. I think these will improve, and I hope they are first weekend struggles and not indicative of how we will play in mid-March and beyond.
Dillon Marsh's second inning - Guy was cruising. Had a couple strikeouts and had two outs in that inning. Then it just fell apart. He gave up the couple of walks and it went to hell for him. Battled back and pitched a few more innings, but that loss of focus really hurt. Otherwise, I liked what I saw.
Jimmy Ramsey's first inning - Ramsey pitched pretty well. Not Friday starter well, but pretty well. His first inning was a travesty though. One error (should have been two) was compounded by some walks and it put UK in an early hole. He finished with a 2.25 ERA for the game, and it should have been lower. This isn't as much on him as it is our defense.
The Good:
Cam Hill - Hit .400 (2-5) this weekend with 2 RBIs. Also had a HBP to load the bases in the 9th. Reached in all three games. Had a throwing error in the Sunday game that seems like it is rightly attributed to him, but it was not really his fault. Golda should have been covering third, but headed shallow left and acted as a cutoff there instead. Golda didn't touch the ball, so can't get the error, but it is ultimately on him.
Trae Harmon - Also hit .400. Struggled in a pinch hitting role, but came on strong in the Sunday game. Got the first home run of the year, and the first of his career with a 3 run blast to left. I imagine the ball will only get bigger for him as the at bats get more frequent.
John Rhodes - Hit last in the lineup in the first two games, but he showed promise. Hit .300 over the weekend thanks to a 2-4 day yesterday. He really hit the ball hard at times. Rhodes did all right at third, but didn't exactly flash gold glove stuff.
These three, combined, through 20 at bats had just 3 strikeouts. So, very good job on them. The three of them also had 2 free bases (BB + HBP).
Mason Hazelwood - Got the start on Saturday and pitched quite well. Went 4 scoreless before getting into a bit of trouble. Gave up just 1 hit and 1 unearned run. Needs to clean up the 3 walks, but opponents hit just .071 against him and that is outstanding. Had 3 strikeouts as well. Not an amazing number, but not mad at it.
Alex Degen - Had one appearance and dominated. 1.2 innings of scoreless and hitless pitching, striking out 4 of 5 batters he faced. Love to see this from the young 6'8 guy.
Cole Stupp - The numbers are high, but the stuff was good and the young kid was just left in a bit too long. That happens. He will bounce back, IMO. Still, he went 2 scoreless and worked out of a monster jam in his first appearance as Roszel stuck him in the lineup with the game tied (IIRC) and the Horned Frogs with 2 on and no outs. He got out of that jam and pitched another scoreless frame before finding his own troubles. Coleman let him down by giving up the two he walked.
The Bad:
Defense. Holy mother of... I didn't believe our defense could get worse... it did. By a whole lot. Last place a year ago at .963 and this year we're currently at .917. We should have actually even had another one tacked to that, but the scorer generously called it a hit. Maybe, maybe, you could blame the change from turf to natural, but the problem was that many of the errors were of the throwing variety and not due to being unfamiliar with the surface. 6 of our starters have at least one error on them so far. Rhodes should have 3, and has to be considered the worst culprit at the moment, but no one is immune, even the pitchers got in the act a couple times.
Schultz - The kid is fairly celebrated and he did have a decent weekend with a double, a single, and and triple, but he also struck out 4 times in 11 at bats and had a couple throwing errors at short.
Breydon Daniel - 6 strikeouts... 0 walks. The kid almost struck out in half of his at bats. Just cannot have that, especially out of a two hole hitter. Hit just .154 over the weekend. Credit for solid defense and a double.
Coltyn Kessler - What a weekend to forget. Kessler is our best returning player by the numbers. He didn't show it in any phase of the game this weekend. Hate to be harsh, but he might as well have stayed in Lexington. Went 0-11 with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Behind the plate he had a throwing error, I believe it led to a run. TCU runners also exposed him and his arm all weekend stealing on 6 of 7 attempts, and those 6 weren't even close. I don't know if that is entirely on him, but it isn't a good sign.
Anu/Collett - Going to lump them together. Anu was a major disappointment. Went 0-8. Only positive was an RBI. Collett was only marginally better with a couple of hits, going .182 on the weekend. These guys are supposed to make opposing pitchers fear them. The middle of the UK lineup was largely ineffective, and really didn't even hit the ball all that hard as far as I remember.
Middle infield - Schultz, Curtis, Grace, Golda. Nothing inspiring here defensively and the offensive numbers are lacking. Curtis and Grace combined went 1-8 (.125). Add Lewis to that as a potential second baseman and it goes to 1-12 (.083). Gotta find a remedy there. Grace didn't strike me as having a particular strong arm, and neither does Schultz. Curtis screwed the pooch several times at second as well. Golda did go 1-1 at the plate, but had the mental error that shouldn't happen to an elite level SS.
Carson Coleman - Just makes you want to throw your hands up and quit. Kid has so much potential and good stuff and can look dominant and then just flat out stinks at other times. That played out in his one appearance. A couple walks, a couple hits, a couple strikeouts. Gave up 4 runs total, 2 of them his own.
Daniel Harper - Remember his freshman year? Ahh... good times. Wish we had that Daniel Harper again.
The Ugly:
Just overall, the numbers are super ugly. 7.13 ERA while walking 16 batters, giving up 9 extra base hits, including 5 doubles. 25 hits in 24 innings with 22 runs, 19 earned. Just bad bad numbers. They get worse... on the flip side we hit just .194 as a team and struck out 25 times (about 26 percent of our at bats). Just 5 extra base hits the entire weekend and just 7 walks. I think these will improve, and I hope they are first weekend struggles and not indicative of how we will play in mid-March and beyond.
Dillon Marsh's second inning - Guy was cruising. Had a couple strikeouts and had two outs in that inning. Then it just fell apart. He gave up the couple of walks and it went to hell for him. Battled back and pitched a few more innings, but that loss of focus really hurt. Otherwise, I liked what I saw.
Jimmy Ramsey's first inning - Ramsey pitched pretty well. Not Friday starter well, but pretty well. His first inning was a travesty though. One error (should have been two) was compounded by some walks and it put UK in an early hole. He finished with a 2.25 ERA for the game, and it should have been lower. This isn't as much on him as it is our defense.
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