UK baseball by the numbers

[Derek Terry]

Took a pretty close look at the stats for the last article I wrote. Here are some interesting numbers from the season:

Evan White, Zach Reks and Kole Cottam (part-time player) were the only players who hit over .300 in the SEC. JaVon Shelby hit .188. Knew he struggled, but didn't know it was that bad. Gunnar McNeill couldn't hit anything after about the first two weekends of SEC play. Two separate stints of 8+ games without a hit.

Found it unusual that Zack Brown had a decision in ever SEC game he pitched. He went 1-9 though. Allowed five earned runs or more in six of his 10 starts. Did have a couple of games where he deserved a win or at least a no-decision, like his 9.2 inning game against Arkansas where he was given a loss. Kyle Cody had a fantastic bounce back season. Went 4-1 in SEC play and had a 2.77 ERA. Beggs was good all season as well. Finished 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC.

The team hit .270 during the season and 2.50 in conference play. 4.43 ERA for the pitching staff as a team in the SEC. 3.97 ERA as a staff for the overall season. But the big thing for next season; no pitcher besides Logue, who has one start, has started an SEC game. That's troublesome.

Probably some more interesting numbers if you look close enough but that's it for now. IMO, no player outside of Evan White and Zach Reks (if he returns) should be a lock to start next season. I like Pompey's potential and UK will still need Mahan's bat in the lineup, so I'd expect those two to be in the lineup. I think there will be a lot of competition again in the middle infield. After three seasons it's clear Heady isn't the answer at either spot. Becker had his ups and downs. Zeke Lewis or a freshman could take over either spot.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Some stats that I think are the telling sign of how the season went on.

~UK averaged almost 9 strikeouts per game in conference play.

~UK was 11th in conference in batting average and 9th in ERA. I actually believe thats the highest ranking since Henderson came to UK.

~UK was 12th in fielding percentage

~UK was 13th in passed balls and only threw out 35% or runners trying to steal

~UK only had 2 players to have double digit walks in conference play. Shelby and Reks

~UK only walked 78 times in the conference compared to striking out 254 times

~ Riley Mahan had 30 errors the entire year. Florida as a team committed only 39.

~Only 3 pitchers for UK had an ERA less than 3. In conference play, that number drops to 2

 

[Comebakatz3]

Some stats that I think are the telling sign of how the season went on.

~UK averaged almost 9 strikeouts per game in conference play.

~UK was 11th in conference in batting average and 9th in ERA. I actually believe thats the highest ranking since Henderson came to UK.

~UK was 12th in fielding percentage

~UK was 13th in passed balls and only threw out 35% or runners trying to steal

~UK only had 2 players to have double digit walks in conference play. Shelby and Reks

~UK only walked 78 times in the conference compared to striking out 254 times

~ Riley Mahan had 30 errors the entire year. Florida as a team committed only 39.

~Only 3 pitchers for UK had an ERA less than 3. In conference play, that number drops to 2

Man that is just depressing. We can't really point to a single thing that we did well this year. Just nothing. Poor pitching, poor hitting, poor patience, poor everything.

 

[Derek Terry]

Man that is just depressing. We can't really point to a single thing that we did well this year. Just nothing. Poor pitching, poor hitting, poor patience, poor everything.

I don't think the pitching was THAT bad outside of Zack Brown and Zach Pop. Beggs and Cody were both two of the better pitchers in the SEC this season. Henderson basically only used Lewis, Strecker, Salow, Hjelle and Pop out of the bullpen. Pop had a 5.21 ERA, but Strecker had a 1.84 ERA, Lewis a 2.08 ERA, Salow a 3.22 ERA and Hjelle a 3.74 ERA.

I think Hjelle performed very well in the closer role as a freshman. Had a couple of games where he was blown up a little bit, but his four inning performance against a team like South Carolina is rare for a freshman closer. And Zach Logue pitched well enough in the midweek. 2.68 ERA is pretty solid. Think he had several outings where he could've gone longer if Henderson would have let him.

But pitching is really the only thing you can even argue that was above average. Hitting was bad and the 2016 team had to be one of the worst defensive teams in UK baseball history.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I don't think the pitching was THAT bad outside of Zack Brown and Zach Pop. Beggs and Cody were both two of the better pitchers in the SEC this season. Henderson basically only used Lewis, Strecker, Salow, Hjelle and Pop out of the bullpen. Pop had a 5.21 ERA, but Strecker had a 1.84 ERA, Lewis a 2.08 ERA, Salow a 3.22 ERA and Hjelle a 3.74 ERA.

I think Hjelle performed very well in the closer role as a freshman. Had a couple of games where he was blown up a little bit, but his four inning performance against a team like South Carolina is rare for a freshman closer. And Zach Logue pitched well enough in the midweek. 2.68 ERA is pretty solid. Think he had several outings where he could've gone longer if Henderson would have let him.

But pitching is really the only thing you can even argue that was above average. Hitting was bad and the 2016 team had to be one of the worst defensive teams in UK baseball history.

I think you make some good points, but technically we weren't above average in pitching either. The league average was a 3.80 ERA and we had an overall 3.97 ERA, so even in that we were below average. We just happened to not be as bad at pitching as we were at hitting.

Not sure where we rank in SEC, conference only pitching, but I imagine that it isn't much better than the 9th overall.

That being said, I think it was all right. Brown was a disaster and that really hurts our ERA. That is on Henderson for not finding someone to replace him, or move him to another role in order to help him get his confidence up. I think Lewis had an outstanding season, but at least at one point he struggled to slam the door when other pitchers left him inherited runners. I think he'll do pretty well as a starter, or he needs to be used as a guy who starts an inning with clear bases rather than being someone who inherits runners.

Have to say that our bullpen was much better than it typically is. However, the pitching was still a disappointment to me. Henderson is supposed to be some elite pitching coach, and yet we can't do any better than 9th in the SEC after we return all three weekend starters (two of which are/were top 4-5 round picks).