Baseball team

[cockymom2boys]

I would love to have a fair, rational discussion about our team. What is good? What is bad? What needs to happen for us to get back to Omaha.

Fwiw I like Kingston. I think he will be successful at USC. I think he is working hard to build our program.
I'm really not sure about the assistant coaches cause Im familiar with them. Anyone have any thoughts on the coaching staff?
Obviously we need more consistent hitters.
I guess that is assessment and recruiting?
I did think as a team we struck out a lot on bad pitches. So once again I don't know if that's assessing and recruiting or is it coaching? Or a combination?

I think our pitching staff is solid. I'm not sure about how much depth we have though. Also not sure about who is back next year.

Fielding wise I thought we were average at best. Thoughts?
Speed wise I think we were slow.

Anyway I am glad we made it to the regionals this year. I hope we have a great recruiting class and come back stronger next year.
I do love GAME COCK baseball

 

[Jaybird1010]

Oh and TCU just lost, ugh. We would of had a super regional.

 

[cockymom2boys]

Oh and TCU just lost, ugh. We would of had a super regional.

Oh man that would have been AWESOME.

 

[spardue]

Those are good points. Lake and Meade seems like good assistants. Without a doubt the inability to consistently hit quality pitching is the main problem right now. Fielding seemed below average, but I haven’t looked it up.

My main question now is how does Kingston follow this up?

 

[cockymom2boys]

Those are good points. Lake and Meade seems like good assistants. Without a doubt the inability to consistently hit quality pitching is the main problem right now. Fielding seemed below average, but I haven’t looked it up.

My main question now is how does Kingston follow this up?

I agree.
Also I'm not sure how our baseball recruiting has been. It seems like I've heard our classes aren't ranked that great but I'm not sure

 

[cockn'fyr]

Pitching wise, i feel like our staff did a great job, with just not enough support! We lost a lot of low scoring close games! Not sure what the answer is on the offense, but our approach hasn’t worked so far with Kingston and staff!

 

[cockn'fyr]

I agree.
Also I'm not sure how our baseball recruiting has been. It seems like I've heard our classes aren't ranked that great but I'm not sure

Not sure about exact numbers, but I believe we have been in and around the top ten in recent years!

 

[carolinamike79]

Pitching was good enough to win in this regional. Our hitting approach really needs to be evaluated. For some reason, our players don’t look as big as we used to be. We used to be strong up the middle, I just don’t see that right now.

 

[cockymom2boys]

Pitching was good enough to win in this regional. Our hitting approach really needs to be evaluated. For some reason, our players don’t look as big as we used to be. We used to be strong up the middle, I just don’t see that right now.

So maybe look at the strength program for baseball?

 

[Jbouton2]

Pitching was good enough to win in this regional. Our hitting approach really needs to be evaluated. For some reason, our players don’t look as big as we used to be. We used to be strong up the middle, I just don’t see that right now.

I've posted before on how tough it must be to recruit hitters. Mechanics etc must be recognized. I also think you need to be receptive to coaching that change your technique etc. Kind of like a golf swing change to make you better under pressure.

 

[Garnet chicken]

Decent pitching, weak hitting, can't score a run unless hitting a HR, Head coach does not know what players to put in or pull at the correct time, players can't bunt or get timely hits to score runs, that's when they usually make no contact at all. At this time a middle tier SEC team.

 

[Carolina Doc]

I think we were substantially improved from 2019. Something to build off of.

 

[Ralph Sampson]

Without a doubt I believe our single biggest weakness and MAIN reason we didn’t advance past the regional is offensive approach ( philosophy)...
It’s been beaten to death but the inability to put bat on ball ( swing and miss) rate was as bad as any team I’ve ever watched .
So many guys would take 0-2 monster hacks as if the count was 3-1....
Classic example of doing it RIGHT was last night vs. ODU in the 9th inning Jeff Heinrich got down 0-2... he then shortened up , cut his swing down and hit an absolute scud to 1b for a line out that ALMOST went for a double. Even though that was an out—-that is a GOOD offensive approach but so RARE from this team.
Just take a few batters later —-we get tying to 2nd——need a bass hit to tie in the ninth —-and Eyster takes 3 Paul
Bunyan hacks and whiffs air 3 times! Summation of entire year right there.

 

[92Pony]

Decent pitching, weak hitting, can't score a run unless hitting a HR, Head coach does not know what players to put in or pull at the correct time, players can't bunt or get timely hits to score runs, that's when they usually make no contact at all. At this time a middle tier SEC team.

Pretty blunt yet accurate assessment.

We, for the most part, had good success against weaker teams and struggled (mostly at the plate) against teams with a pulse.
Pitching this season was good enough for us to win a regional, and maybe a super. Hitting was the downfall.

 

[king ward]

I do not believe we are positioned to climb back to the top echelon of the SEC. That is where we want to go, isn't it?

 

[Cocky 45]

I think we were substantially improved from 2019. Something to build off of.

given that 2019 was the worst year in gamecock baseball history (since the pre-richardson days) I don't think that's a very big accomplishment.

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

Someone please remind me who the hitting coach is, or better yet give me some insight into who we should REPLACE him with.

This team did fine in other facets of the game- pitching was top tier of the SEC, defense was solid, in-game coaching was… mediocre at best. You can win with that if you can hit. We could NOT. Started hot, went cold and never made substantial changes that helped for more than a week or so. That is what we need to fix. We bring in great talent every year, we should be two deep at every position with guys that can hit better than most of our starters hit this year.

 

[JohnnySolo]

Good hitting coach. Approach to each pitch in the count is wrong. They sit fast ball and don’t know what to do when it’s anything else.

 

[JohnnySolo]

Someone who can teach a better approach to each pitch, bunt and can also coordinate our batting half of the inning. Eg. when to bunt, steal, hit and run.

 

[76gintcock]

It's not too early for Tanner to set some strong expectations for Kingston. I have a firm grasp of the obvious. Our fielding sucks and we can't hit half-decent pitching. I wouldn't rely on current coaches. Philosophy falls on Kingston himself, and he needs to sort that out with Tanner. That's Tanners job. He needs to do it.

 

[midline]

Team is a lot better than what Kingston inherited where he had to fix a mess. The pitching is there, and is as good as anyone. But they cannot score. Hopefully some reliable bats are foremost on the recruiting list

 

[LBGCOCK]

Someone please remind me who the hitting coach is, or better yet give me some insight into who we should REPLACE him with.

This team did fine in other facets of the game- pitching was top tier of the SEC, defense was solid, in-game coaching was… mediocre at best. You can win with that if you can hit. We could NOT. Started hot, went cold and never made substantial changes that helped for more than a week or so. That is what we need to fix. We bring in great talent every year, we should be two deep at every position with guys that can hit better than most of our starters hit this year.

I think Chase Slone would be a good replacement. Wright St. is one of the top teams in the country in batting average, and he also coaches the infield. We could improve two areas with one hire. He would be my choice as a replacement.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

Those are good points. Lake and Meade seems like good assistants. Without a doubt the inability to consistently hit quality pitching is the main problem right now. Fielding seemed below average, but I haven’t looked it up.

My main question now is how does Kingston follow this up?

You realize Stu is our hitting coach, right?

 

[BBallUSC]

Good pitching and defense has served Carolina well over the years, but you need offensive support too which has been sorely lacking... past time to change that.

 

[ExpatCarolinian]

All in all, this season probably ended the way most of us predicted. Good enough to make a regional but not a super. The strong start to the season really duped me into believing we could exceed expectations. However, it appears that was a false read based on playing poor competition early on.

 

[rogue cock]

Entering the season, I posted that making into a Regional should be expected at this point in Kingston's tenure and that making a Super would be a great season. Even with the lack of Spring and Fall practices which may have hurt the coaches completely changing our approach at the plate, I was satisfied with this year. I like the change he made on the staff...and though not consistently yet, I believe he is changing the approach at the plate. Pitching for the most part has been above-average. Recruiting is going well and the program thus far seems to be in good hands.

It could be much worse.....we could have hired Lee.

 

[JamesRob]

I would love to have a fair, rational discussion about our team. What is good? What is bad? What needs to happen for us to get back to Omaha.

Fwiw I like Kingston. I think he will be successful at USC. I think he is working hard to build our program.
I'm really not sure about the assistant coaches cause Im familiar with them. Anyone have any thoughts on the coaching staff?
Obviously we need more consistent hitters.
I guess that is assessment and recruiting?
I did think as a team we struck out a lot on bad pitches. So once again I don't know if that's assessing and recruiting or is it coaching? Or a combination?

I think our pitching staff is solid. I'm not sure about how much depth we have though. Also not sure about who is back next year.

Fielding wise I thought we were average at best. Thoughts?
Speed wise I think we were slow.

Anyway I am glad we made it to the regionals this year. I hope we have a great recruiting class and come back stronger next year.
I do love GAME COCK base

I would love to have a fair, rational discussion about our team. What is good? What is bad? What needs to happen for us to get back to Omaha.

Fwiw I like Kingston. I think he will be successful at USC. I think he is working hard to build our program.
I'm really not sure about the assistant coaches cause Im familiar with them. Anyone have any thoughts on the coaching staff?
Obviously we need more consistent hitters.
I guess that is assessment and recruiting?
I did think as a team we struck out a lot on bad pitches. So once again I don't know if that's assessing and recruiting or is it coaching? Or a combination?

I think our pitching staff is solid. I'm not sure about how much depth we have though. Also not sure about who is back next year.

Fielding wise I thought we were average at best. Thoughts?
Speed wise I think we were slow.

Anyway I am glad we made it to the regionals this year. I hope we have a great recruiting class and come back stronger next year.
I do love GAME COCK baseball

This is the one men’s sport where we should be elite. To date, I see no path back to being elite under this regime.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

So I predicted a 2 seed and hosting before the season started. I also stated this team is a long way from Omaha. Pretty accurate assessment.

We are going to have to restock our pitching staff. I have few concerns about that as the current regime has shown an ability to attract good pitching talent.

Stating the obvious we are really bad at the plate. It would help if we were recruiting higher caliber position players. I’m not as confident this staff can do that. In this league you’re not going anywhere without 2-3 solid MLB prospects in your lineup. Everyone has one.

If we can’t recruit better talent then we need to learn how to manufacture runs. The inability to bunt and move runners over reared it’s ugly head in this regional. We lost two one run games. Learn how to play small ball and maximize your scoring opportunities. We lost 2-1 and 3-2. The 17-15 aluminum bat slugfests are a thing of the past.

Some fans drank the kool aid with the hot start. We should always start hot playing Ivy League schools and in state warm up games. Conference games show you what you really are and truthfully we were a team that was just slightly above average.

People need to quit beating the “we play great competition” drum(players, fans and coaches). Georgia plays a tough schedule but it doesn’t mean they’re worth a crap. In 2010-2012 we played a great schedule, but we won most of those games. If you’re good you win a lot. It’s that simple. When you’re floating around .500 or below against great competition it doesn’t make you great.

 

[Carolina Doc]

given that 2019 was the worst year in gamecock baseball history (since the pre-richardson days) I don't think that's a very big accomplishment.

Well, I really didn't think we'd go from worst-ever to CWS in one season.

 

[chief2791]

Our pitching was plenty good enough to win. Those guys pitched their tails off. I feel terrible for them, they deserved better.

Our hitting is bad, like really bad. I don't know what our approach is or if we even have one. My son was over and we were watching together on Saturday night, he was yelling at our hitters in the 8th and 9th after their reliever came in "hit the damn FB, it's all he's throwing". I know he hit 97 a couple times in the 8th, but he was 91-92 in the 9th. When you know what is coming, you should be able to at least put the bat on the ball, 97 or 92, you're a college hitter for goodness sake. You sit FB (that's what he was throwing), you have 3 opportunities, hit the ball. I don't understand our philosophy at all, and I don't know who to blame for it. Kingston? Lake? We need a really good hitting coach, that's for sure. Not just for mechanics. We need one to teach the proper plate approach (physical and mental), and that can and does change according to the guy that's on the bump. Whatever we're doing is not working, it's Kingston's job to fix it.

I don't know if we're recruiting the wrong type of hitters, I don't know if we're not teaching them when they get here, but it isn't working. We did not have a hitter that hit .300, let that sink in. Pitching can be lights out (ours was) but if you don't score runs, you don't win.

 

[usc_nc]

There are two types of hitters
1, Hit for power
2. Hit for average
Per MLB player evaluation

My question to the gurus of the board?

Can coaching create a third type that does both?

 

[mikeypen]

There are two types of hitters
1, Hit for power
2. Hit for average
Per MLB player evaluation

My question to the gurus of the board?

Can coaching create a third type that does both?

My take would be this: Occasionally there comes a player that can do both. Those players end up getting paid to play at a higher level. For amateur teams to be successfull and really exceed you must have a mix of power and contact, recognize the abilities of each player, put them in the lineup where they can be productive and provide coaching to maximize the strengths of each player and minimize the weakness.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

given that 2019 was the worst year in gamecock baseball history (since the pre-richardson days) I don't think that's a very big accomplishment.

1970 - 14-20 under Coach Richardson.
1996 - 25-28 under June.

So no, 2019 at .500 was NOT the worst.

 

[rogue cock]

There are two types of hitters
1, Hit for power
2. Hit for average
Per MLB player evaluation

My question to the gurus of the board?

Can coaching create a third type that does both?

Natural ability and a great eye. Unless you are Ted Williams, typically a player will sacrifice one for the other. His Science of Hitting should still be the bible of hitting.

 

[king ward]

Well, I really didn't think we'd go from worst-ever to CWS in one season.

That was low-hanging fruit right there.

 

[kidrobinski]

Natural ability and a great eye. Unless you are Ted Williams, typically a player will sacrifice one for the other. His Science of Hitting should still be the bible of hitting.

Agreed. The only *effective* “hitting coach” one ever has is the one that starts pitching to you when you’re a kid, 8-9 years old or so; a dad, a brother, whatever. It will improve and amplify your natural ability on its own as you play the game, but it’s right there that you either get it or you don’t.

You mention Ted Williams. I got a 33 1/3 record album with an enclosed booklet by Stan Musial when I was about 10-11 (mid 60s) that I absolutely wore out. I played up through college and softball after that; people always complimented my swing, but the ability to put bat on ball cannot be “taught” imo.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

There are two types of hitters
1, Hit for power
2. Hit for average
Per MLB player evaluation

My question to the gurus of the board?

Can coaching create a third type that does both?

Wouldn’t call myself a guru but I would say typically it’s an either or at the MLB level. At the collegiate level it’s not as rare to see a player do both.

Right now I think it’s more of a recruiting issue than a coaching issue. You can coach it all day, but without the talent you’re not getting very far. I don’t see a lot of Jackie Bradley Jr, Whit Merrifield or Steve Pearce type talent on this ball club.

 

[rogue cock]

Wouldn’t call myself a guru but I would say typically it’s an either or at the MLB level. At the collegiate level it’s not as rare to see a player do both.

Right now I think it’s more of a recruiting issue than a coaching issue. You can coach it all day, but without the talent you’re not getting very far. I don’t see a lot of Jackie Bradley Jr, Whit Merrifield or Steve Pearce type talent on this ball club.

A lot of it has to do with what players are taught through private hitting instructors and travel ball. Much different that it was during the popularity of Legion ball where you often had a small college coach coaching the team and teaching the players.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

A lot of it has to do with what players are taught through private hitting instructors and travel ball. Much different that it was during the popularity of Legion ball where you often had a small college coach coaching the team and teaching the players.

Very true. It amazes me how much stock these guys put into their “personal trainers.”

Travel ball is hit and miss. There are some good ones doing it but most are getting taken for a ride and developing bad habits.