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Hey USC baseball gurus.....

Freddie.B.Cocky

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2002
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So that I don't get my expectations too high, what is everyone's prognostications relative to this team based on what you have observed thus far?
 
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I saw someone has us #35 preseason. About 8 other SEC teams ahead of us. So unless this is the start of the climb back to the top 5 status, probably middle of the pack team. Maybe host a regional if we play well. Got a good chance to win the series against clemson, so that's a huge positive!
 
3 pitchers so far needing tommy johns surgery and the season hasn't even started..

Who other than Harley?

No one - he's making crap up. The staff is actually pretty healthy as of right now, although it remains to be seen how some of the guys returning from injury look when the season starts.

Back to Freddy's question, though - I'm optimistic about the season. The staff will be much better, and the overall quality and depth of the field players will be improved. The ceiling will be hosting NCAA games and making the Supers, the floor will be not making the post-season at all. The SEC is stacked, but I think that we make the NCAA's as a 2 or 3 seed.
 
3 pitchers so far needing tommy johns surgery and the season hasn't even started..
Dylan Harley is the only pitcher I’ve heard of that is done for the season. Who are the other 2?
So in other words, they barely have enough talent and healthy players to make it to the round of 64. That is kind of what I figured but didn't really know.
National pundits tend to forecast off the previous season. This year’s edition of the yardcocks has several key returning players. Mlodzinski, Kerry, and Lloyd look to fill huge roles on the mound as weekend starters and closer respectively. Wes Clarke has been mentioned as the most improved player and should fill 1b nicely. Calill and Eyster return this year at SS and RF respectively. Noah Campbell looks to move from 2b to LF as Jeff Heinrich has impessed early on at 2b. This year’s roster has 16 newcomers, several jucos like Noah Meyers who stole 70 bases last season playing CF, and Brannon Jordan who will be the Sunday starter this weekend. Transfer Dallas Beaver from ucf will start behind the plate, and true freshman Brennan Milone looks to have locked down 3rd. Bryant Bowen is another name to remember. He’s a transfer from southern miss who may just DH, but can catch, or play 1b, 3b , or OF. There’s a lot of depth on this team this year and they should be very competitive. However with so many newcomers, it’s hard to say how far this team can go, but my guess is top 3 in the sec East, and regional host
 
Phenomenon is going on across country. Stems from overuse of arms probably at club pre high school years and hs showcase circuits. A lot of arms with a lot of wear and tear prior to setting foot on campus.
 
Losing midweek games used to be a non occurrence in this program and we would have a good reliever or a 4/5 guy that could carry the game and hand it to guys we used to call set up & closer. We also used to put of 5,6,7,8 runs & this would work out. These losses have grown more the last few years and make it hard to repair our overall resume.

so my “pipe dream between 18 games before SEC play & 8 midweek games during conference. 20 & 6, realistically 15 & 11, the committee almost requires you to be at 500, or a game or two better in conference play, that’s 15&15, I tense up wondering how can we do that. So 30&26, likely puts us on a precarious bubble.....

we need some surprises 35&21, better, 40 &16, likely miracle status & a reasonable shot at hosting
 
Losing midweek games used to be a non occurrence in this program and we would have a good reliever or a 4/5 guy that could carry the game and hand it to guys we used to call set up & closer. We also used to put of 5,6,7,8 runs & this would work out. These losses have grown more the last few years and make it hard to repair our overall resume.

so my “pipe dream between 18 games before SEC play & 8 midweek games during conference. 20 & 6, realistically 15 & 11, the committee almost requires you to be at 500, or a game or two better in conference play, that’s 15&15, I tense up wondering how can we do that. So 30&26, likely puts us on a precarious bubble.....

we need some surprises 35&21, better, 40 &16, likely miracle status & a reasonable shot at hosting

Good analysis.
 
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What is the reason for so many players needing Tommy John surgery?

Generally throwing too much when younger. There are 8th graders getting TJ surgery now.

It’s a reason why a lot of great pitchers come from the NE, because of weather the kids don’t play year round like Southern kids do.
 
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Generally throwing too much when younger. There are 8th graders getting TJ surgery now.

It’s a reason why a lot of great pitchers come from the NE, because of weather the kids don’t play year round like Southern kids do.

yea and our guys go play summer ball in cape cod ...
 
It’s a reason why a lot of great pitchers come from the NE, because of weather the kids don’t play year round like Southern kids do.

Snow balls ... it's because they practice in the off season with snowballs. They're made from a special kind of water that you can't get down here. Same with Pizza.
 
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What is the reason for so many players needing Tommy John surgery?
Travel ball. Or at least the fact that so many kids now are playing a single sport year round. Ask any sports medicine or orthopedic surgeon and they will tell you kids need to play 3-4 different sports a year. In my sons school the varsity baseball team is full of kids that play year round (even though the head coach tells them not to). Almost none play football because they are afraid of getting hurt. The problem with baseball is that it is the most asymmetrical sport. A disproportionate amount of work/stress is placed on the throwing arm and shoulder. I had an Orthopedic Dr recently tell me he sees kids who have lost full range of motion in their throwing arm/shoulder because they have overworked that one set of muscles (ex. Internal rotation of the shoulder).
 
Phenomenon is going on across country. Stems from overuse of arms probably at club pre high school years and hs showcase circuits. A lot of arms with a lot of wear and tear prior to setting foot on campus.

This doesn't sound like something new.
 
We have an ace and that bodes well for winning regular season games. Pitching depth is what helps you advance in the postseason in college baseball. Remains to be seen if we have that yet.
 
Travel ball. Or at least the fact that so many kids now are playing a single sport year round. Ask any sports medicine or orthopedic surgeon and they will tell you kids need to play 3-4 different sports a year. In my sons school the varsity baseball team is full of kids that play year round (even though the head coach tells them not to). Almost none play football because they are afraid of getting hurt. The problem with baseball is that it is the most asymmetrical sport. A disproportionate amount of work/stress is placed on the throwing arm and shoulder. I had an Orthopedic Dr recently tell me he sees kids who have lost full range of motion in their throwing arm/shoulder because they have overworked that one set of muscles (ex. Internal rotation of the shoulder).

WOW! Very interesting. It sounds like kids are applying incorrect logic relative to baseball. It's not the more one plays that will make one better- at least in playing baseball year round.
 
It's not the kids. It's the parents and coaches.
Glad you mentioned parents. They don't get enough of the blame imo. Kid might play on a travel team that plays 2 weekend tournaments a month, yet the same kid will play as a pick up player for someone else the other two weekends. Thanks in large part to a parent thinking Little Johnny needs to pitch more. That imo is the biggest problem of all.
 
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