• Goags20172
    162
    I thought it was a good time to do a mid- season review of the team, especially since I will probably miss the 2nd half on the DL.

    Before the season I, as goags2014, predicted this team would go 25- 28. After 29 games it looks like kind of a stretch to get to 20 wins unless the Aggies can catch a couple BW teams napping. Grand Canyon is no slouch either. If this team doesn't significantly improve with Razo, Stone, Anderson, and Thomas around for the whole year then this is really a lost season.

    Pitching is supposed to be the hallmark of this team. After all the coach's forte is pitching. ERA- wise this year it's not much better than last year, at about 4.5 earned runs per game.

    Using the ucdavisaggies,com website I found some interesting stats. I've mentioned before that I think the bullpen is mis- used, but I had no idea.

    The Aggies have used 12 pitchers this year. It's not strange that the primary starting pitchers (Garcia, Razo, Mullins, Blais) have accounted for about 64% of the total innings, some of which were also in relief. What is strange that of the remaining innings 68% of them have gone to only 3 people (Stone, Brown, and Peters). These pitchers have accounted for about half the team's losses.

    The remaining 5 pitchers (Loar, Briggs, Hannah, Andres Lara, and Barraza) have combined for only 26 1/3 innings (10.4% of the team total), yet they have combined for a 1- 1 record and a 3.42 ERA, and with 9 walks against 15 strikeouts, are pretty close to the team K/BB ratio. At a run per game better than the team average you'd think some from that group would pitch more often.

    I'm not saying there needs to be an even distribution of innings. Merit ultimately determines that. Most colleges have 1 to 3 guys who pitch very infrequently, that probably would pitch more if they played more than 3- 4 games/week but UCD has FIVE ! Maybe a top 25 team can get away with spamming the same 7 pitchers over and over again. A team that has had two winning seasons from 2008- 2017 cannot afford to turn up its nose at anyone on its staff.

    My next post in this thread will be my opinions of the 12 pitchers. I think I'm tough, but you guys are much tougher on the football and basketball players +coaches. I'm interested in your opinions of them moreso.
  • Goags20172
    162
    And here's the list:

    Robert Garcia: has been a little disappointing as a Friday guy. He hasn't pitched like an ace, but he hasn't been bad. He has done a creditable job keeping the Aggies in games. It's probably unfair to compare this season to last since his sub- 3.00 2016 ERA was more than a little skewed by his early solid relief work.

    Orlando Razo: has been the ace, and had some excellent starts against Utah Valley, Northridge, Creighton, and Cal Poly. I still wouldn't move him to Fridays. He's the one consistent performer in the rotation. Don't mess with success. I think thete's a 50- 50 chance he gets drafted.

    Justin Mullins: you can pretty much count on his games not being pretty. Sunday games are generally not crisply played by this team anyway, so his best hope of a win is to come out on top of a high- scoring game. Not really his fault. He throws a lot of strikes; he just doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. He needs more of those though, because the defense is usually sloppier behind him. Unfortunately on Sundays the opposing hitters are also fully in the swing of things, no pun intended.

    Matt Blais:even with his recent solid starts I wouldn't move him to the weekend yet. His ceiling as a starting pitcher might be Tuesday starter next year, but that's just fine. It's important to note that his starts have mostly come against teams weaker than the ones he would face on the weekend. Remember Max Cordy's junior season ?He earned 8 wins, but only 1 on the weekend. I wouldn't mess with his role.

    Zach Stone: clearly not the same pitcher he was a sophomore, with more walks than strikeouts, but who else would you have close ? Sitting out for a year w/a shoulder injury will do that to you. Still the best of the bullpen

    Blake Peters: still think he's a good pitcher, but I don't think he pitches well in "pressure cooker" types of situations. The best I ever saw him pitch was the 3+ inning relief job against Portland. That wasn't one of those situations. If they're not already doing so in practice games, they should simulate those types of scenarios by having their pitchers enter w/a couple runners on base.

    Chris Brown: why Brown now cow town ? They're trying to use him like a late inning reliever. Every time but one (against SAC State last year) I've seen him pitch he's entered amped- up +walked the leadoff guy (if not additional hitters), and the inning goes downhill from there.. Not sure why he's one of the top 3-used relievers given the results. I think he really could have benefited from a red shirt year as a freshman, given his senior year of us was cut off very early, but the lack of depth from recruiting forced him into being frequently used. I could see him doing well, first as a long reliever/mop- up man, but it's time to give someone else some innings.

    Connor Loar: does UCD have something against JC pitchers ? The only ones I've seen get much work have been in years where they've had a big lack of pitching depth (Hamby anyone ?). He's had maybe one bad game (Fullerton), but has fewer innings than Brown despite pitching better. Not a starting pitcher or closer, but this guy should pitch more.

    Daniel Barraza:he was obviously recruited as a big arm w/potential and a lot less college game experience. From what I saw in the fall game he was good at getting his teammates out (3 scoreless innings), which tells me at the very least he'd probably be a decent D- II pitcher like Zach Williams. I say if you're going to take on a pitching project you've got to get him chances to compete +get better. Otherwise, what's all the work for ?

    Cameron Briggs: I would be ok w/him not pitching if he were a starting infielder, but his playing time at 2B is inconsistent. I saw him pitch last year, and his fastball has a little more zip than the average Aggie pitcher. Let him be a true utility player. There's potential, and they thought enough to hand him the ball in The 9th in a tie game against Utah Valley, then only once since. Needs to pitch more states the broken record...

    Blake Hannah: one of the prized pitchers from the 2015 recruiting class. How does he not pitch more ? Gives 4 solid innings (1run allowed) against Penn State and doesn't pitch after that ? Did he need to throw a no- hitter left- handed while blindfolded ? Penn State isn't exactly a pushover team. I think he's at least as good as Blais.

    Andres Lara:: I've never seen him pitch because he seems to only get into blow- out ballgames.
    So he's a bit short and thin for a pitcher- if he can get outs let him play in meaningful games. Pedro Martinez was an undersized pitcher. The local JC has a guy about his height who's even skinnier and he racks up the strikeouts as a starter. Not the same level of play obviously but short pitchers can still be effective. Realistically Lara's probably just a 1- 2 inning reliever for the Aggies unless he grows a little taller +puts on some weight.
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to Aggie Sports Talk!

AggieSportsTalk.com, the pulse of Aggie athletics. The home of Aggie Pride. Create an account to contribute to the conversation!