Game 10: @ FAU 2/25/26

[QuattroCane]

Not to go down a rabbit hole but we’re not near the top of baseball NIL and facilities at this point.
The money some schools have put in to their programs is major.
As an example Southern Miss has an amazing setup because they know they can’t compete in football so they spend in a different way.
I’d say we are mid second tier, which makes sense with the size of our school and really where you’d expect us to be, past history aside.

 

[sms4]

If Collera is gonna be in the pen he needs to be a late inning guy not the 6th inning , Dorn will be fine but what I don’t get is - Where was Coats last night ? Why did Cooney go back out for a second inning ? Bilka’s stuff is there but we can’t have multiple WP’s ….. Defense needs to improve but you can’t argue 10 - 0 ! ! Maybe have Cam Ward come throw out the first pitch Friday and exorcise some demons

 

[Pentagon Cane]

I agree the season really starts on Friday vs UF.

That being said, why is it that our fanbase is the seemingly the only one that seems to melt down over midweek baseball. Just yesterday:

McNeese St beats LSU
Arkansas St beats Arkansas
San Diego St beats UCLA

Midweek baseball is always chaos. At least we've won ours so far

Georgia State beat Georgia Tech. Arkansas then turned around and beat Arkansas State 1-0 last night. Florida got into a slugfest against FIU on Tuesday. I will say we play a tougher midweek schedule then most. The FIUs, FAUs, UCFs, FGCUs get up for these games.

 

[clg003]

Fair. His numbers last year were horrendous, no doubt about it.

That said, his underlying data was quite good. HR/FB% is notoriously volatile and the number he had last year was outlier territory. 29.0% of the fly balls he allowed last year left the yard. That has nearly a 0% chance of happening again this year.

He reduced his BB% by a third, while increasing his K% by 75%.

His batted ball profile was largely unchanged, other than a few of the previous ground balls turned into fly balls (which almost seemed to leave the yard). The Left on Base % was a below average 68% (typically you'll see this between 70-75%).

Add it up and his Situational ERA was an outstanding 2.95. The predictive power of that is limited, but combine it with the K%-BB% gains and you should expect him to be a ~4 ERA pitcher if the gains in K% hold.

I’m not even looking at his numbers. I’m looking at his stuff. It’s straight and comes from a batting machine slot, deception level is zero. I don’t care if he was throwing 95 I wouldn’t want him as a midweek starter. I would trade him for that kid who threw against us last night. 10 strikeouts with a super mid fastball, but deception. Was as effective giant righties as lefties. This staff seems to value things that I don’t understand.

 

[DieHardCane27]

I’m not even looking at his numbers. I’m looking at his stuff. It’s straight and comes from a batting machine slot, deception level is zero. I don’t care if he was throwing 95 I wouldn’t want him as a midweek starter. I would trade him for that kid who threw against us last night. 10 strikeouts with a super mid fastball, but deception. Was as effective giant righties as lefties. This staff seems to value things that I don’t understand.

Well JD likes Robert because there's a perception that you need big tall pitchers and he checks that box. But height is useless if you can't locate or be deceptive consistently.

 

[Allabouttheu95]

I’m not even looking at his numbers. I’m looking at his stuff. It’s straight and comes from a batting machine slot, deception level is zero. I don’t care if he was throwing 95 I wouldn’t want him as a midweek starter. I would trade him for that kid who threw against us last night. 10 strikeouts with a super mid fastball, but deception. Was as effective giant righties as lefties. This staff seems to value things that I don’t understand.

You are absolutely Right. Robert’s fastball is BP

 

[Plymouth99]

If Collera is gonna be in the pen he needs to be a late inning guy not the 6th inning , Dorn will be fine but what I don’t get is - Where was Coats last night ? Why did Cooney go back out for a second inning ? Bilka’s stuff is there but we can’t have multiple WP’s ….. Defense needs to improve but you can’t argue 10 - 0 ! ! Maybe have Cam Ward come throw out the first pitch Friday and exorcise some demons

Collera was doing a bullpen type thing. He has to be out Saturday night guy.
I'm a big fan of Dorn for a 2-4 innings relief guy. Like Sully uses his long relief on the weekend.
That back end of the bullpen kept we up last night.

 

[clg003]

Well JD likes Robert because there's a perception that you need big tall pitchers and he checks that box. But height is useless if you can't locate or be deceptive consistently.

Exactly… height and size matter for durability, slot and deception. 91 isn’t a worry for durability that matters for high 90s guys. Greg Maddux wasn’t stressing his elbow.