Grantland CWS Preview

[We'retheBoss]

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Miami (Florida) (49-15)

The Hurricanes’ pitching talent isn’t quite where Florida’s is, but we should all take a moment to ponder a .311/.422/.465 team batting line, along with 88 stolen bases at an 81.4 percent success rate. This is the best offense left in the tournament — and when we get to LSU, you’ll understand how big of a statement that is. And with senior lefty Andrew Suarez, who went no. 61 overall to San Francisco this week, spearheading a unit that produced the no. 20 team ERA in the country, it’s not like pitching is a huge red flag either.

Miami has David Thompson, who tied with Benintendi and Eastern Kentucky’s Kyle Nowlin for the national lead in home runs this year; Zack Collins, a catcher who hit .303/.448/.593; and Jacob Heyward, who is Jason’s younger brother. The Saturday-night game against Florida is going to be one of the tournament’s best.

Key player: Senior LHP Suarez. This end of the bracket is all about winning Game 1, particularly for the two Florida teams. If Miami does that, it will be on the strength of Suarez.

How college are they? 5. There’s some normal The U uniform weirdness, as well as a curious offensive note: 11 Hurricanes took 100 plate appearances or more this year. Eight of them had an OBP above .400, and nine of them slugged .400 or better. I wouldn’t have that team lay down 56 sacrifice bunts, but head coach Jim Morris sure did.

 

[canedotcom]

thanks for posting.
Go Canes!

 

[4Canes]

How college are they? 5. There’s some normal The U uniform weirdness, as well as a curious offensive note: 11 Hurricanes took 100 plate appearances or more this year. Eight of them had an OBP above .400, and nine of them slugged .400 or better. I wouldn’t have that team lay down 56 sacrifice bunts, but head coach Jim Morris sure did.

and they're in Omaha, so the point is what?

 

[rex karz]

How college are they? 5. There’s some normal The U uniform weirdness, as well as a curious offensive note: 11 Hurricanes took 100 plate appearances or more this year. Eight of them had an OBP above .400, and nine of them slugged .400 or better. I wouldn’t have that team lay down 56 sacrifice bunts, but head coach Jim Morris sure did.

and they're in Omaha, so the point is what?

The point is that Morris loves giving away outs thus neutering his big inning opportunities. The guy doesnt alter his philosophy based upon his current players abilities; he's just stuck on stupid.

 

[QueenOfSpades]

The point is that Morris loves giving away outs thus neutering his big inning opportunities. The guy doesnt alter his philosophy based upon his current players abilities; he's just stuck on stupid.

That's a pretty awful analysis. There is absolutely a time and place for the sacrifice bunt. 56 sac bunts is nothing. That's less than once per game. And more than half of those sac bunts were done by three guys, none of which is a power threat.

 

[We'retheBoss]

The point is that Morris loves giving away outs thus neutering his big inning opportunities. The guy doesnt alter his philosophy based upon his current players abilities; he's just stuck on stupid.

That's a pretty awful analysis. There is absolutely a time and place for the sacrifice bunt. 56 sac bunts is nothing. That's less than once per game. And more than half of those sac bunts were done by three guys, none of which is a power threat.

There is definitely a time and place for a sac bunt, but was Miami in one of those situations almost every game? Figuring win expectancy/run expectancy is one thing. The archaic "give up an out for a base" mentality is another, and Morris seems to be in the latter camp.

OBP may be more important than power to consider when you are giving up outs. The two guys that did the most sacrificing (Barr and Eusebio) are getting on base at a 40% and team-leading 46% clip, respectively.