All Things Gopher Baseball

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Yes I agree. We will get to see George Klassen and his 100 FB. Then Liffrig who played well last year.
But too many errors and hitting was erratic.
Announcers said Craig Counsell will be there today and then on to Ft Meyers.
 

Pitching was a struggle tonight. I do think FAU is a pretty good offensive team but just too many free bases and FAU cashed them in. Defense was a struggle all weekend, have to be much much better in the field.
 





I hate to say it but something clearly isn't working with the pitching development.

Year : Innings : BB + HBP : Avg
2015 : 450.0 : 256 : .569
2016 : 513.1 : 263 : .512
2017 : 515.0 : 283 : .550
2018 : 534.1 : 247 : .462
2019 : 500.2 : 339 : .677
2020 : 161.0 : 156 : .969
2021 : 312.2 : 298 : .953
2022 : 33.0 : 36 : 1.091

When you are giving up an average of 1 free base each inning you can't win many games.
 

Yep. Not sure if it's teaching and development or bad recruiting. Seems they always pitched and recruited pretty well before Oates sadly passed.
 

Damn u guys give up pretty easy. It is the first weekend and outside.
 

I did say it was only 1 weekend. Just concerned about how it appears and similar to last year. High hopes they turn it around! Go Gophs!
 



I don't think anyone has given up. Just that we're concerned that the trend of the past few years is peeking its head around the corner again.

We all know that early in a season it's all about trying new guys and seeing who can go.

I do know that FAU is a very decent program that expects to make the NCAAs every season. It's difficult to tell where we stand at the moment. Purdue is 4-0 after sweeping South Dakota State. Iowa is 3-0 after beating Air Force, Ball State and Bucknell. Is that impressive? Maybe

Indiana is 0-3 after getting swept by Clemson. Chances are Clemson is a little better than South Dakota State.
 

After having a chance to think it over, I think the hitting is better than I expected.
The pitching will be fine but it is clear we do not have enough depth for a weekend like this.
Ireland, Maldonado, Massey, Clausen, and Malec will be fine. Others it is too early to tell.
they need to sort out MIF as it is a big question mark right now.
I think they will be fine if MIF gets sorted and they cut down the walks.
 

Not giving up on anything. Good KNight, we know you are attached to this team. Some of us have been tied to the Gopher baseball since the 1970's, so no one is giving up. But the pitching trend has been puzzling, the walks, the downfall of pitchers like Fredrickson, Massey and others. Massey has been given every chance to come through for 4 years now and he still can't find the plate. Long ways to go.
 

Watching every inning of the 4 games I'm not near as concerned about the pitching as I was last season. Guys were around the plate a lot more, stuff looked better, and I think FAU is a pretty good offense. Lot of the walks this weekend were long at bats where guys threw multiple strikes and FAU hitters did a good job of fighting them off and ended up winning the battle. I also think FAU has a pretty good offense with a number of guys returning from a good hitting team last season. We also had a number of guys making their return to game action in a long time from injury like Klassen, Ireland, Rooney, Gurka. I expect the free passes to go down this weekend and as we go this season.
Actually after this first series the thing I'm most concerned with is the defense. Hoping that more reps will help it progress but it was very very shaky in a number of spots.
 




Time to get things rolling this weekend.
Friday vs Northeastern
Saturday/Sunday vs Indiana State

Ireland goes tonight. Maldonado on Saturday and Massey on Sunday. Any idea what kind of pitch count Maldonado will be on this weekend? Go Gophers!
 


Ireland has been great both starts. Need others to step up. Good start to weekend.
 
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Ouch, this baseball team is not good. Too many runs given to the opponent!
 


Maldonado was so-so. I didn't get the decision to go to DeLuga and it all went downhill from there. Offense really struggled today against the Indiana State ace. Need to bounceback tomorrow and finish Florida with a win heading into a couple weeks at US Bank.
 

What happened to Cody Kelly? I thought he was a pretty higly rated recruit. Jack's hitting has been a pleasant surprise so far after last season.
 

Lincoln gopher said:
What happened to Cody Kelly? I thought he was a pretty higly rated recruit. Jack's hitting has been a pleasant surprise so far after last season.
Click to expand...
Transferred to North Iowa CC this fall. Was pretty highly thought and after a good start to his college career he really struggled the rest of the year in limited PT. I kinda wonder if part of it was with Stanke back he was kinda blocked at catcher for another year and just wanted to play. Anderson was very very high on Jack having a good season this spring. Grimm and Massey were two other guys he thought were primed for bounce back type seasons.
 

6-1 lead after 3. Still leading 6-3 in the 8th with one of your bullpen arms who has looked the best this season on the mound and your closer rested and somehow it turns into a 13-6 deficit after the top of the 8th. A freaking 10 run 8th inning just inexcusable, absolutely atrocious.
Offensively after those first 3 innings you really did nothing at the plate and you have to keep adding on but this team failed to do so against the Indiana State bullpen. Really disappointed right now and if you asked me about an hour ago I would've been encouraged looking at the performance and seeing some guys like Massey, Bork, and Kelly have some success.
 


Goldy Gopher said:
Transferred to North Iowa CC this fall. Was pretty highly thought and after a good start to his college career he really struggled the rest of the year in limited PT. I kinda wonder if part of it was with Stanke back he was kinda blocked at catcher for another year and just wanted to play. Anderson was very very high on Jack having a good season this spring. Grimm and Massey were two other guys he thought were primed for bounce back type seasons.
Click to expand...
Your answer is exactly right on Cody Kelly - big time player, could have been a great addition to the lineup in one way or another.
 

Goldy Gopher said:
Watching every inning of the 4 games I'm not near as concerned about the pitching as I was last season. Guys were around the plate a lot more, stuff looked better, and I think FAU is a pretty good offense. Lot of the walks this weekend were long at bats where guys threw multiple strikes and FAU hitters did a good job of fighting them off and ended up winning the battle. I also think FAU has a pretty good offense with a number of guys returning from a good hitting team last season. We also had a number of guys making their return to game action in a long time from injury like Klassen, Ireland, Rooney, Gurka. I expect the free passes to go down this weekend and as we go this season.
Actually after this first series the thing I'm most concerned with is the defense. Hoping that more reps will help it progress but it was very very shaky in a number of spots.
Click to expand...
Let me know when you are getting concerned.
 

St. Thomas tomorrow and SDSU Wednesday at US Bank. Need a couple of well played wins in these two and hopefully can gain some confidence with some very good teams coming the Minneapolis this weekend.
 

Liffrig tonight and Holetz tomorrow. Really hoping the boys can bounce back and right the ship. I won't be able to make it out to the games until this weekend.

I must say I don't care about the Tommies at all but of all the sports I'm glad that they are D1 in baseball. Gives the youths in our state more options to play at beyond high school. So good luck Tommies....except when you play the Gophers.
 


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