Good example of Will getting short to the ball. He’ll hopefully get there more consistently as the season progresses. 100% team let him sit in the 9 hole and figure it out.
I started select ball around 10 and I had a blast the entire time. Going to the slump buster in Omaha then turning around watching the CWS at Rosenblatt is one of the highlights of my life. Weekends doing nothing but playing baseball and staying in hotels if it was far enough (we were the little shits playing tag up and down the place hotel) was peak for me in the summers. Once I got into high school some of the friends I played with or against throughout the years didn’t love it enough anymore which was sad to see because they were usually only there because of the parents forcing them. A lot of us were multi-sport athletes so during fall ball it was football all week, then film on Saturday and a double header on Sunday. They were good players too but it was obvious burn out had set in and it was taking the joy out of other sports they played. Select ball is fun but there is a stopping point for some and watching parents live through their kids is a miserable scene.
Yeah there’s nothing I don’t disagree with here but most programs with the expectations that we do have good coaches but fall short on arrival. Texas isn’t the only one. I think the ‘20 roster was very complete with the pitching staff that would have been one of the elites in the past decade. Then in ‘21 we were pretty stout but blew our wad in game 1 against the eventual champs (winner of the elimination game to face vandy in the finals was the actual CWS champ imo). Hopefully as our NIL gets stronger we’ll see more Gasparino’s come our way with better luck in the injury department.
Of course but my original point was expectations can be way off only 2 weeks in the season and Pierce has proven to do more with less. Thomas looked lost in the field as a freshman but turned it on later in the season and was one of the best players. We have a handful this year that can easily follow that trajectory.
I’m not discounting what the standard should be either. Getting to the CWS is damn hard and this program has pretty much made it a tradition. But Pierce addressed his pitching holes in the portal and then bad injury luck happened, what is he supposed to do? In the filed let’s see how Flores, Galvin, and Gasparino develop before we declare anything substantial.
I think that is always said on here during the early parts of the season and by conference play they’re in good form. Hell, we were a fly ball in the lights from going to the CWS with Daly and O’Dowd up the middle.
It’s a young squad especially in some key areas and it’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster for the early stretches but we’ll be fine.
Probably would have just kicked O’Dowd completely out and had Max DH with Jayden/Dee at second or just pick second and DH between Jayden/Dee.
Goofy lineup cards are back!
Didn’t Jayden Duplantier start a couple times last year? He made some errors but I’d imagine he could be an option at second if he’s developed over the offseason.
I hope people don’t forget that Powell’s first start was at 1st base against Fullerton. He was kinda the unspoken utility guy for us and eventually shuffled to 3rd and found a home. Powell struggled at times with errors but for the first time since he’s stepped foot on campus, he knows exactly what his role is going to be. I’m excited to see him to take that next step in his game. Helluva story
I don’t remember who described this class of freshman and the next as being different in terms of player types, but you can definitely see it. They look bigger and more athletic.
With Jackson, we only needed a guy that could handle the personalities in the wr and of course develop. Recruiting wr at Texas with Sark as its coach is pretty easy, and you could see Jackson’s Development angle in the NFL. There isn’t a whole lot of data for Baker in any of those directions. This is a pretty big gamble from Sark imo.