I wanted to take a few days to kind of move past Monday, because Monday was sort of rough. I really thought this team was going to compete for a national title. The season closing on Monday night wasn't a thought process I even entertained.
1. I really didn't expect Ole Miss to lose that game on Monday night. I thought the 12 p.m. game was certainly possible, but Tennessee Tech had nothing left.
I thought Fowler was a good matchup against them, and he was. He went after them, and they struggled. I never in my wildest dreams expected this team to score two runs against midweek OVC pitching.
Some if it was just "That's baseball" but some of it, especially late, was a lot of tight and choppy swings. I'm not sure I agree with the approaches being bad, I thought they just didn't do much with very hittable fastballs. It sucks, because that didn't happen once all year. Nobody, outside of Walters at Alabama, shut Ole Miss down like that.
2. Making a change at the head coaching position is not a good idea, and I'll leave that there. I was critical of a lot of things Mike did this year, but wanting to go in a different direction isn't what Ole Miss needs.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, Ole Miss has won one regional in nine years. That's not acceptable, and they know that over there in the baseball offices. They have to win next year. There has to be a super regional appearance next season, or there has to be some serious soul searching. I thought they were ahead of schedule in terms of what they did in the regular season this year, but that doesn't make Monday feel any better.
3. I'll get blasted for this, but I thought throwing James McArthur out there against Tennessee Tech was a crime. I told @Chase Parham on Sunday night when I was covering Tennessee Tech/Missouri State that I really needed Missouri State to win that game because McArthur was a horrible matchup. If he was out of the zone, he was going to get killed. If he was in the zone, I still didn't think it was going to go well.
I thought Fowler should have gone in game one, and maybe Roth in game two. I don't think McArthur should have gone. I still contend that Ethridge should have been used in the role that he was in all year, but with that being said I didn't like McArthur in that matchup. I think that's my biggest criticism of Mike is that he doesn't really adjust to matchups. Everyone with eyeballs knew that McArthur was struggling against that offense.
4. I mentioned it, but it's time to discuss what the program's problem is in the postseason, and I'm not sure what the answer is.
Firing Bianco isn't an option and isn't the answer. I don't really think that it's a coaching staff issue either. Everyone complains about Laff and needing a pitching coach, but there's not this elite level talent without Laff. He's the best recruiter in the country. So, hiring this pitching coach is going to hurt your recruiting. I don't really think that's an option.
Clement is one of the better hitting coaches in the country, and Ole Miss is lucky to have him on this staff. He's going to be a head coach sooner than later, and he's going to make a very successful one IMHO.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know why this program doesn't have the postseason success that it probably deserves, but it's probably time to classify it as a them more than just bad luck.
5. They're going to be really good next year, and I think they may be even better because of the experience that Dillard and Kessinger and those type guys have. I think Zabowski has a really big 2018, and I think Dillard breaks records.
Ethridge will be great on Friday nights. Fowler will be one of the better Saturday/Sunday options in the league. I think Caracci vies for one of the other weekend spots, and I'm pretty confident if he's in the rotation he'll kill it. I'm interested in Holston in the closer role. He has a power fastball and a solid slider. I like him in that role. Roth will be the Aaron Greenwood type guy, IMO. Not sure what to make of Cioffi, and I'm not sure what's up with Austin Miller. He wasn't on the travel roster.
There's only two spots to replace in a lineup that was one of the best in the country, and while Fortes and Golsan were great for this program, that's a lot of experience coming back.
Early projection is that they're a 6-8 National seed next year. And at that point, they really would need to break through and get to Omaha.
1. I really didn't expect Ole Miss to lose that game on Monday night. I thought the 12 p.m. game was certainly possible, but Tennessee Tech had nothing left.
I thought Fowler was a good matchup against them, and he was. He went after them, and they struggled. I never in my wildest dreams expected this team to score two runs against midweek OVC pitching.
Some if it was just "That's baseball" but some of it, especially late, was a lot of tight and choppy swings. I'm not sure I agree with the approaches being bad, I thought they just didn't do much with very hittable fastballs. It sucks, because that didn't happen once all year. Nobody, outside of Walters at Alabama, shut Ole Miss down like that.
2. Making a change at the head coaching position is not a good idea, and I'll leave that there. I was critical of a lot of things Mike did this year, but wanting to go in a different direction isn't what Ole Miss needs.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, Ole Miss has won one regional in nine years. That's not acceptable, and they know that over there in the baseball offices. They have to win next year. There has to be a super regional appearance next season, or there has to be some serious soul searching. I thought they were ahead of schedule in terms of what they did in the regular season this year, but that doesn't make Monday feel any better.
3. I'll get blasted for this, but I thought throwing James McArthur out there against Tennessee Tech was a crime. I told @Chase Parham on Sunday night when I was covering Tennessee Tech/Missouri State that I really needed Missouri State to win that game because McArthur was a horrible matchup. If he was out of the zone, he was going to get killed. If he was in the zone, I still didn't think it was going to go well.
I thought Fowler should have gone in game one, and maybe Roth in game two. I don't think McArthur should have gone. I still contend that Ethridge should have been used in the role that he was in all year, but with that being said I didn't like McArthur in that matchup. I think that's my biggest criticism of Mike is that he doesn't really adjust to matchups. Everyone with eyeballs knew that McArthur was struggling against that offense.
4. I mentioned it, but it's time to discuss what the program's problem is in the postseason, and I'm not sure what the answer is.
Firing Bianco isn't an option and isn't the answer. I don't really think that it's a coaching staff issue either. Everyone complains about Laff and needing a pitching coach, but there's not this elite level talent without Laff. He's the best recruiter in the country. So, hiring this pitching coach is going to hurt your recruiting. I don't really think that's an option.
Clement is one of the better hitting coaches in the country, and Ole Miss is lucky to have him on this staff. He's going to be a head coach sooner than later, and he's going to make a very successful one IMHO.
I don't know what the answer is. I don't know why this program doesn't have the postseason success that it probably deserves, but it's probably time to classify it as a them more than just bad luck.
5. They're going to be really good next year, and I think they may be even better because of the experience that Dillard and Kessinger and those type guys have. I think Zabowski has a really big 2018, and I think Dillard breaks records.
Ethridge will be great on Friday nights. Fowler will be one of the better Saturday/Sunday options in the league. I think Caracci vies for one of the other weekend spots, and I'm pretty confident if he's in the rotation he'll kill it. I'm interested in Holston in the closer role. He has a power fastball and a solid slider. I like him in that role. Roth will be the Aaron Greenwood type guy, IMO. Not sure what to make of Cioffi, and I'm not sure what's up with Austin Miller. He wasn't on the travel roster.
There's only two spots to replace in a lineup that was one of the best in the country, and while Fortes and Golsan were great for this program, that's a lot of experience coming back.
Early projection is that they're a 6-8 National seed next year. And at that point, they really would need to break through and get to Omaha.
