First, despite being questionably awarded a regional host, UT had the weakest regional of all. Second, UT always has and continues to recruit any kid they want. Unfair comparison
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Earlier in the year when we really were not doing so welI said that for this year I would give Coach Whitting a pass on this year. He does not need a pass. As we were going into conference play we had a good defense, below average offense, and 2 really good pitchers. We won a conference regular season title with this talent. If we had 3 really good pitchers we very well could be headed to the super regional.
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Looking over the roster, if we lose Cumbie, Fletcher (both probable), Davis (likely) and Pulido (heās a Senior this year), weāve got a lot of fire power left. Iāll bet Padgett stays. That means weāre bringing back several pitchers who can develop Bielamowicz, Henry, Pettitte, Villarreal, Hurdsman, Randel, Sundgren, Ott, Bond and Edwards, plus any other we bring in with good arms, we could be deep. I felt that the biggest problem with this yearās staff with experienced depth, they were all so young. Granted there may not be a super start among those Iāve listed, but maybe one will develop or transfer/recruit in.
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Try Tech then. Coach started in 2013. CWS in coachās 2nd year. CWS in 4th year. At least Supers in 6th.
Whitting is doing well, but would love to see him get over the hump
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We have reached a level that puts us in the position of post season EVERY year. We are in the AAC Championship conversation EVERY year. We are in the top 25 rankings every year. Not many of the hundreds of programs can say that.
I want more, but could HAVE lessā¦
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We are now respectable. That is the first step. Second step is to be better during the regular season. The expectations are bigger and that is also a great thing. What you canāt keep doing is expecting wins because of a so called good draw. We fought back during the last few days. That is a great sign but the biggest question is to analyze why we get into these situations. Tactically speaking baseball is very under rated. Coach Whitting clearly has to do better. This is not good enough right now. This is where I would like to see some questions being asked from the top. We wonāt get better until our A.D. reviews the full season. That is part of Coach Whitting and Chrisās job.
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For those demanding more. Just remember there is a greater chance of going down with a new hire versus getting better
I am like everyone else. I want to see us in the CWS. I still think Whitting can get us there. It is not as easy as everyone thinks. Graham at Rice had some really great teams with a few Major Leaguers and he one the CWS once and made it to the CWS I believe twice.
To get there takes talents, timing, and good breaks. We have been close, just not quite there.
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He didnāt tolerate walks, but we didnāt have the depth this year on the pitching staff to overcome that. Iāve seen some complaining that he didnāt develop this staff enough early in the season, or that he pitched Pulido too much, or, hell, the fact that he pulled Randel in the first game yesterday even though he was giving up walks. We canāt have it both ways. This was a very young staff outside of Pulido, Ott, Fletcher, and Cumbieā¦could be a reason that Anderson decided to leave as well.
Heās different, but give him some time at least. He didnāt recruit this staff, he came in and did the best with what he had even though this isnāt a typical staff that heās had in the past as he mostly has handled harder throwers. At some point, the players have to perform. Look at our midweek starters this year; other than Aguilar and maybe Lockhart, none of them performed to the level we needed to them no matter how many guys were thrown in that spot. And, Rooney would take them out if they got too wild or got hitā¦just couldnāt find success. Is that on Rooney or was it just the talent we had?
As far as getting over the hump with Whiting, we were one missed call at the plate and one bad ball/strike from winning that winnerās bracket game over UNC and having a good shot at moving on. If even one of those calls go our way, we at least go to extras where anything can happen. If both go our way, Davisās homer in the 9th is the deciding factor.
As for the future, we have the development facility which will help a ton with recruiting. The main thing though is getting more supportā¦same as any other sport. Need to donate, need to come out to the park, need get behind this team. Not saying that those on this board donāt, because we all probably do, but weāre basically performing at the top level we can right now with the resources at our disposal.
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https://twitter.com/JeremyBranham/status/1003478871646310400
https://twitter.com/bubbamaxwell/status/1003476909735448582
https://twitter.com/mpedeuhaa/status/1003474676859985920
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Great posts. Thank you Patrick.
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Patrick
Your statements above were on point.
I donāt understand people being critical of Whitting. We are a consistent tournament team. There are a lot of factors that play into getting to the CWS. Look at all the top seeds that will not make the Super Regionals this year.
Regarding the assistants, this recruiting year will give us a better indication of how good our new assistants are . The talent they bring in and how they develop.
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