Texas v. Nebraska - Game #3

[carrolltonsker]

Hi to all. Sorry to have missed the "win" over the whorns. Saturday night, I came down with a stomach ache, and in the morning, it developed into the creeping cruds and sick as a dog. (Sick as a dog??....what's that mean? :lol: ). In any case, a lot better today.

Congrats to the Huskers, winning 1 out of 3, once more :sarcastic:

BTW, tomorrow's game vs. Creighton, at TD Americatrade, will be on ESPNU. Check it out. See you all later. :wave:

Sorry you were "under the weather." Niederklein pitched very well. They will have to play Tuesday night without me. I will check in when I get home. I may be able to catch the very end of the game.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Athletic ability does not equate to baseball hitting ability. There are a lot of world-class athletes out there who can't touch a fast ball or a slider. The hand-eye coordination necessary to hit a baseball is God-given. Yes, hopefully a coach can make you better, but it doesn't always happen. There are dozens of high school draftees every year who never get close to sniffing the majors because they find that high school pitching is a lot different than what they face at the next level. I am afraid that Kyree falls into that category.

Michael Jordan! :stirthepot:

 

[Huskerlicious Lee]

Should be a clause in all the NU coaching contracts, after 3 years if you finish last in the conference, you agree to resign.

good Thot, Doc!

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

Athletic ability does not equate to baseball hitting ability. There are a lot of world-class athletes out there who can't touch a fast ball or a slider. The hand-eye coordination necessary to hit a baseball is God-given. Yes, hopefully a coach can make you better, but it doesn't always happen. There are dozens of high school draftees every year who never get close to sniffing the majors because they find that high school pitching is a lot different than what they face at the next level. I am afraid that Kyree falls into that category.

yes... i understand the hand-eye coordination... but again, cooper obviously has a level of hand-eye coordination (combined with athletic ability) that major league scouts saw.... and not only saw, but were impressed enough to make him a 5th round draft pick. sure, i realize that many/most never make it to the majors...but it seems quite a stretch that he couldn't even make it in college if the pro scouts saw something (a long ways from the majors considering the minors are still a level between). i've seen plenty of players come to nebraska recently that don't seem to show any significant improvement. i just don't buy that they peaked in high school.

and again.... if you can hit a 93mph fastball (seems cooper is capable as he hit .258 his second season at NU), you can hit a 74mph off-speed pitch with the right plate discipline.... there's not a lack of hand-eye coordination if you can see and react to the 93mph fastball... but there is a lack of patience if you struggle with the offspeed stuff. patience, patience, patience is always stressed by coaching teaching kids how to hit a curve or the like. he obviously has the talent... hand-eye... athletic ability... to hit a fastball. but he doesn't have the plate discipline to hit a curve, changeup, slider or whatever. like i said in another thread.... if you are taught plate discipline, you'll avoid a lot of pitches out of the strike zone (which is a higher percentage with the offspeed stuff and the fastballs). if you struggle with the offspeed stuff, make the pitcher work to get it over the plate. draw more walks. as i also noted, NU is 176th nationally in drawing walks. they have no plate discipline.... it's extremely obvious. that's poor coaching there. someone needs to teach these kids to wait on pitches and rack up counts on the opposing pitchers.

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

quoting myself:

Now running with that last paragraph (in bold)... emphasis is on plate discipline... generating base runners by taking bad pitches and reaching base = a more productive offense....forcing the opposition to throw more pitches...forcing the opposing pitcher to get behind in counts, rack up his pitch count, and he becomes more vulnerable in many ways. Value.

The past three seasons (current, 2010, and 2009), Nebraska has allowed more walks than they've earned offensively. Not only that, our offense's walks per game is the lowest it has been -- 1999 to current (that's all the stats huskers.com has available). Oh, and of those 13 seasons, 1999-current.... the three lowest in walks per game have been the past three seasons -- and also (not by coincidence), Nebraska's worst three seasons.

NU's offense:
3.17 walks per game in 2011. That ranks as 176th nationally.
3.74 in 2010.
3.65 in 2009.

Sure, Erstad should share some of the blame... though we all know that the head coach works with the batters in practice... and probably (hopefully) even more so with a first time asst in Erstad. Anderson's experience would have him working with the batters. Anderson should be teaching the value of walks. Any hitter -- regardless of his talent and athletic ability -- should learn to read pitches -- and avoid bad pitches whenever possible. Never shy away from a free pass. That's coaching right there, folks. If Anderson truly does have ability as a hitting coach, he needs to get his butt more involved and correct this serious problem. And yes, that's coaching.

The Van Horn coached teams had his offenses walking at a rate of 5.05 per game. HUGE difference between then and now. Not only is that two more base runners per game -- but also suggests a higher pitch count for the opposing pitcher -- and likely in other ABs as well that didn't draw walks but forced the pitcher to throw more down the middle of the plate. The 2001 CWS team walked at a rate of 5.5 per game (most since 1999) -- even though they likely had hitters with more raw talent than now -- they knew very well the value of walks -- the best, well-coached hitters do. And yes, no doubt Van Horn was working with the batters plenty. I saw such scenes many times during his tenure in Lincoln. I'm increasingly convinced that Mike Anderson (a holdover from the Sanders era) was a puppet asst coach that Van Horn was able to mask with his own abilities as a coach. And if you wish to give Anderson some of the credit for this much better walk rate, then it likely proves that's where he belongs -- coaching the batters -- and NOT managing a team.

Plate discipline. Taking pitches. Patience. Productive offense. Win games. That's gone now, fellow Husker fans. We now prefer to walk more of our opponent's batters than take our own free passes. Nebraska batters are making it easier on the opposition's pitchers -- because they simply are not patient at the plate. That there is coaching. Not athletic talent. You can be a mediocre offensive talent and learn plate discipline. Make the opposing pitchers work. Coaching. Teaching. Showing that winning isn't all about swinging for the fences. Coaching. This isn't about lacking in talent. This is about lacking in baseball I.Q. and the one man most responsible for baseball I.Q. is the head coach. Teaching. Coaching. Maximizing abilities. Understanding the mental aspect of baseball. Baseball is the most cerebral of all team sports. Value for those who recognize that. Value for those who can teach that.

 

[ThotDoc]

Wow, HWM. The more we talk about this subject, the more you have to say.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Sorry you were "under the weather." Niederklein pitched very well. They will have to play Tuesday night without me. I will check in when I get home. I may be able to catch the very end of the game.

OK, I will be here. :wave:

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

Wow, HWM. The more we talk about this subject, the more you have to say.

i'm pretty adamant on MA's lack of player development skills. i witnessed the pelinis take a bunch of bigtime underachieving defenders and turn them into NFL talents. i've seen MA turn a bunch of players into no better than they were coming out of high school (and questionably worse). there's so much about understanding strengths and weaknesses and putting players in position to maximize there strengths... on top of improving their talents. and it can be done -- on any team at any level in sports. it takes a coach that knows how to mould a team. and you can be certain that bo and carl took players who wouldn't have been drafted and made them draftable... and took players who would have been drafted a round or two later and made them millions more because of what they were taught at NU. mike anderson = kevin cosgrove.

oh... and i replied to your email!

 

[huskerborn]

yes... i understand the hand-eye coordination... but again, cooper obviously has a level of hand-eye coordination (combined with athletic ability) that major league scouts saw.... and not only saw, but were impressed enough to make him a 5th round draft pick. sure, i realize that many/most never make it to the majors...but it seems quite a stretch that he couldn't even make it in college if the pro scouts saw something (a long ways from the majors considering the minors are still a level between). i've seen plenty of players come to nebraska recently that don't seem to show any significant improvement. i just don't buy that they peaked in high school.

and again.... if you can hit a 93mph fastball (seems cooper is capable as he hit .258 his second season at NU), you can hit a 74mph off-speed pitch with the right plate discipline.... there's not a lack of hand-eye coordination if you can see and react to the 93mph fastball... but there is a lack of patience if you struggle with the offspeed stuff. patience, patience, patience is always stressed by coaching teaching kids how to hit a curve or the like. he obviously has the talent... hand-eye... athletic ability... to hit a fastball. but he doesn't have the plate discipline to hit a curve, changeup, slider or whatever. like i said in another thread.... if you are taught plate discipline, you'll avoid a lot of pitches out of the strike zone (which is a higher percentage with the offspeed stuff and the fastballs). if you struggle with the offspeed stuff, make the pitcher work to get it over the plate. draw more walks. as i also noted, NU is 176th nationally in drawing walks. they have no plate discipline.... it's extremely obvious. that's poor coaching there. someone needs to teach these kids to wait on pitches and rack up counts on the opposing pitchers.

Couldn't agree more! Discipline at the plate is key with certain pitches (also knowing what a pitch does is pretty important as well). Not many of our players have it.