Lineup and pitching staff

#52
#52
GregAmsler said:
I don’t think Russell has been bad back there. He threw a dude out from his knees yesterday. All those Baylor stolen bases were on the pitcher…and ER still made some nice throws. Then Connell came in, they tried to steal, and Evan threw him out.
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No, I’m not saying he is playing poorly, but I think the change will be made by the end of the season.
 
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#53
#53
NorCalVol67 said:
Your better half will be even more of a rock star.
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Maybe, but the seats are closer to the field yet slightly out of line from the 1st base camera angle. She may have to become more active & camera-ready. That's okay...she just concentrates on her scorekeeping & reading her book between innings.:cool:
 
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#56
#56
Also , I went back and actually looked at all the Catchers , defensive numbers and even with Dollander's debacle, Russell’s numbers are actually more at the top of the SEC . Compared to Pav last year too , even including the debacle he’s at 22 percent throw out rate which Pav was 18 percent , 1 PB which is at the tops too.
When I look at a catcher I look at how he receives and how he handles Velo guys. The Pitching overall with ER back there has been phenomenal so that tells me the guys are comfortable throwing to him , I read some posts about Ben Joyce on Twitter and ran across some interesting comments about Russell’s Hands. The Catcher for Texas Rangers was actually raving about how good his hands where. From watching him play for 5 years , just his style , Russell is a dude. From outside looking in , it appears he’s the Leader of the Team . Who better to have back there with a young staff. Never seen him rattled. But I have seen him Rattle a pitching staff. Jaden Hill and Jack Lieter sure got blown up last year. Actually looking at the catching position alone and comparing numbers both offensive and Defensive, I was actually surprised. I just looked at SEC numbers alone.
Rumor has it he’s consistent 1.8-1.9 pop time in games ,
Scrimmages, ETC , got wind that a scout had Russell at 1.86 on a throw out of Christian Moore at Chatt in the fall and I was told that was Russells first ever game. . Give him time back there , TV knows what he’s doing and appears to have a lot of confidence in ER.
 
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#57
#57
I believe that Evan is doing a good job receiving. The pitchers seem to trust him. He is definitely a leader. I think catchers are usually either good receivers or good arms and very rarely do you find both and they are the big dogs and everyone knows when you see it. Mine has always been I would rather have a good receiver who can steal a few pitches. I don't know that any catcher helps keep runners this past Saturday. I think there was a key reason that Saturday went the way it did and just remember it has not happened before and I think it will be fixed. I think holding runners has to be a combination of pitchers and catchers and can't be one or the other.
 
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#58
#58
Evan Russell is one of my favorite players and went to school not far from my hometown. He is a dude and I love watching him play and having him on this team! It just wouldn’t shock me to see Dickey progress and take over the spot at some point. I’m certainly glad we have both!
 
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#59
#59
dtmtn said:
Hot Take: Blake Burke will be starting over Luc at the end of the season.
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Not sure he takes Luc's job - don't think he will unless Luc is injured- but the Dude can swing it. Has unreal power with a little Will Clark panache for good measure.
 
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#60
#60
Volsbaseballfan said:
Compared to Pav last year too , even including the debacle he’s at 22 percent throw out rate which Pav was 18 percent ,
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This is what I've been trying to tell people. Russell is actually an improvement from Pav in the area of throwing people out because a) Pav had such a low rate of success and b) Pav's throws often were so erratic, they ended up in the outfield and the runner got to 3rd.
 
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#61
#61
Blake Burke is a beast, but I personally think he's the DH for this year. Luc is solid all the way around. 16 HR's be hard to just set... but I think BB hits that many or more as well.
 
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#63
#63
I’d expect Ben Joyce will be the player that gets used the most in the highest leverage situations. I think Tony is rightfully being very careful with his workload at this point in season
 
#65
#65
Orange Raid said:
Evan Russell is one of my favorite players and went to school not far from my hometown. He is a dude and I love watching him play and having him on this team! It just wouldn’t shock me to see Dickey progress and take over the spot at some point. I’m certainly glad we have both!
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I don’t think you’ll see Dickey take that spot this year. His bat is really hot and I feel there’s typically some drop off when you take the physical and mental toll of catching and add it to your in-game responsibilities. Evan seems to be handling the task of juggling both and even leads the team in doubles. Vitello mentioned that Charlie Taylor will see some midweek work as the year goes on because of his defensive prowess. I think Moore at DH and Dickey in LF is our answer. Burke should get midweek action. Stephenson should factor in at times. I’ve been disappointed in Chambers and Booker, based on my expectations for them.
 
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#66
#66
Zvols said:
I don’t think you’ll see Dickey take that spot this year. His bat is really hot and I feel there’s typically some drop off when you take the physical and mental toll of catching and add it to your in-game responsibilities. Evan seems to be handling the task of juggling both and even leads the team in doubles. Vitello mentioned that Charlie Taylor will see some midweek work as the year goes on because of his defensive prowess. I think Moore at DH and Dickey in LF is our answer. Burke should get midweek action. Stephenson should factor in at times. I’ve been disappointed in Chambers and Booker, based on my expectations for them.
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The Booker thing is confounding.
 
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#67
#67
Zvols said:
I don’t think you’ll see Dickey take that spot this year. His bat is really hot and I feel there’s typically some drop off when you take the physical and mental toll of catching and add it to your in-game responsibilities. Evan seems to be handling the task of juggling both and even leads the team in doubles. Vitello mentioned that Charlie Taylor will see some midweek work as the year goes on because of his defensive prowess. I think Moore at DH and Dickey in LF is our answer. Burke should get midweek action. Stephenson should factor in at times. I’ve been disappointed in Chambers and Booker, based on my expectations for them.
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Team is just so deep. Chambers falling down the ladder will mean he probably doesn't get drafted and returns. Could depend on him and Booker heavily next season.
 
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#68
#68
GregAmsler said:
This is what I've been trying to tell people. Russell is actually an improvement from Pav in the area of throwing people out because a) Pav had such a low rate of success and b) Pav's throws often were so erratic, they ended up in the outfield and the runner got to 3rd.
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Russel can hit most of his mistakes away too. I wonder if anyone keeps track of WAR for college players
 
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#69
#69
Ttucke11 said:
Team is just so deep. Chambers falling down the ladder will mean he probably doesn't get drafted and returns. Could depend on him and Booker heavily next season.
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I agree. I think Booker may transfer, but if he stays we likely have Dickey (Taylor at C), Chambers, Stephenson, Booker, Tears to distribute across the outfield. Could see Stephenson, Booker, Dickey in outfield, Chambers/Steenstra DH, Moore 3B, Lawson SS, Ortega 2B, Burke 1B.
 
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#70
#70
Zvols said:
I agree. I think Booker may transfer, but if he stays we likely have Dickey (Taylor at C), Chambers, Stephenson, Booker, Tears to distribute across the outfield. Could see Stephenson, Booker, Dickey in outfield, Chambers/Steenstra DH, Moore 3B, Lawson SS, Ortega 2B, Burke 1B.
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Stephenson might get drafted based on tools. Either way, we still return some great players even with all of our upperclassmen. Then transfers and the next Freshman class. Doesn't it feel good to have such a great foundation with Tony V?
 
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#71
#71
Chamber is like Ortega was last year. During the fall, last year Ortega was lighting it up and hardest guy to get out and this fall it was Chambers. Then comes spring and something doesn't click. Hope Chambers figures it out but not sure he will get enough chances from here on this spring to figure it out in games.
 
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#72
#72
preacherman20 said:
Chamber is like Ortega was last year. During the fall, last year Ortega was lighting it up and hardest guy to get out and this fall it was Chambers. Then comes spring and something doesn't click. Hope Chambers figures it out but not sure he will get enough chances from here on this spring to figure it out in games.
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Gotta think Vitello knows Chambers can rake because he was in the lineup pretty long despite his rough start. I think he probably continues to get chances throughout the season.
 
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#74
#74
Orange Raid said:
Evan Russell is one of my favorite players and went to school not far from my hometown. He is a dude and I love watching him play and having him on this team! It just wouldn’t shock me to see Dickey progress and take over the spot at some point. I’m certainly glad we have both!
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I sure do like Evan's bat. We have to keep him in the lineup somehow. But then, I say that about a lot of guys, too. C. Moore is one of them.
 
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#75
#75
Ttucke11 said:
Stephenson might get drafted based on tools. Either way, we still return some great players even with all of our upperclassmen. Then transfers and the next Freshman class. Doesn't it feel good to have such a great foundation with Tony V?
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That’s what I was going to say…that’s a good-looking group of returnees, even before development, plus the addition of freshmen and transfers.

And look at the young pitching that returns: Burns, Beam, and Dollander all return to start the weekends. That’s incredible.
 
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