What changed against Vandy? Going forward...

#1

NighthawkVol

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#1
It would be the understatement of the year to say that that Vandy series was exactly what this team needed. Couldn't draw up a better script than to win a huge gut-check comeback win over the #2 team in America and your top instate rival, then blow them out of the water twice. From a psychological standpoint, those are games that will win other games. But specifically, what changed this weekend in areas that needed to change? As I said in another post, I think something had changed even before the comeback on Friday. We were already playing much better baseball prior to the 9th inning comeback. A switch seemed to have flipped between Tuesday and Friday...then that comeback win flipped all the switches and breakers, to stick with a bad analogy.

-Maui Ahuna. I don't know if it was the back issues or confidence or something else. But he wasn't what we thought he would be leading up to the Vandy series, either at the plate or in the field. But in one weekend series, he suddenly became a totally different player. He went from a liability at SS to a kid who looks like a gold glover. That play he made to throw out Bradfield was MLB elite. There aren't 5 college SS's in America who make that play. And he was making great plays all weekend. At the plate, he finally found it. As great as the HR, doubles, and RBIs were, he had an at bat yesterday when he came back from down 0-2 and drew a walk...that was the quintessence of how different he's hitting right now. His whole approach looks different. It was a great at bat. Glad to have Maui on board.

-The swagger. We seemed to go too far in the other direction trying to avoid the "over the line" stuff the team was criticized for last year. And it cost us our energy. This is a program that thrives on being a confident, fun-loving, chirpy, energetic team with an edge. That's just the identity under TV and always will be. The trick is to find the medium and not cross the line. This weekend, that energy and swagger was back. Nobody flipped the bird, but we brought the coat/hat back, danced, celebrated, and looked like 2021 Tennessee. It needs to stay. Maybe Moore went too far before getting ejected (don't know what he said), but at he end of the day, I'd rather see that than passivity.

-Chase Burns. No denying his talent. But he has a defined role now that works for him. He's going to be a terror out of the pen going forward. And thankfully, we have Andrew Lindsey who allows Burns to move into that role. We have a great 3-headed monster again with our weekend rotation.

-Defense. Yeah, we had a couple of errors from Denton and Kendro late in Sunday's game that sorta put a blemish on things, but for the most part, the team played really good defense this weekend. And it's not just about avoiding errors. They made some really great plays that they just weren't making before.

-Dollander is back. Nuff said. Man, he was elite when he got rolling.

-Beam bounced back from the Arkansas struggle. That was obviously an aberration.

-Hunter Ensley is getting better and better. He is going to be a star going forward. Kind of in that Trey Lipscomb mold...just a solid, steady player who sticks with the program, bides his time, gets better and better...then (I predict) blossoms into a star as a senior.

Going forward:

-I think we've found our lineup and defined roles for the most part. Stark has settled into the Catcher role. We've settled the weekend rotation and bullpen. The only area that is unsettled is the RF spot (which also affects the DH spot). I think it's time to put Merritt in the RF spot and DH Tears/Dreiling. I love what Scott has brought to the program, but his lack of ability at the plate puts a hole in the lineup. His role should be a late inning defensive replacement. I think we've seen enough of a sample size there. Besides, Merritt is a very good OF himself, so it's not like there would be a huge dropoff. We saw what Merritt did with his arm on Friday. He's at least as good in RF as Jordan Beck was. Further, we need another good right-handed bat to even things out in the lineup between lefties and righties. I think the primary lineup going forward should be:

C- Stark (R)
1B- Burke (L)
2B- Moore (R)
SS- Ahuna (L)
3B- Denton (S)
LF- Dickey (L)
CF- Ensley (R)
RF- Merritt (R)
DH- Tears (L)

Then I'd have Dreiling be the next man up in both LF when Dickey catches and at DH when you wanna play him instead of Tears. That lineup gives you 4 lefties, 4 righties, and a switch hitter. Very even.

-I hope Moore and Ahuna rest tomorrow. Let the foot and back heal more. Looking back, Moore getting Sunday off was a good thing.

We're now 26-14, 8-10. 4 midweeks and 12 SEC games left. The midweeks are all weak...no TN Techs or Boston Colleges left. My best guess on the outcomes of our remaining schedule ASSUMING this team has turned a corner and we're going to get the good version of this team going forward:

-sweep the midweeks
-MSU: win 2 or 3
-Georgia: win 2 (although I could see a sweep or just 1 win in this one...UGA is tough to read)
-Kentucky: win 2 or 3
South Carolina: win 1 or 2

That puts us at somewhere between 37-19 (15-15) and 40-16 (18-12) going into Hoover.

If this team hits 40 overall wins and 18 SEC wins before the SECT, that's a solid 2 seed and maybe a 1 seed. Am I wrong to think that's possible?
 
#3
#3
It would be the understatement of the year to say that that Vandy series was exactly what this team needed. Couldn't draw up a better script than to win a huge gut-check comeback win over the #2 team in America and your top instate rival, then blow them out of the water twice. From a psychological standpoint, those are games that will win other games. But specifically, what changed this weekend in areas that needed to change? As I said in another post, I think something had changed even before the comeback on Friday. We were already playing much better baseball prior to the 9th inning comeback. A switch seemed to have flipped between Tuesday and Friday...then that comeback win flipped all the switches and breakers, to stick with a bad analogy.

-Maui Ahuna. I don't know if it was the back issues or confidence or something else. But he wasn't what we thought he would be leading up to the Vandy series, either at the plate or in the field. But in one weekend series, he suddenly became a totally different player. He went from a liability at SS to a kid who looks like a gold glover. That play he made to throw out Bradfield was MLB elite. There aren't 5 college SS's in America who make that play. And he was making great plays all weekend. At the plate, he finally found it. As great as the HR, doubles, and RBIs were, he had an at bat yesterday when he came back from down 0-2 and drew a walk...that was the quintessence of how different he's hitting right now. His whole approach looks different. It was a great at bat. Glad to have Maui on board.

-The swagger. We seemed to go too far in the other direction trying to avoid the "over the line" stuff the team was criticized for last year. And it cost us our energy. This is a program that thrives on being a confident, fun-loving, chirpy, energetic team with an edge. That's just the identity under TV and always will be. The trick is to find the medium and not cross the line. This weekend, that energy and swagger was back. Nobody flipped the bird, but we brought the coat/hat back, danced, celebrated, and looked like 2021 Tennessee. It needs to stay. Maybe Moore went too far before getting ejected (don't know what he said), but at he end of the day, I'd rather see that than passivity.

-Chase Burns. No denying his talent. But he has a defined role now that works for him. He's going to be a terror out of the pen going forward. And thankfully, we have Andrew Lindsey who allows Burns to move into that role. We have a great 3-headed monster again with our weekend rotation.

-Defense. Yeah, we had a couple of errors from Denton and Kendro late in Sunday's game that sorta put a blemish on things, but for the most part, the team played really good defense this weekend. And it's not just about avoiding errors. They made some really great plays that they just weren't making before.

-Dollander is back. Nuff said. Man, he was elite when he got rolling.

-Beam bounced back from the Arkansas struggle. That was obviously an aberration.

-Hunter Ensley is getting better and better. He is going to be a star going forward. Kind of in that Trey Lipscomb mold...just a solid, steady player who sticks with the program, bides his time, gets better and better...then (I predict) blossoms into a star as a senior.

Going forward:

-I think we've found our lineup and defined roles for the most part. Stark has settled into the Catcher role. We've settled the weekend rotation and bullpen. The only area that is unsettled is the RF spot (which also affects the DH spot). I think it's time to put Merritt in the RF spot and DH Tears/Dreiling. I love what Scott has brought to the program, but his lack of ability at the plate puts a hole in the lineup. His role should be a late inning defensive replacement. I think we've seen enough of a sample size there. Besides, Merritt is a very good OF himself, so it's not like there would be a huge dropoff. We saw what Merritt did with his arm on Friday. He's at least as good in RF as Jordan Beck was. Further, we need another good right-handed bat to even things out in the lineup between lefties and righties. I think the primary lineup going forward should be:

C- Stark (R)
1B- Burke (L)
2B- Moore (R)
SS- Ahuna (L)
3B- Denton (S)
LF- Dickey (L)
CF- Ensley (R)
RF- Merritt (R)
DH- Tears (L)

Then I'd have Dreiling be the next man up in both LF when Dickey catches and at DH when you wanna play him instead of Tears. That lineup gives you 4 lefties, 4 righties, and a switch hitter. Very even.

-I hope Moore and Ahuna rest tomorrow. Let the foot and back heal more. Looking back, Moore getting Sunday off was a good thing.

We're now 26-14, 8-10. 4 midweeks and 12 SEC games left. The midweeks are all weak...no TN Techs or Boston Colleges left. My best guess on the outcomes of our remaining schedule ASSUMING this team has turned a corner and we're going to get the good version of this team going forward:

-sweep the midweeks
-MSU: win 2 or 3
-Georgia: win 2 (although I could see a sweep or just 1 win in this one...UGA is tough to read)
-Kentucky: win 2 or 3
South Carolina: win 1 or 2

That puts us at somewhere between 37-19 (15-15) and 40-16 (18-12) going into Hoover.

If this team hits 40 overall wins and 18 SEC wins before the SECT, that's a solid 2 seed and maybe a 1 seed. Am I wrong to think that's possible?

I am not a ra-ra kind of guy but the daddy hat has made a comeback, along with some confidence, finally. I envision some of the guys that moved on to the MLB having a conversation with this team. Maybe not but glad Tennessee baseball is winning fun again.

I like the line-up except for Dickey, he is good hitter, elder on the team and an emotional leader. I think he needs to be higher. A pitcher should have to face him in the first inning.
 
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#4
#4
I think it's simply that this team lacked focus and confidence. They thought they could roll that uniform out there and it would be status quo. They got popped in the mouth and it caught them by surprise. They've learned a hard lesson and have perhaps grown up a good bit. Time will tell. As for ahuna, I have to think he's injured. Stinks for him and us. It is what it is. Still we have everything in front of us. Opportunity is there.
 
#5
#5
I am not a ra-ra kind of guy but the daddy hat has made a comeback, along with some confidence, finally. I envision some of the guys that moved on to the MLB having a conversation with this team. Maybe not but glad Tennessee baseball is winning fun again.

I like the line-up except for Dickey, he is good hitter, elder on the team and an emotional leader. I think he needs to be higher. A pitcher should have to face him in the first inning.
That’s not a batting order, just a lineup by position.
 
#6
#6
It would be the understatement of the year to say that that Vandy series was exactly what this team needed. Couldn't draw up a better script than to win a huge gut-check comeback win over the #2 team in America and your top instate rival, then blow them out of the water twice. From a psychological standpoint, those are games that will win other games. But specifically, what changed this weekend in areas that needed to change? As I said in another post, I think something had changed even before the comeback on Friday. We were already playing much better baseball prior to the 9th inning comeback. A switch seemed to have flipped between Tuesday and Friday...then that comeback win flipped all the switches and breakers, to stick with a bad analogy.

-Maui Ahuna. I don't know if it was the back issues or confidence or something else. But he wasn't what we thought he would be leading up to the Vandy series, either at the plate or in the field. But in one weekend series, he suddenly became a totally different player. He went from a liability at SS to a kid who looks like a gold glover. That play he made to throw out Bradfield was MLB elite. There aren't 5 college SS's in America who make that play. And he was making great plays all weekend. At the plate, he finally found it. As great as the HR, doubles, and RBIs were, he had an at bat yesterday when he came back from down 0-2 and drew a walk...that was the quintessence of how different he's hitting right now. His whole approach looks different. It was a great at bat. Glad to have Maui on board.

-The swagger. We seemed to go too far in the other direction trying to avoid the "over the line" stuff the team was criticized for last year. And it cost us our energy. This is a program that thrives on being a confident, fun-loving, chirpy, energetic team with an edge. That's just the identity under TV and always will be. The trick is to find the medium and not cross the line. This weekend, that energy and swagger was back. Nobody flipped the bird, but we brought the coat/hat back, danced, celebrated, and looked like 2021 Tennessee. It needs to stay. Maybe Moore went too far before getting ejected (don't know what he said), but at he end of the day, I'd rather see that than passivity.

-Chase Burns. No denying his talent. But he has a defined role now that works for him. He's going to be a terror out of the pen going forward. And thankfully, we have Andrew Lindsey who allows Burns to move into that role. We have a great 3-headed monster again with our weekend rotation.

-Defense. Yeah, we had a couple of errors from Denton and Kendro late in Sunday's game that sorta put a blemish on things, but for the most part, the team played really good defense this weekend. And it's not just about avoiding errors. They made some really great plays that they just weren't making before.

-Dollander is back. Nuff said. Man, he was elite when he got rolling.

-Beam bounced back from the Arkansas struggle. That was obviously an aberration.

-Hunter Ensley is getting better and better. He is going to be a star going forward. Kind of in that Trey Lipscomb mold...just a solid, steady player who sticks with the program, bides his time, gets better and better...then (I predict) blossoms into a star as a senior.

Going forward:

-I think we've found our lineup and defined roles for the most part. Stark has settled into the Catcher role. We've settled the weekend rotation and bullpen. The only area that is unsettled is the RF spot (which also affects the DH spot). I think it's time to put Merritt in the RF spot and DH Tears/Dreiling. I love what Scott has brought to the program, but his lack of ability at the plate puts a hole in the lineup. His role should be a late inning defensive replacement. I think we've seen enough of a sample size there. Besides, Merritt is a very good OF himself, so it's not like there would be a huge dropoff. We saw what Merritt did with his arm on Friday. He's at least as good in RF as Jordan Beck was. Further, we need another good right-handed bat to even things out in the lineup between lefties and righties. I think the primary lineup going forward should be:

C- Stark (R)
1B- Burke (L)
2B- Moore (R)
SS- Ahuna (L)
3B- Denton (S)
LF- Dickey (L)
CF- Ensley (R)
RF- Merritt (R)
DH- Tears (L)

Then I'd have Dreiling be the next man up in both LF when Dickey catches and at DH when you wanna play him instead of Tears. That lineup gives you 4 lefties, 4 righties, and a switch hitter. Very even.

-I hope Moore and Ahuna rest tomorrow. Let the foot and back heal more. Looking back, Moore getting Sunday off was a good thing.

We're now 26-14, 8-10. 4 midweeks and 12 SEC games left. The midweeks are all weak...no TN Techs or Boston Colleges left. My best guess on the outcomes of our remaining schedule ASSUMING this team has turned a corner and we're going to get the good version of this team going forward:

-sweep the midweeks
-MSU: win 2 or 3
-Georgia: win 2 (although I could see a sweep or just 1 win in this one...UGA is tough to read)
-Kentucky: win 2 or 3
South Carolina: win 1 or 2

That puts us at somewhere between 37-19 (15-15) and 40-16 (18-12) going into Hoover.

If this team hits 40 overall wins and 18 SEC wins before the SECT, that's a solid 2 seed and maybe a 1 seed. Am I wrong to think that's possible?
GP
 
#8
#8
They are displaying patience at the plate and not swinging at curve balls off the plate. They have the talent to make a run at a championship if they continue to play like they did this weekend.
Going the other way, or with the pitch, with 2 strikes helped too, too many guys weren’t changing their approach when they were down in the count
 
#9
#9
They are displaying patience at the plate and not swinging at curve balls off the plate. They have the talent to make a run at a championship if they continue to play like they did this weekend.
Plate discipline was so very much improved this weekend. Saw a few pitches that should have been spit on that were awkwardly put into play for ground outs, but much better overall.
 
#10
#10
I don't think they came into the season thinking they could just roll out there and win. Just a wee bit of turnover in the field. They needed playing time, time to gel as a team and leaders to emerge. May have taken longer than we wanted, but having everything click against the Vandy Boys is pretty sweet.

The pitching depth is key to postseason success.
 
#11
#11
Tony himself said he saw a different team at practice leading up to the series. They got smacked in the mouth by Arkansas and Tennessee Tech. Looks like they finally had that heart to heart and are just going out there and playing for the fun of the game. It was awesome to see that fire and emotion again. Don’t worry about stats, rankings, standings, tournament. Just take it play by play, leave it all out on the field, and whatever happens, happens.
 
#16
#16
I am not a ra-ra kind of guy but the daddy hat has made a comeback, along with some confidence, finally. I envision some of the guys that moved on to the MLB having a conversation with this team. Maybe not but glad Tennessee baseball is winning fun again.

I like the line-up except for Dickey, he is good hitter, elder on the team and an emotional leader. I think he needs to be higher. A pitcher should have to face him in the first inning.

I didn’t put the batting order up there, just the positions.
 
#19
#19
A big difference that I could see is it looked like they were having fun again. I don't remember seeing any smiles last weekend, but there were an abundance this weekend. I know, I know....... it's a lot easier to have fun when you're winning, but sometimes people get too caught up in that crap and don't enjoy playing for what it is.
 
#20
#20
I don't know that Frank's calls were different but I'm guessing by something that V has said over the past few weeks, putting things together, that some don't have the ability to shake like they did at the start of the season. He has said point blank a couple of times that if when they throw what Coach Anderson calls it works a lot better for them. Then something along the lines of We are understanding more that the one calling the pitches knows more than they do. Then I heard they had less control of shaking pitches for some pitchers.
The problem was some were leaving pitches over the plate too much thinking they could just throw it by everyone and that is not the case in SEC play.
It's like Frank told Kirby. I know you can throw 94 but after 90 it gets flat and straight and flat and straight in the SEC gets hit over those trees. Keep your location and movement and we are fine. Has worked pretty good for him. Enrique finally got back at him yesterday after I think 4 strikeouts in a row against Kirby.
 
#21
#21
I don't know that Frank's calls were different but I'm guessing by something that V has said over the past few weeks, putting things together, that some don't have the ability to shake like they did at the start of the season. He has said point blank a couple of times that if when they throw what Coach Anderson calls it works a lot better for them. Then something along the lines of We are understanding more that the one calling the pitches knows more than they do. Then I heard they had less control of shaking pitches for some pitchers.
The problem was some were leaving pitches over the plate too much thinking they could just throw it by everyone and that is not the case in SEC play.
It's like Frank told Kirby. I know you can throw 94 but after 90 it gets flat and straight and flat and straight in the SEC gets hit over those trees. Keep your location and movement and we are fine. Has worked pretty good for him. Enrique finally got back at him yesterday after I think 4 strikeouts in a row against Kirby.
Thanks for the insight.
 
#22
#22
I do think the opportunity to really go on a run here exists if they continue to play like they did this weekend. However, this team still needs to show that it can carry this momentum and actually get some more wins. I think the Vandy uniform, dugout antics, history, and in-between inning Romanian Gymnast routines really focused this team. Let's see how they do against non-hated rivals.

They have not performed very well on the road and the UGA series will be tough but doable. The Gamecock series could be incredibly important and intense for both teams. Sweeping MSU will be a bonus, but we need series wins at a minimum over the next 3 weekends. If we can get a sweep or 2 we can get back into regional hosting conversations. Hosting would be huge for this team.

I really do hope they have turned a corner but am still cautious at this time.
 
#23
#23
They have not performed very well on the road and the UGA series will be tough but doable.

1-9 on the road in SEC play. That's why I think getting 2 in Athens and 1 in Columbia will be a win for this team, as long as we take care of business in the 2 remaining home series'. Two in Columbia would have me over the moon...but that team is playing lights out right now.
 
#24
#24
This might be a team that play better when they are under the radar. Another series or two like this past weekend, especially against the likes of a South Carolina, might blow their cover. Just get into the NCAA tournament, and do what Ole Miss did last year.
 

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