NighthawkVol
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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?
-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?
