Absolutely. Anybody who thinks this is on Jay is kidding themselves. BOC put him in an impossible situation. I feel bad for Jay because now what little confidence he had left is going to be gone. Hindsight is 20/20, but Parker at 90 pitches could have at least started the 7th and given the bullpen some more room to work with. Just complete mismanagement by BOC and the rest of the coaching staff.
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Absolute choke jobā¦giving up some cheap runs in the 7th and 8thā¦fineā¦but we get an insurance run top of the 9thā¦and the we have a guy serve up a feckin meatball to start things off to a guy hitting .222 and he bangs out a HRā¦just disgusting that BOC didnāt pull himā¦hope our PG recruiting this summer fairs betterā¦
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Iām not sure if Iād classify it as a choke job, at least from the players end. I just think it was horrible mismanagementā¦.
And also, I think weāve been damn lucky to get as much as we have from our pitchers. I hate to say it but that group is just not all that good.
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Starters are very good, and have been excellent in the NCAAs. Bullpen has been shaky since April.
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Iām probably being unfair, but my main point is that this pitching staff, including the starters, are nowhere near the level of our best teams. Parker pitched his ass off tonight, but it felt like he was barely getting by. Had 1 K. Iām not saying heās not good, but it was night and day with him and Sproat. All 3 of our starters were mid major transfers. Again not a criticism of them but a reality. This isnāt Connor Jones, Nathan Kirby, and Waddell.
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Not putting it on Jay. This was on BOC. My point is he didnt have confidence to use Jay until it was too late due to his performance the last month so might as well left him home. He might have dead arm. Velocity is down which effects late movement. He just throws a straight ball which is hitable on the few occassions he gets it in the strike zone.
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Poor Woolfolk must have realized big time how little confidence OāConnor had in him as he warmed up seeing the guy on the mound getting mutilated. Certainly not conducive to a guy who may have earned that lack of confidence.
What gets me is that if he doesnāt trust Woolfolk, then he apparently trusts the rest of the bullpen even less. Then why use two of his relievers to face just one or two batters?
If our starters can win the next 2,we will need to score 25 in that last one.
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If we win the next 2, weāll need to score 25 a piece in the 2 afterā-we now have to win 4 straight to advance from pool play to the finals.
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Still sick after last night. Comparable to the Cuse meltdown. With every pitch in the 9th I was asking why in the world is Berry still in, you have to do ANYTHING different in that situation. Just canāt leave him in.
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Is the outcome any different if he pulls Berry after the first HR and puts in Jay?
Always bet responsibly and don't bet on shitbum managers pic.twitter.com/AzMiVPJf2o
ā Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 17, 2023
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Im sure Portnoy is good at sports and managing. F him
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Sorry man, but youāre off here.
(1) Parker was objectively better than Floridaās starter Sproat last night. He left with a lead. The other guy didnāt. Whatās a better line? 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 1 K (90 PC) vs. 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 K (109 PC)? You know the answer. Just because you look the part doesnāt mean you are the part. Iāll take a routine fly on two pitches over a K any day.
(2) This isnāt Hultzen-Wilson-Roberts, but what is? Several of our best teams didnāt make Omaha. One of our worst to make a tourney won the CWS. That year, Connor Jones was 7-3 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.27 WHIP. Brandon Waddell was 5-5 with a 3.93 ERA, 1.39 WHIP. The third starter was a mess because of injuries to Casey and Kirby. But Josh Sborz was the Swiss Army knife, going 7-2 with a 1.60 ERA , 0.90 WHIP. But he was a bullpen guy (30 of his 33 appearances in relief). Compare that to this year. Parker is 8-0 with a 3.81 ERA, 1.26 WHIP. Early is 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP. Edgington is 9-3 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.17 WHIP. Starters are exactly what we need them to be ā they are good at keeping teams off the basepaths ā bullpen is not.
(3) While, yes, Coastal, Elon and Army are āmid-majors, they are all good programs. Coastal is excellent, and has won a CWS since we won ours, which wasnāt so long ago.
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Where we are better as a hitting team is past years. We are far worse in pitching. We have 3 transfer pitchers as starters and apparently 3 guys out the bullpen. Mind you 2/3 of them only stay in to face a batter or two. Iām sorry whatās gonna happen if any of these starters donāt go 7 or 8. We just donāt have anyone that can come in and get you a strikeout like years before. Every year we made runs we had some guys who could come in out the bullpen and close the door on guys. 88 mph pitches a lot different when everyone else has kids throwing 95 with a nasty slider. Glad we have won 50 games this year but itās been bc of out this world hitting. But letās be real nothing surprises me anymore with uva haha between basketball and football.
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Both my kids are college pitchers. Theyāre not D1 (although my oldest faced Teel and Stephan in summer league and struck them both out), but Iāve watched them for 13 years and have learned that you canāt judge performance solely on pitching lines. As a pitcher, all you can do is execute your pitch the best you can. Itās out of your hands after that. You can make a good pitch and give up a home run. You can make a bad pitch and get a popup. You can have great stuff and give up five runs, and you can have weak stuff and give up none.
I think thatās where Parker was last night. He wasnāt sharp. He pitched deep into counts. He had only one strikeout and only three (!) swings and misses. He wasnāt fooling or overpowering everyone. But he grinded it out and gave us a chance. Thatās all you can ask.
I also think that describes our pitching staff this year. We donāt have elite arms. We donāt have anyone who is going to send hitters back to the bench shaking their heads. We have solid pitchers who can battle and keep it close enough for our offense to win the game. Sometimes, thatās enough. Last night, it wasnāt.
Thereās a reason weāre a seventh seed. Weāre good. Weāre not great. You can still win with that kind of team.
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How many college pitchers have elite stats like ERAs etc? Seems very few although I forgot what the numbers past KOs and no hitters really mean
Seems like they all get hit from time to time
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Weāll never knowā¦cause he didnāt make the change
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Every time weāve made it to Omaha and havenāt won it all, weāve lost in excruciating fashion.
2009: eliminated by Arkansas in 12 innings
2011: eliminated by South Carolina in 13 innings
2014: lost the championship series because of one bad inning in game 1 and a fluke late homer in game 3
2021: blew a late lead against Mississippi State because Steven Schoch had blown out his elbow and didnāt tell anyone
2023: blown late lead against Florida(?)
I think the team can bounce back decently well, but itās just about impossible to win 4 in a row against opponents this good.
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My response to your 3 points.
- Totally fair points.
- Totally fair points.
- Totally fair points.
Lol.
I guess really my point is that we donāt have the elite pitching talent that weāve had on other teams, or that a lot of other teams at this stage have. My point on Parker versus Sproat was more in regards to the raw talent. Parker is great at mixing up his pitches, hitting his spots, etc. But I think this team was lacking some guys who could throw gas.
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Portnoy is a f***ing tool. The only silver lining to Virginia losing is that it makes Portnoy cry like the baby he is.
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