Sorry, Baseball Post

[TheRealVille]

Sorry about opining about the baseball game on the hoops forum but why the baseball forum is premium is beyond any understanding I can think of.

Something else I don't understand is giving away a post season game. The pitcher the Cards started tonight had no business starting this game. Why not use your top three starters in this 3 game pool and then start your #1 guy again if the Cards play in the title game?

The UNC pitcher is much better than the Cards starter tonight. Odds are we weren't going to score a bunch of runs and we send out a guy who hasn't faced an ACC team all year? I just don't get it. Looks like coach is looking ahead to the NCAA tournament.

 

[Senore2006]

Sorry about opining about the baseball game on the hoops forum but why the baseball forum is premium is beyond any understanding I can think of.

Something else I don't understand is giving away a post season game. The pitcher the Cards started tonight had no business starting this game. Why not use your top three starters in this 3 game pool and then start your #1 guy again if the Cards play in the title game?

The UNC pitcher is much better than the Cards starter tonight. Odds are we weren't going to score a bunch of runs and we send out a guy who hasn't faced an ACC team all year? I just don't get it. Looks like coach is looking ahead to the NCAA tournament.

lol, oh yea of little faith

 

[Cue Card]

lol, oh yea of little faith

Cards won 7-4. The baseball Cards are doing very well this year. At this point, I believe the coach deserves some latitude. It seems to me he knows what he's doing.

 

[TheRealVille]

It's great we came back and won. That's what this team does. But I still think it was a big gamble starting that little used freshman pitcher. He was obviously not ready.

Does anyone know how the conference determines the pool winner when two teams are 2 and 1? Obviously if a team wins all three games they move on to the conference final. But how do they break a tie?

 

[Money cardinal]

Does anyone know how the conference determines the pool winner when two teams are 2 and 1? Obviously if a team wins all three games they move on to the conference final. But how do they break a tie?[/QUOTE]

Just a guess but wouldn't they use the head to head game as the tiebreaker?

 

[TheRealVille]

That's it. Duh! I wasn't thinking.

 

[CardinalStan]

CardinalStan

You do not use your top pitcher in the first tournament game. You save them for the games that follow. The coach mentioned the other day that we will probably get the number 1 pitcher for each team we play. Sean Lelland did not have a good outing but he has been one of our best pitchers all year and the pitcher that replaced him was Lincoln Henzman. He is also a freshman and if you go to the NC board you will read that he had a field day with the NC batters. If you have the ability to play on this team, then you play regardless of what year you are. It works and it has been great for the program.

 

[TheRealVille]

Leland has not been one of our better pitchers. He never faced an ACC team. He has pitched out of the 4th inning once. That's one of our better starting pitchers?

I can understand not using Funk in game one but at least use someone who had faced ACC batters. We saw what happened. If it wasn't for our best hitter (And best pitcher ) McKay, the Cards would be 0-1 in the pool.

 

[CardinalStan]

Prior to yesterday Sean was fifth in innings pitched on the team with a 4-0 record and he had a 1.11 ERA. I think that qualifies him to be considered one of the better pitchers on this team. If you are a top seed in a tournament you will normally play a stronger team each time out, so you would not typically start one of your weekend starters in the first game. I think Dan has shown that he knows what he is doing.

 

[scrumm21]

Calculated gamble that will\should pay off in the long run ( typically). If Sean is anything like most good up and coming pitchers, he will learn from the adversity of this outing. He will learn from his mistakes ( he should, anyway) and be a better pitcher in the long run. ( Saw it happen with my son playing for the Midland organization in Cincinnati and again with the UC Bearcats in Big East play ). No way you throw one of your weekend studs this first game

 

[zipp]

Our bullpen pitchers have been fine when they've stayed in the bullpen. It's when we've started them that they have had issues. Don't know enough about baseball to know why that is.

The pitchers who started the Friday games of our two regular season series with Clemson and FSU went head-to-head in their tourney game on Wednesday. If those were their two aces, we won't be seeing either one...

 

[had1- 2manyCardfan]

You don't change your rotation unless you absolutely have to. Other teams are fighting to win this so they can make the NCAAT so they need to use their best no matter what day it is. We are going to be a National Seed no matter what so why use Funk out of rotation or use his arm more than once this week with the Regional right around the corner? Baseball is a chess match and this time of year that is magnified big time for the teams that have a legit shot at Omaha. In all honesty, the earlier we come home from this thing the better. We wont be able to say that every year

 

[had1- 2manyCardfan]

to be honest I don't feel comfortable with Funk on the mound for one game much less 2. He has a horrible case of draft pressure. He seems to be pitching for the wrong reasons over the last month and looks like a mid week reliever instead of a Top 10 draft pick. June 8th cant come fast enough for him and hopefully wont be to late for us

 

[American Male]

Funk's been ROCKED in both meetings against Clemson...Got SMOKED against Florida State...And has been just PITIFUL the last month of the season...NO WAY is he pitching like the #1 ACE for the Cards!!!



These new smiley faces SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK...FIX THEM...NOW!!!

 

[nccardfan]

The difference here is obviously the format of the tournament. In a double elimination format, you absolutely need to win the 1st game and typically you throw your No. 1. You also throw your ace because it's double elimination and you might want or need to bring him back to pitch later in the tournament. I understand why the ACC went to the round robin format. You can seriously wear out your pitching staff in double elimination and coaches didn't want that going into Regionals and the NCAA tournament.

In the round robin format, Coach Mac had the advantage of already knowing who he was going to play (you don't in double elimination) so he set up his pitching rotation based on matchups. Yes he could have switched McKay with Funk based on Funk's previous outing with Clemson but college baseball pitching is all about keeping the same rotation. Also if you know anything about Dan, there is a little bit of arrogance and cockiness (which I love) to his game. So I don't blame him if he gave Funk a chance to go out and prove the 1st game was a fluke. Just didn't work out. The thing is Dan knew that if he basically went 2-1 in the round robin he would have a chance to play in the championship game. The team with the best overall record in ACC play has the tiebreaker. Now all we need to do is beat FSU with actually our best pitcher, which is McKay. I am sure Coach Mac is content with this.

Also in the round robin format, you know at most you are going to play 4 games, so there was no hope of saving any pitchers for later games because there are not enough days for rest for the pitchers.

Go Cards!

 

[zipp]

A few reasons you want to move McKay up over Funk...

You want to get that first win with the DE format. You're probably pitching against the other team's best pitcher in their first game as well. AND you may get a chance to pitch the guy again in another critical game...the very last one.

I'm not sure I wouldn't move Rogers ahead of Funk as well. After all, winning the first two games in the DE format keeps you out of the loser's bracket and means you play one less game than everyone else...

 

[TheRealVille]

I think the real flaw with this baseball team is the lineup after the top 5. Several times today, FSU walked Lucas with guys in scoring position and the bottom of the lineup did nothing. I mean you get down to it, the Cards really have only three hitters to be scared of. Solek, Ray and McKay.

I think when this team is eliminated from post season play it will be due to the lineup not having enough good hitters. Team are just going to pitch around the middle of the order. It's a shame McKay didn't get any run support because he is by far the best pitcher on the team. It will be curious to see where he ends up as a pro. A pitcher or a 1st basemen?

 

[zipp]

Another reason to get Rogers over Funk... Probably our 2nd best starting pitcher at the moment never pitched in this tourney...

 

[zipp]

All season, this team at best has been just above-average at hitting statistically. We're supposed to be about pitching, fielding, and speed on the bases...

 

[had1- 2manyCardfan]

Coach doesn't change his rotation very often if ever. A few years ago Thompson was our #1 guy headed into the conference tourn but was slated for the 3rd day due to the wed opener. We lost the first 2 and went home without him ever even seeing the field. Call me on this if im remembering incorrectly but seems to me that's how it went