ADVERTISEMENT

North Carolina

E

earsky

Four-Star Poster
Jan 12, 2010
10,615
3,218
26
Looks like we have two teams coming into this series with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.
NC swept Pitt 3 weeks ago,was swept by Miami 2 weeks ago and dropped 2 of 3 last week to VA Tech.
I think Pitt is a different team than they were a month ago and we caught them just as they seem to be getting it figured out.
Don't really know which NC team we see or Louisville team.
It does seem like teams that come here as a bit of an underdog perform well.
It's time for this team to escalate its approach and answer the challenge.
Btw,if you're going take your parka. Brrr
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Louisville1stCards4ever
Going off recent form,Kuehner should be on tonight.
Go Cards!
 
Sooner or later McDonnell will realize changing things isn't going to jinx momentum. Keuhner is not even a weekend starter. A pitcher who can't throw strikes is like a kicker who can't make extra points. You move on.

It's time now to make the adjustments necessary to win conference games.
 
TheRealVille said:
Sooner or later McDonnell will realize changing things isn't going to jinx momentum. Keuhner is not even a weekend starter. A pitcher who can't throw strikes is like a kicker who can't make extra points. You move on.

It's time now to make the adjustments necessary to win conference games.
Click to expand...
I would agree that Kuehner has been rough but judging by our midweek starters we don’t have much choice. Him starting on Fridays is baffling though
 
Lol. I made the comment earlier in the thread about teams coming in here as underdogs. Here we go again.
 
It absolutely blows the mind McDonnell with losing games early because he leaves a obvious struggling pitcher in too long. Here it is 5 to 0 before the Cards even bat and I know we have a excellent hitting team but a defeat is the most likely outcome. That's the thing about baseball compared to basketball and football. The game can be virtually over the first 15 minutes.
 
UNC is teeing off on Keuhner because he can't find the strike zone unless he tries to throw it down the middle. He doesn't throw hard so we see the extra base hits. There's no seeing eye singles this time.

It's unbelievable he's still in the game. It's like McDonnell has conceded the defeat.
 
Looks like the centerfield camera is out. It's going to take a lot of willpower for me to watch much more of this game. Baseball can be a cruel game for fans.

About 5 years ago I went to a Braves/Reds game in Cincinnati with my best friend. He was a Reds fan and I'm a Braves fan. It was my first MLB game in years. The Reds scored 6 runs in the first inning.

All the time and effort and money it took for me to go to this game was pretty much a waste after just one inning. I was miserable the next two hours as I watched the Braves lose 11 to 3.

On the drive back to Louisville I didn't realize that this was going to be the last MLB game I would ever attend. I love the game but I hate it when it's over after one inning.
 
Think I am definitely on the ‘move Tate from the Friday spot’ train.
 
I recall the ND pitching coach pulling several of his relievers after witnessing them start out throwing 2 balls. I interpreted as an effective teaching moment; not sure that is the answer for CDM, but I agree with REAL, it is really hard to understand how Dan can just watch a pitcher struggle with control and not make recognize sooner before it affects the outcome of the game itself.

There were several efforts last night where the offense responded with some momentum, but it was evident that It was too late. As fans, we can get frustrated and move on, but I must wonder at what point the players start to lose confidence in the game management.
 
2330859 said:
I recall the ND pitching coach pulling several of his relievers after witnessing them start out throwing 2 balls. I interpreted as an effective teaching moment; not sure that is the answer for CDM, but I agree with REAL, it is really hard to understand how Dan can just watch a pitcher struggle with control and not make recognize sooner before it affects the outcome of the game itself.

There were several efforts last night where the offense responded with some momentum, but it was evident that It was too late. As fans, we can get frustrated and move on, but I must wonder at what point the players start to lose confidence in the game management.
Click to expand...
There’s nothing wrong with Dan’s game management. It’s more about the player executing and you can’t pull every pitcher after throwing 2 balls.. Otherwise you have no pitching by Sunday. You put the best players in and it’s up to them to succeed or fail. Dan was absolutely livid with what went on but short of destroying the confidence level of your players, you have to minimize the damage. The Cards offense did come back and 9 runs most of the time earns you a victory. Put it in your pocket and come back and tie up the series. Let it linger and you can get swept. See last year’s series against UNC. That started the tailspin end to the season.
 
2330859 said:
I recall the ND pitching coach pulling several of his relievers after witnessing them start out throwing 2 balls.
Click to expand...
Their Friday night starter pitched one inning if I remember correctly. I'm actually okay with starting Kuehner,but after watching his start from last week,you'd probably want to have a contingency plan.
 
nccardfan said:
Put it in your pocket and come back and tie up the series. Let it linger and you can get swept. See last year’s series against UNC. That started the tailspin end to the season.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more. There is ample concern about Kuehner going forward though.
 
A starter versus a reliever - different scenarios. Anyway, Tate has not been effective. I do not see how you leave him in the starting role unless you just have no other options. That may be the case. Friday, Sat or Sun - you are facing the same lineup. So, I am not too hung up on the day - except, yes, Friday you probably face their best pitcher and you want to start the series off with a win. I think this is a good team - not a great team. Pitching is suspect and defense has been iffy at times. I think I am curbing my enthusiasm a bit and not setting expectations too high. Hopefully, someone (Lohman or Seed maybe) emerges for us.
 
Tate is now 4-2, his era is 4.84. Poland’s is 2.51. For potential starters, guys that have started mid week games, their era’s are higher. Grundy is a possibility but midweek guys haven’t fared much better.
For other posters who feel you can just switch Friday guy with Sunday guy, you usually do that to give a guy extra rest but it disrupts the pitcher’s routines to prepare themselves. You change the days when you do bullpens, etc. The other thing is now most teams have quality 1-3 starters, so it’s not like moving Tate to Sunday makes him better or that Poland is a guaranteed win on Friday because then he’s facing other teams #1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: earsky
Bardman said:
A starter versus a reliever - different scenarios. Anyway, Tate has not been effective. I do not see how you leave him in the starting role unless you just have no other options. That may be the case. Friday, Sat or Sun - you are facing the same lineup. So, I am not too hung up on the day - except, yes, Friday you probably face their best pitcher and you want to start the series off with a win. I think this is a good team - not a great team. Pitching is suspect and defense has been iffy at times. I think I am curbing my enthusiasm a bit and not setting expectations too high. Hopefully, someone (Lohman or Seed maybe) emerges for us.
Click to expand...
I don’t have any inside knowledge but it is worrisome that Seed hasn’t pitched since the Lipscomb loss and Lohman only pitches in relief.
 
This thing with Kuehner presents a real conundrum. Just watching his last 2 starts,he has no idea where his breaking ball is going to end up.
I think we're all hoping to see warmer weather really soon. Probably nobody more so than the coaches and Kuehner himself. It's not an excuse,but it looks to be affecting him for sure with his off speed stuff.
 
nccardfan said:
Tate is now 4-2, his era is 4.84. Poland’s is 2.51. For potential starters, guys that have started mid week games, their era’s are higher. Grundy is a possibility but midweek guys haven’t fared much better.
Click to expand...
Should've added this to my last post. Nobody has pushed their way into a weekend starting spot. Hopefully,the warmer weather is the answer for Tate.
 
McDonnell should have pulled Keuhner after that first inning. He gave up 5 runs and couldn't throw strikes. There was no reason to wait until he gave up more runs. I'm sure if this was a ACC tournament game he would have been pulled.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bardman and rh62531
Bardman said:
...Tate has not been effective. I do not see how you leave him in the starting role unless you just have no other options...
Click to expand...
Bingo--evidently.

If Kuehner is in the weekend rotation, it speaks volumes about the quality of our pitching. And you need no better evidence of that than Robinson coming in and immediately surrendering four more runs.

We had to go through three pitchers before we could consistently get UNC outs, and who knows the quality of the hitters we were facing with an 8-run deficit?

For whatever reason(s)--I'm not baseball savvy enough analyze it--this team is looking increasingly like last year's. We can only beat teams consistently if we can outhit them. As great a coach as McDonnell is, that's not his style of baseball, at least not the style underpinning his most successful years here...
 
zipp said:
Bingo--evidently.

If Kuehner is in the weekend rotation, it speaks volumes about the quality of our pitching. And you need no better evidence of that than Robinson coming in and immediately surrendering four more runs.

We had to go through three pitchers before we could consistently get UNC outs, and who knows the quality of the hitters we were facing with an 8-run deficit?

For whatever reason(s)--I'm not baseball savvy enough analyze it--this team is looking increasingly like last year's. We can only beat teams consistently if we can outhit them. As great a coach as McDonnell is, that's not his style of baseball, at least not the style underpinning his most successful years here...
Click to expand...
What we are experiencing right now is a product of our past success. I think injuries, especially pitching hurt us last year, but when you constantly lose players to the draft and recruit guys that might not even make it to campus, you’re going to experience a down year. Remember a couple of seasons ago? Fans were clamoring for us to replace Snyder because we weren’t hitting. Now we got 2 guys in the lineup with double digit HRs and other guys with several. I think the difference between last year and this year is we have the offense to overcome some bad starts. Our starting pitching was ok early but it’s our bullpen with the exception of Prosecky that’s been suspect.
 
To Zipp’s point….Robinson’s last outing was really good. Then…plop. Just don’t have consistency outside of about three guys from the pen.
 
Remember "small ball"? I liked small ball once I got used to it... :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: earsky
What the hell is Masterman doing out there in left field? This team by far is the weakest defensive team in the McDonnell era.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M

How do you sell Year 3?

Replies
17
Views
991
Forum: Louisville Men’s Basketball
earsky
E
Ty Spalding

FOOTBALL Spring Practice Tidbits - Volume 1

Replies
23
Views
2K
Premium: Collision Course
ReincarnatedJungleTiger
ReincarnatedJungleTiger
Guardman

Strong Dose of Financial Reality for Louisville Athletics

Replies
22
Views
1K
Premium: Collision Course
cocoa
C
C

Kenny press-conference-he doesn't sound like he thinks he's a dead man walking

Replies
21
Views
598
Premium: Collision Course
KingHenry_X
KingHenry_X
LeFors4Ever

2023 Louisville Football was Historic

Replies
30
Views
884
Premium: Collision Course
cardrock
cardrock
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back