Honest opinion, what will be different this year
- Thread starter redout
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Hopefully Erstad directing the offense will help.......a lot of unknowns though. Not sure what to expect out of the new guys at this point. I would expect more of the same out of Erstad(mediocrity) until he proves different.
How athletic is the team this year? Last year (if I remember correctly) we weren't that fast or aggressive on the bases. Also, hopefully we stop with the whole wasting outs bunting in the early innings before the flow of the game has even been established... That drives me nuts like no other!
I think the youth movement on this team will help a lot. We have a ton of freshman and sophomores with talent to spare. A few good senior leaders such as Rev and Chesnut doesn't hurt and a junior like Boldt never hurts. The youth will have its ups and downs this year so many shouldn't be shocked by that but you shouldn't see the complacency for Ertsad to pull out a senior for a freshman if the freshman is playing better that we seemed to see last year. The extra depth of course helps out with that.
We have quite a bit of depth at pitching. It is young and unproven depth in many areas but from what I hear the pitching isn't as much a worry to Erstad as years past even with the young depth.
At the end of the day baseball comes down to averages and 'want to.' I know Erstad wants to, he may be figuring out how to finally get his team to want to, but only time will tell.
I am cautiously optimistic about things but a lot will depend on the top of that lineup and the weekend rotation. We have the pieces as long as they come together right.
We have quite a bit of depth at pitching. It is young and unproven depth in many areas but from what I hear the pitching isn't as much a worry to Erstad as years past even with the young depth.
At the end of the day baseball comes down to averages and 'want to.' I know Erstad wants to, he may be figuring out how to finally get his team to want to, but only time will tell.
I am cautiously optimistic about things but a lot will depend on the top of that lineup and the weekend rotation. We have the pieces as long as they come together right.
I think the arms will be there eventually, but I have a bad feeling about the beginning of the season. With Burkamper suspended and Howell still trying to stretch his arm out, where in the world are we going to get innings? Another slow start could cripple this team.
I like this. I would think the youth movement has the best chance to be that 'change' thing. Also, I'm interested to see how this coasting problem shakes out. DE mentioned a problem with older guys coasting, right? Wonder who he's thinking of. Sure hope it's not Ryan. Schelpp and Miller are a couple other names that come to mind.
I agree, I think a strong finish to get into a regional may be our best option. Between Howell, Eddins, King, Englelken, a freshman, etc. someone would need to step up. Or our offense will need to score more runs than may be expected of them. Its a lot to ask for from the young pitching staff but I do feel a little better about those options than I did a few years ago. Hohensee was also a huge loss from that bullpen for this year as well.
That's what I don't get because it doesn't seem to include Rev, Boldt, or Howell. That only leaves a few upperclassmen such as Miller, Schleppenbach, Placzek, and Fish in the field. Can't imagine a walkon like Fish letting up though. He also seemed to hint at it being pitchers when he mentioned the weekend rotation. Burkamper seems to be an easy call based on being suspended. Maybe Knutson and Chesnut didn't progress the way he'd like? Hard to know who he meant but glad to know he is willing to start the younger guys. I felt some guys should have been benched last year even if they were multi year starters.
I would think we can check the 'Derek' box. He's been, uh, shall we say, doing things his own way from day one. Miller can have some odd plate appearances, might be something there. And I can only hope Schleppenbach is all in. He can do good things. We need him.
Yeah, this could boil down to the older pitchers. Not so worrisome for me if that's the case. Lots of young arms with pretty nice stuff.
Don't read too much into Erstad's comments. Good coaches call out anyone that's not putting out their best effort. Great way to motivate the veterans with the threat of losing their spot and inspiring the young guys to go for it. Competition brings out the best of everyone. Experience should trump youthful vigor when it comes gametime unless the vets don't perform in games, in such case it's worth the risk to play an unproven player. The fan interest in the team is great and the first game can't come soon enough.
I don't care how long you played the game, if you were an All American, or if you were a major league All-Star, managing/coaching is a completely different animal and there was bound to be a learning curve with Darin Erstad.
The good thing is I know that he has people like Joe Madden and Mike Scioscia to go to for guidance and to bounce things off of. I'm hoping he will take that next step this season in how he handles the team.
Being in the middle of the pack of this conference is just not going to cut it, even though it has markedly improved since Nebraska joined.
The good thing is I know that he has people like Joe Madden and Mike Scioscia to go to for guidance and to bounce things off of. I'm hoping he will take that next step this season in how he handles the team.
Being in the middle of the pack of this conference is just not going to cut it, even though it has markedly improved since Nebraska joined.
