Honest thoughts on Silva?

[RobsterMobster]

It's still in the middle of the year and a lot of season left but I was curious about your thoughts on Silva? Year 5 but a young staff so a lot goes into it. My biggest concern are the percentage of pitchers that either digress or stay neutral under his tutelage since he's arrived. They are better than they were under the Anderson Era but not good enough to ever win anything of significance. I know Childress was a rare pitching coach the college game doesn't normally see either. The Anderson Era shouldn't be the comparison either.

He had a decent resume overall but the results are the results. A couple JUCO pitchers have saved this team in the past and losing out on the JUCO this past off season hurt a lot. I see promise in the freshman but that has been the norm for Silva as well. Only to have many pitchers digress over their careers or stay stagnant. Kubat may be his best overall story regarding a non JUCO guy and even he struggled down the stretch.

I also know hitting doesn't always help but the offense has had one down year (2015) where as the pitching has had one good year (also 2015 ironically enough). I also feel a poor decision to move Howell to the starting lineup is also a "let the chickens rule the roost" type of decision.

Hearing a lot of the older guys didn't put in as much work in the offseason not only shows but makes me question what the expectations were to begin with?

After all of that rambling I'm curious what your thoughts are? I'm sure I may be reading to far into some things but I've played and watched a lot of baseball on every level and this is bad, even for a young pitching staff. Especially if you look at their high school accolades.

Thoughts?

 

[OmahaSker]

I feel like this is a tough year for the pitching, they came through last year when the bats weren't doing much. We do have young pitchers but they shouldn't be throwing this poorly. I am going to see how the rest of this year pans out, but it's looking more and more like Eichorst is going to have changes to be made

 

[huskerbaseball13]

I feel like this is a tough year for the pitching, they came through last year when the bats weren't doing much. We do have young pitchers but they shouldn't be throwing this poorly. I am going to see how the rest of this year pans out, but it's looking more and more like Eichorst is going to have changes to be made

The young excuse doesn't cut it when your older guys show zero development. Guys like Burkamper, Knutson who should have been relied upon heavily this year have never reached their full potential. Howell struggled as a starter. King has regressed...should we expect Silva and Erstdud to develop said "young" talent? Fat chance. Expect to remain a mediocre program as long as Erstdud is around.

 

[Nate004]

Silva gots to go. The staff should be showing improvement by now, and they're still trying to learn how to throw strikes regularly. Not acceptable at this level, no matter if they are young or not. Heck, I'm really about to the point of willing to blow the whole thing up and start over again with the whole staff, but Silva's got to go no matter what.

 

[HuskersNC]

I don't think the raw numbers under Silva were that bad coming into this year (between 2012-2015, a 3.92 staff ERA with about a 2-1 K-to-BB ratio, with about 187 walks per year which compares similarly to most of Childress' pitching staffs, granted the difference in conference competition.) But this year is a monstrous affront to the sport of baseball.

 

[AZnHuskerland]

We do not have a talent issue with our current pitching roster and I’m tired of hearing that we just need to get our young arms more experience. We have a DEVELOPMENT and preparation issue and that is on Silva.

It is easy to watch/listen to the game and see the walks, hits, runs given up and chalk it up to lack of focus or lack of experience. I watched our fall scrimmages and have been to every home game so far this season. I will tell you that it is painfully obvious that our pitchers are not being developed and prepared with the same rigor and emphasis that has become common in college baseball today. I have had the good fortune to watch how teams like Vanderbilt, Oregon State, and Miss St. develop and prepare their pitchers. We have competitive talent but we aren’t doing the things these schools are doing to develop their pitchers to be competitive performers.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

We do not have a talent issue with our current pitching roster and I’m tired of hearing that we just need to get our young arms more experience. We have a DEVELOPMENT and preparation issue and that is on Silva.

It is easy to watch/listen to the game and see the walks, hits, runs given up and chalk it up to lack of focus or lack of experience. I watched our fall scrimmages and have been to every home game so far this season. I will tell you that it is painfully obvious that our pitchers are not being developed and prepared with the same rigor and emphasis that has become common in college baseball today. I have had the good fortune to watch how teams like Vanderbilt, Oregon State, and Miss St. develop and prepare their pitchers. We have competitive talent but we aren’t doing the things these schools are doing to develop their pitchers to be competitive performers.

Yeah but Erstad hasn't enough time to recruit...funny how our talent really hasn't been upgraded and its year 5. So much for that narrative. Let's be frank....we fired a mediocre coach and hired a coach that may be just as bad. Erstdud is all talk thus far

 

[AZnHuskerland]

Silva is, first and foremost, our Recruiting Coordinator. He is pretty good at it and brings in good talent to Lincoln. He is an average in-game pitching coordinator. Unfortunately, he is a poor developer of pitching talent. I have heard Erstad say several times that Silva is the highest paid assistant baseball coach in the country – it is obvious that Erstad has Silva here to recruit as a primary job function. I can understand and accept that. Erstad, I’m sure, has little desire to hit the road recruiting himself and Silva is well compensated to handle that essential part of the program. They need to acknowledge that and bring in a hungry and knowledgeable grad assistant to take responsibility for making sure we have a competitive development program for our pitchers.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Silva is, first and foremost, our Recruiting Coordinator. He is pretty good at it and brings in good talent to Lincoln. He is an average in-game pitching coordinator. Unfortunately, he is a poor developer of pitching talent. I have heard Erstad say several times that Silva is the highest paid assistant baseball coach in the country – it is obvious that Erstad has Silva here to recruit as a primary job function. I can understand and accept that. Erstad, I’m sure, has little desire to hit the road recruiting himself and Silva is well compensated to handle that essential part of the program. They need to acknowledge that and bring in a hungry and knowledgeable grad assistant to take responsibility for making sure we have a competitive development program for our pitchers.

Erstad needs to get the F out of Lincoln then if he doesn't have any desire to hit the recruiting trail. By his less than desirable results it's clear he needs serious help. Instead we will hear the same ole BS this offseason from Erstdud.

 

[AZnHuskerland]

I think we have the right guy in Erstad but his leadership style is dependent on having a strong recruiter and a strong pitching coach. Erstad can get by with an average hitting/fielding assistant because those are his areas of strength and can actively lead there but he needs a strong recruiter and pitching guy. IMO Silva has done a good job recruiting but just isn't getting it done developing our pitchers.

Aside from gains from physical maturity and gains from our strength & conditioning program, name a pitcher on the roster who has significantly improved since high school under Silva?

When I look at how we prepare our pitchers the following questions come to mind:

• Do our pitchers have individual goals?
• Does every pitcher have a role and know their role on the team?
• Do they do have frequent competitive bullpens simulating game intensity?
• Do they chart their bullpens and track effectiveness/improvement?
• Do they get practice reps off the game mound?
• Do they know how to effectively recover post-game? (this does not include ice).
• Have they perfected pitch sequences for right and left-handed batters based on their personal spin rate, tilt, and release point? (note – the pitchers at the top programs do).

Disappointingly, the answers to the above questions are all NO and I think that goes a long way in explaining why we are struggling with our walks, struggling when relievers enter the game, struggling with getting innings from our starters, etc. We have a talented group of pitchers but we can't just do some flat ground work, PFPs, shag balls in practice for hours and then expect them to go out and compete on the mound in games at a consistently top level.

 

[thriller]

Erstad needs to get the F out of Lincoln then if he doesn't have any desire to hit the recruiting trail. By his less than desirable results it's clear he needs serious help. Instead we will hear the same ole BS this offseason from Erstdud.

If something were to ever happen, let's hope Eichworst looks at someone other than Will Bolt.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

If something were to ever happen, let's hope Eichworst looks at someone other than Will Bolt.

I would take Bolt over Erstdud. He at the very least had coaching experience at the time. Although, being that Erstdud is in his 5th year and we are arguably worse off as a program than we were in year 1 it doesn't appear coaching experience has helped him much.

 

[bigredrl]

I think we have the right guy in Erstad but his leadership style is dependent on having a strong recruiter and a strong pitching coach. Erstad can get by with an average hitting/fielding assistant because those are his areas of strength and can actively lead there but he needs a strong recruiter and pitching guy. IMO Silva has done a good job recruiting but just isn't getting it done developing our pitchers.

Aside from gains from physical maturity and gains from our strength & conditioning program, name a pitcher on the roster who has significantly improved since high school under Silva?

When I look at how we prepare our pitchers the following questions come to mind:

• Do our pitchers have individual goals?
• Does every pitcher have a role and know their role on the team?
• Do they do have frequent competitive bullpens simulating game intensity?
• Do they chart their bullpens and track effectiveness/improvement?
• Do they get practice reps off the game mound?
• Do they know how to effectively recover post-game? (this does not include ice).
• Have they perfected pitch sequences for right and left-handed batters based on their personal spin rate, tilt, and release point? (note – the pitchers at the top programs do).

Disappointingly, the answers to the above questions are all NO and I think that goes a long way in explaining why we are struggling with our walks, struggling when relievers enter the game, struggling with getting innings from our starters, etc. We have a talented group of pitchers but we can't just do some flat ground work, PFPs, shag balls in practice for hours and then expect them to go out and compete on the mound in games at a consistently top level.

First and foremost there is some good discussion in this thread and very appropriate given our performance this year and overall program under DE.

Maybe you have some connection to the program I'm not aware of but I highly doubt the answer to all your points is "no". One could possibly come to that conclusion based on performance but that would be assuming A LOT. Simply not having success doesn't mean there isn't goals, objectives, and other preparation.

Willing to let the season play out (as if I had a choice) but we will easily finish the season with close to 35 wins and DE will be back. Should he? No in my opinion. I agree with most of what is included in this thread......that we are basically treading water. Silva is the easy target this year, but next year it will be something else, just as it has been the past 5 years.

Recruiting has been ok, but if the belief is he is an average pitching coach, but good recruiter, then he needs to go. You cant have the success of your pitching staff reliant on a quality Grad Assistant to handle the day to day development. Almost half your roster is pitchers, its just far to important not to have quality there.

Now lets talk about Kirby, what does he bring to the equation? By my count, not a whole lot to date. These are DE's guys. You have 3 paid coaches including the HC, you can't afford to have a weak link or a HC that wants to manage like a big league coach. I know Darin has been more involved this year, so they say, but again, you have a roster of 30+ and need to develop (outside of the pitching staff), catchers, middle infield, corners, and OF's. Young kids that need work, guidance, and sometimes a kick in the pant on a routine basis. That means coaches hands on, at all times. Are we getting that?

Probably to a degree, but the results sure don't represent it if so. I don't know what the answer is but you have to question if this staff is the right one. We should expect more. We have facilities, fan base, budget, etc....where we should be able to attract some really good coaches. Choosing a coach or assistant is not easy. Hell I thought Butler at WSU was a homerun hire for them, but hes been a total bust for them and their fanbase and parts of the administraton are very restless right now.

Its quite possible its time to admit this isn't going to work and move on. If so, I would like to see Darin step down, but if it comes to firing him, then so be it. Because he's a former Husker, there should be no free passes (no pun intended giving our pithcing situation this year).

 

[AZnHuskerland]

Maybe you have some connection to the program I'm not aware of but I highly doubt the answer to all your points is "no". One could possibly come to that conclusion based on performance but that would be assuming A LOT. Simply not having success doesn't mean there isn't goals, objectives, and other preparation.

Believe me - I would doubt this too if I wasn't more aware of the situation.... Ask around and ask specific questions...

Another thing bothering me is that Silva appears to have no idea how to prepare or use left-handed pitchers and this is costing us. Knutson should be a major contributor. He has the pitches and the velo but he really needs someone to help him with his Intent - you can see it from the stands and just want to jump down and help the kid.

Also, we have two tall lanky lefties with very different release points and pitch angles who haven’t been given the opportunity to even face a batter this season. Given the struggles of others on the staff - this is inexcusable. Connolly with his high release point and sinking fastball and West who has a lower 3/4 release with great extension to the plate and movement on FB and off-speed. With the right pitch sequence development and giving them frequent competitive bullpens, these two could be giving us the relievers we need to stop bleeding runs – even if they were only used as the proverbial lefty one-out guys. The fact that Silva is doing nothing with these two but having them chase foul balls is a total waste. Again, ask around and I bet you will find that these guys and others haven't had a scheduled bullpen for many weeks. How do you stay sharp and be prepared to contribute on the mound??

I really like Jake Meyers but he needs to focus on being a major contributor in the outfield and hitting. Silva is living off of what Jake learned and developed at Westside rather than developing other left-handed talent that we should be using.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Its quite possible its time to admit this isn't going to work and move on. If so, I would like to see Darin step down, but if it comes to firing him, then so be it. Because he's a former Husker, there should be no free passes (no pun intended giving our pithcing situation this year).

Yes he should be fired barring a completely unforeseen turnaround or getting hot in the B1G tournament and winning it. And there is zero chance it will happen. There are too many people out there that don't care one bit about the baseball program except that we have a former Husker leading it. That is all they care about and they will howl in disgust if we dare suggest that a former Husker still has to actually WIN. This program is hostage to Darin Erstad's whims for the foreseebale future.

 

[donahues17]

True..I feel the same. This is why hiring former players to coach the program unless you have clearly defined goals when signing the contract. Which I can imagine they do. What does an AD look like (I would have more respect for him) if he fires a former player that is very well known in baseball and football and who has also dontaed a very large sum of money to the program? If DE doesnt step down on his own, I see him being here at least 5 more years. This could be a very long 5 years if he doesnt make some changes to his staff.

As for Silva, its plain and simple...he isnt getting the job done. There is now way we should be finishing where we do in the big ten. AZin huskerland gave some great talking points and seems to know a great deal about baseball. That is awesome. I dont have that much knowledge but I can tell you, Silva needs to be honest with himself and say "what needs to change because this isnt cutting it". If he doesnt want to do that, then Erstad does.

 

[sklarbodds]

I don't think the raw numbers under Silva were that bad coming into this year (between 2012-2015, a 3.92 staff ERA with about a 2-1 K-to-BB ratio, with about 187 walks per year which compares similarly to most of Childress' pitching staffs, granted the difference in conference competition.) But this year is a monstrous affront to the sport of baseball.

This. Saying Silva has got to go based on one bad year of 4 is a bit absurd.

Silva has had a long line of successful stops. would be silly to ignore those. There is an issue with this staff for sure this year. It's a terrible year, no doubt. It is very alarming. "Got to go?" Not sure about that.

I certainly was not enthused by the DE hire. It hasn't been awful so far, it hasn't been good so far. I personally think that SE will give DE a chance next year to make it better and with any marked improvement he'll have the year after that. This is the reality of a tier 3 sport at NU.

 

[sklarbodds]

Yeah but Erstad hasn't enough time to recruit...funny how our talent really hasn't been upgraded and its year 5. So much for that narrative. Let's be frank....we fired a mediocre coach and hired a coach that may be just as bad. Erstdud is all talk thus far

Erstad is 10x the coach MA was/is. That's not saying much of anything, but the comparison is silly.

 

[huskerbaseball13]

Erstad is 10x the coach MA was/is. That's not saying much of anything, but the comparison is silly.

Sure isn't showing on the diamond...can you imagine Erstad in the Big 12? We would be at the bottom just like the last few years of the Anderson era.