There has been a lengthy debate on our defensive liabilities. But what about on offense,

Does Early not believe in bunting on the offensive side to move baserunners? There have been a few times the last several games where we did not try advance runners with less than two outs, One specific example yesterday with Terrance Kiel late in the game. Love Terrance, but he offensively challenged. Why would we not bunt in that scenario?

We like to prove we can win in untraditional ways. Like yesterday.

wrh said:

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There has been a lengthy debate on our defensive liabilities. But what about on offense,

Does Early not believe in bunting on the offensive side to move baserunners? There have been a few times the last several games where we did not try advance runners with less than two outs, One specific example yesterday with Terrance Kiel late in the game. Love Terrance, but he offensively challenged. Why would we not bunt in that scenario?

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Why would you bunt with runners on 2nd & 3rd and one out?

AND, MSU showed us how to do it. They laid down 2 beautiful bunts in game 2 that almost killed us.
I was screaming to do it in game 3 with Kiel at the plate.
Never even tried -??

In many bunt situations the third baseman is playing well behind the bag. Teams were playing aren't even defending the bunt.

And while we're at it, learn to hit to the opposite field against the shift. But... probably a bridge too far.

wrh said:

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There has been a lengthy debate on our defensive liabilities. But what about on offense,

Does Early not believe in bunting on the offensive side to move baserunners? There have been a few times the last several games where we did not try advance runners with less than two outs, One specific example yesterday with Terrance Kiel late in the game. Love Terrance, but he offensively challenged. Why would we not bunt in that scenario?

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I've mentioned this in previous threads. Apparently, Kiel is not a good bunter.

I don't understand this as someone who is extremely fast, you'd think he would have worked to master his bunting all his playing career as it only opens up the holes in the defense by make the third and first basemen draw in closer to home plate and put them in a more vulnerable position if he does swing away. If he lays one down, it makes the defense field and throw under duress, knowing they have to do it seamlessly.

You noticed they bunted Chestnut, who we all know is a great bunter.

Nobody believes in bunting. Nobody believes in strategy, just data. Data says it's mash or nothing. Do you not watch MLB?

We are 4th in SLG, 6th in runs scored, and 13 in OBP.

In the country, not the SEC mind you. Our offensive strategy is to mash as 2009 aptly pointed out, and we're really elite at it especially when healthy.

Yeah we could be more clutch and maybe more situationally intentional at times, but the offense hasn't failed us much this year at all.

Anagrammatic Nudist said:

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2nd and 3rd with 1 out is never a bunting scenario... what on Earth are we even discussing here?

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The glass half empty version is that a lot of people (baseball traditionalists and purists) don't like gorilla ball because it's "too simple" and based purely on power. The mentality being, "Anyone can just go up there and swing hard for the fence. It takes a REAL tactician to know when to sacrifice outs for 90 feet." Or that laying down a bunt is somehow a sign of team-wide baseball fundamentals skill. I believe Ty Cobb said something similar when Babe Ruth started gaining popularity for hitting HRs while he was still bunting and stealing.

And to be honest, it HAS made for a more boring game. But far smarter people than us have figured out that run expectancy is optimized when you don't sacrifice one of your 3 outs in an inning and have adapted their style... which has trickled down to lower levels.

RED AG 98 said:

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We are 4th in SLG, 6th in runs scored, and 13 in OBP.

In the country, not the SEC mind you. Our offensive strategy is to mash as 2009 aptly pointed out, and we're really elite at it especially when healthy.

Yeah we could be more clutch and maybe more situationally intentional at times, but the offense hasn't failed us much this year at all.

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It's not only to mash. It's also to get walks, which we do well. Since Earley has been here, I'm pretty sure we've been one of the top teams in the country in walks outside of last year.

We get pitches we like, and we hit them hard. If we don't, sure we K looking some, but the walks and HR more than make up for that. It's why an umpire with a loose zone hurts us more- it directly hinders our strategy. I dislike the Three True Outcome approach, but it's where we're headed. And to be fair, we go through pitching staffs and bullpens really well.

Aggies2009 said:

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RED AG 98 said:

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We are 4th in SLG, 6th in runs scored, and 13 in OBP.

In the country, not the SEC mind you. Our offensive strategy is to mash as 2009 aptly pointed out, and we're really elite at it especially when healthy.

Yeah we could be more clutch and maybe more situationally intentional at times, but the offense hasn't failed us much this year at all.

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It's not only to mash. It's also to get walks, which we do well. Since Earley has been here, I'm pretty sure we've been one of the top teams in the country in walks outside of last year.

We get pitches we like, and we hit them hard. If we don't, sure we K looking some, but the walks and HR more than make up for that. It's why an umpire with a loose zone hurts us more- it directly hinders our strategy. I dislike the Three True Outcome approach, but it's where we're headed. And to be fair, we go through pitching staffs and bullpens really well.

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Spot on. I dislike what it does to the game as well, but it's really tough to argue against the why -- because OB and SLG (xBH) is what correlates most to runs and therefore winning.

I do understand why some think there isn't strategy here -- just go MASH. I agree that it's a completely different approach and perhaps not nearly as nuanced or intricate as the old school hit for average idea, it most certainly is a strategy and it's being implemented everywhere because it produces. A walk and xBH is by far easier than stringing together 3 singles.

To your point, we're 21st in the country in BB, just 20 total behind #6 so there isn't a lot of separation here.

Lol yeah I went overboard there.

But you're right. The ONLY time I've seen it was when a coach had a guy up who is prone to hitting into double plays or something. Or someone like Chestnut who CAN bunt for a hit, so it isn't purely a sacrifice. But it doesn't move a runner to 3rd with less than 2 outs, so it doesn't add the prospect of a productive out, so there's virtually no reason to do so.

RED AG 98 said:

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Aggies2009 said:

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RED AG 98 said:

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We are 4th in SLG, 6th in runs scored, and 13 in OBP.

In the country, not the SEC mind you. Our offensive strategy is to mash as 2009 aptly pointed out, and we're really elite at it especially when healthy.

Yeah we could be more clutch and maybe more situationally intentional at times, but the offense hasn't failed us much this year at all.

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It's not only to mash. It's also to get walks, which we do well. Since Earley has been here, I'm pretty sure we've been one of the top teams in the country in walks outside of last year.

We get pitches we like, and we hit them hard. If we don't, sure we K looking some, but the walks and HR more than make up for that. It's why an umpire with a loose zone hurts us more- it directly hinders our strategy. I dislike the Three True Outcome approach, but it's where we're headed. And to be fair, we go through pitching staffs and bullpens really well.

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Spot on. I dislike what it does to the game as well, but it's really tough to argue against the why -- because OB and SLG (xBH) is what correlates most to runs and therefore winning.

I do understand why some think there isn't strategy here -- just go MASH. I agree that it's a completely different approach and perhaps not nearly as nuanced or intricate as the old school hit for average idea, it most certainly is a strategy and it's being implemented everywhere because it produces. A walk and xBH is by far easier than stringing together 3 singles.

To your point, we're 21st in the country in BB, just 20 total behind #6 so there isn't a lot of separation here.

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Ooo 21st seems low. So we're not as good this year as we were. In the 2022-2024 years, we were always like top 5. Still, as you said, we're scoring runs.

Lots of non-power conference teams ahead of us. We're 2nd in the SEC.