This one was disappointing. They were playing solid and then the wheels fell off. Again, very excited about Curtis. This kid will be a weekend starter before long. Plus breaking ball, athletic delivery. High ceiling.
The bullpen usage is a little confusing at times. Schlossnagle is trying to find the right combination obviously, seeing who will step up. I didn't totally understand pulling Menefee in the middle of that AB. He did miss his spot the pitch prior & the hitter fouled it straight back, but before that he looked better than last time out. Was throwing strikes and his breaking ball looked good. The amount Cortez is being used does worry me a bit also. Hasn't really shown any signs of that being an issue so far but he does have a long career ahead of him.
On the plus side, I know he made a huge mistake on the triple pitch but Johnston's stuff looked very sharp overall. Up to 93, offspeed was effective and should've been out of the inning on that tapper... Was just very unlucky with the placement. Offensively, Rock and Bost are starting to heat up which is great to see. Wouldn't be surprised to see Rock have a good weekend.
Overall still some sloppy play at times. If they can clean that up it can really make the difference between a win or loss... The margin for error can be thin. This team is definitely better than their record but they still haven't put it together from a fundamental, playing cleaner baseball standpoint. Just go out there and compete this weekend, will be great to have that tough @ LSU to really prepare them for the rest of the gauntlet in SEC play.
The bullpen usage is a little confusing at times. Schlossnagle is trying to find the right combination obviously, seeing who will step up. I didn't totally understand pulling Menefee in the middle of that AB. He did miss his spot the pitch prior & the hitter fouled it straight back, but before that he looked better than last time out. Was throwing strikes and his breaking ball looked good. The amount Cortez is being used does worry me a bit also. Hasn't really shown any signs of that being an issue so far but he does have a long career ahead of him.
On the plus side, I know he made a huge mistake on the triple pitch but Johnston's stuff looked very sharp overall. Up to 93, offspeed was effective and should've been out of the inning on that tapper... Was just very unlucky with the placement. Offensively, Rock and Bost are starting to heat up which is great to see. Wouldn't be surprised to see Rock have a good weekend.
Overall still some sloppy play at times. If they can clean that up it can really make the difference between a win or loss... The margin for error can be thin. This team is definitely better than their record but they still haven't put it together from a fundamental, playing cleaner baseball standpoint. Just go out there and compete this weekend, will be great to have that tough @ LSU to really prepare them for the rest of the gauntlet in SEC play.