A FRESHER thread for the CWS

ESPN, Sporting News, and virtually everyone else is making us out as "the Cinderellas"  of the CWS.

Perhaps we ARE the biggest surprise...but not 'Cinderellas', please!!  Because it was WE who most recently
"stepped on Cindy's glass slipper"...as in, Loyola-Chicago in last year's NCAA hoops Final Four.

Of course Vandy is, and should be, the favorite.  But in a baseball series, barring a GIGANTIC talent disparity,
which doesn't exist in this case, anything can happen.

What color are those uniforms, exactly?

Undefeated. They're going to sweep through the CWS.

dwoody wrote:

Undefeated. They're going to sweep through the CWS.

Slow your roll. Rocker is pitching Tuesday for Vandy. While we still don't know for sure who will go for Michigan the consensus is Criswell. However don't be shocked if it is someone else (Keizer maybe?) as Bakich might want to keep Criswell available for relief on Wednesday. Granted not having to play Wednesday would be ideal but Rocker is pitching for Vandy Tuesday. We'll see although Batkich is on record as saying that they're just trying to win that days game and they'll worry about future games when they get there.

We are up against it tonight. The problem with starting Crisewell is then that is it for him and we don't have him in relief for tonight or a potential/likely game three.

I don't know, Shoes. I'll buy into all the mega-hype about Rocker when I see the RESULTS (tonight). Of course he was nothing short of phenomenal in that one game they had to have ( no-hitter, 19Ks, something like that). But that's ONE GAME.

He's a 19-year-old kid.  If he gets behind our hitters as their starter did early on last night, we'll be in good shape. Doesn't matter how hard you throw: if you're staring at a 2-0 or 3-1 count, and HAVE to come in with the fastball, it will most often be a fastball the batter is SITTING ON.    

And I can state without fear of contradiction that ALL D-1 college hitters, like ALL major leaguers, can hit fastballs---for a simple reason: if they couldn't, they wouldn't be [up] there.

Rocker doesn't throw No-hitters and strikeout 19 every game but he just did it, in Super Regionals, against Duke (who isn't traditionally awesome but they are pretty good, afterall they beat Vandy in the game prior). Also look at Rockers stats for the season, pretty good with a couple outliers. True there is no guarantee he'll be great tonight (and he is a Freshman with a ton of pressure on him tonight) but don't count on him throwing straight-cheese.

https://vucommodores.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4790

"Rocker has now pitched 21.2. innings in the NCAA Tournament. The opposition has scored two runs, managed 12 hits, and struck out 33 times. He’s walked three. Gracious. “I think we’re a confident bunch,” said Stephen Scott. “It starts with the guy on the mound.”

https://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2019-06-21/how-kumar-rocker-has-made-vanderbilt-scariest-team-college-world

Oh, well. I wonder if Paige was pulled too soon...

dwoody wrote:

Oh, well. I wonder if Paige was pulled too soon...

Pbbbtttt....

No, I'm pleasantly surprised that he did as well as he did. I can't recall if I actually posted it but I do recall breaking down Michigan's pitching staff in a reply to 'eggo. I think that I deleted it but I did go in-depth on Paige. Paige will be weekend starter next year, probably Saturday depending on who we have coming in next year. Isaiah doesn't throw very hard but he is crafty. I assume that he'll come back next year with added some size which could translate into a couple more mph. Not enough to become overpowering but enough to get him into the 90's. Of course it's a little trickier in baseball, especially pitching. Simply adding size doesn't mean that you'll automatically throw harder and it could potentially impair your mechanics. I'm trying to be positive here though. The upper-80's that Paige was throwing was High School stuff (at least velocity wise). I saw him pitch frequently this year during midweek games and yes he'd make the mid-major players look silly, but you saw tonight what a good program would do to him. He was effective but they hit him hard. Vandy is used to seeing flame-throwers in the SEC and this crafty soft-toss stuff threw them off a little.

When I saw Weiss jogging in I threw my hands up and though, "Here we go." Willie has apparently reclaimed his mind-set as he did pretty well. I'm starting to get excited about him next year. Willie WILL NOT be a starter though (at least I don't think). Willie will be our closer again.

My guess for weekend rotation next year? Criswell, Paige, and Dragani. This is of course assuming that Criswell comes back next year. I'm not sure about Dragani, it's him Beers or Weisenburger but Weisenburger doesn't have the control IMHO. Of course we might get a stud Freshman but I doubt it. If anyone remembers Zach Putnam you know what I'm talking about. I honestly don't follow baseball recruiting. 'eggo, do you get baseball recruiting in addition to your football stuff?

Glad to learn (I only stayed up for 1st 3 innings) Criswell did NOT pitch. If indeed Kaufmann starts tonight, Jeff will be immediately available.

It may have been sort of a "we-have-a-game-to-give-so-give it" situation for coach Bakich last night; get Rocker (who IS tremendous, I knew and know) out of the way, and it's a final anything-can-happen game tonight...with Vandy's unarguable ace watching from the dugout.

Something I notice, though; for all his hype, Jimmy Kerr had better adjust to FASTBALLS; he seems to have trouble catching up with the heat. In his 2-run shot in G-1, that string-bean pitcher threw two heaters (neither above 91) by him before trying a breaking ball that Kerr crushed. And against Rocker's MLB-caliber heat last night, he was totally overmatched (in the at-bat I saw).

This is both amusing and a little meh...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1143990317135355910?adobe_mc=TS%3D1561583966%7CMCMID%3D80013755227699743268016009447387242254%7CMCORGID%3D10D31225525FF5790A490D4D%2540AdobeOrg&brandPlatformId=cbssports_app_android&fbclid=IwAR3JIUvCUdWoqOMWPrvsxz-EqhkBWX4wc0H_-l_Ie7dEwIKuWwvlT_lAIpw

Disappointing ending (but it is for everyone other than the National Champion) but they went a lot further than I ever thought they would. A very successful season in my opinion.

As with most college sports the team next year will look a lot different.

Bo 2.0 wrote:

Disappointing ending (but it is for everyone other than the National Champion) but they went a lot further than I ever thought they would.  A very successful season in my opinion.

Could not agree with you more, Bo.  To quote Nick Nolte to Eddie Murphy in the original "48 Hours"
(when it briefly appeared their "turd hunt" had failed):

"Hey---it was a longshot. We gave it a helluva ride."


To analytics for a moment: in the third inning, when Kaufmann began falling behind in the count to so many hitters, you knew we were in serious trouble. He ended up having to come in on 3-1 (or 3-2 with the bases loaded), and doesn't have the blazing Rocker-esque (or Criswell-esque) fastball to get away with it.