I understand what you're saying, man, but SEVERELY underperforming? C'mon now. 5-straight SEC series wins in the season is good for anyone -- no matter how much talent you do or don't think you have. For every Dean and Ryan Byrd who has underperformed, you have an equal number of Hanover's, Austin Ross's and Sean Ochinko's who have overperformed. I understand your points and they are all valid and well-taken, but just don't be unrealistic, buddy. If someone told you 10-5 in the SEC a few months ago, you'd have taken it. Great and high expectations are such a great problem to have, but don't short-change what this team's done to start the season.
Good post, Clair. Like JayB, I find myself disappointed that we're not sweeping SEC series. But that's unrealistic. I do worry about depth in the mid-relief corps and I also wonder about base running discipline. But this team is #1 across the board for a reason. The experts value LSU's consistency and their ability to generate runs to come from behind on occassion as well.
Manieri has always challenged the opponents arms by aggressive baserunning (though there have been some boneheaded player miscues). It's great when we make it but will kill an inning when we don't. I would prefer a slightly more conservative approach, but I'm not the coach.
well, taken as a whole, i think the team is OK. however in the GAMES LSU HAS LOST, we see a trend of mistake. whether they be base running miscues, middle relief pitching blowing narrow leads, or just an all-out lack of offensive production--the trends are there. but OK, LSU is 10-5 in the SEC. that isn't bad at all, however all of that doesn't mean much when the post-season arrives. and, we'd all be fooling ourselves if we didn't expect this team to be competing for the CWS title, right? fact of the matter is that you NEED great relief pitching in Omaha--especially with the 3-game championship series. am i hard on the Tigers?! hell yes i am! at the same time, whether they win or lose, i love it all the same. college baseball is my favorite collegiate sport by a LARGE margin. you've seen all the melt-downs when LSU football gets an inferior bowl game a la last season. most programs would be ecstatic by simply getting to play in the chicken nugget bowl. likewise, some programs are happy with a solid SEC baseball record. cough, UGA, cough. well, we are LSU.
Wanna talk three-game series's? Fine. LSU has lost only one in nearly 12 months. The team is playing fine and will be fine come summer. They have improved 4-fold since February.
and to who? Illinois (a good team, IMO.) could LSU win 2/3 against competition like UNC, Rice, CSF, Miami, Texas, etc? that's what i'd like to know. sure they could! but they'd have to be a little more conscious of their mistakes than they have been. but really, it's a moot point since I am a huge LSU baseball fan! i guess what i'm getting at is that there is room for improvement. i guess we just disagree on how much improvement. :grin:
i'm talking about traditional omaha competition--mainly west-coast teams. not conference teams. but you're right. i do not doubt the Tigers at all. just wondering if some of the mistakes that aren't being corrected will be detrimental to the post-season. it could be that the team could care less about midweek games though. which doesn't make much sense. those games could be the determinant factor when regionals, and especially, top eight seeds for supers are announced. but seriously guys, i understand that LSU has been improving a lot. im not trying to sound like i'm bashing them.
nah, I understand, man. Just trying to paint a pretty picture. This team has played well when they've needed to in the biggest games and that is more important to me than what they do or don't do against Nicholls or UNO. They #1 and are 1st in the SEC. Seeding is no issue.
