If nothing else, Sunday’s breathtaking win showed the resiliency of our team this year. Being held in check all week, our hitters finally came to the fore while our pitching continued to disappoint, particularly our weekend starters. Campbell, Cellucci, and Johnson were the only pitching bright spots.
For the year, our three weekend starters have a combined earned run average of 6.11: Roper (4.99), Gillies (7.77) and Solesky (6.16). Since we started conference play they’ve been much worse. In his last five starts, Roper has thrown 24.2 innings, allowed 33 hits, 17 free passes (walks and HBPs) and 18 earned runs (6.57 ERA). In his last four starts, Gillies has thrown 18.1 innings, allowed 22 hits, 10 free passes, and 16 earned runs (7.85 ERA). And Solesky has pitched 18.2 innings in five appearance and been hammered for 27 hits, 12 free passes, and 21 earned runs (10.13 ERA). During those games, opponents have batted .324 against Roper, .361 against Gillies, and .338 against Solesky. We’re not fooling many hitters with our weekend starters. For interest, on the year, our mid-week starters (facing weaker teams in general) have an ERA of 4.93, allowing only 34 hits in 42 innings though also allowing a dreadful 38 free passes in those same 42 innings. As a team our ERA of 5.65 is only exceeded by the 1990 team’s 6.72 ERA which may be “safe” and the 5.66 ERA in 2010 and 5.72 ERA in 2017, which may not be “safe.” Terrible.
The only positives I can see recently are the performances of Campbell and Cellucci. Campbell walked a bunch Saturday but held a good hitting team at bay for five innings. Cellucci was also dynamite on Sunday until the fly ball homer. He then appeared to get tired which isn’t surprising. If we had anyone to bring in, he’d probably have been replaced during the eighth inning, though he survived even that without allowing a run. Johnson also looked good allowing two potential double play grounders to the two guys he faced. When he came here last year I expected him to be a front-line guy. Maybe there’s still a chance. Where we go after them is still a mystery.
I was impressed with the way our hitters stuck in there on Sunday after being humiliated two games in a row and falling behind 5-0 in the third inning. Great comeback! We’re hitting .308 as a team though, despite Sunday’s performance, only hit .255 for the week. Some of our best hitters have had a rough go lately: Bedgood (0 for 8), Jensen (1 for 17), Mathews (1 for 14), Glancy (1 for 13) and Kobi Owen (now 10 for his last 63), in a long slump. Although he sat on Sunday, Nieman has only been held hitless in 2 of his last 13 games, hitting .326 over that period. Hoese, Haskins, and Artigues are killing the ball and I’m wondering if Artigues should be returned to the leadoff spot he held almost all of last year.
Jewett pushed a lot of right buttons on Sunday starting little-used lefties, Acy Owen, Burns, and Stevens. Between them they went 5 for 13 while scoring three and knocking in five. That’s accounting for 8 of our 9 runs. Congrats to the coach!
We didn’t help ourselves this week with a 1-3 record but we didn’t completely close the door on an “at large” regional bid. Still, we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we can’t lose more than a couple of our remaining 12 games to have a realistic shot. With our pitching, I’m afraid we’re closing in on a situation that winning the conference tourney may be our only possibillity. Let’s hope not.
Roll Wave!!
For the year, our three weekend starters have a combined earned run average of 6.11: Roper (4.99), Gillies (7.77) and Solesky (6.16). Since we started conference play they’ve been much worse. In his last five starts, Roper has thrown 24.2 innings, allowed 33 hits, 17 free passes (walks and HBPs) and 18 earned runs (6.57 ERA). In his last four starts, Gillies has thrown 18.1 innings, allowed 22 hits, 10 free passes, and 16 earned runs (7.85 ERA). And Solesky has pitched 18.2 innings in five appearance and been hammered for 27 hits, 12 free passes, and 21 earned runs (10.13 ERA). During those games, opponents have batted .324 against Roper, .361 against Gillies, and .338 against Solesky. We’re not fooling many hitters with our weekend starters. For interest, on the year, our mid-week starters (facing weaker teams in general) have an ERA of 4.93, allowing only 34 hits in 42 innings though also allowing a dreadful 38 free passes in those same 42 innings. As a team our ERA of 5.65 is only exceeded by the 1990 team’s 6.72 ERA which may be “safe” and the 5.66 ERA in 2010 and 5.72 ERA in 2017, which may not be “safe.” Terrible.
The only positives I can see recently are the performances of Campbell and Cellucci. Campbell walked a bunch Saturday but held a good hitting team at bay for five innings. Cellucci was also dynamite on Sunday until the fly ball homer. He then appeared to get tired which isn’t surprising. If we had anyone to bring in, he’d probably have been replaced during the eighth inning, though he survived even that without allowing a run. Johnson also looked good allowing two potential double play grounders to the two guys he faced. When he came here last year I expected him to be a front-line guy. Maybe there’s still a chance. Where we go after them is still a mystery.
I was impressed with the way our hitters stuck in there on Sunday after being humiliated two games in a row and falling behind 5-0 in the third inning. Great comeback! We’re hitting .308 as a team though, despite Sunday’s performance, only hit .255 for the week. Some of our best hitters have had a rough go lately: Bedgood (0 for 8), Jensen (1 for 17), Mathews (1 for 14), Glancy (1 for 13) and Kobi Owen (now 10 for his last 63), in a long slump. Although he sat on Sunday, Nieman has only been held hitless in 2 of his last 13 games, hitting .326 over that period. Hoese, Haskins, and Artigues are killing the ball and I’m wondering if Artigues should be returned to the leadoff spot he held almost all of last year.
Jewett pushed a lot of right buttons on Sunday starting little-used lefties, Acy Owen, Burns, and Stevens. Between them they went 5 for 13 while scoring three and knocking in five. That’s accounting for 8 of our 9 runs. Congrats to the coach!
We didn’t help ourselves this week with a 1-3 record but we didn’t completely close the door on an “at large” regional bid. Still, we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we can’t lose more than a couple of our remaining 12 games to have a realistic shot. With our pitching, I’m afraid we’re closing in on a situation that winning the conference tourney may be our only possibillity. Let’s hope not.
Roll Wave!!
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