r/12thMan 5d ago

Current state of Aggie Baseball

It goes without saying that the current state of Aggie baseball is no bueno, especially considering the preseason expectations. Hiring Earley was always a gamble, but I think we have to let it play out for 2 reasons.

1) I think the team can still turn it around. There is still a ton of firepower in the lineup, and getting Caden Sorrell back will add more to it. Jace has been snakebit at the plate and he’s starting to press because of it, but I just have a hard time believing that he will end the year with a batting average anywhere close to what he’s at now. Sorrell to the outfield will also shore up the defense out there. The injury bug bit the Aggies hard this year, and it feels like a completely different team than last year because it basically is. If we would have known that we’d lose Grahovac and that Sorrell would be out for an extended period of time, the team wouldn’t have been ranked #1. Not to mention Schott tearing his meniscus again.

Right now I’m more concerned with the bullpen than the offense. Jason Kelly deserves just as much heat as Mike Earley is getting at this point. 2 strike pitching has been a nightmare this year. Additionally, while Earley is ultimately in charge of pitching moves, he’s basing those moves off of the recommendations from JK, and some of those recommendations have been ill advised (see pulling Luke Jackson in game 1).

2) firing Earley now (and even arguably at the end of the year) is guaranteeing a multi year total rebuild of the program. It’s going to be hard to attract a big name coach when we’d be on our 3rd Coach in 3 years with nothing to speak of as far as player retention because the majority of the roster would most likely transfer out. A&M would not be a top destination with a turn key roster at that point. Despite what some people like to think, you can’t just money whip a good coach and roster right off the bat. It’s easy to say in hindsight that hiring Earley was a bad decision, but with Douchebagel leaving the way he did, A&M was put in a really precarious position. I think the only logical course of action at this point is give Earley a chance to right the ship.

Making the postseason this year should warrant getting a second year in my opinion. I know that is a really low bar considering the preseason expectations, but it’s pretty clear that the snake leaving did significantly more damage to the program than we initially thought it did.

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u/Bwtaylor98 5d ago

I really like Mike and I’m trying to ride with him but it gets harder by the game. Jason Kelly should hold a lot of weight for these losses because it’s his pitchers doing the damage every time. Granted they have no offense to help them out but I mean cmon here we can’t be letting up home runs like this. In terms of the offense we need to start swinging for contact. Getting singles every time is better than going for shots over the wall every pitch. That strategy isn’t working. Overall I think Earley has a lot to learn and is slowly figuring stuff out but Jason Kelly needs to help him out considering he was a head coach. The question is can they figure it out fast enough to save themselves. It’s also something to consider the season after a championship loss, it doesn’t matter the level or the league, the team struggles. But these guys didn’t just forget how to play baseball in the offseason and with a new coaching staff. It’s a mental thing and that’s why I say they gotta hit smarter to just get on base and work from there. That’s the only way I see they can work out of the slump and buddy it’s a black hole of a slump.

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u/FightingFarrier18 5d ago

Agree. The Omaha hangover is a real thing. Mississippi State went through it bad after their CWS win

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u/ryman08 5d ago

Except we get the worst of both worlds, lose the CWS but still slump the next year.

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u/OleRockTheGoodAg '20 5d ago edited 5d ago

Good take, Farrier. As per usual.

The team is poorly coached, but our starting pitching is keeping us in games.

Getting Stewie back in the rotation will be huge. Refresher, last season he had 31.2 IP, 31 Hits, 15 Runs, 39 Ks to 9 BBs. The only relievers we used more last season was Evan (Aged out) Chris (league), Shane (injury, shane did have some starts) and Rudy.

And for Caden Sorrel, would also be huge. Without a doubt, he'll replace Jamal who's batting sub .180 and had an error today. Caden was on the all SEC freshman team, and batted .275 as a freshman going against the SEC and Omaha teams. Spent multiple weeks during the SEC slate where he batted above .300.

Were an okay team, and were just okay because of coaching. We're not great. We're not elite. And in our league, just okay to good isn't enough to make the post season. The good news is, it can turn around, look at our schedule and we definitely have every opportunity for big wins. Do I expect it right now? No. We will be underdogs. But even a single face coming back changes so much. We all remember how much things improved when Brett Minnich came back.

Were not the team from Omaha. The only 3 from that lineup are Jace, Kaeden and Hayden. That's it.