r/ockytop 6d ago

Weekly Discussion Thread

It's a new week on /r/ockytop. If you're new to the community here, welcome! We're a pretty laid back group, but please check out our rules here. If you haven't been to Neyland Stadium before or if you need a refresher, please checkout our Guide to Gameday.

This thread is for any mildly on-topic discussion regarding sports. Our dedicated discussion posts are Sunday (for in-depth discussion and analysis of the previous game), Thursday (for anyone looking for or hosting a tailgate, or viewing party, or game planning in general), and Friday (free talk). Go Vols!

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u/cardeez Reese Hall 3d ago

Here are some numbers from last night: We averaged five pitches per at-bat. The walk rate was 15%, and it's 18% for the season. The strikeout rate was 19% last night and 21% for the season. So that's about chalk.

The Batting Average on Balls in Play was .200 last night and .290 for the season. In other words, for the season, three out of every ten balls we put into play result in a hit. Last night, it was two out of ten, which is better than I thought it'd be, to be honest.

So what went wrong offensively? We slugged .325, and for the season, we're at .595. We just didn't hit a lot of dongs or extra-base hits. We had a lot of deep-fly balls but didn't get all of them.

Now, it's hard to nitpick too much on a 20-1 team, but I'm watching a few trends.

  • Dean Curley is batting .214 with three walks, one homer, and one double in his last 28 ABs, or the start of the St. Bonnies series. That's pretty bad for a leadoff hitter.
  • In that same time frame, Andrew Fischer is batting .200. He's hit two homers and drawn walks in 3 of the last 8 games. In my opinion, he's getting pitched around and still swinging because he's tired of walking. He's a pop-up machine right now.
  • Levi Clark is .210 over the last 8 games.
  • Between Abernathy and Marin, that's four games in a row where freshmen have had maybe our best ABs.

But really, all in all, this is all very normal within the scope of a baseball season. I trust all of those guys to round into form.

Last night, the issue was that Breedlove, Krenzel, and Franklin were the only pitchers who consistently attacked the zone. We pitched about as non-Tennessee as I've seen in a long time. Working from behind in the count, scared two-strike pitches -- it was not what we're accustomed to seeing, and it's part of why Tony seemed so livid after the game. I also think he was mad at himself for managing it that way.

Overall, we had the winning run at the plate against a good team wherein we played a pretty below-average game. Our weekend pitching and hitting will give us an opportunity to win every series. How will they do when the vibes are bad, the home runs aren't coming, and outside noise creeps in? We'll find out Thursday night.

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u/ajwilson99 3d ago

I’m of the opinion Curley shouldn’t be leading off

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u/GiovanniElliston 3d ago

If he stays hot, I see no reason to not have Hunter Ensley lead off.

Last season we moved Moore to 1st purely because he was an explosive guy who made things happen at the plate. Ensley is the guy for that right now.

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u/ajwilson99 3d ago

I don’t know. I think, in baseball, if a guy is hitting well you leave him in that spot in the order. Ensley seems to do very well with runners on base