Texas struggled in all three phases of the game on Sunday, managing just two runs on five hits while giving up five runs of which only two were earned thanks to two more errors by the infield. Taking the weekend as a whole, Texas fans should always be satisfied with a series win. If the Horns do this every weekend from now until the end of June they'll be national champs. But Texas cannot be happy with the offense's inability to breakthrough against Duke's Sunday pitching, and the difference between taking two of three every weekend and sweeping a series every now and then is the difference between hosting a regional and hosting a superregional.
A quick look at the good, bad and ugly of this weekend after the jump.
Our specific thoughts on the weekend, bulletized:
- Freshman Brooks Marlow has to be the star of the weekend, hitting two homers and playing solid defense all weekend. Marlow's big weekend makes things very interesting for Texas in a very good way. The Horns will get Jordan Etier back next weekend, and Marlow's hitting and defense at second could enable Augie to put the more reliable (both offensively and defensively) and experienced Etier at shortstop. Summers may be the future of the position, but both his offense and defense need work before he's able to adequately step into Brandon Loy's shoes. One positive for Summers was his ability to draw five walks for the weekend.
- We saw the good and bad of Tim Maitland in center this weekend and it's probably just a matter of time before he's replaced. Maitland was 3-6 with three runs in the Saturday doubleheader but 0-4 with three Ks on Sunday. Collin Shaw was the first freshman to get a look in the outfield, but his 0-4 on Sunday wasn't the greatest offensive output in the world. Tuesday's game may provide an opportunity for Taylor Stell.
- Erich Weiss wasn't great at the plate (1-7) but he showed why he's such an important cog to the offense by putting up a .400 OBP for the weekend.
- Mark Payton was on the other end of the offensive spectrum, going 5-11 for the weekend with a pair of doubles, three walks, no strikeouts and just barely missing a home run Saturday night. If Payton can continue to play like this from the leadoff spot...it'll be a good thing.
- On the mound, Texas got great work from freshmen Ricky Jacquez, Parker French and Dillon Peters. Sophomore Corey Knebel was his old dominant self and fellow Sophomore Nathan Thornhill outdueled an All-American. The Horns may not have a Taylor Jungmann to go 8 innings on every Friday night, but they have an incredibly deep bench of arms that may make not having a Jungmann a moot point.
- Texas hit three homers over the weekend and just missed another when the strong wind pushed a long shot by Payton just foul. Considering Texas hit just 17 all season, that's definitely a positive sign. For the record, Marlow's two home runs on Saturday would tie him for third on the 2011 Longhorns baseball team.
- This is as young a Texas team as we can recall. Elite teams typically have a set of soon-to-be-drafted juniors that provide high levels of production. A year ago Texas had Jungmann, Loy and Stafford. This year, they've got no juniors with both experience and elite talent. Other than Lusson and Etier, the Horns lack any real experienced upperclassmen. Next year the Horns will have Knebel, Weiss, Milner and Payton as a backbone, but Texas will need its talented freshmen and sophomores to step up in order to make a run at Omaha. Finding exactly which freshmen are the freshmen is Augie's challenge and it may take some time.
The Horns return to action on Tuesday against UT Arlington. After that Texas will travel to Palo Alto for the annual tilt with #4 Stanford. Depressing as it may be, Texas may be lucky to take one of three games from a Cardinal team that just walloped #11 Vanderbilt 8-3, 9-5 and 18-5.
Thanks 40 - qq
I thought the unfortunate injuries had pretty much decimated our chances of Super Regional kind of stuff. Do you think that is still in play and feasible?
realmccoy - February 20, 2012
Absolutely in play
This team may have more question marks than last year’s team but a lot of those question marks could end up being superior to the parts they replaced last year. For example, as much as we love Cohl Walla, he was pretty piss poor offensively last year. In addition, last year’s team essentially made it to Omaha without Jungmann. He pitched great in the super regional but his other two postseason starts were horrendous.
Ceiling for this team is probably what last year’s team did. Floor is probably a quick stay in a regional.
40AS - February 20, 2012
Jungmann
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE POSTSEASON?!! That was awful.
HookemHouston - February 20, 2012
Seems to me that his arm got tired
He pitched more than anyone else in college baseball
40AS - February 20, 2012
Thanks for the write-up!
I love my Horn baseball, but I have a feeling this is gonna be quite the up-and-down season.
40A - February 20, 2012
That is apparently the theme for 2011-2012 Texas sports
“I love my Horn [insert_sport_here], but I have a feeling this is gonna be quite the up and down season.”
I’m most interested to see how players develop this year and see which freshmen will contribute immediately at a high level. I will still be disappointed with each loss and desire nothing less than getting back to Omaha, but will try and enjoy the story as it is written.
TexasWright - February 20, 2012
Very true.
I enjoy watching this though. Basketball is young and promising, baseball the same, and of course football. It’s fun to watch Texas athletics right now.
40A - February 20, 2012
I'm just hopin we can pull 1/3 against Stanford in Palo Alto next week
kcmorse - February 20, 2012
wait...
so you’re saying that Stanford recruits pitchers AND hitters to university with high academic standards in a gigantic baseball state? Hmmm, wonder if Augieball could score 35 in 3 games against Vandy…Id give that about the same chance as Garrett Gilbert leading SMU to a BCS Championship
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
PLEASE, AUGIE, RECRUIT JUCO HITTERS THAT HAVE PROVEN THEY CAN HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
'Horns have been caught in a squeeze the last few years
1. Several good hitting prospects failed to pan out
2. Many of the better offensive prospects opted for pro dollars and never got on campus
3. Augie allocates a higher number of his (extremely limited) scholarships to pitchers that many head coaches do
The first is a scouting and luck factor; it tends to even out over time. We had a ton of hitting five years ago, and instead of losing a lot of 4-2 type games, we’d lose 8-6.
The second is a product of timing/strategy/luck. Most top players get college offers based on their juniors seasons; if those players go off as seniors, and end up being among the first 100 or 150 players picked in the MLB Draft — the signing college’s chance of seeing that player on campus goes way down.
In baseball, pitching trumps hitting. Almost always. So I have no arguement with Augie’s decisions.
That said, we seem so limited offensively that a lot of Game 2 and Game 3 pitching excellence is going to be wasted. We can overcome some of that with an improved defense, which I expect will be the case.
edsp - February 20, 2012
We can only hope the new draft cap
will help us keep some of these players.
40A - February 20, 2012
Three of Keith Law's top 100 recruits were Texas commits
Bell, Grossman and Swihart. The first two of which would have come to Texas had they not been drafted by the Pirates. Sometimes crap happens.
And the last time Texas played Vandy was the 2004 Super Regional. Playing Augieball the Horns beat Vandy by a combined 25-5. So….
40AS - February 20, 2012
I wouldn't say crap happens sometimes.
I would say it happens every year at the hands of the stupid Pirates. And I say that as a lifelong Pirates fan who still cringes of the name of Francisco Cabrera.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - February 20, 2012
Yea
But sometimes you get lucky a la Jordan Danks, Kyle Russell and Jungmann.
Any thoughts on Bellow? He’s got the prototype body to be a starting 1B, but he clearly isn’t a great pitcher at this point and hasn’t proven he can hit or field worth a damn.
40AS - February 20, 2012
Don't know too much about Bellow.
But Texas certainly needs a bat to step up.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - February 20, 2012
Again,
Augie ball is fine. What’s up with the critisizm of Augie. Where the hell was that great Stanford team last year in the CWS? Also, compare UT to Stanford and tell me what kind of results you come up with.
Texas has a young team, and a brand new pitching staff this year. No doubt we aren’t going to be as good as a veteran Stanford team this early in 2012. Either way, Augie will give us an opportunity and I wouldn’t count us out of winning it all with him at the helm. Even with this young team and Augie Ball (which, by the way is the norm for college baseball now days)
Augie ball landed Duke 2 very important runs last night in the ninth inning with a good bunt that wasn’t defensed correctly.
Talk to me when UT gives up 35 runs to Stanford this weekend. Vandy isn’t Texas. They are simply a pimple on Augie’s butt. Enough of the negative comments on Augie and UT baseball. Put on your Cardinal hat if you think they’re so friggin great.
chupita - February 20, 2012
I'd like to fast-forward to the part of the season
where Maitland gets benched. I’ve seen this movie before, and it always ends the same way. It seems like every year Augie insists on starting an overmatched veteran early before coming to his senses. I’m not sure I see the point of it.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - February 20, 2012
I'll defend Augie, in a big picture way,
though not necessarily in this case.
When it comes to playing a limited-talent veteran . . . it’s the same logic MLB teams use when trimming rosters. If you cut the veteran (bench him, in this case), you’ve probably lost him. You’re forcing the younger play to make good. If you wait on the young player, you promote team morale and let the younger player get time to watch and learn (or, in the MLB example, hone his skills in the high minors).
Usually, the veteran does things the right way. His skill may be limited, but he knows how to play the game. That’s a learning point for the younger player. It also makes the younger player EARN, in stead of being handed, starting responsibility. I’ll challenge some of what Augie Garrido does — but not his player utilization. Unlike Cliff Gustafson, who hardly ever changed his starters, Augie does that frequently. Too often, IMO.
edsp - February 20, 2012
agreed...
as a former player myself, it is so damn hard to put up numbers when you aren playing consistently…i have no issue with letting people play, but after 10-15 games, you should know who your best 10 position players are and they should be the ones that play. Augie does do a great job of determining match ups from what I can tell.
I disagree though with the idea that we are “young” and that is our excuse. There is so many talented players in juco. JUCO is completely different than what it means to be a JUCO player in any other sport. JUCO is very much respected and recruited by college coaches everywhere…guess my question is, why don’t we have any good JUCO transfers? I can go out to San Jacinto JC and find 3 kids that could come into the Disch and immediately make us better.
As far as signing kids that choose pro ball…that happens at every big school, it shouldn’t be a reason we are crippled offensively
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
Again,
We have a JUCO kid starting at DH, and it looks like atleast 2 more that are on the team.
Augie brings in as good of talent as any team in the nation.
chupita - February 20, 2012
i count 3..
JUCO kids on the entire roster….and only 1 that plays? that doesn’t seem like a coach who is using JUCOs
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
"starting at DH"...
Augie uses the DH in a different manner than what a DH is widely considered to be (good hitter, slugger, ect.)
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
OK,
What is a DH widely considered? Prolly someone that give your offense a better chance to score runs without killing you on the defensive side of the ball.
In the MLB is mostly means power. The kid is cleaning up for UT, so I would assume that means that he has proven somewhere that he can hit for power.
Who knows…
Why don’t you just go pull for the Aggies? They have a much better coach than Augie and are a top 5 team. Not sure how many JUCO’s they have, but I’m sure they are full of them.
chupita - February 20, 2012
I see
…. well, how many does your new favorite team (Stanford) have on their roster?
And the one that does play didn’t do jack in the opening series (despite his JUCO experience.)
And the other two that haven’t played yet?! Are you insinuating that Augie isn’t playing them because he has something against JUCO transfers? Is it possible that they just aren’t the best options for the team at this time?
chupita - February 20, 2012
no...
im implying that he doesn’t go get the best ones…you usually bring in JUCO guys to play, not sit.
And I would cut off my testicles before I ever cheered for Aggie.
Stanford has a well rounded club. I don’t give a rats arse about college baseball. My heart and soul is in professional baseball. I do keep up with Texas and Rice though because Texas is my team, and Rice is like the Houston area All Star team.
We obviously see the game differently chupita, and thats fine. I can tell you follow and love the game of baseball, and I like ya for that. Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre don’t manage nor see the game the same way. That doesn’t mean one is ultimately right and that is the beautiful thing about baseball. Enjoy the back and forth banter, i love talking baseball
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
Moynihan has failed to qualify to play
So that’s two. Throw in CJ Hinojosa, who is a difference maker but also couldn’t qualify and we’re talking four new players on offense (throwing in Bell and Swihart) that Augie recruited to Texas that didn’t make it because of circumstance (two academic, two financial). Blame Augie all you want for his offensive strategy, and we can absolutely have a reasonable discussion on whether Augieball is worthwhile. Hard to blame the recruiting for the lack of offensive production though.
40AS - February 20, 2012
BTW, Moynihan
Here’s his bio:
Moynihan — the 2011 OCC Male Athlete of the Year — forever etched his name into the Orange Coast College record books, batting .479 in 2011, shattering the previous all-time single-season batting average of .443, set by Joey James in 1986. In 38 games with the Pirates, he notched 67 hits (14th all time for a single season), 38 runs, 14 extra-base hits, 15 stolen bases, produced a .621 slugging percentage and a .544 on-base percentage.
Still think Augie doesn’t go after elite JUCO talent?
40AS - February 20, 2012
I think
the Walla injury hurt us pretty bad this year. Perhaps Augie doesn’t think the freshmen are ready at this point and doesn’t want to stop their growth by killing their confidence early.
Gotta like the fact that Lusson didn’t start, so it’s not like Augie is just all about playing the older guys. I would think that Augie thinks that Maitland is serviceable enough to allow the freshmen to slowly transition into the starting lineup.
I agree though, IMO, Maitland is a deadend street.
chupita - February 20, 2012
How do you like the fact that Lusson didn't start?
He’s by far the best home run hitter on the team. If we want to score runs, he needs to play. Especially some of our guys were not good at all this weekend. Lusson can get us runs, even if he hits for a low average, he has the power
Mclovin1035 - February 20, 2012
Lusson
gave us two runs yesterday, and then his error gave them right back to Duke.
Kevin has had a ton of chances to make an impact on the UT roster. He is still playing college ball as a Senior for a reason. Not like he had other options.
I appreciate what he does for the Horns, but just having a power hitter in the starting lineup isn’t what we need. He is a liability at defense, and hits for a very poor overall average. I would give up some defense for a .350 hitter, but Lusson is a sub .300 hitter and can’t play any defense at all.
chupita - February 20, 2012
DH him then?
I don’t think we have many alternatives right now. Our young guys and JUCO’s are not ready to hit big time in the lineup. He is a sub .300 hitter as is the rest of the team. In comparison to everyone else, he is worth is for the power at DH
Mclovin1035 - February 20, 2012
Like I said,
I have no real problem with Lusson. He hasn’t been the best of the best for UT, but he has stepped up in some big spots.
I have no idea what the JUCO (Steinhagen) has to offer, but so far he has taken a lot of the DH at bats (if not all of them.)
Lusson will get another opportunity if he can continue with what he did yesterday. However, he is an absolute liability at 1B.
Keep in mind – this was our 1st series of the year. Augie has always tried different things early so that he can HOPEFULLY have them locked down by the time Big 12 play starts.
chupita - February 20, 2012
JUCO
brings up red flags to me in baseball. First of all – why aren’t they in a MLB teams development league instead of JUCO? Is it talent? Is it grades?
chupita - February 20, 2012
Baseball recruting
Is really about exposure. If you are good, but you don’t have the money to play select baseball in big time premiere tournaments, or your high school team is not very good, chances are that you aren’t going to get recruited. Often the kids that go to big time schools are the ones that have the most connections/exposure, not necessarily talent. The guys that are still good but don’t have those two things working for them often fall through the cracks and end up in JUCOs.
HookemHouston - February 20, 2012
If they had the grades
…. they would be at a major university.
Also, I believe Texas started a JUCO kid this weekend at DH. Not like Augie ignores the JUCO option like Mack has for so many years.
chupita - February 20, 2012
I disagree
If they didn’t get a scholarship offer at a big time school, why would they pass up baseball at a JUCO? Happened to a couple of guys on my teams. Juco gives them the opportunity to get another look from big time schools. Plus I wasn’t saying that Augie doesn’t recruit JUCOs..
HookemHouston - February 20, 2012
also...
some kids cannot afford big state schools or leaving home. Remember, baseball scholly’s are partial at best. Plus, when you go to JUCO you can get drafted after your freshman season as opposed to the NCAA where you have to wait until after your junior year. San Jacinto JC could play with any D1 school in the country, the draft numbers will support it. Its tough for freshman to play right away, thats why a lot of kids choose JUCO too. They can play and develop as opposed to sitting on the bench until their junior year. Grades are a factor with a lot of juco guys but most will have their associates degrees before they come to the bigger schools.
ACnDaHorns - February 20, 2012
Start Kevin Lusson
He average may be low, but he is the best power hitter on this team. Look at how he did in the Regionals in 2011 in the 9th inning and the 8th inning yesterday. I’d play him between 4th in the lineup and 6th
At the very least he should pinch hit in the 8th or 9th inning every game
Mclovin1035 - February 20, 2012
SS
What’s the plan with this position? Summers had two errors and batted .000 over the opening series. If he can’t get it done, do we have an option here?
Silver? Anything?
I don’t mind the .000 average, but coupled with the 2 errors is not a good thing.
I buy into Augie ball all the way, but you can’t have errors for it to work.
chupita - February 20, 2012
Summers has the position for now
My guess is that Jordan Etier will be the starting SS next weekend once his four game suspension is over. Brooks Marlow playing well means that Etier can play SS without leaving a hole at 2B
40AS - February 20, 2012
I'd bet on that too
HookemHouston - February 20, 2012
Only 4 earned runs
…. in the entire 3 game series. Sadly, we had 4 errors in those 3 games as well; accounting for 4 unearned runs.
That’s not gonna cut it…
chupita - February 20, 2012
Dicharry?
Where is he? Is his career done at UT? I sat back and waited for him to play last year too.
Doesn’t look like he’ll ever make it back.
chupita - February 20, 2012
He is the announced starter for the game tomorrow.
Texas Wahoo - February 20, 2012
Thanks,
I didn’t realize that.
I guess they feel like the Curtis kid is legit. Will be interesting to see if Dicharry can get back to where he was during his freshmen year.
chupita - February 20, 2012
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