Started By
Message
1
Posted on 5/30/26 at 10:41 pm to cubsfan5150
That’s baseball!
Posted on 5/30/26 at 11:06 pm to ArHog
quote:
Shitty recruiting as usual
Goes for the entire staff.
Just an absolute horror show of roster construction all the way around by DVH and the staff.
They went and recruited a bunch of .260 hitters out of the portal (shocker, they’re .260 hitters here).
He pinned his hopes at shortstop on a true freshman, which dynamited our defense when he went tits up and we had to play guys out of position. We literally don't have a Right Fielder. Hence why this is arguably the worst defense we’ve trotted out in the DVH era.
In terms of pitching, we got absolutely nothing out of the portal except a few midweek relief arms, save for McElvain. Last year we had 4-5 guys who could start on the weekend. This year we have one.
DVH and Hobbs thought Colin Fisher would somehow morph from midweek dice roll guy into a Sunday starter.
They tried to run it back with Gaeckle as a starter again despite the fact that we know he's a reliever and he's even said he feels more comfortable coming out of the pen.
And our plate approach still sucks horribly. Watch a strike 1 meatball right down Broadway, then chase junk to quickly go 0-2. We’re hardly ever in advantage counts unless the opposing pitcher can’t find the zone.
We have two highly rated prospects - a power hitting catcher who’s a guess hitter with a ton of swing and miss and has trouble blocking, and a starting pitcher who can’t start and is a nibbler who runs up his pitch counts and loses a lot of batters after starting 0-2 or 1-2. It’s like having a highly rated guard who can’t shoot, or a WR who’s a physical freak but can’t catch.
And thus, for likely the 3rd time in 4 years, we're not even going to make it out of a regional.
This post was edited on 5/30/26 at 11:20 pm
Posted on 5/30/26 at 11:53 pm to Feral
Remember when it was a sure thing that pitchers would take good leaps forward year to year, you know, before Hobbs was hired?
Posted on 5/31/26 at 5:55 am to Drewbie
Sad thing is Hobbs and Nate are untouchable until Dave calls it quits.
It'll be interesting to see the staff Bobby Wernes puts together as the HC.
My guess is he keeps Hobbs.
It'll be interesting to see the staff Bobby Wernes puts together as the HC.
My guess is he keeps Hobbs.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:30 am to ArHog
quote:
Sad thing is Hobbs and Nate are untouchable until Dave calls it quits.
It'll be interesting to see the staff Bobby Wernes puts together as the HC.
My guess is he keeps Hobbs.
Wes and Vitello are the two obvious hires, which means of course they won’t happen.
Wes will probably win a title at UGA and thus coach himself out of our job.
We more than likely won’t hire Tony V because of the “we do things the right way” pious bullshite that is so typical of our athletic program. He’ll probably wind up at Ole Miss after Bianco retires and win another title there.
Going to be real awkward when DVH is the only guy from the 2017 Arkansas coaching staff without a CWS ring.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:34 am to Feral
quote:
And our plate approach still sucks horribly. Watch a strike 1 meatball right down Broadway, then chase junk to quickly go 0-2. We’re hardly ever in advantage counts unless the opposing pitcher can’t find the zone.
I actually really like our plate approach most of the time. We work counts and make pitchers work, it's why we've been so successful late in games and knock out starters early. When you need that big hit we don't get it. That AB by Helfrick is a perfect example 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs new reliever just walked a guy wild as can be and two pitches not close to Ryder for 2-0 count and what's he do? Chases ball 3 in the dirt away, swings again at a ball way inside on his hands and fouls out to end the inning. Would have been a bases loaded walk if he doesn't press trying to do more with a wild pitcher. Maddening.
And what the frick was that play by Niu in center? One of the ugliest things I've seen in awhile he wasn't even close, just keep the ball in front of you and knock it down you're a damn senior, instead all the way to the wall for a triple and free run on a groundout when Dietz was cruising. That changed so much the 2R HR would have only made it 3-2. Then he boots the ball one batter later again allowing him to get to 2nd. There hasn't been a player I've disliked more in recent years than Niu.
All of that being said, Kansas pitching depth is equal to ours, this regional is far from over. Eaves and McElvain day of rest and available tonight to get it to a game 7. Need to pound NEstern and not use any top arms to have them for night cap.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 7:46 am
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:48 am to UltimateHog
quote:
top arms
You really went there
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:51 am to UltimateHog
The problem is when a pitcher can locate our approach causes us to get into way too many disadvantage counts by watching strike 1, swinging at bad pitches on strike 2, and then having to shift into protect mode.
The other inherent problem with our approach is we have 4 guys who are the epitome of guess hitters in Stewart, Pompey, Helfrick, and Robinett who swing and miss a ton. It’s difficult to work counts and foul pitches off when your bat misses the ball as much as we do. I don’t know where to find Whiff Rate, but I’d hazard a guess those guys lead the team, and in that order.
We also have some guys who press really badly with RISP and ultimately come up short when there’s anyone on base. Helfrick is one who’s really bad about this, ditto for Pompey. We need to drive in the runner on 2nd and they’re trying to hit a 6 run homer.
The other inherent problem with our approach is we have 4 guys who are the epitome of guess hitters in Stewart, Pompey, Helfrick, and Robinett who swing and miss a ton. It’s difficult to work counts and foul pitches off when your bat misses the ball as much as we do. I don’t know where to find Whiff Rate, but I’d hazard a guess those guys lead the team, and in that order.
We also have some guys who press really badly with RISP and ultimately come up short when there’s anyone on base. Helfrick is one who’s really bad about this, ditto for Pompey. We need to drive in the runner on 2nd and they’re trying to hit a 6 run homer.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 7:55 am
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:55 am to UltimateHog
Have we ever done well in the 1-1 game? We’ve lost it a time or two but even when we win it, feels like it’s always a 1 or 2 run squeaker
Posted on 5/31/26 at 7:59 am to BallHawg10
The most glaring recent example was 2024 in the Fayetteville regional when we lost the 1-0 game to Kansas State and then didn’t piss a drop the next day against Southeast Missouri State and lost 6-3.
Incidentally, this year’s team reminds me a lot of that 2024 squad. A staff with one stud pitcher (Hagen) and a ton of question marks, and a lineup with way too many automatic outs in it that struggles to score runs.
But to your question, here are the results the last few times we’ve had to play the 1-1 game:
- 2024 - lost to SEMO
- 2023 - beat Santa Clara, then got our shite pushed in again by TCU
- 2017 - beat ORU, then came back and beat Mo State to force a winner-take-all final, which we lost.
- 2014 - beat Bucknell, lost to Virginia
Incidentally, this year’s team reminds me a lot of that 2024 squad. A staff with one stud pitcher (Hagen) and a ton of question marks, and a lineup with way too many automatic outs in it that struggles to score runs.
But to your question, here are the results the last few times we’ve had to play the 1-1 game:
- 2024 - lost to SEMO
- 2023 - beat Santa Clara, then got our shite pushed in again by TCU
- 2017 - beat ORU, then came back and beat Mo State to force a winner-take-all final, which we lost.
- 2014 - beat Bucknell, lost to Virginia
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 8:07 am
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:04 am to BallHawg10
We've lost 3 out of the last 4 regionals. The epitome of keep doing the same fricking shite again and expecting different results.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:18 am to ArHog
So we can’t recruit and no one gets better?
Feels good man.
Feels good man.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:18 am to Feral
Looks like the 2023 game against Santa Clara was 6-4 and the game against Oral Roberts back in 2017 was 4-3.
Bucknell in 2014 was 10-0 at least
Bucknell in 2014 was 10-0 at least
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:22 am to STLhog
quote:
So we can’t recruit and no one gets better?
Player development man, it's a 24 year process
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:28 am to UltimateHog
quote:
Need to pound NEstern and not use any top arms to have them for night cap.
Remember when McGuire threw 5 scoreless innings against TCU in February? I don’t feel like hoping him to do something like that against Northeastern is asking for a miracle. If he can do that and we can get a 5+ run lead, allowing us to save arms for the next two games, we have a fighter’s chance to win this regional.
This post was edited on 5/31/26 at 8:36 am
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:34 am to STLhog
quote:
So we can’t recruit and no one gets better?
That was the biggest issue with this team.
We recruited horribly, and no one seemed to develop from last year.
Helfrick seemed to have gotten worse. Same for Aloy. Robinett fell off a cliff this year (and has never been good). Kozeal was good last year and is good again than year - we’ll miss him when he moves on. Souza seem to be the only guy to have taken a bit of a step forwards, but he still isn’t the player we thought he was as a freshman. Brumbaugh was a highly touted freshman and was horrendous.
In terms of pitching, no one got better. Dietz simply got and stayed healthy and was the pitcher they’ve been saying he was for 3 years. Gibler seemed to have gotten worse. Gaeckle seemed to have regressed as well.
My main issue is the type of players we’re recruiting.
DVH said after the 2023 and 2024 years when we were littered with automatic outs in the lineup that he said “never again” and went and loaded up on bats in the portal. Davalon hit nearly .400 at his last school. Maxwell hit .330 at TCU. Iredale was a great hitter. Guess what, they hit here. Good hitters hit regardless of where they are. Conversely, we recruited guys like Stewart and Niu who hit .250 at their former schools, and (shocker!) they’re .250 hitters here.
The other issue is that he pulled zero starters from the portal. The last several years we’ve landed guys like Hunter Hollan, Root, Biedelschies, Mason Molina, and even Aiden Jimenez who could spot start to fill out our rotation. But somehow they thought they’d be good with Dietz (who was still a question mark coming into this year), trying yet again to make Gaeckle a starter, and Colin Fisher. That’s simply unbelievable.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:37 am to Feral
This
Posted on 5/31/26 at 8:50 am to UltimateHog
quote:
There hasn't been a player I've disliked more in recent years than Niu.
You and I agree on that. frick that guy. I have no idea what Dave was thinking when he offered him.
Posted on 5/31/26 at 9:11 am to cubsfan5150
He was probably thinking when he has to beat the rest of the frickers on the hill to the bank on pay day to make sure the check cashes he will start to worry.
Seriously tho, he went to Omaha last year, that gives him 3 years before he has to put out any real effort to make it back. If Hobbs and Nate are able to get him back before then, great, if not that fine he's retiring anyway if any real pressure is out on him for the first time in his career at Arkansas.
Until then make sure the checks will cash and that's baseball.
Seriously tho, he went to Omaha last year, that gives him 3 years before he has to put out any real effort to make it back. If Hobbs and Nate are able to get him back before then, great, if not that fine he's retiring anyway if any real pressure is out on him for the first time in his career at Arkansas.
Until then make sure the checks will cash and that's baseball.
Page 32 of 37
Latest Arkansas News
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News