re: 2018 UGA Baseball Thread (39-21, 18-14) / Season ends in the Regionals

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After this year, that’s just absurd.

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Not really though. This was the last year on his contract, so we're going to have to give him a pretty big extension to help with recruiting, which hasn't been good at all the last 2 cycles due to his lack of job security (46th class this year and 34th last year). I'm not sure that one really good regular season/disaster of a postseason warrants that kind of commitment, especially when you take into account his record the previous 4 years. Just delaying the inevitable if we give him another 5 year deal imo

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Problem if you don’t extend him is that the team you have now implodes just like it did when perno left. Guys are finally winning games and you jettison their coaching staff?

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Perno was a player's coach who probably had the admiration of most of the team, and while Stricklin wasn't as much of a wannabe hard arse this year as he was previously, I don't think there would be too many tears shed if he wasn't extended.

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It’d be another rebuild when you just got your program back to a top 4 finish in the SEC.

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I don't trust Stricklin to even have us in a regional consistently over the next few years, so I'd rather bite the bullet now rather than waste another 3-4 years before we get somebody who can inject some life into the program.

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Maybe after 5 years of blowing it in the postseason you can use the standing of the program to get someone better but I think we are what we are for now

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Georgia Baseball is better than that, I don't know what to say if you really think we'd have to replicate what we did this season for the next 5 years in order to leverage getting a better coach.

Georgia baseball needs some established consistency right now. We just came off the worse stretch in modern program history with a pretty decent season and shaking up the coaching is going to have a small chance of yielding the improvements we’d hope possible.

Right now, we need to see the team establish itself as a consistent postseason presence and regain the fan base; yesterday and this weekend made it painfully clear that UGA Baseball has nowhere near the clout that it used to pre 2010. For its size, Foley should have been packed out and it wasn’t anywhere close.

Wilcox, Hancock, Locey, and C.J. Smith should make up a pretty decent rotation and we have some solid, experienced bats coming back and an all upper classmen infield. If Curry sticks around he and Sasser will provide the power to our lineup that was so crucial to this season.

Frustrating as yesterday was, firing stricklin wont put us at Florida or Arkansas or Ole Miss level overnight. Dawgs are going to need to play the long con here and they’re set up well to do so right now.

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When I graduated high school our football team had choked away a state title, and then once I left they went on a streak and won it all.



Graduating is my gift to the Georgia faithful.

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We thank you. But seriously, stick around and get another bachelors or an easy masters. I was thinking about it last night and I miss my college years so much. My life is pretty good and I love my wife, but I also have a lot of stress and bullshite I have to put up with. Athens was fun and mostly stress-free. Stay young. Be Peter Pan.

I guess it just boils down to whether or not you think this year was an anomaly or if you believe Strick when he says we're "built to stay" and "We've turned this program around" (at least he did say "we"). I lean towards it being an anomaly but we'll see.

I think anomalies in baseball last more than a year whereas football is year in and year out. All to say that if it’s an anomaly, don’t be surprised if we’re still competitive next year but then drop off in 2020 once the current group of juniors are gone.

I’m not sold on Stricklin either but looking at where we are at it would be mortgaging the momentum of this season to assume that a top flight coach even wants this job right now

Ive seen some cuts on Wilcox, and read up on him on a few different credible sites over the past couple months. If he makes it to Athens, he will automatically have the best stuff on the team. Does that translate to success immediately? Of course not, but its not often that you get a 6'5 225 pound 18 year old that can almost touch 3 digits, and already has one advanced off speed pitch.

This would be a Vandy like coup.

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still competitive next year but then drop off in 2020 once the current group of juniors are gone.

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Pretty much how I see it playing out, 2 straight poor recruiting cycles isn't gonna cut it in this league. Not sure how next year's class is shaping up but it wouldn't surprise me if it's not looking great either. So while this season was very fun, my outlook for the future is still pretty bleak.

Based on OP here is who we should have returning:

Lineup - last updated 5/20
1 - RF Tucker Bradley (So)
2 - 3B Aaron Schunk (So)
4 - DH Michael Curry (Jr) [could go pro?]
5 - 1B Adam Sasser (Jr)
6 - SS Cam Shepherd (So)
7 - 2B LJ Talley (Jr)
8 - C Mason Meadows (RFr)
9 - CF CJ Smith (Fr)

Starters

#2 - Emerson Hancock (Fr)
#3 - Kevin Smith (Jr) [leaving maybe? Idk]


Relief Pitching
Ryan Webb (Fr)
Tony Locey (So)
Zac Kristofak (So)
CJ Smith (Fr)
Will Proctor (So)
Aaron Schunk (So)
Tim Elliott (So)

That's not a world series winning team but I mean it's pretty solid all things considered. Essentially the same as this year's team minus our biggest bat but adding a (hopefully) true ace SP.

But as mentioned...CSS has recruited pretty poorly for a while. Next few years after this coming season could be bad.