Texas Baseball

[Hashtag]

On 3/27/2024 at 9:50 AM, horns96 said:

Also, Tanner Witt is out “indefinitely” with an undisclosed injury.

Witt has been a non factor since his surgery. 


The future of the program doesn't look promising as it appears Pierce isn't equipped for the NIL/portal era of baseball. Moving to the SEC will only compound this problem further. My opinion we should be thankful for what Pierce has accomplished at Texas but ask him to move on or we move on for him.  I don't have any confidence he will ever win a championship at Texas. 

Edited March 29 by Hashtag

[KJon]

He’s toast but In, so I can be the first guy to hate our next coach. 

[Bwub60]

What a disgusting game. Pierce had a decent run but he’s struggled to keep coaches and the pitching is a disaster and it’s what he’s in charge of. How do have a bunch of pitch to contact guys who can’t throw strikes? 

[dentonhorn]

From the beginning of my fandom , through school and beyond, Horn baseball was a close second to UT football for me, very close. I used to cut classes to go to a midweek doubleheader over at old Clark Field. Shame to say but I am losing interest as I feel the program is in such a serious decline. Not recognizable. Maybe Pierce will adjust to today’s ever changing landscape, guess we will see.

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:16 PM, Glass Joe said:

Tennessee Tech at home in the Supers was a minor miracle, as we would’ve otherwise been on the road at Ole Miss when they were a top 5 program.  And we were very fortunate to win Game 3 against TTU.  Then, swept out of Omaha.

Then we somehow get USF at home for the Supers after they somehow got through the Miami regional with Miami and UF in the Regionals.

Finally, we get East Carolina in the Supers (a program that’s never made the CWS in their history) and we prevail with the big sticks in Game 3.  Well earned trip to Omaha.

I realize some will say “but Pierce has 3 CWS trips in 7 years”….that’s what the record says!  But context should matter in evaluating the “achievement” of making the CWS.  For instance, Texas has made HALF of all CWS played in the past 76 years (38), and we are the winningest program (percentage) in college baseball history.  

So, is the goal for Texas to be a top 8 team when matched against the Tenn Tech, USF, and ECU programs of college baseball?  (Top 8 meaning we make the 8-team CWS by beating those programs)?  
 
Texas has elite facilities, elite brand, elite history, top shelf resources, great fan support, and is located in the heart of the most talent rich high school baseball players / programs in the nation.  Why shouldn’t we aim higher than ending the season #8 in the country 3 out of every 7 seasons?  If our program “inputs” (resources) are top 3 annually, shouldn’t our results measure up?  Maybe our metric of success should be higher than finishing in the Top 8 (against non-elite competition) and getting swept out of the CWS twice?  

Pierce feels like a solid mid-major baseball lifer whose success at Texas is as much due to context and inherent advantages of the Texas program than any causation he’s bringing to the program.  Similar to Shaka, Herman, et al of the Patterson / Perrin era.  Can Pierce really maximize an elite P5 program consistently?

Don’t get me wrong…I love Texas baseball, and Pierce’s 2021 and 2023 teams accomplished things that made me a damn proud Longhorn, regardless of not winning a title.  But I see a really bad storm coming next year, and there’s no place to hide.  I hate the thought of listening to SEC fans mock us for being a bottom third team in “our sport” next season, particularly the LSU fans.  Humbling isn’t a good look for the Texas brand.  I hope I’m wrong, we shall see.

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

start at the 15:00 minute mark…short and sweet to the point. CDC ain’t playing around.

[Realist Horn]

Blew another big lead today. Texas leading 9-8 after getting out to a big lead. 

[Realist Horn]

31 minutes ago, Realist Horn said:

Blew another big lead today. Texas leading 9-8 after getting out to a big lead. 

Texas went up 11-8, and proceeded to give up 3 runs to tie it. I am so done with Pierce. 

[Class of 04]

I suppose as long as we can score 20+ runs a game there will always be a chance...

[Levi]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:16 PM, Glass Joe said:

Tennessee Tech at home in the Supers was a minor miracle, as we would’ve otherwise been on the road at Ole Miss when they were a top 5 program.  And we were very fortunate to win Game 3 against TTU.  Then, swept out of Omaha.

Then we somehow get USF at home for the Supers after they somehow got through the Miami regional with Miami and UF in the Regionals.

Finally, we get East Carolina in the Supers (a program that’s never made the CWS in their history) and we prevail with the big sticks in Game 3.  Well earned trip to Omaha.

I realize some will say “but Pierce has 3 CWS trips in 7 years”….that’s what the record says!  But context should matter in evaluating the “achievement” of making the CWS.  For instance, Texas has made HALF of all CWS played in the past 76 years (38), and we are the winningest program (percentage) in college baseball history.  

So, is the goal for Texas to be a top 8 team when matched against the Tenn Tech, USF, and ECU programs of college baseball?  (Top 8 meaning we make the 8-team CWS by beating those programs)?  
 
Texas has elite facilities, elite brand, elite history, top shelf resources, great fan support, and is located in the heart of the most talent rich high school baseball players / programs in the nation.  Why shouldn’t we aim higher than ending the season #8 in the country 3 out of every 7 seasons?  If our program “inputs” (resources) are top 3 annually, shouldn’t our results measure up?  Maybe our metric of success should be higher than finishing in the Top 8 (against non-elite competition) and getting swept out of the CWS twice?  

Pierce feels like a solid mid-major baseball lifer whose success at Texas is as much due to context and inherent advantages of the Texas program than any causation he’s bringing to the program.  Similar to Shaka, Herman, et al of the Patterson / Perrin era.  Can Pierce really maximize an elite P5 program consistently?

Don’t get me wrong…I love Texas baseball, and Pierce’s 2021 and 2023 teams accomplished things that made me a damn proud Longhorn, regardless of not winning a title.  But I see a really bad storm coming next year, and there’s no place to hide.  I hate the thought of listening to SEC fans mock us for being a bottom third team in “our sport” next season, particularly the LSU fans.  Humbling isn’t a good look for the Texas brand.  I hope I’m wrong, we shall see.

Pierce has a bunch things working against him right now but saying that playing Tenn T, USF and such should be held against him is a little bit of a low ball. He can’t help that Florida and Ole Miss can’t beat a 4th seed in their own regional. Who’s to say we wouldn’t go beat those hosting teams in a best of 3 and then still go 0-2 in the CWS? Does that really change anything? He’s shown the ability in the postseason to beat teams Texas is supposed to beat, and then go away from home to win as well. Miami last year (should have been Stanford too) and ECU are good examples of going on the road and beating quality opponents. If there’s one bright spot on Pierce’s time here, it’s that we never lost to teams in the postseason that were not on our same level of talent. 

This isn’t an example as for why Pierce should continue to be the head coach of Texas. I agree with your sentiment that he’s a good mid-major coach. Pierce would be pretty good at the k-state football version of the college baseball world. At a program like Texas, we should be reloading every year not rebuilding and hopefully figuring it out once conference play comes around. The lack of consistent elite talent acquisition, frequent coaching turnover, poor roster mismanagement, and much more are the catalyst behind his fall. Doing more with less is cool but at Texas, really? 
 

 

 

[Blake Munroe]

L. F. G. BABY!!! 
 

I’ll write more later, as we have early Easter festivities tonight with family. But LFG!!!!

 

Resilient. Not a great team. Not consistent. But finds a way to bounce back. 

[Jerry K]

33 minutes ago, Blake Munroe said:

L. F. G. BABY!!! 
 

I’ll write more later, as we have early Easter festivities tonight with family. But LFG!!!!

 

Resilient. Not a great team. Not consistent. But finds a way to bounce back. 

Yes sir big win!! 

[horns96]

Impressive to take that series on the road after those stinkers on Tues and Thurs.

[Derek Handler]

On 3/29/2024 at 4:27 PM, CoachBobbyFinstock said:

start at the 15:00 minute mark…short and sweet to the point. CDC ain’t playing around.

Thanks for posting, CDC is the best!

[Derek Handler]

5 minutes ago, Derek Handler said:

Thanks for posting, CDC is the best!

And the baseball NIL issue seems to be a false narrative and excuse for a coach not getting it done.  

[Blake Munroe]

11 minutes ago, Derek Handler said:

And the baseball NIL issue seems to be a false narrative and excuse for a coach not getting it done.  

It’s not an excuse for anything. Two things can be true:

1. Texas NIL is good in the Big 12.

2. Texas NIL isn’t the best in the SEC. 
 

Both statements can co-exist. That doesn’t mean Texas is doing horrible in NIL. But that doesn’t mean they’re top dog either. 
 

Y’all are acting like it’s blasphemy that more than a program or two are ahead of Texas’ NIL baseball efforts. I’ve seen the numbers, I’ve talked to people on both the Texas side and the SEC side. I’m not just making it up. 
 

Again, Texas is doing well in the Big 12 for NIL in baseball. They won’t be No. 1, 2 or even 3 in the SEC as of today. 
 

And before anyone asks if I watched, all CDC said was “well uh I wouldn’t say that’s the case”.

I love CDC, I am a huge fan. But do you think he knows what each program is doing NIL wise in baseball and do you truly expect him to say “yeah we are doing awful and are behind”?

[Hornmatic]

I think Taysom Hill just scored. 

[Neil Leininger]

Pierce has cost Johnson millions.

[Realist Horn]

7 hours ago, Neil Leininger said:

Pierce has cost Johnson millions.

If CDC holds on to him much longer, he’ll cost Texas Baseball millions. I’ll continue to beat the drum, Pierce hasn’t adjusted to the new age of baseball (portal) and needs to move on. 
 

a&m picked up a stud through the portal and I don’t remember hearing anything about Texas making big moves. 

[Class of 04]

21 hours ago, Neil Leininger said:

Pierce has cost Johnson millions.

That's the hot take and I can easily see why you would say that, but did LBJ forget how to pitch? He has to know what adjustments to make by now, I will agree that Pierce has done nothing to help him out though.

[Levi]

LBJ can’t throw his slider for a strike consistently enough. Teams are taking every time and sitting fastball. I don’t know what else Pierce can do to have be more consistent when he’s shown he can. Right now he’s not doing away with the reliever tag scouts have him last year so he’ll end with the same slot value more or less this year. Maybe they need to move him to Saturday and let him relax a little. 

Edited April 6 by Levi

[horns96]

3 hours ago, Levi said:

LBJ can’t throw his slider for a strike consistently enough. Teams are taking every time and sitting fastball. I don’t know what else Pierce can do to have be more consistent when he’s shown he can. Right now he’s not doing away with the reliever tag scouts have him last year so he’ll end with the same slot value more or less this year. Maybe they need to move him to Saturday and let him relax a little. 

I get the sense that Pierce is asking guys to throw pitches they're not quite comfortable throwing.  Way too many walks and HBP.  Or maybe we have just really poorly developed staff.  Whatever the case, he's the head coach and pitching coach and it's all on him.  

I also think that losing Philip Miller hasn't helped this team.  Again, whatever the circumstances, it's up to the guy making the $1.2M to figure it out. 

[Levi]

11 hours ago, horns96 said:

I get the sense that Pierce is asking guys to throw pitches they're not quite comfortable throwing.  Way too many walks and HBP.  Or maybe we have just really poorly developed staff.  Whatever the case, he's the head coach and pitching coach and it's all on him.  

I also think that losing Philip Miller hasn't helped this team.  Again, whatever the circumstances, it's up to the guy making the $1.2M to figure it out. 

Well LBJ only has a couple of pitches to begin with so he’s gotta figure it out soon. 

Pierce has done good job developing pitchers during his time here. Theres plenty of names to prove that point. No coach is going to be 100% on top of things however, but the lack of power arms and all around non competitive arms in the pen is alarming. It highlights one of the many cracks in this program that are making its way to the surface. Not something you want to see in year 7 for a coach at Texas. 
 

 

[Blake Munroe]

I am available to coach if they need me, fyi. I’ll give up the C&F gig. I have 3x district champ, 2 TTAB state appearances under my belt as a coach. Pretty sure that means I’m ready for the big time. 

[Blake Munroe]

Also, Texas HAS TO IMPROVE their RISP in clutch situations. Been a problem throughout the season.