Sunday Morning Baseball Thoughts

[Blake Munroe]

There’s no other way to put it, except Texas choked last night. After being up 6-1, the Horns had a colossal meltdown and lost 9-7. The offense went cold, the defense committed mistake after mistake. 

Now, what should have been a win one and advance scenario, has turned into the No. 2 seeded Longhorns having to fight their way through three games to host a super regional. 

That’s tough. Really tough. 

First they’ll need to beat the Wildcats at 2:00 PM today.

Some books have Texas as a 1.5 run favorite over Kansas State, while some have a little more faith in the team, and has them as a 2.5 run favorite. 

Regardless of all that, the Horns have to find a way to win.

Ruger Riojas gets the start on the bump today. If you’ve looked at his last few starts, that’s worrisome. If you look at his whole body of work, then you know he’s more than capable of handling business. The big question is, which version will we see today?

Of course, even if he’s on, Schloss and his staff need offensive output. They need what we saw in the first half of the UTSA game and definitely not the anemic offense we saw over the last few innings. 

Which version of this team will show up?

Baseball is such a fickle game. Momentum and mindset play a role like no other. 

Last night, a little before 11:00 PM, I texted both Jeff and CJ that the game is over. Texas’ faces and body language said everything.

Unfortunately, I was right. An hour later UTSA was celebrating.

They can NOT get in that funk today. 

—

A few other random thoughts:

- Everyone keeps wanting Flores out of the lineup. I get it, he hasn’t been the best the last few weeks. The only problem is, the depth at SS is very shallow. If Texas felt confident in someone else, they would put them there. 

In a perfect world, I would suggest moving Mendoza over to short and letting A Rod start at 2nd. 

- Some freshman mistakes from Jonah last night reared their ugly head at the wrong time. Those last couple of at bats were awful. When he’s on though, he and Borba create a nice 1-2 punch at the end of the lineup.

Growing pains. 

- You HAVE to get more from your 5-6-7 today and the rest of the way. Last night they combined for ZERO hits in 12 ABs. 

- Gasparino has got to be better. No excuses at this point. 

- As Jeff pointed out last night, 13 players were left on base. Multiple times Texas left two runners stranded. That’s huge. It’s been an issue off and on this season. 

- Multiple top 16 teams face elimination today. At least eight, by my count. As I said earlier, momentum is very important, and Texas has to get hot again….

QUICKLY. 

[Texas fan in Georgia]

I went to bed when the score was 6-1 and woke up madder than Lincoln Riley’s family after he pulled that brisket out. Man.

[Blake Munroe]

2 minutes ago, Texas fan in Georgia said:

I went to bed when the score was 6-1 and woke up madder than Lincoln Riley’s family after he pulled that brisket out. Man.

You should be thankful. That was one of the most aggravating things I’ve ever sat through. 

My wife did the same and couldn’t believe when I told her the score this morning. We’ve been making plans for Omaha if Texas makes it and she was counting it down with “only four wins away” before going to bed.

Now she’s saying five wins away, including three in a row over the next two days. 

[Ace Recruiter]

Great write up. It was painful to watch, but you're absolutely right. The game was over at 8-6 even though there were plenty of outs remaining. 

They need to shake it off. It's a tough road, but they are the best team in the regional. They can do it, but can they? We'll see at 2 PM.

[Steamboat Willie]

At bats with runners in scoring position were extremely frustrating to watch. 

[Ace Recruiter]

6 minutes ago, Texas fan in Georgia said:

I went to bed when the score was 6-1 and woke up madder than Lincoln Riley’s family after he pulled that brisket out. Man.

Smart man. It was painful, but I couldn't turn it off.

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

Spot on Blake. Situational baseball with runners on 1sr and 2nd were atrocious. You have to scratch a run in that situation. If Texas simply executes laying down a bunt, you can likely add two more runs on the board. We shift on defense and ARod can’t throw the guy out at first. That’s the whole purpose. That started the slide imo and Harrison did the rest to let UTSA climb back in.

Baseball is about doing a job and executing a game plan. Texas didn’t do that at all.

Texas looking at 3rd strike pitches is infuriating along with the double digit Ks. 

Embarrassing loss. Texas threw their best arms and got beat. Harrison, Grubbs, Burns and Volantis. 

Edited Sunday at 12:51 PM by CoachBobbyFinstock

[cmk4pres]

Just bad bad baseball and playing that vs a gritty team like UTSA gets you beat 

[GoHorns1]

46 minutes ago, Blake Munroe said:

There’s no other way to put it, except Texas choked last night. After being up 6-1, the Horns had a colossal meltdown and lost 9-7. The offense went cold, the defense committed mistake after mistake. 

Now, what should have been a win one and advance scenario, has turned into the No. 2 seeded Longhorns having to fight their way through three games to host a super regional. 

That’s tough. Really tough. 

First they’ll need to beat the Wildcats at 2:00 PM today.

Some books have Texas as a 1.5 run favorite over Kansas State, while some have a little more faith in the team, and has them as a 2.5 run favorite. 

Regardless of all that, the Horns have to find a way to win.

Ruger Riojas gets the start on the bump today. If you’ve looked at his last few starts, that’s worrisome. If you look at his whole body of work, then you know he’s more than capable of handling business. The big question is, which version will we see today?

Of course, even if he’s on, Schloss and his staff need offensive output. They need what we saw in the first half of the UTSA game and definitely not the anemic offense we saw over the last few innings. 

Which version of this team will show up?

Baseball is such a fickle game. Momentum and mindset play a role like no other. 

Last night, a little before 11:00 PM, I texted both Jeff and CJ that the game is over. Texas’ faces and body language said everything.

Unfortunately, I was right. An hour later UTSA was celebrating.

They can NOT get in that funk today. 

—

A few other random thoughts:

- Everyone keeps wanting Flores out of the lineup. I get it, he hasn’t been the best the last few weeks. The only problem is, the depth at SS is very shallow. If Texas felt confident in someone else, they would put them there. 

In a perfect world, I would suggest moving Mendoza over to short and letting A Rod start at 2nd. 

- Some freshman mistakes from Jonah last night reared their ugly head at the wrong time. Those last couple of at bats were awful. When he’s on though, he and Borba create a nice 1-2 punch at the end of the lineup.

Growing pains. 

- You HAVE to get more from your 5-6-7 today and the rest of the way. Last night they combined for ZERO hits in 12 ABs. 

- Gasparino has got to be better. No excuses at this point. 

- As Jeff pointed out last night, 13 players were left on base. Multiple times Texas left two runners stranded. That’s huge. It’s been an issue off and on this season. 

- Multiple top 16 teams face elimination today. At least eight, by my count. As I said earlier, momentum is very important, and Texas has to get hot again….

QUICKLY. 

Played like last years team 

[thatdude2]

46 minutes ago, Blake Munroe said:

You should be thankful. That was one of the most aggravating things I’ve ever sat through. 

My wife did the same and couldn’t believe when I told her the score this morning. We’ve been making plans for Omaha if Texas makes it and she was counting it down with “only four wins away” before going to bed.

Now she’s saying five wins away, including three in a row over the next two days. 

5 wins away

[TexasMDcoach]

1 hour ago, Blake Munroe said:

 

- Some freshman mistakes from Jonah last night reared their ugly head at the wrong time. Those last couple of at bats were awful. When he’s on though, he and Borba create a nice 1-2 punch at the end of the lineup.

Growing pains. 

- You HAVE to get more from your 5-6-7 today and the rest of the way. Last night they combined for ZERO hits in 12 ABs. 

- Gasparino has got to be better. No excuses at this point. 

- As Jeff pointed out last night, 13 players were left on base. Multiple times Texas left two runners stranded. That’s huge. It’s been an issue off and on this season. 

- Multiple top 16 teams face elimination today. At least eight, by my count. As I said earlier, momentum is very important, and Texas has to get hot again….

QUICKLY. 

If I were opposing pitchers I would throw breaking balls to Jonah until he proves he can hit one. Would never throw him a fast ball. Gasparino continues to look lost at the plate and needs a reset.  If last night's team shows back up we will lose to KSU today.  Backs against the wall now so let's see if these guys really want it or not. 

[DLev]

Unfortunately this is not a roster built for the loser’s bracket path. We saw that in the mid week games after Spencer went out.  
 

The replacement for Gasporino is Farmer. It’s been there. The replacement for Flores is Mendoza-A Rod up the middle. But obviously Mendoza has an Astros-level hidden injury if he’s still not ready to play the field. 

[texcoyote15]

They had 7 K’s and 2 LOB

We had 12 K’s and 14 LOB

[ThatHornsGuy87]

15 minutes ago, DLev said:

Unfortunately this is not a roster built for the loser’s bracket path. We saw that in the mid week games after Spencer went out.  
 

The replacement for Gasporino is Farmer. It’s been there. The replacement for Flores is Mendoza-A Rod up the middle. But obviously Mendoza has an Astros-level hidden injury if he’s still not ready to play the field. 

Aahh the ol Yordan hand soreness that turns into a full blown fracture. Stros front office pisses me off with how they handle injuries 

[ThatHornsGuy87]

1 minute ago, texcoyote15 said:

They had 7 K’s and 2 LOB

We had 12 K’s and 14 LOB

When you take a 1st pitch strike all night long. At least make the pitcher earn that strike

[marathon]

1 hour ago, Blake Munroe said:

You HAVE to get more from your 5-6-7 today and the rest of the way. Last night they combined for ZERO hits in 12 ABs. 

Blake, we have had 3 players with 4 hits in a game this season. Want to guess who the are?
 

Belyeu has done it twice.

Rodriguez has one 4 hit game.

The other player with a 4 hit game this season is Easton Winfield (the last game he started). Winfield started the season poorly but in his last 4 starts against HCU, Kentucky, UTRGV and Prairie View he was 6 for 10, 3 walks, 7 runs scored, 4 RBI’s and a home run. Apparently that was too much offense for Schloss and he buried Winfield on the bench. Winfield hasn’t started a game since the 4 hit night.

He has pinch hit 4 times and has one AB since the Arkansas series.

At ULM last season, Winfield started 53 games, hit .332, with 10 HR, 3 triples, 8 doubles, 40 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases.

When Belyeu was injured that was the perfect time to give Winfield more extended playing time and see what he was capable of.

[Texas fan in Georgia]

Reading through everyone’s comments the closest thing I can liken this to is the 2021 Red River meltdown. Oof.

[DanielOnorato]

While I agree the depth at shortstop may be limited, could it be any worse than what we saw last night? Can't even bunt guys over...

[Jc Dobbs]

50 minutes ago, TexasMDcoach said:

If I were opposing pitchers I would throw breaking balls to Jonah until he proves he can hit one. Would never throw him a fast ball. Gasparino continues to look lost at the plate and needs a reset.  If last night's team shows back up we will lose to KSU today.  Backs against the wall now so let's see if these guys really want it or not. 

Re; Gasparino looking lost. There's simply nothing worse than a baseball player in a slump. It's not just with the bat...pitchers who can't find the plate, fielders who can't track a fly ball, infielders who aim their throws and hesitate on ground balls, catchers who sail their throws, etc., etc. Perhaps more than any other sport baseball demands confidence. A deep confidence that recovers from mistakes isn't easy and it takes time to build...or rebuild.

Injuries and mistakes have mounted on the Longhorns this season and confidence has been shaken.

[marathon]

3 minutes ago, Texas fan in Georgia said:

Reading through everyone’s comments the closest thing I can liken this to is the 2021 Red River meltdown. Oof.

This team has over achieved but they struggled down the stretch. We lost 7 of the last 10 SEC games including the SEC tournament loss. Going into post season on a downward trend is never ideal.

Losing Spencer and Belyeu was huge and Belyeu is still trying to get his timing back. Plus the injury to Mendoza was also critical. His defense is sorely missed.

Those are 3 key players and this team doesn’t have enough depth.

The baseball gods are cruel. We won a lot of close games this season. You can win 12 of 15 and feel invincible and then turn around and lose 8 of 10 and think you will never win again. Let’s see what happens today…you never know. 

 

[Jeff Howe]

I agree with Blake and a few others in the thread.

The short of it is, Texas played a sloppy game against a good team. That’ll get you beat this time of year.

The injuries/issues we’ve talked about for the last six weeks or so are finally catching up with the Longhorns. The pitching staff, for instance, had no margin for error when Spencer went down. Texas needed Luke Harrison to eat innings and for the defense to play well behind him and protect a five-run lead.

Neither of those things happened.

The Longhorns can get to Monday, but it’ll take much cleaner baseball with the timely hits that haven’t been there lately to get the job done.

[Han Soul Hole]

I fèl like we're in a 1st pitch take offense 95% of the time.  Pitchers are grooving 1st pitch on us, rn.  

Time to let your hair down boys.  Win or go home.

[Assistant Regional Manager]

1 hour ago, DLev said:

Unfortunately this is not a roster built for the loser’s bracket path.

Is any roster “built” for a losers bracket? There is a reason the winner of the 1-0 game wins the regional 85% of the time or whatever it is.

[Assistant Regional Manager]

1 hour ago, marathon said:

Blake, we have had 3 players with 4 hits in a game this season. Want to guess who the are?
 

Belyeu has done it twice.

Rodriguez has one 4 hit game.

The other player with a 4 hit game this season is Easton Winfield (the last game he started). Winfield started the season poorly but in his last 4 starts against HCU, Kentucky, UTRGV and Prairie View he was 6 for 10, 3 walks, 7 runs scored, 4 RBI’s and a home run. Apparently that was too much offense for Schloss and he buried Winfield on the bench. Winfield hasn’t started a game since the 4 hit night.

He has pinch hit 4 times and has one AB since the Arkansas series.

At ULM last season, Winfield started 53 games, hit .332, with 10 HR, 3 triples, 8 doubles, 40 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases.

When Belyeu was injured that was the perfect time to give Winfield more extended playing time and see what he was capable of.

Winfield’s 4 hits against mighty Prairie View A&M represent almost 1/3rd of his total hits for the season.

He strikes out in 45% of his plate appearances, has 1 hit in 12 AB’s in SEC play and has looked lost in the outfield. 

Of people who should maybe get more playing time, he is pretty far down the list. And what he did last year doesn’t matter. We have a 50+ AB sample size of him this year.

[texcoyote15]

There were some arms that I saw early that I thought were going to be able to help. I haven’t kept up with injuries that much……some of them may have gotten hurt. Blake or someone?

Navarre 

Rerick 

Moffett 

McCreery 

Mercer 

Whitehead- I guess they decided to RS him?