BB Final: Louisiana 7, Tulane 6

[ULvictory]

Just so I understand the logic. If a guy isn't hitting or the team isn't scoring runs, it's Talbot's fault. If a guy gets hits or the team scores runs, it's because they ignored Talbot?

You notice the common denominator here?

[IHateLaState]

Just so I understand the logic. If a guy isn't hitting or the team isn't scoring runs, it's Talbot's fault. If a guy gets hits or the team scores runs, it's because they ignored Talbot?

I agree with your sentiment... There are so many "in the know" guys on this board... I guess they don't have lives since they MUST be at practice every day seeing how Talbot is screwing up on a daily basis... Look I can't argue with the results we have seen... And in the end this is a results oriented business.... And based on results I can't really argue with the need for a change. But it amazes me the insight these guys seem to have....

For me I trust Robe WITHOUT QUESTION.... I don't believe he is this loyal to a fault kind of guy. Robe want's to win... He KNOWS HOW TO WIN..... so I'll trust him with the process

[HOUCajun]

Just so I understand the logic. If a guy isn't hitting or the team isn't scoring runs, it's Talbot's fault. If a guy gets hits or the team scores runs, it's because they ignored Talbot?

Correct! That too is what I have learned

[ULvictory]

Here’s the thing.

There’s no reason why a program like ours should EVER be in the bottom 15 in hitting. EVER.

I don’t consider myself a baseball guru by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s easy to see that the inconsistency with the bats have been quite noticeable the past few years. It shouldn’t constantly take us 20+ games for our bats to get going. There’s posters on this board who have played the game well enough to know that our hitting philosophy just isn’t cutting it.

As for Lott, I’ve had more than one person “in the know” tell me that JT messed with his swing. Think about it like this. The kid was offered by Florida State, and he was also one of the best hitters in the entire state of Florida. JT even stated that Lott was “one of the best natural hitters I’ve ever seen.” Well, if he’s such a natural hitter, WHY WOULD YOU MESS WITH HIS SWING?!?!?!?!? He obviously earned a spot on a college roster with the swing he had. It’s no wonder he has struggled the way he has. After seeing his home runs last night, I kept circling back to that same question.

[MetryCajun]

I think JT may have gone a little overboard with his effusive praise. Natural hitters eat up college pitching. Even when they are not getting hits they are menacing at the plate. Natural hitters also do not strike out on 50% of their at bats.
Lott is a power hitter who has not adjusted to the college game and was not given any help by his hitting coach.
Hopefully he stays and can finally get his career on track next year.

[Rougarou]

I think JT may have gone a little overboard with his effusive praise. Natural hitters eat up college pitching. Even when they are not getting hits they are menacing at the plate. Natural hitters also do not strike out on 50% of their at bats.
Lott is a power hitter who has not adjusted to the college game and was not given any help by his hitting coach.
Hopefully he stays and can finally get his career on track next year.

You are partially right. Even natural hitters as freshmen do not "eat up" college pitching. But Lott was scouted as a player with a good simple swing with plus bat speed with the potential to develop into a big power hitter. He was known as a guy who did not utilize pulling the ball much and worked the middle and right side of the field. Oh and a 6'4 frame with room to grow a lot. So, he really is and was projected more as a power hitter.

However, he did not behave as a power hitter as a freshman. If you actually watched his at bats and swing, he behaved more as a contact hitter trying to drive the ball up the middle and the other way. That can happen a lot to players trying to adjust to a higher level of pitching. They just start trying to make contact to survive until they adjust.

I agree with you on the amount of strikeouts he had last year and this year are not what you would expect to see with someone described by scouts as being a natural hitter. The menacing comment has nothing to do with hitters and just certain guys attitudes. There are guys with no hitting talent who are menacing, not natural hitters. But if you think pitchers don't fear Lott, you are wrong. They fear Moll too. If you watch how pitchers approach both guys, you can see it. And the fear just comes from the physical presence. That's why Moll got so many walks early in the season from getting so many sliders away off the plate. (Lott was swinging at them or they were getting called strikes).

But in purely evaluating his swing mechanics, he doesn't overload or overswing. He has a simple and relaxed approach. I don't mean that in a bad way. Many professional hitters have different philosophies on this. Many guys feel the less a guy has going on in his load and swing, the easier it is to make it through a season without a major slump because there is not as much to fine tune. Especially for a guy as long as Lott. The other side of the equation are guys like Harper, Trout, Donaldson, Odor, etc., who have big loads and big swings. But watching Lotts' swing mechanics, it looks more like a natural hitter than a power hitter. He naturally keeps his hands very inside the ball with a very level swing.

I think the problem with Todd came in this year where he maybe tried to be a type of player he wasn't quite ready to be, or was told to be a type of player he wasn't ready to be.

With someone like Lott, I think he needs volume. I think if you want to maximize your return on investment, you have to let him fail his way up. As a coach, that's hard to do when the entire team is striking out, not scoring runs, and Lott cannot get himself on the field because he is way down the chart with his defensive capabilities. So it is a challenge for Robe to justify putting him in to strike out three times early in the season when wins aren't coming. I think he also needs to be challenged. I have no knowledge of this but I would guess he doesn't get chewed out but mostly positive support and coach basically telling him either you perform or you don't play. I think Lott is the type of guy that needs a coach or leader get on him and tell him that the team is counting on him and he is too good to not be contributing more. That he was brought here to be a difference maker and it is not acceptable to not be producing. Almost like fussing at someone while lifting their confidence at the same time.

But if Lott would have gotten the ABs Windham, Stover, Cantrelle, etc. got this year, you would see him begin to reach that potential, I believe. If he were at the same level of a defender as those other guys, we wouldn't be having this discussion because he would be starting over Lafleur, who is producing just enough to stay in the lineup on guts and heart alone.

[Cajun90]

Rougarou, I think that is the best assessment I have seen of the situation. Everything has to be put in context and your points are valid. Todd might have gotten a lot more opportunity if others around him weren't failing as badly as they were.

I've stated it before but it is so easy to break everything down in a vacuum but this is a mental/team game. Pointing fingers at one person/issue/situation isn't going to answer the problem. I know for many it is been a "bad" year but I've actually enjoyed a lot of it. Its fun to watch them figure out different ways to get past the adversity. I'll guarantee you that every member of this team will look back at this season as a time that taught them a lot of life lessons. Sometimes the fun in the game goes beyond the win/lose column.... but not always. :-)

[CrazyCajun]

A DH participates around 15-20 minutes total of a 2.5-3 hour game..a DH who isn’t hitting is even less time..that’s a long time to sit in the dugout and think about not hitting. The other guys get to go play defense and not constantly think about not hitting. They at least get a different opportunity to positively impact the game. All of our DH’s have struggled all year, I doubt it’s because not one of them can hit. Hard to be a threat being the DH in the 8 hole with nobody on base and the guy in front of you or behind you isn’t a threat either.

[LifeTimeCajun]

He was an all star and I think led the Alaskan league in hitting this year. He’s going to the Cape this year. Questions will be answered soon about his talent level. Then we can go from there

[ManAboutTown]

Rougarou, I think that is the best assessment I have seen of the situation. Everything has to be put in context and your points are valid. Todd might have gotten a lot more opportunity if others around him weren't failing as badly as they were.

I've stated it before but it is so easy to break everything down in a vacuum but this is a mental/team game. Pointing fingers at one person/issue/situation isn't going to answer the problem. I know for many it is been a "bad" year but I've actually enjoyed a lot of it. Its fun to watch them figure out different ways to get past the adversity. I'll guarantee you that every member of this team will look back at this season as a time that taught them a lot of life lessons. Sometimes the fun in the game goes beyond the win/lose column.... but not always. :-)

Watch it boys... You guys can't possibly be "in the know" like that..

What amazes me is, people that trash posters that actually know what they are talking about because they themselves are either not students of the game, around the program enough, or don't have personnel relationships with guys who participate in this stuff day and and day out.

In other words people that think "I don't know this much so others can't possibly know".

[Rougarou]

Rougarou, I think that is the best assessment I have seen of the situation. Everything has to be put in context and your points are valid. Todd might have gotten a lot more opportunity if others around him weren't failing as badly as they were.

I've stated it before but it is so easy to break everything down in a vacuum but this is a mental/team game. Pointing fingers at one person/issue/situation isn't going to answer the problem. I know for many it is been a "bad" year but I've actually enjoyed a lot of it. Its fun to watch them figure out different ways to get past the adversity. I'll guarantee you that every member of this team will look back at this season as a time that taught them a lot of life lessons. Sometimes the fun in the game goes beyond the win/lose column.... but not always. :-)

I have enjoyed this season as well. Always great to watch a group of guys struggle and turn things around.

[ULvictory]

I've stated it before but it is so easy to break everything down in a vacuum but this is a mental/team game. Pointing fingers at one person/issue/situation isn't going to answer the problem. I know for many it is been a "bad" year but I've actually enjoyed a lot of it. Its fun to watch them figure out different ways to get past the adversity. I'll guarantee you that every member of this team will look back at this season as a time that taught them a lot of life lessons. Sometimes the fun in the game goes beyond the win/lose column.... but not always. :-)

I love the fight in this team. At the same time, we left so many wins off of the board from blowing big leads (Arkansas State, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Little Rock, Texas State 2x). We are sitting at 36-17 if we hold on to those leads and win those games. That's always the frustrating part.