SBC Baseball Awards - 2021

[wcd35]

Connor Cooke snubbed for Pitcher of the Year

Player of the Year
Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern (Gr., OF – Cumming, Ga.)

Pitcher of the Year
Hayden Arnold, Little Rock (Sr., P – Rison, Ark.)

Freshman of the Year
Garrett Gainous, Troy (Fr., P – Cairo, Ga.)

Newcomer of the Year
Drake Osborn, Louisiana (Sr., C – Sandia, Texas)

Ron Maestri Coach of the Year
Mark Calvi, South Alabama

All-Sun Belt First Team
Connor Cooke, Louisiana (So., P – Sulphur, La.)
Hayden Arnold, Little Rock (Sr., P – Rison, Ark.)
Carlos Tavera, UTA (Jr., P – Fort Worth, Texas)
Nick Jones, Georgia Southern (Sr., RP – Johns Creek, Ga.)
Drake Osborn, Louisiana (Sr., C – Sandia, Texas)
Robbie Young, App State (Sr., 1B – Louisville, Ky.)
Luke Drumheller, App State (Jr., 2B – Charlotte, N.C.)
Drew Frederic, Troy (Sr., SS – Niceville, Fla.)
Ben Klutts, Arkansas State (Jr., 3B – Poteau, Okla.)
Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern (Gr., OF – Cumming, Ga.)
Logan Cerny, Troy (So., OF – Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Ethan Wilson, South Alabama (Jr., OF – Andalusia, Ala.)
Cameron Jones, Georgia State (Fr., UT – Kathleen, Ga.)
Ben Fitzgerald, Louisiana (Jr., DH – Mason City, Iowa)

All-Sun Belt Second Team
JoJo Booker, South Alabama (Sr., P – Brewton, Ala.)
Tyler Tuthill, App State (Jr, P – Clayton, N.C.)
Jeremy Lee, South Alabama (Fr., P – Valley Grand, Ala.)
Aaron Barkley, Little Rock (Gr., RP – El Cajon, Calif.)
BT Riopelle, Coastal Carolina (Jr., C – Marietta, Ga.)
Dylan Paul, UTA (RS Sr., 1B – Allen, Texas)
Travis Washburn, ULM (So., 2B – Conroe, Texas)
Eric Brown, Coastal Carolina (So., SS – Bossier City, La.)
Grant Schulz, ULM (Jr., 3B – Mereaux, La.)
Tyler Duncan, Arkansas State (Sr., OF – Sooke, British Columbia, Canada)
Parker Chavers, Coastal Carolina (RS Jr., OF – Montgomery, Ala.)
Josh Smith, Georgia State (So., OF – College Park, Ga.)
Andrew Miller, UTA (Sr., UT – Frisco, Texas)
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (Jr., DH – Buford, Ga.)

https://sunbeltsports.org/news/2021/...on-awards.aspx

[wcd35]

Choose your fighter:

[MelRock]

Choose your fighter:

#2

[wcd35]

#2

Well #2 won it. Both guys had a hell of a year. Can't deny that (along with a few others who could've been in consideration - Arrighetti, Nick Jones, Tavera, Tuthill, Booker, etc.)

[GoneGolfin]

#2

Definitely #1 if we are looking at All Stats. The ERA is significantly different and while Cooke has 6 relief appearances (vs. only 1 for Arnold) all OOC ... I think the five additional relief appearances do not explain away the ERA difference.

Now, one question is how much do conference stats weigh in the decision here (not included in the original post). Here, Arnold does have slightly better numbers, except for OBA. Arnold led the league in ERA in conference play.

Arnold -> 5-1 | 1.54 ERA | 52.2 IP | 54 K 9 BB | .191 OBA | 0.86 WHIP | 0-2 SHO
Cooke -> 4-1 | 1.64 ERA | 49.1 IP | 60 K 17 BB | .146 OBA | 0.86 WHIP | 1-1 SHO

Brian

[MelRock]

I just like the higher K/BB ratio and the lower BB/9. I think it is a better judge than ERA.

[Dad04]

The conf tends to take for granted we pitch, so when other teams pitch it is notable. This is nothing new.

[GoneGolfin]

I just like the higher K/BB ratio and the lower BB/9. I think it is a better judge than ERA.

Utilizing both is over weighting BB. And in the end, it is about not allowing runs to cross the plate. Cooke has the advantage here in both ER and R. But again, I think conference play should be part of the picture, so I have no heartburn over Arnold being the choice.

Regarding runs crossing the plate ... I have always though we need a metric by which we can measure how well a pitcher performs in minimizing damage after an error is committed.

Brian

[wcd35]

WHIP also integrates the walks and Cooke is still slightly better

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana was the only program with three players who earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors.

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