Baseball rpi 4/18/22

[Dad04]

D1 Baseball has GA State as a 3 seed in ATL, GA Southern hosting and TX State the conf. tourney winner 3 seed.

[LifeTimeCajun]

Sadly, I think you’re right about winning the tourney being the only hope. I also agree with your comment in another post about Rincones.

I will say this though, as much as I cant stand them, I don’t think LSU is a “very average” team. They are top 3 in the SEC in batting average and runs scored, and they are 4th in ERA.

They are terrible on defense though. When that doesn’t bite them, they are as capable as anyone of beating anybody.

I’ve said on here more than once how much I cant stand “shifting” in college baseball. There’s just NO WAY to have enough information to make decisions to do it, and last night that came back to bite the Cajuns in the ass…again. The Dylan Crews 2-run single opened the floodgates. And it was a ground ball right where a 2nd baseman has been positioned for 120 years. The announcers even mentioned it right after that, that anyone who has seen Crews play should know that he uses the entire field.

So we shift and then pitch the guy away. And he hits a ground ball the other way. Ball game.

Conversely, we shifted and put Brandon in short right field and the ball was hit right at him, we boot it, and that opened the flood gates and eventually ended up being what cost us the game in my opinion. I do hate the shift, hate it…but ive seen it work way to much too much in our favor. The data used is computer generated from a subscription we use is what ive heard

[ManAboutTown]

Conversely, we shifted and put Brandon in short right field and the ball was hit right at him, we boot it, and that opened the flood gates and eventually ended up being what cost us the game in my opinion. I do hate the shift, hate it…but ive seen it work way to much too much in our favor. The data used is computer generated from a subscription we use is what ive heard

What about when you shift and the guy that you shift is about your 4th best second baseman the roster? Shifting the defense for Crews was moronic. Unless Rincones is injured (and he’s not) it’s also moronic to continue leaving him in the dugout.

[Million$Mullet]

Lsu is a c-hair above average. If they get out of a regional I’ll be very surprised

[LifeTimeCajun]

What about when you shift and the guy that you shift is about your 4th best second baseman the roster? Shifting the defense for Crews was moronic. Unless Rincones is injured (and he’s not) it’s also moronic to continue leaving him in the dugout.

Yea middle infield is not a position i would swap offense for defense but thats just me. Rincones would have not come out the lineup if i had the pen in my hand. But its not

[lcitsh]

I don’t disagree with the concept, Texas State is just in the wrong group. The first 5 teams you mentioned would be bad losses, Texas state belongs with the last 2 teams you mentioned not the first 5. When you posted it we hadn’t played any of the games and then proceeded to list our remaining schedule, so what bad losses do we need to avoid if it’s none of the ones you listed? Texas State is now ahead of us in RPI by the way, like lsu and Georgia state.

No, they're not. I responded to Dad04. His post only included LSU and Georgia State. I showed the opponents involved in the 15 other games the Cajuns have as an example of the larger sample size (15 games) being more important than the smaller sample size (4). If you're stating that Texas State is critical to the Cajuns getting an at large bid, you would get no argument from me there. But since Dad04 did not include them in his original post, my response addressed the specific teams he cited.

Now, since you finally got around to asking what I think would be bad losses, I can answer that to you. First, because of how the rpi formula works, any home loss would be a bad loss. Those games would include UTA (3), Nicholls (1) and Little Rock (3). UTA has a losing record, Nicholls and Little Rock will likely have losing records by the time we play them, so that's a double whammy. Second, any loss to a team with a losing record would be a bad loss. Appalachian State (3), Rice (2) and UTA (3) will all have losing records when we play them.

Georgia State and Texas State are clearly the best teams left on the Cajun schedule. The Texas State games are probably more critical since they both are currently on the wrong side of the rpi top 50, they are battling for at large bids and they are playing one another soon. A lot can and will happen over the next 5 weeks on the way to the conference tournament.

[CrazyCajun]

No, they're not. I responded to Dad04. His post only included LSU and Georgia State. I showed the opponents involved in the 15 other games the Cajuns have as an example of the larger sample size (15 games) being more important than the smaller sample size (4). If you're stating that Texas State is critical to the Cajuns getting an at large bid, you would get no argument from me there. But since Dad04 did not include them in his original post, my response addressed the specific teams he cited.

Now, since you finally got around to asking what I think would be bad losses, I can answer that to you. First, because of how the rpi formula works, any home loss would be a bad loss. Those games would include UTA (3), Nicholls (1) and Little Rock (3). UTA has a losing record, Nicholls and Little Rock will likely have losing records by the time we play them, so that's a double whammy. Second, any loss to a team with a losing record would be a bad loss. Appalachian State (3), Rice (2) and UTA (3) will all have losing records when we play them.

Georgia State and Texas State are clearly the best teams left on the Cajun schedule. The Texas State games are probably more critical since they both are currently on the wrong side of the rpi top 50, they are battling for at large bids and they are playing one another soon. A lot can and will happen over the next 5 weeks on the way to the conference tournament.

It was a rhetorical question.

[ManAboutTown]

So all we have to do is go 15-0 against the teams we should beat and 4-2 against the two teams better than us, on the road.

Easy peasy.

[lcitsh]

It was a rhetorical question.

Then you shouldn't have asked it.

[lcitsh]

So all we have to do is go 15-0 against the teams we should beat and 4-2 against the two teams better than us, on the road.

Easy peasy.

18 games left before the conference tournament. Two things working in the Cajuns favor: 4th strongest non-conference schedule in the nation, 18th overall and their results against the top 50 (3-5 top 25, 1-2 26-50). Advantage/disadvantage: 2 road series against teams in direct competition with them for conference standings and rpi ranking - Georgia State and Texas State. Other disadvantages: overall record (20-16) and current rpi ranking (55).

Cajuns likely have a small margin for error if they want an at large bid. They should be able to earn it if they are good enough to get it.

[CajunStros]

Sadly, even if we get an at large (somehow) or win the tournament I don’t see how some of the coaching decisions will result in anything fruitful. We sacrifice defense in the lineup for offense more often than not and the handling of the pitching staff has been questionable at best up to this point.

What was Tony’s phrase, you pitch your way TO a regional and then hit your way through a regional? I don’t think we get past the first part. I want to be wrong, badly. I just don’t see it.

[Atown cajun]

G5 at 55…… Regional ain’t happening unless the Cajuns are tournament winners.