Do we really need to try and steal bases with one out, only to have him throw out and then the batter strikes out. With a man on second, trying to steal third. How many times did we get thrown out last night. Coach, in my opinion does not have faith in his batters. While it seems it’s 50-50 on stealing abase, I’d rather let things play out rather than gamble on stealing a base and getting an out, then shorting the inning. NO PATIENCE.
I keep hearing, Cajuns play aggressive baseball, but our aggressiveness is costing us extended inning and possibly more runs. This is frustrating.
Our success rate in stealing bases is 80%. We will set a school record this year. Our ability to take extra bases has given us a huge
advantage. We've gotten many more runs than we've given away by getting thrown out. You only notice when we fail. Hope that eases your frustration somewhat.
We were 31 for 31 against Grambling, Jackson State and Friday night against stAte. 1/3 of our stolen bases in 10% of the games. Certainly pads the stats a bit. That's why all of these percentages and stats outside of context are an issue. They work in MLB because the talent is relatively the same and it's a 162 game season. Games can literally be won and lost by making a college pitcher face 1 or 2 more batters in an inning. Solely my opinion, but I don't disagree with Jim's take.
Edit: not necessarily an issue last night although the Willis steal was a headscratcher. But overall, I do think we've run ourselves out of too many innings, especially with a struggling pitcher on the mound.
If you want to go with like opponents, we are 84% in conference play and 78% in all games. Yes, no two teams are alike, but I love being aggressive, and it has helped us more than it has hurt us.
Do you agree with stealing after 4+ straight balls? Getting thrown out at all in that situation just seems wrong to me. Same with hit & run/bunt. We seem to give away strikes and bail pitchers out. Heath got in a hole yesterday after a walk on a hit & run/bunt attempt. There is such thing as too aggressive.
I have always liked being aggressive on the base paths, even before Matt Deggs became our coach. I loved to watch Lou Brock and Ricky Henderson. I love the hit-and-run, but you must have the right guy at the plate. Also, if we are down, four runs early in the game. You will not see our guys steal. If we are up, you will see us try to put our foot on the guy's throat and crush their will to play. How many times have we got an extra base from the throw going to centerfield? How many times have we gotten to first from a pick-off attempt? I believe that we remember when it doesn't work and put a lot of emphasis on the caught stealing. I looked at it last year but have not tracked it this year. But last year, when we stole a base, that guy scored around 78% of the time. Without stealing a base, the guy only scored 32% of the time. That is when a guy got on base by single, base-on-balls, hit by pitch, or throwing error.
In short, after a long answer, you are asking the wrong guy if you are asking if we are too aggressive.
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