BB Final: Louisiana 15, SLU 5

[Dad04]

You should probably listen to the pregame interview with Deggs before the games. Langevin was slated to throw tonight, as well as Holzhammer and Christie….by design.

And if you don’t think this Cajuns staff is “deep” you may not have much of a clue about college baseball. Having a couple good starters and a good couple of relievers and you have a good college staff. Being able to use 3 different SETS of relievers behind 3 excellent starters gives you one of the deepest staffs in the country.

Some simply pick the weirdest hills to die on.

We have 10 pitchers with sub 4 ERA'S that have thrown 87% of innings pitched through last weekend. That is All World deep.

People don't realize the confidence position players have playing behind a strong staff like ours, in the field and at the plate. They feel invincible.

[Million$Mullet]

Didn't he come in tonight. I was following on the stats and thought I saw his name.

Hell I dunno. I wasn’t keeping up with anything tonight due to my significant others bday. But I thought you meant hammer was our best weekend closer. Which I think LP is and now I’m understanding that they both pitched. LP threw his bullpen last week during a midweek game as well if I’m not mistaken.

[angeleast]

Don't sweat the troll!!

[fpc4life99]

To the point of depth…

The EIGHT pitchers that have thrown more than 20 innings this year have combined numbers of:

26-7 record
14 saves
2.75 ERA

And that doesn’t include Marshall, Cash and McGehee.

Wouldn't there average ERA be 2.9? Certainly! When considering the average ERA, the figure of 2.9 reflects a solid performance overall. Even with the inclusion of the ninth individual, the average remains respectable at 3.23. Breaking down the performance further reveals varying levels of effectiveness within different segments: the top three pitchers boast an impressive ERA of 2.00, while the 3-6 group holds a still commendable 3.02. However, the 6-9 segment sees a noticeable uptick in ERA, reaching 4.66, indicating a disparity in pitching performance across the different parts of the roster.

I not saying we have are bad at pitching, going back to my original statement 1-3 is probably one of the best in the nation. 3-6 very solid, I question our 7-10. Over the next few weeks, I'm sure we will get to see more and I hope that I'm wrong.

[sportsfanatic21]

Wouldn't there average ERA be 2.9? Certainly! When considering the average ERA, the figure of 2.9 reflects a solid performance overall. Even with the inclusion of the ninth individual, the average remains respectable at 3.23. Breaking down the performance further reveals varying levels of effectiveness within different segments: the top three pitchers boast an impressive ERA of 2.00, while the 3-6 group holds a still commendable 3.02. However, the 6-9 segment sees a noticeable uptick in ERA, reaching 4.66, indicating a disparity in pitching performance across the different parts of the roster.

I not saying we have are bad at pitching, going back to my original statement 1-3 is probably one of the best in the nation. 3-6 very solid, I question our 7-10. Over the next few weeks, I'm sure we will get to see more and I hope that I'm wrong.

Go take a look at 99% of the other teams in college baseball’s 7-10, or even their 6-9, and let me know what you find out.

I’ll give you a hint, the 6-9 will have an ERA over 5.00. You can probably figure out what 7-10 will look like.

Here’s a link for you…

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/baseball/d1/current/team/211

If that posted correctly, you will see that the Cajuns ENTIRE staff has the 4th best ERA in the country at 3.35

And I just posted that the 8 guys with the most innings thrown have a combined 2.75 ERA.

There’s no way to spin it. This is one of the best and DEEPEST staffs in the country at this point in the season.

Look at little deeper on that link. The average team ERA in college baseball is about 6.00.

The Cajuns have ELEVEN guys that have regularly pitched that have ERAs below the national average.

I’m not sure how else to explain it but this is a very good and very deep staff

[Swamp]

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[lcitsh]

Since others brought up other Sun Belt teams winning tonight, I'll add that Sun Belt teams went 7-3 tonight, with one of the losses still helping the Cajuns. Louisiana Tech beat ULM, 6-2.

[GoneGolfin]

If that's the case why do you bring in your top weekend reliever to finish off a mid week game?

Why? Because you need to get pitchers work and keep them sharp. LP's last appearance was last Friday and tonight was a good time to get him an inning. It has nothing to do with confidence in the staff, which you seem to be implying (in stunning erroneous fashion). LP will back Herrmann on Friday. Etheridge (closed Saturday and started tonight) likely backs Morgan on Saturday. Holzhammer threw only 11 pitches this weekend and needed work.

Also, all teams use their top relievers midweek if the situation warrants itself ... or if they need the work.

The problem Deggs faces this year (because the staff is so deep) is getting pitchers the appearances and innings they need to continue to develop and stay sharp. That depth also afforded the Cajun staff to pull Etheridge for two weeks and work on some adjustments. It has worked beautifully. Not many teams can afford to do that.

I also don't know if I would consider 14, 16, 17 innings significant compared to the low 40s of some of the others

Are you trying to say that you do not understand the difference between starter innings and reliever innings? You are also arguing against your point. There are a number of pitchers on this staff with more than 20 innings ... yet not a single pitcher has 50 ... and only two in the 40's. This is the textbook definition of depth. Then you have a guy that has thrown 15 innings and sports a 1.80 ERA not included in the above.

You need to be looking at appearances as well ... notably when you have a deep staff (which we obviously do) and there are not enough innings to go around for everyone. We have nine pitchers with double digit appearances (between 11 and 17). Eight of those are now pitching out of the pen. None of these eight include our three weekend starters ... who have 9 (Herrmann), 13 (Morgan), and 8 (Fluno) appearances respectively. Morgan has 13 because he was a reliever for a period of time.

Appearances are another strong indicator/metric for staff depth.

Brian

[cajundiehard]

Since others brought up other Sun Belt teams winning tonight, I'll add that Sun Belt teams went 7-3 tonight, with one of the losses still helping the Cajuns. Louisiana Tech beat ULM, 6-2.

I wouldn't say that loss helps the Cajuns... Cajuns are weighted 3x vs. ULM and 2x vs Tech. It's slight/just one game... but it would have been better for ULM to win... ;-) so I wouldn't say the Tech win helps the Cajuns.

[GoneGolfin]

Wouldn't there average ERA be 2.9? Certainly! When considering the average ERA, the figure of 2.9 reflects a solid performance overall. Even with the inclusion of the ninth individual, the average remains respectable at 3.23. Breaking down the performance further reveals varying levels of effectiveness within different segments: the top three pitchers boast an impressive ERA of 2.00, while the 3-6 group holds a still commendable 3.02. However, the 6-9 segment sees a noticeable uptick in ERA, reaching 4.66, indicating a disparity in pitching performance across the different parts of the roster.

I do not know where you are getting your numbers. But 6->9 have ERAs of 3.18 (Cash), 3.25 (Christie), and 3.54 (Etheridge). These are excellent ERAs in college baseball. Meanwhile, Etheridge could potentially prove to be the best of all of them and is currently pitching as our second best relief option. He has been very sharp since the adjustments with downright nasty stuff.

Brian

[GoneGolfin]

I wouldn't say that loss helps the Cajuns... Cajuns are weighted 3x vs. ULM and 2x vs Tech. It's slight/just one game... but it would have been better for ULM to win... ;-) so I wouldn't say the Tech win helps the Cajuns.

For pure RPI purposes, ULM winning is better (slightly). But we wanted Tech to win tonight ... furthering the chances that Tech will move into the RPI Top 60 and allow the Cajuns to have a Q1 win.

[cajundiehard]

For pure RPI purposes, ULM winning is better (slightly). But we wanted Tech to win tonight ... furthering the chances that Tech will move into the RPI Top 60 and allow the Cajuns to have a Q1 win.

Gotcha. Good point. Wish they would have held on to that 5-0 lead that they took into bottom 9 @ Arizona....

[lcitsh]

I wouldn't say that loss helps the Cajuns... Cajuns are weighted 3x vs. ULM and 2x vs Tech. It's slight/just one game... but it would have been better for ULM to win... ;-) so I wouldn't say the Tech win helps the Cajuns.

Granted, the mathematics may not be completely on our side in this case, as our home loss to Tech counterbalances the road win, but, to me, a Quad 2 win looks better than 3 Quad 4 wins. Another way to look at it, even though there is no such thing as a good loss, playing someone is Quad 3 is still better than someone in Quad 4.

[RaginDave]

If you watch any college baseball, you will see that this staff is downright impressive. The depth is sick, and this is the type of staff that is built to go a long way in both tournament and regional play. You have 3 starters whose numbers aer 1.90, 1.91 and 2.20 ERA's. I would challenge you to find Friday, Saturday, Sunday guys with those numbers anywhere in the country. Now bullpen, Blake Marshall 1.80, LP 2.87, "THE HAMMER 2.95, Cash Money 3.18, Christie 3.25, Etheridge 3.54. That is top 9, but wait.....Martinez when control is good is nasty and by the way even with his struggles his ERA is only 4.60, still very good in college baseball and he is your #10 guy. McGehee might be working out the kinks as his last start looked pretty good at 5.85, that is 11 pitchers who can give you quality innings.

Here is my 1 concern and it is not a big one, but the only thing I can even remotely see as an issue with this staff and that is who can go out and get you a start as a #4 or #5 guy. That is usually not an issue but becomes one if you fall to the losers' bracket in the SBC or Regional play. I think CMD has been hoping the two BM's would take that role (Blake Marshall or Blake McGehee) but both have struggled at times. Now the flip side of that is that you just throw the pen at people as your #4 starter, instead of going with a starter you go with an opener and then throw Johnny all pen as your #4 or #5 guy. That is where the Cajuns can shine because of that depth in the pen.

Oh I forgot to mention because he has only pitched 1/3 of an inning in 1 game, but the staff really likes a guy by the name of JR Tollet who is a freshman and who is battling back from injury, if and this is a big if....he can get it figured out (and I do believe we will see him out of the pen tonight) he would give you another quality arm to put in the mix. Look at his HS numbers. A 4-year letter winner and 3-time Class 5A All-state selection at Ruston High School. 1st team All-State honors as a sophomore and named 2-5A Pitcher of the year in 2021. In that year he was 9-2 with a 1.05 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 67 innings. CMD thinks he could be a top end bullpen guy. Murphy Brooks and Brendan Moody are two guys who while they have struggled are both capable of giving you some help, if Brendan Moody, Murphy Brooks and JR Tollet are your #12, 13 and 14 options and those guys are your emergency options for a batter or an inning, one coming off a near death experience, one coming back from a major injury as is a true freshman and the other is Brendan Moody, I think you might be alright.

How nasty would this staff be if Dylan Theut was healthy.

Again, from all indications, I think we might see some Tollet tonight out of the pen and I am hoping he can work himself into being a backend pen guy for us and that just makes us even a little bit better.

[sportsfanatic21]

If you watch any college baseball, you will see that this staff is downright impressive. The depth is sick, and this is the type of staff that is built to go a long way in both tournament and regional play. You have 3 starters whose numbers aer 1.90, 1.91 and 2.20 ERA's. I would challenge you to find Friday, Saturday, Sunday guys with those numbers anywhere in the country. Now bullpen, Blake Marshall 1.80, LP 2.87, "THE HAMMER 2.95, Cash Money 3.18, Christie 3.25, Etheridge 3.54. That is top 9, but wait.....Martinez when control is good is nasty and by the way even with his struggles his ERA is only 4.60, still very good in college baseball and he is your #10 guy. McGehee might be working out the kinks as his last start looked pretty good at 5.85, that is 11 pitchers who can give you quality innings.

Here is my 1 concern and it is not a big one, but the only thing I can even remotely see as an issue with this staff and that is who can go out and get you a start as a #4 or #5 guy. That is usually not an issue but becomes one if you fall to the losers' bracket in the SBC or Regional play. I think CMD has been hoping the two BM's would take that role (Blake Marshall or Blake McGehee) but both have struggled at times. Now the flip side of that is that you just throw the pen at people as your #4 starter, instead of going with a starter you go with an opener and then throw Johnny all pen as your #4 or #5 guy. That is where the Cajuns can shine because of that depth in the pen.

Oh I forgot to mention because he has only pitched 1/3 of an inning in 1 game, but the staff really likes a guy by the name of JR Tollet who is a freshman and who is battling back from injury, if and this is a big if....he can get it figured out (and I do believe we will see him out of the pen tonight) he would give you another quality arm to put in the mix. Look at his HS numbers. A 4-year letter winner and 3-time Class 5A All-state selection at Ruston High School. 1st team All-State honors as a sophomore and named 2-5A Pitcher of the year in 2021. In that year he was 9-2 with a 1.05 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 67 innings. CMD thinks he could be a top end bullpen guy. Murphy Brooks and Brendan Moody are two guys who while they have struggled are both capable of giving you some help, if Brendan Moody, Murphy Brooks and JR Tollet are your #12, 13 and 14 options and those guys are your emergency options for a batter or an inning, one coming off a near death experience, one coming back from a major injury as is a true freshman and the other is Brendan Moody, I think you might be alright.

How nasty would this staff be if Dylan Theut was healthy.

Again, from all indications, I think we might see some Tollet tonight out of the pen and I am hoping he can work himself into being a backend pen guy for us and that just makes us even a little bit better.

Some really good points made here. And man, Theut on this staff would just be another hammer in the toolbox. I cant wait to see him back out there next year.

Anyone who watched Tollett’s debut saw what he brings. Crazy arm-side and downward run on his fastball/sinker and what looked to be a pretty good slider. He came on to make his debut deep in the soup and got a huge out. Gave up a couple singles to start the next inning and got taken out. Those two guys came around to score in the dreaded situation of “giving up runs while you’re sitting in the dugout”. I hope we get to see some more of him, possibly tonight. Remember….as good as Chase Morgan has become, his first two outings this (also his freshman) season weren’t great.

Finally, while Brendan Moody got beat up last night, he’s a guy that is capable of helping this team. This is a kid that made multiple (effective) weekend starts last season, and at other times was in the closer’s role. While his season stats this year look bad, and there is certainly some combustibility there, he’s had some nice outings.

He’s made 7 appearances. In 5 of those 7, he’s thrown a total of 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.

He got knocked around by Houston at Minute Maid and then again last night, but with someone else on the ready, just in case, sending him out there with a better than 50/50 chance of him being effective just adds to the depth of the staff.