Dave Schultz Take on the Cajuns

[angeleast]

1 bad year does not mean we give up on Degs... Faith, he will right the ship.

[CrazyCajun]

hot take, anyone who would give up on deggs or want to get rid of him at his point is an idiot.

[sportsfanatic21]

I'm not a fan of willfully throwing away a season for future success.

2012 definitely paid off down the road.

2025 may as well, I just don't like treating an entire season like spring training.

That wasn’t planned. Markle and Yuhasz weren’t supposed to be out for months. A couple others that were expected to be regulars had terrible seasons. It just happened.

It also wasn’t the plan in 2012.

[Louisiana84]

I'll agree on one point. This team ain't Southern Miss. Not lowering my expectations. Schultzy needs a few corrections. He can PM me for a historical perspective. I've been covering this program for decades.

[Turbine]

That wasn’t planned. Markle and Yuhasz weren’t supposed to be out for months. A couple others that were expected to be regulars had terrible seasons. It just happened.

It also wasn’t the plan in 2012.

It wasnt planned is the point. The lineup should always be more dispersed.

When the fill in replacements lean so heavily on freshmen it is not a good sign.

It means at some point (usually four years later) you will be forced to rely on freshman again. A never ending cycle.

With the portal this should never have to happen.

[sportsfanatic21]

It wasnt planned is the point. The lineup should always be more dispersed.

When the fill in replacements lean so heavily on freshmen it is not a good sign.

It means at some point (usually four years later) you will be forced to rely on freshman again. A never ending cycle.

With the portal this should never have to happen.

They brought in 4 transfers. One had hamate surgery 15 games into the season, and was never the same after coming back. The others hit .213, .167, and .111

[RaginDave]

This team was always going to be a wait and see situation. We knew we had some returning quality players, but we also know we had a bunch of newcomers. Yuhasz was figuring it out, but injuries have decimated him. Markle has a chance to be very good, but injuries hurt him as well. I was speaking to someone very close to the team before the season started and the I was told this team has the chance to be really good, it is going to depend on how fast the youngsters grow up. I still think the youngsters can be very good, but they did not grow up this year. Taking the lumps this year could be good for this team for the long run, I think some of these young players are going to be the backs we ride for a few years, not all, but a good number of them showed flashes of what they can be. Remember, USM is a top 25 team, that we did not have problems scoring runs against, same with Troy. The biggest issue for this team was youth and pitching depth. I like the makeup of the staff for the most part, but our depth was a problem. Outside of a number of quality arms, we saw that we were deep enough to complete against the better teams on our schedule. I also think that C-Mo was hurt all year, I spoke to a former player who was recruited by Deggs and loves him, by the way (who is my daughters T-Ball Coach) who stated Deggs should have shut C-Mo down for the year earlier in the season. It wasn't an injury that kept him from playing, but it was an injury that kept him from being the top end pitcher that we all know he can be.

[GeauxLA]

He expects to get to Omaha…at some point. It’s not a realistic yearly expectation. And coaches say things to excite fans and motivate players all the time.

As far as this year, the rash of injuries have been mentioned over and over.

Nobody expected over 450 at bats from freshmen this season.

You keep bringing up injuries, especially to Markle and Yuhasz.

Those two guys played in nearly every game out of the first 21. We went 9-12 in those games.

When did these injuries occur? Because this team wasn't exactly playing well with or without these injured guys in the lineup.

8 losses to Q4 teams. You can't blame that on injuries.

[sportsfanatic21]

You keep bringing up injuries, especially to Markle and Yuhasz.

Those two guys played in nearly every game out of the first 21. We went 9-12 in those games.

When did these injuries occur? Because this team wasn't exactly playing well with or without these injured guys in the lineup.

8 losses to Q4 teams. You can't blame that on injuries.

You mean during the stretch of playing ranked teams 4 weekends in a row? And using a bunch of pitchers that aren’t even on the roster anymore?

For whatever reason, this program gets off to slow starts every year, including the previous 3 that ended in regionals. To act like those 2 guys missing so much time, and in Markle’s case, not being anywhere close to what he was pre-injury, didn’t have a large negative effect on this season, is just sticking your head in the sand to crap on the team/coach/program or whatever the agenda is.

Whether or not anyone wants to believe it, or is just intent on finding some reason to think this team just sucks and the program is failing, the injuries to those 2 guys, along with Morgan and Herrmann dealing with stuff all year, Theut having midseason ankle surgery, and a couple of transfers just not panning out, led to a ton of ABs from a talented class of freshmen that weren’t ready to play full time roles…yet, and some innings from pitchers that probably should have been thrown in intrasquad or in midweek games. The chances of quite a few of these freshmen hitters getting much better due to the experience they got is a big positive for the next few seasons…even if the results this year weren’t what anyone was hoping for.

That’s just an “it is what it is” thing.

And this season isn’t over yet. Other than Conor Higgs, every other position player could be back next year and will get even more experience as long as they can keep playing.

If “the sky is falling” attitude is what some folks want to have, fine. But college baseball players typically make significant improvements from their freshman season. This team is going to be much better over the next couple of years. Hopefully it doesn’t upset the crowd that seems to enjoy griping about the bad instead of enjoying the good.

[cajundiehard]

You mean during the stretch of playing ranked teams 4 weekends in a row? And using a bunch of pitchers that aren’t even on the roster anymore?

For whatever reason, this program gets off to slow starts every year, including the previous 3 that ended in regionals. To act like those 2 guys missing so much time, and in Markle’s case, not being anywhere close to what he was pre-injury, didn’t have a large negative effect on this season, is just sticking your head in the sand to crap on the team/coach/program or whatever the agenda is.

Whether or not anyone wants to believe it, or is just intent on finding some reason to think this team just sucks and the program is failing, the injuries to those 2 guys, along with Morgan and Herrmann dealing with stuff all year, Theut having midseason ankle surgery, and a couple of transfers just not panning out, led to a ton of ABs from a talented class of freshmen that weren’t ready to play full time roles…yet, and some innings from pitchers that probably should have been thrown in intrasquad or in midweek games. The chances of quite a few of these freshmen hitters getting much better due to the experience they got is a big positive for the next few seasons…even if the results this year weren’t what anyone was hoping for.

That’s just an “it is what it is” thing.

And this season isn’t over yet. Other than Conor Higgs, every other position player could be back next year and will get even more experience as long as they can keep playing.

If “the sky is falling” attitude is what some folks want to have, fine. But college baseball players typically make significant improvements from their freshman season. This team is going to be much better over the next couple of years. Hopefully it doesn’t upset the crowd that seems to enjoy griping about the bad instead of enjoying the good.

This! Well said.