re: Torina

quote:

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I like Beth but She only has herself to blame for not getting a new hitting coach years ago. She finally has her 'senior heavy' experienced lineup after we were 'young' for the last 3 years and they were taken to the woodshed all weekend at the plate

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The problem I have with this is that the explanation for LSU’s problems last season was not hitting woes. At the beginning of the current WCWS dry spell it was hitting that was the issue. Hitting has been on an upward trajectory the last several years. Last year, the problem was having only one reliable pitcher and even she wasn’t at the same level as the pitchers in the WCWS years. The issue for the program has been not being able to put it altogether in the same season.

I’ve said it on here before and I still firmly believe it. The problem the last couple of years was the regression by Sunseri (as a hitter and a pitcher) and Wickersham. Had their careers continued on an upward trajectory, the opinion everyone has of the program would be dramatically different. The question remains if the issue was more with the players or the coaches. Did COVID change priorities (either for the players or the coaches? Has Torina not adapted to changes in hitting approaches when developing her pitchers? Is she just not as hungry as she was when she was younger?

I felt like the pandemic was enough of a reason to give it some time to let the dust settle. If the hitting continues to show signs of regression and/or the pitching doesn’t progress, then the issue was clearly not just those two players. I’m just not going to draw that conclusion yet.