ThomasTiger

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This kid has taken $hit from a lot of you this season. You'd think he was batting .195 with a .295 OBP (oh wait, that's Stevenson) instead of his .265 and .407 OBP. May I remind you that he has bounced back from near paralyzingly injury last year, causing him to miss part of the last season and all of summer ball. Unlike everyone else on the team, he couldn't even begin to practice baseball until last fall. Who knows what his average would be if he would have been allowed to work out of his mid-season slump like Laird and Jones. Remember, he has gotten 2 RBI pinch hits in his last 2 at bats. Speaking of which, he is the only player on this year's team that has gotten a game winning RBI hit for a championship. He was also the player that advanced the runner with a perfectly placed 2 strike bunt in the 10th in a win against Arkansas, a game tying SF in the top of the 9th in an eventual loss against Alabama, etc, etc. He may not be good enough to start in CPM eyes, but he is far from a scrub some of you make him out to be.

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I've been waiting for someone to take up for this kid all season. This COULD NOT have been stated better. The kid broke his neck and still went to every practice and game! He's a class act. For whatever reason, CPM has decided Sciambra is not in the mix. His OBP is .407! If we'd have stuck with him, I truly believe he'd be having a really solid year and would have solidified RF platooning with Foster, with Laird in CF. This is clearly our best lineup. CPM is trying to prove he's not wrong about Stevenson, and he's going to go down with him. The kid is totally overmatched at the plate. He was anointed as the next Mahtook by the coach early on, which not only was incorrect but unfair to the kid..

So all Sciambra does is bide his time and produce when given the opportunity. CPM will have an SEC Championship ring thanks to his ability to keep a good attitude and produce when needed.

Gino Marucci, the leading hitter at UHigh, is Jack's son. I believe I heard he signed with Univ of Houston.

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Mainieri is trying to figure out the proper balance between defense/hitting overall. Stevenson is the worst hitter but the best outfielder. Sciambra is an average hitter and average outfielder. Foster is a good hitter but probably the worst outfielder (At least he has an arm). McMullen is a very good hitter but is average to below average outfielder. Laird is a decent hitter and very good outfielder. All of this could be worthless for next year because like I said we have 2 potentially big time outfielders coming in and both will push hard to start.

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This is the best assessment I've seen of the situation. Inconsistency has been the problem. Laird and Stevenson have the highest ceilings, and CPM is dying for them to reach that potential. McMullen and Foster are not good defensive outfielders, but are consistently the strongest hitters. Actually, Sciambra is pretty consistent. He is a better than average outfielder, and his .400+ OBP has been steady all year. On the downside, his strikeouts have also been consistently high. The freshman will make freshman mistakes (not tagging up, getting picked off). The more experienced guys likely won't. Stevenson did at least get the bat on the ball this weekend, although he also looked horrible on the deep fly to center. He is also the least effective at the plate. In my opinion, Laird is the strongest outfielder and should be in CF. So CPM needs to decide between consistency and inconsistency. We'll see how he leans when things get tough during the stretch run and tournaments.

Laird
.190 SEC
.267 Overall
.341 OBP

Stevenson
.100 SEC
.176 Overall
.273 OBP

Sciambra
.250 SEC
.261 Overall
.411 OBP

So why is Sciambra out of the discussion? Seems to me he's by far the most consistent of the three. A little bit of defense does not justify .150 points in batting average and OBP.

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As I said in a thread earlier this week, Coach has taken the DH against RHP from Moore. Makes no sense to me. Look at the numbers.

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I completely agree. The kid is clutch. Can't see what he's done wrong this year to be at the lonely end of the bench.

So after the first time through the order, here's the string of batters Mizzou's pitcher will face in consecutive order:

7 Jones .193
8 Ross .192
9 Stevenson .226
1 McMullen .214

CPM is going to have to break that up somehow. Options:

Foster .429
Yocom .333
Moore .275
Sciambra .262

Others struggling:

Chinea .207
Barash .182
Edward .174

Seems it would be logical to lead Laird off and DH Moore.

Did we not get charged an error in the 1st inning on the fly ball missed by Laird and Stevenson?

After watching several scrimmages this Fall and Spring, I don't see any freshmen pitchers helping this team as a weekend starter this year. I believe spot relief is the best you're gonna get out of this class. None of them looked anywhere near being able to compete in the SEC. Not even close.

Joey Bourgeois may end up our best option on Sundays.

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4-4, 0-2 with 2 walks, 1-2 with 2 walks 5-8 with 4 walks 0.692 OBP

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My math says 9-12 is a .750 OBP. Can't keep up that pace (obviously) but his ability to take pitches, work the count and either put it in play or walk makes him a perfect lead off hitter. Looking back at last year's stats prior to his injury, he had reached base safely in 9 consecutive games, so he is currently on a 12 game streak - with base hits in 10 of those 12 games. Good for him. He's been through a lot.

Sciambra doubled off Nola in the 1st and then Rhymes doubled him in. Nola settled in after that. The hitting seems ahead of the pitching at this point of the Spring.