What a difference a week makes.
I planned to write this post, and a week ago it was a very different feel around the Ole Miss baseball program. The team has ascended back into the top 25 and had an SEC series notched on its belt.
Then the last seven days played out about as terribly as they could have. A midweek disaster against Memphis followed by getting swept by Mississippi State in Oxford over the weekend and honestly did not look competitive save some Friday heroics to keep that game close.
Now
the Rebels (19-10, 3-6 SEC) are a little over halfway through the season with the true gauntlet ahead with 21 conference games remaining and just a handful of non-conference opponents (including MSU in a neutral site). Things look fairly bleak for this baseball season going forward, but let’s break down each phase of the game and see where expectations have fallen short.
- Starting Pitching: B The Rebels generally are getting out to good starts in most of its games. Wil Libbert has been disappointing there’s no way around that, but Hunter Elliott, Cade Townsend and Owen Kelly have ERA’s at 4.00 or under. Someone else has to step up whether it is Hudson Calhoun or Taylor Rabe to shore up the weekend.
- Bullpen: B+ Again, there’s some bright spots with guys like Landon Waters, Walker Hooks, Grayson Gibson and JP Robertson putting in some good innings regularly. Clearly there have been a couple games where things tripped up late, but it was against high level competition.
- Hitting: D+ Maybe this is a kneejerk reaction from this past week but so be it. This team is hitting .260 as a squad at this point in the season with only two regular players hitting over .300. That is BEFORE this upcoming stretch of SEC games. Ole Miss has four players in the every day line-up hitting below .250, and something has to give. Bright spot of course to the home run hitting ability, but this batting order has not gelled yet.
- Fielding: C+ There’s been some sloppy play on the left side of the diamond and at times behind the dish. I don’t think it is costing the Rebels games, but it does provide some stressful moments.
- Baserunning: B Going 26/31 in stolen bases is solid, and if anything, the Rebels should be running more than they are given their offensive woes. Whatever base runners you are fortunate enough to get, send them wide open at this point to try and put pressure on opponents.
- Coaching: C- Basically just averaging all these grades out, and Mike Bianco cannot be happy right now at 19-10. If the pitching can’t hold teams under five runs, this team is in trouble nine times out of ten. Now its up to Bianco to find literally anyone who can light a fire under this team before it ends up with its second losing season in three years.
And look I may be generous with some of these grades, and leave your comments below with what you think. I don’t think this is a bad team, and it may just be a bad stretch. But right now, this team has to basically catch on fire to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
