2019 Season Thread

[azgreg]

GCU lost today.

[ChooChooCat]

Southern Miss just stole a bid. Not looking good guys.

And THIS is why you have an all inclusive conference tournament if you are a real conference with competent leadership. What exactly is the downside? One less conference series? The top teams are going to get in anyway. If the stupid NCAA is going to allow representation by those teams who win tournaments, that are otherwise undeserving, the Pac-12 is moronic for not following the pack. #fucklarryscott #efpac12presidents

BTW, the sites should be on a rotational basis to the baseball schools or Las Vegas. Period. None of this quasi (SAC) Bay Area BS.

We're literally one of only two conferences not to have a tourney. All of these teams out there stealing bids, while Arizona gets passed up because an automatic bid isn't even an option. Absolutely moronic leadership for sure. I don't agree with rotating. Keep it in Vegas, no reason to go elsewhere.

Don't look now, but Ohio State just stole a bid because their conference isn't run by a worthless balding prick.

[prh]

Conference tourneys should be abolished for baseball (and softball, although the lack of parity nationwide makes it less problematic).

You gotta be top 25 to even consider feeling safe

[azgreg]

[MrBug708]

Conference tourneys should be abolished for baseball (and softball, although the lack of parity nationwide makes it less problematic).

You gotta be top 25 to even consider feeling safe

Yup. A tournament like this for baseball is stupid, the rest of the conferences do it because it's a money grab. We can't even get fans to a football one, doing baseball is even sillier

[Siempre Verde]

They aren’t getting abolished. Better to run with the crowd on this one. I’m ok with Vegas, but our prime baseball fans aren’t the Vegas types. Just sayin’.

[ChooChooCat]

Conference tourneys should be abolished for baseball (and softball, although the lack of parity nationwide makes it less problematic).

You gotta be top 25 to even consider feeling safe

Yup. A tournament like this for baseball is stupid, the rest of the conferences do it because it's a money grab. We can't even get fans to a football one, doing baseball is even sillier

Well our basketball does well because 1. Arizona fans and 2. Las Vegas. Our baseball could at least gave the Vegas part down. Football in Santa Clara on a Friday was always a loser deal, Vegas on a Saturday though...

I agree it's all for a money grab, but when literally every one gets a benefit from it and you don't you're a colossal idiot for not doing it.

[UAEebs86]

We're screwed

[Newportcat]

If we dont make the tournament, we would have no one to blame but ourselves for our epically bad our pitching was

I really hope we make it but again, we need major changes to our pitching staff. This teams offense was legendary and no reason we should be a bubble team at all.

[prh]

Selection special on espnu yuck. Don’t expect anything but would love a surprise

[prh]

NCAA fucked the Pac-12 before even getting to see a single regional yikes

[azcat49]

Stanford an 11 seed and Oregon St a 16. Wow, that is disrespect at its best. They packaged both the PAC teams and SEC teams in regional finals. Guess they don’t really want the top 8 teams in Omaha.

Not sure how I feel about ASSU’s draw if LSU. I think they are beatable and as a 13 seed over seeded. Once again to much respect to the SEC

[prh]

5 intra-conference super matchups

SEC and ACC got way overrated.

Pac12 got hosed

TCU got in which is an absolute joke

Mike Martin got a retirement gift berth for FSU

No surprises here

[UAEebs86]

Mike Martin got a retirement gift berth for FSU

0-16 in the CWS. Impressive.

[azcat49]

The committee isn’t interested in putting the top field in Omaha, they are interested in promoting college baseball in parts of the country where it is not popular. The scholarship limits, the scheduling changes, the west coast near all snub and seeding is all evidence.

We got what we deserved. Our pitching was atrocious most of the year. We still are more than competitive with half that field. TCU is a joke if for nothing more than having a losing conference record (what did us in last year).

Changes need to be made by JJ. Either we schedule much tougher and/or we recruit better damn pitching. I agree we should never struggle like we have the last couple years with the resources, heritage and fan support we have. Just kind of pissed off here. Not at the committee but at the state of the program

[RynoatSecond]

TCU got in because of their record against Top 50 opponents, which was pretty good. That means they lost to several lousy teams, but the committee doesn't care about that...

Duke got in, well.....because they're Duke.

Florida State getting in was a gift to Mike Martin, no doubt.

Here is a comparison of the last four in, last four out, and Arizona in terms of RPI and ISR:

RPI
1. Missouri 32
2. Duke 39 IN
3. Michigan 45 IN
4. Houston 46
5. Arizona 47
6. Central Florida 48
7. Florida State 50 IN
8. Texas State 52
9. TCU 55 IN

ISR
1. Missouri 32
2. Arizona 34
3. Michigan 35 IN
4. Texas State
5. TCU 47 IN
6. Houston 55
7. Florida State 56 IN
8. Central Florida 57
9. Duke 68 IN

It's pretty clear that the committee used something more than RPI and ISR to determine who was in and out, and that was something was record against the TOP 50. I don't have those #'s in front of me, but I know TCU was far and away the best of this lot against the top 50, while Arizona was the worst, easily. A question is should that be a criteria? Sure TCU had several wins against quality opponents, but they also had horrendous losses against lousy teams. Arizona couldn't beat the big boys in the Pac-12, but they don't have bad losses as they clobbered the rest of the Pac-12. To me, those two things negate each other, quality wins vs bad losses, but not in the committee's mind...

[ASUHATER!]

Two years in a row we're literally the first team left out of the tournament.

[Newportcat]

Great end of season run but bad pitching and fielding made it too hard to overcome

Sucks as this offense could have given teams major trouble

Thoughts on next year?

[azcat49]

13 losses against the top 50 were against PAC 12 teams. So we were 2-3 against OOC(with one win over Furd)top 50 teams. Of the last 4 who made it in, what would be their record against those 5 teams with 12 of them on the road?

And what’s with the love fest for the ACC every year? How many titles do they have in the last 20 years? One or two maybe?

[ChooChooCat]

TCU got in because of their record against Top 50 opponents, which was pretty good. That means they lost to several lousy teams, but the committee doesn't care about that...

Duke got in, well.....because they're Duke.

Florida State getting in was a gift to Mike Martin, no doubt.

Here is a comparison of the last four in, last four out, and Arizona in terms of RPI and ISR:

RPI
1. Missouri 32
2. Duke 39 IN
3. Michigan 45 IN
4. Houston 46
5. Arizona 47
6. Central Florida 48
7. Florida State 50 IN
8. Texas State 52
9. TCU 55 IN

ISR
1. Missouri 32
2. Arizona 34
3. Michigan 35 IN
4. Texas State
5. TCU 47 IN
6. Houston 55
7. Florida State 56 IN
8. Central Florida 57
9. Duke 68 IN

It's pretty clear that the committee used something more than RPI and ISR to determine who was in and out, and that was something was record against the TOP 50. I don't have those #'s in front of me, but I know TCU was far and away the best of this lot against the top 50, while Arizona was the worst, easily. A question is should that be a criteria? Sure TCU had several wins against quality opponents, but they also had horrendous losses against lousy teams. Arizona couldn't beat the big boys in the Pac-12, but they don't have bad losses as they clobbered the rest of the Pac-12. To me, those two things negate each other, quality wins vs bad losses, but not in the committee's mind...

My question is why the fuck does the criteria seem to change literally every year? You don't get this in basketball or softball. Why does the baseball committee change their stance every god damn year? It's beyond ridiculous. Choose a standard and god damn follow it.

[ChooChooCat]

Thoughts on next year?

The bats will still be very good next year. We'll obviously miss Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon and I don't know if Matt Dyer or Matthew Fraizer will be back, but regardless we should be set at all the positions defensively and offensively. Ironically the injuries to Fraizer, Dyer, and Blas really helped set us up for next year. As far as pitching goes Labaut is very likely back, Flannagan is back, and Andrew Nardi is up in the air. Hopefully the other young arms on the staff i.e. Arias & Abshier continue their development as both were touted fairly highly out of high school. We won't get Bryce Collins back next year due to his TJ surgery, so that will hurt. Our incoming class is very pitcher heavy, so some holes should definitely be filled by those guys. One guy for sure is likely to get drafted highly and sign (Andrew Dalquist) and a handful other guys could get drafted high enough to sign, but that's TBD. Dawson Netz, Chandler Murphy, Jose Dicochea, and Hunter Cope are the real important incoming arms from the high school ranks so keep an eye on them in the draft. Ian Churchill & Garrett Irvin are the two JUCO left handers coming in and both were pitchers of the year in their respective conferences and should plug in for immediate help.

Without knowing the status of Dyer & Fraizer I'd guess the positional players look like this:

C - Austin Wells/Matt Dyer if he returns/William Bartless (frosh)
1B - Austin Wells/Matt Dyer if he returns/Tate Soderstrom/Branden Boissiere/maybe William Bartlett (frosh)
2B - Dayton Dooney
3B - Tony Bullard
SS - Jacob Blas
LF - Branden Boissiere/Donta Williams if Fraizer returns
CF - Donta Williams/Matt Fraizer if he returns
RF - Blake Paugh/Ryan Holgate
DH - Blake Paugh/Ryan Holgate/Tate Soderstrom

All starting pitching spots are certainly up for grabs with Labaut and Flannagan obviously having a leg up due to experience.

Arizona could always add more guys like they did last year with Dayton Dooney and Branden Boissiere being picked up late out of nowhere and contributing big time.

If the pitching improves, which it certainly has to, then we should compete for hosting a regional. If we don't make the tourney next year then Jay is on the hot seat (30 win seasons only or not).

[RynoatSecond]

The pitching can only get better(one would hope), but I think we're underestimating the offense hit of losing guys like Cannon and Quintana, for sure, and possibly Dyer and Fraizer. It is good that other guys got in there and contributed this year, like Dooney and Boissiere. Holgate should be better, but I think the offense is due for a dip. Pitching has to be a LOT better for the Cats to have a chance next year...

[ChooChooCat]

The pitching can only get better(one would hope), but I think we're underestimating the offense hit of losing guys like Cannon and Quintana, for sure, and possibly Dyer and Fraizer. It is good that other guys got in there and contributed this year, like Dooney and Boissiere. Holgate should be better, but I think the offense is due for a dip. Pitching has to be a LOT better for the Cats to have a chance next year...

Guys only get better every year thankfully. We had four freshmen bat over .300 this year. I agree the offense takes a dip, but I don't it's by much at all quite frankly. Maybe less homers, but if Holgate and Wells bumps up their totals then that should make up for Q and Cannon quite a bit.

[Siempre Verde]

Screwed by the committee or scheduling though we may have been, it’s important next year’s team show up on any random Tuesday, that our pitchers be confident enough to allow contact for outs rather than nibbling on strike 2, and our defense be strong enough to not let their pitchers down. I was at very home game except one. I saw some silly stuff. Too bad they got it together a bit too late. I’d love to fly to BNA next weekend.

[azgreg]

Nice to see ASSu getting treated poorly.

[ChooChooCat]

Good article from Michael Lev on the upcoming draft. Focuses on Cannon and Quintana a bit who are most definitely gone and then touches on Dyer and Fraizer's individual situations with good news for our chances at keeping Fraizer. Also touched a bit on guys to watch out for from our incoming class and this draft.

https://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildca ... ssion=true" target="_blank

[azcat49]

Q and CC both drafted in the second round. Each have at least 1.5M coming their way. Nicely done men. It does pay to go to school for 3 years

[azgreg]

[azcat49]

Second most top 10 round picks since 2016 (Oregon St had the most) and first time since 85 we had 3 players drafted in the first 3 rounds. Kind of makes it more of a mystery as to how we have missed the tourney the last two years

[azgreg]

The PAC-12 will not have any representation in the CWS this season.

[UAEebs86]

Vanderbilt wins the CWS.

[ChooChooCat]

Damn, Sergio is a great recruiter. Curious who Jay gets to replace him.

[azgreg]

[ChooChooCat]

Lots of good info on all the new guys. Probably should be in the 2020 season thread.