Baseball @ Milwaukee

jetz · April 26, 2012, 07:55:53 AM

It'll be a tough challenge to take the series at UWM. They have three good starters and the weather will be cold. Offense will be harder than normal to come by for both teams. Tassi and Wild are co-favorites for Horizon League Pitcher of the Year at this point (according to the Horizon League Network) and I believe they go against each other Saturday. We will need to continue to get a strong effort from our starters, and I'm sure they'll deliver. UWM is two games behind us in the HL, and we are two games back of Wright State. GO VALPO!

valpotx · April 26, 2012, 12:25:33 PM

We need to at least win 1 of these games, but hopeful for 2 or 3! As long as we stay ahead of UWM after this series, I will be happy. I think a two seed is very likely, with WSU having to really slip up in order to get the 1.

vu72 · April 26, 2012, 12:44:18 PM

Don't know how many games are left but I think WSU only has a two game lead. Seems possible to win the conference still. How cool would it be to host both softball and baseball tournaments in the same year!!

jetz · April 26, 2012, 06:05:26 PM

The baseball tourney will be at UIC no matter who wins the regular season. The site is predetermined...May 23-27.

vu72 · April 27, 2012, 09:54:43 PM

Butler beats WSU so Valpo is within one game of first place! GO VALPO!!

jetz · April 28, 2012, 10:07:48 AM

That was a dominant win yesterday at UWM. We faced a starter who threw hard, and we hit him all around the yard. There were a few scouts there to watch the UWM pitcher yesterday, and he threw 93, but had control issues. We played one of our better games of the year and got one of those "comfortable" wins that have been so hard to come by. Terrible weather Saturday will force a DH on Sunday, and the mentality of the team is "SWEEP". We're hot right now and back to .500.

A warning sign: Deetjen's velocity was down from the get-go yesterday. He's locating well but has a lot of innings on that arm. The hits that he did give up were on the fastball. Do we need to cut down on his innings in May to ready him for the HL tourney?

valpotx · April 29, 2012, 02:26:02 AM

If you have a 48 k to 6 BB ratio, you don't need to change anything. His game is getting people to get themselves out (which is what a lot of us lefties do). That's the fun in being a sneaky lefty. Everyone thinks they can hit you, then when they don't, they go back into the dugout to say that we are 'meaty,' but still don't do anything versus us

valpotx · April 29, 2012, 04:54:51 PM

We complete the sweep against Milwaukee to stay 1 game back of WSU by getting a double play with the bases loaded to end the game up 1! We still have 3 games against WSU at their place, and 6 home games (3 each against UIC and YSU). It is very possible to get another championship this year for #4 on the year, and hopefully our first NCAA bid in HL from either/both!

VULB#62 · April 29, 2012, 06:03:01 PM

Wow, what a month! 14-4 in April and 12-1 since the beginning of the second week in the month (4/9). Can you say 'hot' boys and girls?

jetz · April 30, 2012, 09:28:21 AM

We are tied for the fifth longest winning streak in the country at seven. This week sees a midweek contest against Notre Dame on Wednesday and then the weekend to potentially decide the HL regular season. Whoever wins the Wright State series has the inside track to the title, and we have done well to fight back from four games down in the standings to now get within one. (As an aside, WSU scored three runs in the eighth in game three against Butler to win 4-2. We were one inning away from sharing first place this week.) As Coach Woodson said, "The Wright State series will be the biggest Valpo has played since joining the HL."

GO VALPO!

covufan · April 30, 2012, 10:42:08 AM

Go VU Baseball!

Valpo1b · April 30, 2012, 11:49:13 AM

Quote from: jetz on April 28, 2012, 10:07:48 AMA warning sign: Deetjen's velocity was down from the get-go yesterday. He's locating well but has a lot of innings on that arm. The hits that he did give up were on the fastball. Do we need to cut down on his innings in May to ready him for the HL tourney?

A one-time dip, especially from a pitcher that doesn't overpower to begin with, is something to note but not get concerned about. Velocities commonly fluctuate throughout a season, and it was cold. So his velocity may have been down due to that. Most hits off every pitcher are off the fastball, because it's the most commonly thrown pitch. Any pitcher whose off-speed pitches get torched becomes a reliever. What type of hits was he giving up? Were they hit harder than usual? If yes, then maybe it bears watching. But, I'd watch his next two starts before getting overly concerned.

As an aside, nobody looks at strikeout to walk ratios to evaluate arm health. It's a stat that is cumulative over the season, and provides little indication of how the arm is feeling now. It's an absurd stat to throw out when discussing the health and feeling of pitcher's arm 3/4 of the way through the season.

What is really encouraging, is that over a weekend with poor weather, the bats came alive. With the pitching they have, if they continue hitting, they can play with anyone.

valpotx · April 30, 2012, 01:18:06 PM

Quote from: Valpo1b on April 30, 2012, 11:49:13 AM
Quote from: jetz on April 28, 2012, 10:07:48 AMA warning sign: Deetjen's velocity was down from the get-go yesterday. He's locating well but has a lot of innings on that arm. The hits that he did give up were on the fastball. Do we need to cut down on his innings in May to ready him for the HL tourney?

A one-time dip, especially from a pitcher that doesn't overpower to begin with, is something to note but not get concerned about. Velocities commonly fluctuate throughout a season, and it was cold. So his velocity may have been down due to that. Most hits off every pitcher are off the fastball, because it's the most commonly thrown pitch. Any pitcher whose off-speed pitches get torched becomes a reliever. What type of hits was he giving up? Were they hit harder than usual? If yes, then maybe it bears watching. But, I'd watch his next two starts before getting overly concerned.

As an aside, nobody looks at strikeout to walk ratios to evaluate arm health. It's a stat that is cumulative over the season, and provides little indication of how the arm is feeling now. It's an absurd stat to throw out when discussing the health and feeling of pitcher's arm 3/4 of the way through the season.

What is really encouraging, is that over a weekend with poor weather, the bats came alive. With the pitching they have, if they continue hitting, they can play with anyone.

I didn't say anything about his arm health, as I was just stating in general that he/we don't need to change anything regarding him. Regardless of his velocity, speed is not his game. He doesn't strike many people out, and barely walks anyone. He is a 'pitch to contact' pitcher. Therefore, it was not 'absurd' for me to throw the stat out.

Valpo1b · April 30, 2012, 01:28:36 PM

Quote from: valpotx on April 30, 2012, 01:18:06 PMI didn't say anything about his arm health, as I was just stating in general that he/we don't need to change anything regarding him. Regardless of his velocity, speed is not his game. He doesn't strike many people out, and barely walks anyone. He is a 'pitch to contact' pitcher. Therefore, it was not 'absurd' for me to throw the stat out.

The original question was related to limiting his innings so that he is ready for the HL tournament. That's a health-related question, not a question of whether he strikes people out or not. "Pitch to contact" pitchers get hurt too, and go through "dead arm" periods. If someone needs to be shut down, or have innings limited, that is because their arm needs recovery time, not because of their style of pitching. Your answer related to style of pitching, and, in that vein, is most assuredly not absurd. You would have a valid point if the discussion was style of pitching. But the original question related to arm health, and in that arena, your answer is irrelevant.

valpotx · April 30, 2012, 01:45:50 PM

My overall point, though not put into a long explanation of what I was trying to get at (my fault), was that pitchers that pitch to contact do not need the speed in order to stay effective. If your game is to let the hitters get themselves out by spotting the ball (which I assume he does) on the edge of the strike zone or just outside of it to get swing and misses, a few mph won't change that game as much as it would a power pitcher. After my Tommy John surgery I only threw upper 70's/low 80's, and even when I was down a few mph, I could easily get the same results as always by staying consistent with my location and relying more on offspeed pitches. When I was in HS and throwing mid-80's and above, I relied more on just throwing it by people. When I was a few mph down at that time and couldn't spot it as much, I got hit more.

You are always going to have a dead arm period as a pitcher, and you have to be able to pitch through it to strengthen your arm. It is how you adapt to this period that shows how good of a pitcher you truly are. If we pitched him less innings than the every week start, it may do more harm than good. It isn't like he is throwing every 5th day like in the pros, where they pitch 180-200+ innings in a year. Then again, since we play year-round growing up in TX due to weather, we are used to throwing 200+ innings every year in all seasons combined, so it may be different for others.