Yes he is in a slump - Page 2

HoustonAg2106

6:40p, 5/8/24

Sterling82 said:
I'm not going to look it up but I felt like he was batting more right than usual against LSU. I thought he might even tried going left against left to get something going.

It was definitely LSU's plan to turn him around in big moments as much as they could

They even pulled Little Saturday night in the 9th who had been dealing for over 3 innings to make him bat right handed (he got on with an error at shortstop)

MaroonStain

8:07p, 5/8/24

Childress and Bolt would have moved him to four spots in the lineup at this point in the season.

TAMU1990

8:17p, 5/8/24

This is just funny

HoustonAg2106

8:18p, 5/8/24

In reply to TAMU1990

TAMU1990 said:
This is just funny

That's one word for it

EMY92

3:46a, 5/9/24

In reply to you moran

you moran said:
Love Appel as a player. Love that he has a low K rate and loathes striking out. But productive AF based on that? He's good but Grav, Violence, Monty and Caden Sorrell have been productive AF (and so has Appel - and consistent - but not as much in run production as the big 4).

In 50 fewer ABs and around 56 fewer PA"s, Sorrell has higher Ks, 1 less walk, and has almost caught Appel in runs and RBI. In other words much higher rate of run production. Which is what matters. Because that wins games. Appel has 35 runs, 34 RBI. Sorrell 33 runs, 30 RBI. That's productive AF.

Appel is freaking great. This is not a bash Appel. Ks are way down in the importance factor other than maybe the degree and why a K happened (swing through or took your pitch or chased out of the zone).

I could be argued that Appel has fewer RBI opportunities since he follows the big RBI producers. Many of the guys reaching base before him are not staying on base due to the ball leaving the park.

Detmersdislocatedshoulder

4:10p, 5/9/24

needs to bang a fatty. any real baseball player knows that it how you bust out of a slump.

speedy

8:51a, 5/11/24

Seems like many on the team are tired. Coach should have rested them in many of those non-conference games so that backups could get some playing time.

94chem

8:55a, 5/11/24

Too much chase down and in. Been talking about it for a month. Eventually the book is out, and you have to adjust.

94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough

twk

11:49a, 5/11/24

In reply to 94chem

94chem said:
Too much chase down and in. Been talking about it for a month. Eventually the book is out, and you have to adjust.

The good new is that there is time to adjust. I'm optimistic that we will. It won't be soon enough to suit us fans, but we have to keep our eyes on the overriding objective which is to get hot for the NCAA tournament.

TheBonifaceOption

11:36a, 5/17/24

So all you guys saying "not a slump" let me summarize your arguments "1/3rd the season is too short of a time, not enough sample size" and "1/3rd the season too long of a time because he hit a HR and a double one game."

His batting is like -.200 points since "Vandy." Posters who called him a liability last night were mocked, sure not many people were even making contact, but it's bad when your "best hitter" is damn near an automatic out at the plate.

carl spacklers hat

11:41a, 5/17/24

Is Susan Sarandon available?

People think I'm an idiot or something, because all I do is cut lawns for a living.

HoustonAg2106

11:42a, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

TheBonifaceOption said:
So all you guys saying "not a slump" let me summarize your arguments "1/3rd the season is too short of a time, not enough sample size" and "1/3rd the season too long of a time because he hit a HR and a double one game."

His batting is like -.200 points since "Vandy." Posters who called him a liability last night were mocked, sure not many people were even making contact, but it's bad when your "best hitter" is damn near an automatic out at the plate.

I don't think many argued he's not in a slump, we are just saying so what? That's baseball, you still play one of your best hitters every day and hopefully he comes out of it in a couple of weeks when it matters most

StinkyPinky

11:42a, 5/17/24

Pitchers have figured out he can't lay off the breaking ball that almost makes the dirt. He's a sucker for it. Slump? Totally, the data tells the story. But also agree you get him laid and let him work himself out of it. He's in a good spot surrounded by great hitters. Zero doubt he won't figure it out and suspect we'll see a resurgence. You know Schloss and team are working extremely hard with him. He'll get the job done. And I never agree with calling one of the best natural switch hitters in college baseball a liability. Doesn't fit.

powerbelly

11:48a, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

Literally everyone agrees he is in a slump. Nice strawman though

TheBonifaceOption

11:51a, 5/17/24

In reply to powerbelly

powerbelly said:
Literally everyone agrees he is in a slump. Nice strawman though

reread the thread big fella

BadMoonRisin

12:03p, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

He was our "best hitter" who hit a rough patch and we need him to find his groove again for the post season to have a shot at Omaha and a National Title. You think he can do that on the bench?

phatty26

12:39p, 5/17/24

In reply to EMY92

EMY92 said:
you moran said:
Love Appel as a player. Love that he has a low K rate and loathes striking out. But productive AF based on that? He's good but Grav, Violence, Monty and Caden Sorrell have been productive AF (and so has Appel - and consistent - but not as much in run production as the big 4).

In 50 fewer ABs and around 56 fewer PA"s, Sorrell has higher Ks, 1 less walk, and has almost caught Appel in runs and RBI. In other words much higher rate of run production. Which is what matters. Because that wins games. Appel has 35 runs, 34 RBI. Sorrell 33 runs, 30 RBI. That's productive AF.

Appel is freaking great. This is not a bash Appel. Ks are way down in the importance factor other than maybe the degree and why a K happened (swing through or took your pitch or chased out of the zone).
I could be argued that Appel has fewer RBI opportunities since he follows the big RBI producers. Many of the guys reaching base before him are not staying on base due to the ball leaving the park.

Also recently he has been leading off innings as those three have been striking out at an alarming rate. Appel is the most consistent and best hitter we have it's not even close. He always has good at bats his approach is a shorter swing and work the other way whereas the top 3 especially Grahovac guess.

Ag for Life

12:42p, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

TheBonifaceOption said:
powerbelly said:
Literally everyone agrees he is in a slump. Nice strawman though
reread the thread big fella

Give Schloss a ring, I'm sure he can't wait to hear your suggestions.

Blitz88

12:59p, 5/17/24

In reply to carl spacklers hat

carl spacklers hat said:
Is Susan Sarandon available?

We're beyond Susan …. We're in Mark Grace, Slump Buster, territory

you moran

1:04p, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

Actually you should reread. You are still incorrectly pushing the since Vandy BS. .333 Vandy through Georgia. I'll take that all day even if off from his incredible run prior to that.

0 for 18 Tarleton through LSU. 4 games. Was hoping the Rice game would get him going but 4 more games of scuffling so he obviously hasn't. Bad mini slump is now an 8 game slump. Most everyone on the team has seen their averages drop the last 4 games, some more than others. Hopefully Braden and the team get cranked up again sooner than later. Arky pitching is overall as good as it gets this year but we will see. Martha Johnstone needs love, too.

you moran

2:39p, 5/17/24

In reply to phatty26

As I said, love Appel. Might be my favorite player this year. Until two weeks ago, Montgomery was our best hitter. The metrics at the end of the Georgia series back that up. And he was the most consistent along with Appel. Appel was also consistent and now certainly has the title of "most consistent" to date. Knock on wood. However, I was addressing production i.e. "productive af". I stand by my previous post.

Conference only through last night:
OPS:
LaViolette - 1.124
Montgomery - 1.105
Chestnut - 1.006
Grahovac - .990
Sorrell - .891
Burton -.849
Camarillo - .839
Schott - .838
Appel - .835

SLG:
LaViolette - .714
Montgomery - .682
Grahovac - .633
Chestnut - .558
Sorrell - .524
Appel - .487
Camarillo - .467
Burton - .462
Schott - .436

OBP:
Chestnut - .448
Montgomery - .423
LaViolette - .410
Schott - .402
Burton - .387
Camarillo - .372
Sorrell - .367
Grahovac - .357
Appel - .348

Runs
LaViolette - 34
Grahovac - 34
Montgomery - 29
*Sorrell - 21
Appel - 20
*Chestnut - 18
Camarillo - 18
Burton - 18
Schott - 16

RBI
Montgomery - 34
LaViolette - 30
Grahovac - 30
Appel - 21
*Sorrell - 20
Camarillo - 20
Schott - 19
Burton - 16
*Chestnut - 10

*Note - Chestnut has about half the ABs of the others. Sorrell has about 2/3 the ABs of the others.

EMY92

2:42p, 5/17/24

In the last 7 SEC games, he's 2-29, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 12 K. Both hits were singles in the first two games against Ole Miss.

Hopefully, he breaks out tonight, along with the rest of the team. He's a huge reason why we'll be a top 8 seed and we need him to claim the title.

you moran

2:44p, 5/17/24

Our conference team batting average has dropped about 20 plus points over the last two weeks. From above .300 to .282.

Hopefully we start mashing again beginning with tonight. Arky's good though in the pitching department.

you moran

2:48p, 5/17/24

In reply to EMY92

Agreed.

TheBonifaceOption

3:41p, 5/17/24

In reply to BadMoonRisin

BadMoonRisin said:
He was our "best hitter" who hit a rough patch and we need him to find his groove again for the post season to have a shot at Omaha and a National Title. You think he can do that on the bench?

Who said put him on the bench? We need reliability in the 3-hole. One could argue he gets BoB pretty well, but thats only when he has discipline not-to-swing. When he swings he is striking out.

I would put him at the 6 spot right now, until he is seeing the ball better.

Fairview20

3:43p, 5/17/24

In reply to you moran

An underrated aspect of last night's game was that even though we couldn't buy a hit off of him, our guys started to work counts vs Smith towards the back half of his start. Getting him out after 6 was huge, especially with Prager going 7.

That could've been the difference in the game. If their stud freshman would have been inserted an inning later, we wouldn't have seen those pitchers that struggled with control until the 12th. If Prager had gone out after 6, Evan would've been working on his 5th inning in the 11th.

Our batting approach paid off in a way last night even if it didn't lead to hits/runs.

jaxisback

5:01p, 5/17/24

Braden's been pulling off pitches for a month.

I think he got so comfortable because he was crushing everything that his mechanics got lazy. Now he's got some bad habits that will need breaking.

Until he disciplines his swing and works the ball the other way he won't get back on track. Right now, he has no chance of covering the outer 3rd of the plate or anything down that's not buried inside.

He's a great talent, but he's a mess at the plate right now.

McInnis

5:20p, 5/17/24

A couple of years ago Jose Altuve started the post season something like 0-21, it was an mlb record. Wasn't hitting anything solid. Then in a game at Minute Maid some idiot jumped out of the stands and ran towards him. Jose laughed and gave the guy a hug while waiting for the cops to come haul him away. He got a hit in his next at bat and batted over .300 the rest of the playoffs/ World Series.

In keeping with almost everything else baseball, slumps can be really strange things. You just gotta know that a guy like Montgomery is going to come out of it. Let's hope it's tonight.

Eike Mlko

5:41p, 5/17/24

In reply to StinkyPinky

StinkyPinky said:
Pitchers have figured out he can't lay off the breaking ball that almost makes the dirt. He's a sucker for it. Slump? Totally, the data tells the story. But also agree you get him laid and let him work himself out of it. He's in a good spot surrounded by great hitters. Zero doubt he won't figure it out and suspect we'll see a resurgence. You know Schloss and team are working extremely hard with him. He'll get the job done. And I never agree with calling one of the best natural switch hitters in college baseball a liability. Doesn't fit.

no one said he was a liability this season. Liability "right now". Arkansas didn't even put him on to force an out at any base. They knew they could pitch to him and get an easy out.

rathAG05

6:07p, 5/17/24

In reply to Ag for Life

Ag for Life said:
Appreciate your efforts but you keep him in the 3 hole until he's holding up the CWS trophy or we're eliminated from the tournament.

100%

dermdoc

7:15p, 5/17/24

That was not a fat girl

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Ag for Life

7:17p, 5/17/24

In reply to TheBonifaceOption

TheBonifaceOption said:
BadMoonRisin said:
He was our "best hitter" who hit a rough patch and we need him to find his groove again for the post season to have a shot at Omaha and a National Title. You think he can do that on the bench?
Who said put him on the bench? We need reliability in the 3-hole. One could argue he gets BoB pretty well, but thats only when he has discipline not-to-swing. When he swings he is striking out.

I would put him at the 6 spot right now, until he is seeing the ball better.

Glad you're not our coach

CrottyKid

9:35p, 5/17/24

In reply to jaxisback

jaxisback said:
Braden's been pulling off pitches for a month.

I think he got so comfortable because he was crushing everything that his mechanics got lazy. Now he's got some bad habits that will need breaking.

Until he disciplines his swing and works the ball the other way he won't get back on track. Right now, he has no chance of covering the outer 3rd of the plate or anything down that's not buried inside.

He's a great talent, but he's a mess at the plate right now.

Hell, he falls backward out of the batters box on almost every pitch.

SMM48

10:38p, 5/17/24

With Mont. all I care about is rbi's.

SMM48

10:40p, 5/17/24

In reply to CrottyKid

That's a lot of torque. It's either do that or tear something