OK, here it goes

[Heath]

When the team is winning, everyone agrees with the coach because he is a genius. But, when the team starts losing (or is not doing nearly as well as it should) people begin to criticize. So, here goes my criticizm of Bianco.

Why is Justin Henry still hitting in the lead-off spot? I understand that he is really fast and a threat to steal once he gets on. But, he is hitting a WHOPPING .276 which is 2nd lowest of all the guys who have gotten in a decent amount of at-bats. And, he went 1-6 last nite. It really doesn't matter how fast you are if you DON"T EVER GET ON BASE!!! I say move him down in the line-up for a little while to shake things up, then move him back if he begins to do better. If he doesn't, move Hubbard or Guerrero to RF and let the other stay in CF.

The weekend rotation should be: Lynn, Baker or Bittle, Pomeranz. Have Bittle or Baker and McKean as the closers. Satterwhite may still be nursing an injury, but either way, he's not getting the job done. And, he has only pitched against average to a little better than average offensive teams. His ERA is 4.50 and his fastball is maxing out at about 93 m.p.h. (from what I've seen so far). Normally, this is not too bad, but the team is not scoring a whole lot of runs to back him up. And, we are about to get into some real SEC play with teams that will rip the cover off the ball. Put him as a weekday starter. And I know Pomeranz is just a Tr. Fresh., but he is doing well and he was rated the best HS pitcher in the State of Tenn. last year.

Tell Miller, Ferguson, Button, and Stuyverson that it is time to step up here within the next 2 weeks if they want a starting position and then play the best 2 at 2B and SS. Miller is not getting it done at the plate (avg. .290 and 0-4 last nite) and Button has not played a stellar SS and is hitting only .293. Make them compete against each other to see who is best.

Let Kight play a few games over M. Smith to see if he can do better at the plate. The reason the 1Baseman is there is to MASH at the plate, not play defense.

I hope I wind up looking like a fool on my opinions and things really turn around. But, these are just my thoughts. Do you agree or disagree

[oxfordrebel]

I want to agree, but, and perhaps I'm just naive, I have to believe there's a reason our lineup is the way it is and we have the people we do playing the positions they're playing.

But, if I were to throw some wild ideas out, I guess they'd be:

I wouldn't take Henry out for ANYTHING. He's not hitting too well, but we need him in the outfield. He's the fastest player we have and he makes plays in the outfield that others will not make just because they can't get to the ball in time. I like the Power/Guerrero/Henry outfield. I also like Hubbard or Fuller Smith at times in the outfield. But I would move Henry around in the lineup, if it were me. Perhaps put him at the 6/7 hole and see what happens.

Me and my stadium slacking friends always pick our favorites that we like to cheer for and follow them through their career at Ole Miss. We always pick one or two new ones each year. This season I picked Ferguson and Stuyverson. So I really am a fan of theirs, but bless Sean's heart, he's struggling in the fielding area. He seemed to do better at 3rd early in the year, but he's struggling at SS when he comes in. Making some errors. I think it's because he needs some PT. Ferguson is a future starter, no doubt. He just needs more PT.

I like your rotation with Lynn and Pomeranz. Satterwhite always dominated from the pen last year so perhaps he's a pen guy? Baker is still an enigma for me. He did so well on Sundays last season. What's happening this season? Looking back on it, it really looks like he's just not getting any run support. BUT he really needs to bring that ERA down. 4 runs a game will very likely get you beat on a SEC Sunday, especially if it's a rubber match. If Satterwhite stays as the Saturday guy he's going to have to bring that ERA down. 4.5 runs WILL get you beat. He's just been getting run support so far.

I know this will sound odd, but I'm concerned with Cryer as the closer. His ERA is great. He's got a save. But he's 1-2. I'm digging Bittle as the closer. Yeah, yeah. I know. People will point to last season and say "look at the blown saves and losses as the closer". I'll point to this year and say "look at the 0.43 ERA, 5 walks to 39 strikeouts in 21.0 innings of work. What now?" Honestly, if you put Pomeranz or Bittle as a starter and the other as closer it's about the same.

I think Kight should get some more PT. I'm wondering, is he in the doghouse and we don't know about it?? Hmm...

One more thing, if it were me. I think I would start Stuyverson and Ferguson in most of the mid-week games to give Button and Miller a rest for the weekend. May help with their hitting, plus it would get us PT on the backups and future starters. I'd also sub Mills in as a PH more from time to time. He may turn out to be like Seth Smith was for the Rockies this past season. Just clutch off the bench.

I believe in Bianco, and I think he's doing a great job. His teams win games plain and simple. He'll eventually go to Omaha and I still think this team has a great shot at it this season. This isn't criticism or questioning at all from me. It's just alt ideas, if you will. In the end, I still think he knows best.

[Heath]

I want to agree, but, and perhaps I'm just naive, I have to believe there's a reason our lineup is the way it is and we have the people we do playing the positions they're playing.

But, if I were to throw some wild ideas out, I guess they'd be:

I wouldn't take Henry out for ANYTHING. He's not hitting too well, but we need him in the outfield. He's the fastest player we have and he makes plays in the outfield that others will not make just because they can't get to the ball in time. I like the Power/Guerrero/Henry outfield. I also like Hubbard or Fuller Smith at times in the outfield. But I would move Henry around in the lineup, if it were me. Perhaps put him at the 6/7 hole and see what happens.

Me and my stadium slacking friends always pick our favorites that we like to cheer for and follow them through their career at Ole Miss. We always pick one or two new ones each year. This season I picked Ferguson and Stuyverson. So I really am a fan of theirs, but bless Sean's heart, he's struggling in the fielding area. He seemed to do better at 3rd early in the year, but he's struggling at SS when he comes in. Making some errors. I think it's because he needs some PT. Ferguson is a future starter, no doubt. He just needs more PT.

I like your rotation with Lynn and Pomeranz. Satterwhite always dominated from the pen last year so perhaps he's a pen guy? Baker is still an enigma for me. He did so well on Sundays last season. What's happening this season? Looking back on it, it really looks like he's just not getting any run support. BUT he really needs to bring that ERA down. 4 runs a game will very likely get you beat on a SEC Sunday, especially if it's a rubber match. If Satterwhite stays as the Saturday guy he's going to have to bring that ERA down. 4.5 runs WILL get you beat. He's just been getting run support so far.

I know this will sound odd, but I'm concerned with Cryer as the closer. His ERA is great. He's got a save. But he's 1-2. I'm digging Bittle as the closer. Yeah, yeah. I know. People will point to last season and say "look at the blown saves and losses as the closer". I'll point to this year and say "look at the 0.43 ERA, 5 walks to 39 strikeouts in 21.0 innings of work. What now?" Honestly, if you put Pomeranz or Bittle as a starter and the other as closer it's about the same.

I think Kight should get some more PT. I'm wondering, is he in the doghouse and we don't know about it?? Hmm...

One more thing, if it were me. I think I would start Stuyverson and Ferguson in most of the mid-week games to give Button and Miller a rest for the weekend. May help with their hitting, plus it would get us PT on the backups and future starters. I'd also sub Mills in as a PH more from time to time. He may turn out to be like Seth Smith was for the Rockies this past season. Just clutch off the bench.

I believe in Bianco, and I think he's doing a great job. His teams win games plain and simple. He'll eventually go to Omaha and I still think this team has a great shot at it this season. This isn't criticism or questioning at all from me. It's just alt ideas, if you will. In the end, I still think he knows best.

Good. We got back on track last night with the win over UALR.

I guess you're right. We don't get to see the guys in practice. But, honestly, it doesn't matter what goes on in practice, it is the game that counts. And, I was basing my opinions on game performances and stats.

Hopefully, Bianco knows what he is doing (and I actually think he does). I guess losing brings out the worst in people.

Hopefully he gave them a kick in the pants after the loss to UCA that will last for a while and the boys can get on 12-15 game win streak. That would be awesome.

[mmoore313]

dont give up on us yet. even though we lose some games, i actually think it may end up to our advantage just for the fact that we dont have a bullseye on us. as much as i would like it for us to be the team that everyone circles on their schedule, i also dont want to have to the pressure to perform. just remember as someone said before, you dont have to be number one, number ten, or even number twenty to get to regionals.
for my two cents on the current situation, i would move henry down in the line up. definitely dont want to take him out of the game. as for pitching, if it were me, i would put lynn on friday with cryer in relief, just because lynn would probably get us to through the game and most likely not put pressure on cryer. cryer seems to do best whenever he doesnt have pressure on him (reminds me of bittle last year.) saturday, i would start bittle, and relieve him with satterwhite. those two are a deadly combination because bittle is an off-speed pitcher, and if you bring in a heat pitcher like satterwhite behind bittle, usually batters have a hard time adjusting. sundays would be pomeranz or baker, and whoever didnt start would be the reliever.

[Heath]

Saturday, i would start bittle, and relieve him with satterwhite. those two are a deadly combination because bittle is an off-speed pitcher, and if you bring in a heat pitcher like satterwhite behind bittle, usually batters have a hard time adjusting.

Satterwhite isn't throwing as hard as he used to. I saw him top out at about 93 a couple of weeks ago. Bittle's fastball is around 92, I think. Satterwhite doesn't have what he had last year.

I have read that you guys do not agree with taking Henry out of the line-up. Well, Jeremy Travis did pretty well Wed. night against UALR, although that was not SEC competition. Travis also put up pretty strong numbers in JUCO. So, I think it may be worth a try for a few games.

But, I'm sure Bianco has something in the works, whether it's a line-up change or a good verbal flogging!