CWS

@RJM posted:

Fenway, are you aware they lowered the seams on the college ball a few years ago? It makes it harder on pitchers to get spin and less wind resistance when the ball is launched.

Thanks.  Yah, I forgot about that.   Still it is bordering on ridiculous.

My oldest son and I were watching the games, and couldn't help noticing some very poor swings going out.   These are not small men, and don't necessarily need the help of lowered seams.  Honestly, I don't understand the logic here.  In 2010 they mandated BBCOR bats to lower exit velocity off the bat to make it safer for the players.  10+ years later they are "juicing" the ball which is adding to the exit velocity, and making it dangerous for the players (mostly pitchers) once again.   Make up your mind NCAA!

@fenwaysouth posted:

Crazy that only the ACC and SEC are represented at this years CWS.  Looking forward to it none the less.   You could argue there are no bona fide underdogs this year.

A couple observations from the regionals and super regionals games that I watched.

1) Glad to see Florida win over Clemson.  @TPM must have been torn up.   I was not impressed with Clemson's bush league first base running that ended up getting Crighton ejected.  Ridiculous.  Not clear on the Bakich/Leggett ejection, but I can only guess that something was said to the folks in blue that was not embraced.  That made a Florida fan out of me quickly.

2) The balls have to be juiced.  I saw some terrible swings go for HRs this year in regionals and super regionals.  Some almost looked like check swings.  There shouldn't be any cheap homers in Omaha.   That is a huge outfield.

As always, JMO.

@fenwaysouth

I was not torn up over Clemson losing..lol. Actually I was quite surprised at somethings that happened.

The story I heard  was that Jack Leggett came out of dugout to argue why player was ejected (for spiking bat after HR), and according to my understanding that was not his responsibility. Backich was ejected for arguing about Jack being ejected.

More than likely the umpires had some nasty stuff said to them.

Crazy.

Good luck to everyone with family/friends in the CWS this weekend! I'm rooting for UNC...TN second.

I'm cheering for NC State for a few reasons.  They were totally screwed in the 2021 CWS and they have a local kid hitting 2 hole for them.

I'm also totally ignoring the fact most of their lineup is 23-25 year olds, lol.

@Master P posted:

...............................................

I'm also totally ignoring the fact most of their lineup is 23-25 year olds, lol.

....and those are the freshmen!

Gonna be fun!

Interesting chart from @fridaystarters on X showing how each team in the CWS is constructed.

Is this based on their fall rosters? Some teams have too many listed. If so, I'd like to see the chart with their post-season roster.

I assume its the rosters listed on the team's websites.  The 27 post season roster limit leaves a lot of kids at home.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Is this based on their fall rosters? Some teams have too many listed. If so, I'd like to see the chart with their post-season roster.

Here you go.

@Master P posted:

Here you go.

This is really interesting. Remember when posters were adamant that HS recruits were the future of every program? Remember when some said older players wouldn’t stay in college as long as possible just to play baseball?? Remember when some claimed that good programs will always choose to develop their freshman recruits instead of going to get hired guns??? I do. I remember all of that. It wasn’t hard to see this coming. This is all by design. MLB wants development to be done at the college level. They want the upper echelon of college baseball (which, less face it, is the SEC & ACC) to be the lowest level of professional baseball. And IMO MLB has colluded with the NCAA to make it happen. That’s why the MLB draft was cut in half. That’s why MLB used Covid as an opportunity to get rid of 2 levels of MiLB. Just as every other corporation has done in the past 4 years, MLB has used the Covid pandemic to maximize profits at the expense of the general public. And the NCAA has cooperated by issuing asinine ruling regarding extra years of eligibility. The powers that be don’t want the logjam of college players to break loose. This is exactly what they want.

So for the starters, it's:

56 recruits (58.3%)
8 juco transfers (8.3%)
32 4yr transfers (33.3%)

I guess you could parse that in a variety of ways.  Recruits are still (just barely) the majority.  I wonder how many are upperclassmen?

@adbono posted:

They want the upper echelon of college baseball (which, less face it, is the SEC & ACC) to be the lowest level of professional baseball.

You forgot the CAA

@anotherparent posted:

So for the starters, it's:

56 recruits (58.3%)
8 juco transfers (8.3%)
32 4yr transfers (33.3%)

I guess you could parse that in a variety of ways.  Recruits are still (just barely) the majority.  I wonder how many are upperclassmen?

I am thinking many of those "4yr transfers" are 5th year guys with a higher percentage of them being portal undergrad players. I am guessing 1-4 years from now the percentage of JUCO kids will cut into the 4 year transfers (specifically the 5th year grad student kids) and recruiting might get another couple of players. The covid window is closing but covid + redshirt will still be around a little while longer.

@IAmThatGuy posted:

You forgot the CAA

I did. My apologies!

Yes lots of the 8 teams have JUCO and other transfers, but the majority of the kids playing in the CWS are playing for the schools that recruited them.

The #1 team (Tennessee) in the tournament had recruits taking 73% of the ABs.

Florida recruits are pitching 99% of the post season innings.

Yes, things are a mess but clearly it's not all doom and gloom.

Other thing that stands out is other than Florida State it seems that 4 year transfers are getting more innings and ABs than JUCO players.

Obviously this is very specific to the best of the best.

Link to the full article:

https://www.fridaystarters.com...es-teams-were-built/

Here is the team roster turnover for the remaining teams

Only NC State has Roster turnover less than 50%

@CollegebaseballInsights posted:

Here is the team roster turnover for the remaining teams

Only NC State has Roster turnover less than 50%

This underscores that you have to be in the top half of the roster on any team that you play for. You will be replaced if you aren’t. And this applies to the first school you go to out of HS - which is a different mindset than most HS players and parents have historically demonstrated

I get that he was 0-4, and that his weak spot is swinging out of the zone, and the pitcher had sonething like a 27% swing and miss rate, but should they have pitched to Honeycutt?

From looking at the CWS game rosters unless you're a pitcher you better be a starter becuse you're getting left out.

@nycdad posted:

I get that he was 0-4, and that his weak spot is swinging out of the zone, and the pitcher had sonething like a 27% swing and miss rate, but should they have pitched to Honeycutt?

I'd have walked them both.

We got two tremendous college baseball games this evening. Wow!

@nycdad posted:

I get that he was 0-4, and that his weak spot is swinging out of the zone, and the pitcher had sonething like a 27% swing and miss rate, but should they have pitched to Honeycutt?

I'm a firm believer of never letting the other teams best player beat you if avoidable.  There is a reason they are the best player.

@russinfortworth posted:

I'm a firm believer of never letting the other teams best player beat you if avoidable.  There is a reason they are the best player.

That stands to reason doesn’t it? I couldn’t agree with you more. But I guess it’s hard to prove that logic with an algorithm. And if data doesn’t say so it’s an invalid and outdated concept. There is no place in the modern game for common sense.

Agree to a degree with the logic to walk; however, what does that say to the pitcher who you "ask" (force) to issue the walk?  Does it say "you're not good enough"?  Then there's the contingent that will state IBB is a weak move.  There are some that say walk 9 & 1, but did they note that the #2 hitter was 3 for 4 already? Glad to see the "let the players play" attitude shining through especially with these first 4 games.  Three walk-offs and a robbed homer.

@adbono posted:

We got two tremendous college baseball games this evening. Wow!

And two more great games yesterday! This has to be the best opening round in the history of the CWS. Three walk offs and one game saving catch that stole away what would have been a go ahead HR in the 9th inning. You could not ask for more theater. I’m sure most of you were asleep last night at 1:30 am when this happened, but I wasn’t.

@adbono posted:

And two more great games yesterday! This has to be the best opening round in the history of the CWS. Three walk offs and one game saving catch that stole away what would have been a go ahead HR in the 9th inning. You could not ask for more theater. I’m sure most of you were asleep last night at 1:30 am when this happened, but I wasn’t.

I was up.... 6'6" aggie robbed us of a go ahead HR.

Every game so far (before today) has been won by 1 run. That tells you how much talent is in Omaha this week.

FSU is pouring it on. They must have met the wrath of Link Jarrett.

@adbono posted:

This is really interesting. Remember when posters were adamant that HS recruits were the future of every program? Remember when some said older players wouldn’t stay in college as long as possible just to play baseball?? Remember when some claimed that good programs will always choose to develop their freshman recruits instead of going to get hired guns??? I do. I remember all of that. It wasn’t hard to see this coming. This is all by design. MLB wants development to be done at the college level. They want the upper echelon of college baseball (which, less face it, is the SEC & ACC) to be the lowest level of professional baseball. And IMO MLB has colluded with the NCAA to make it happen. That’s why the MLB draft was cut in half. That’s why MLB used Covid as an opportunity to get rid of 2 levels of MiLB. Just as every other corporation has done in the past 4 years, MLB has used the Covid pandemic to maximize profits at the expense of the general public. And the NCAA has cooperated by issuing asinine ruling regarding extra years of eligibility. The powers that be don’t want the logjam of college players to break loose. This is exactly what they want.

CWS announcers stated this is the best field of CWS players ever, and this is the reason why.....everything stated in this post was mentioned on last nights CWS broadcast except for the part about collusion.  I'm not sure which announcer it was, but it was like they read @adbono's post.   Did anybody else catch that?

@fenwaysouth posted:

CWS announcers stated this is the best field of CWS players ever, and this is the reason why.....everything stated in this post was mentioned on last nights CWS broadcast except for the part about collusion.  I'm not sure which announcer it was, but it was like they read @adbono's post.   Did anybody else catch that?

I did. Although I think I said it better than Chris Burke did.

@fenwaysouth posted:

CWS announcers stated this is the best field of CWS players ever, and this is the reason why.....everything stated in this post was mentioned on last nights CWS broadcast except for the part about collusion.  I'm not sure which announcer it was, but it was like they read @adbono's post.   Did anybody else catch that?

Of course this is the best field of CWS players!  They are from the ACC and SEC, 2024 version. Some may have  been on 2,3 or more different rosters.

No one denies that. Look at those guys. They are huge! They have the best facilities, trainers,  coaches, eat the best food and every else you can imagine. I have stood next to many  players and it's pretty scary.

Among these programs there are coaches that have different philosophies. There is development of young players  and then there are older transfer players that have been battle tested that got nice NIL $$ to help the team.

It is what it is and it isn't as bad as some make it out to be.

I will give adbono credit for his post except for the collusion part.

Chris Burke is one of my favorites. The conversation last night has been the same one all year on SECN.

FWIW, my prediction, Tennessee vs Kentucky. Tennessee has the best pitching staff IMO and Kentucky the older players.

@TPM posted:

..............................................

Chris Burke is one of my favorites. The conversation last night has been the same one all year on SECN.

FWIW, my prediction, Tennessee vs Kentucky. Tennessee has the best pitching staff IMO and Kentucky the older players.

I don't watch SECN.  I live in ACC country, and I don't recall anybody saying anything like that....probably because I turn the volume down when I'm reading at night.

SEC is showing me their best is better than the ACC's best.  Florida State, North Carolina, and North Carolina State took their best shots at the SEC and came up winless.   It appears it is just not in the cards for the ACC this year.

Probably a good prediction, but Texas A&M may have something to say about that.

@fenwaysouth posted:

I don't watch SECN.  I live in ACC country, and I don't recall anybody saying anything like that....probably because I turn the volume down when I'm reading at night.

SEC is showing me their best is better than the ACC's best.  Florida State, North Carolina, and North Carolina State took their best shots at the SEC and came up winless.   It appears it is just not in the cards for the ACC this year.

Probably a good prediction, but Texas A&M may have something to say about that.

I watch the SEC network a lot and I heard no discussion earlier in the year anything like what Burke said during the CWS game the other night. A&M is not at full strength having lost their best position player and one of their top 4 pitchers to injury in the supers. So they will have to be lucky in order to reach the finals. Very unfortunate for them.

@adbono that's ok if you doubt me. I get it.

I have no problem with your alma mater. In fact I suggested to a dad here that his son go play ball with a particular SEC team.

FWIW, Florida lost 2 key players to injury and their other closer has an strain injury.  They took Jac off the hill and teams consistently walked Jac.

But they managed to get farther than most. The way I see it, as the commercial goes....there is no crying in baseball!!!

Also, except for a few brought in to help the team, most of the active player are homegrown.

Nice post Fenway!

Been a fun week in Omaha so far. Unfortunately, due to injury, my son is not on the team/travel roster for the CWS, but Coach Vitello has let him in the dugout for the games so far. He was actually one of the first ones out leading the charge on the walk off in their first game. We were only supposed to stay for the first two Tennessee games, but how do you say no to your son when he asks to stay because the team is so close to being in the championship series. So he is hanging out for the rest of the tournament.

@adbono posted:

This is all by design. MLB wants development to be done at the college level. They want the upper echelon of college baseball (which, less face it, is the SEC & ACC) to be the lowest level of professional baseball. And IMO MLB has colluded with the NCAA to make it happen. That’s why the MLB draft was cut in half. That’s why MLB used Covid as an opportunity to get rid of 2 levels of MiLB. Just as every other corporation has done in the past 4 years, MLB has used the Covid pandemic to maximize profits at the expense of the general public. And the NCAA has cooperated by issuing asinine ruling regarding extra years of eligibility. The powers that be don’t want the logjam of college players to break loose. This is exactly what they want.

Yep.

Just like football. And basketball.

Why pay for your own minor leagues when colleges are happy to pay for them for you?

Florida making a statement here against Kentucky. I know A&M would like to see them use more pitching before tonight's game.

Table is set. Should be good baseball.

@Texas posted:

Florida making a statement here against Kentucky.

Yes they were and they did!

I was wrong about Kentucky, who were the team with the older players.

@Texas Best of luck to your son. It was fun watching him this week and so happy that he made the right choice to continue playing college baseball.

As for the Gators, it was a really fun run. No one expected them to be in the final four and they needed to prove everyone was wrong.

It was a very special 3 years having Jac on the team. We are excited for his next opportunity. He already has a multiply million card/merchandise deal in place. He got robbed of the Silver Spikes award.

It was tough to have to start a game at 10pm CT then a DH yesterday.  To those folks that felt that the team didn't deserve to make the regionals, well that's OK. They placed the Gators in a region far away from home, they won. Then they sent them to Clemson, they still won and advanced to Omaha. How do you feel about it now?

Thanks so much for the many  pm's wishing the Gators best of luck.

Very much appreciated!

TPM

For anyone who has been to the CWS finals before, do ticket prices drop closer to game time? Looking to purchase tickets for game 1 and tickets are about $300+ per ticket right now. Wondering if we just have to bite the bullet and buy the tickets at this price.

Try the Gametime app. It lowers prices incrementally as it gets closer to the game time. No guarantee, but worth a shot.