Dabblin' With the Cockspur: Damned East Carolina!
The loud thrashing sound late Sunday afternoon coming from the north was the South Carolina Gamecocks offense crashing back to reality.
That’s a bit harsh, as the Gamecocks still roll out one hell of an awesome offense, but there was a stark contrast between the Duquesne explosion and East Carolina implosion.
In defense of the Gamecocks, the team’s most potent weapon (Jackie Bradley Jr.) hadn’t seen a single pitch this season until the eighth inning on Sunday – one he slapped into the outfield for a single.
Their all-everything first baseman, Nick Ebert, didn’t have the Duquesne series to get comfy.
And finally, the last six times they’ve played national power East Carolina, was in Greenville – not a very welcoming place (and that’s being polite).
However, Ray Tanner doesn’t do excuses, so I won’t either. Let’s put the defense attorney B.S. away for a while and just look at the numbers.
But, before delving into numbers, it’s only right that I explain something: For all of you questioning Ray Tanner’s decision to replace Tyler Webb with Steven Neff as the Sunday starter, a couple things…
1) Until you earn an equivalent position and maybe 25% of the career victories, it’s probably best not to question the head coach (this goes for all sports, but USC baseball especially).
2) Have you been to East Carolina? It’s an intimidating place to play for an 18 year old especially (especially after the way last season ended). Hindsight being what it is, maybe Tanner over-thought the decision as Webb was fine after all, but he wanted an experienced guy on the mound. You can’t blame him for that.
Listen up y’all, losing two of three to East Carolina IN East Carolina is nothing to be ashamed of. If it makes you feel any better, look how the same team dismantled Presbyterian only a few nights later.
Offense
Whit Merrifield keeps rolling along. In his third season, he only gets better. A grand slam, a steal and one hell of a hit streak dating back to last season (21 games), Merrifield has scored 11 runs in seven games played thus far. Hitting .333, his on base percentage is .375.
Another interesting note, Merrifield has a hit rate of .310 and a contact rate of .933. In other words, he’s putting the ball in play a lot. When there is such a drastic difference between contact rate and hit rate, it means the odds are in his favor that more hits should start falling in.
With Jackie Bradley and Nick Ebert back in the line-up, this could spell trouble for opposing pitchers.
Though Nick Ebert is only hitting .154, his on-base percentage is .389. Amongst the regulars, he’s third on the team in pitches seen per at-bat (4.556). In other words, he makes up for those strikeouts with patience, a keen eye and getting on base in a variety of ways.
He’s played just about half the games the other regulars have played yet still leads the team in walks with five.
Here’s the scary thing with Ebert… Dating back to April 22 of last season, Ebert is hitting .266 with 28 strikeouts in 26 games. Not quite the masher we all grew to love in early 2009.
In fairness to Ebert, something struck me Wednesday. Last season, just before Ebert starting crushing the ball, I noticed him in the batting cage after a game had ended – he was the only one. Literally, the next day, he started hitting the ball with a vengeance. Since that day I always look into the batting cage after the postgame interviews – no Nick. Wednesday night, after the Presbyterian game, there was Nick, all by himself in the batting cage.
We’ll see…
Kyle Enders is hitting .450 and he’s playing every day behind the plate (except for Wednesday). No, he’s not hurt, just getting the day off before the big Clemson weekend. In 20 plate appearances, he’s got nine hits and three doubles.
The opposite of Whit Merrifield, though, is true for Enders. Thus far he’s done fantastic at the plate, but his hit rate and contact rate are .563 and .800 respectively. Such a small difference between the two means just about everything he puts the bat on falls in for a hit. Sooner or later, the law of averages says he’s going to come down to earth a little.
The team has only two steals in their first seven games. That concerns me a little. I know Coach Tanner isn’t a “small ball” coach, but still…
Speaking of Coach Tanner, that reminds me…
In the eighth inning of a 15-0 blowout Wednesday, Evan Marzilli took off for second base. His steal attempt was successful. Unfortunately, he also broke an unspoken rule of the game. When you are up big late in a game, you don’t steal bases.
I was sitting next to Whit Merrifield’s dad at the time and both of us scratched our heads. There is no way the classiest coach in America just gave Marzilli the green light in the eighth inning of a 15 run game, is there?
I got Coach Tanner off to the side after the game and inquired. Abruptly, he answered, “No, Marzilli missed a sign. I ran right over to their dugout after the game and apologized.”
So, for confirmation purposes, Tanner did not send Marzilli. Anyone who follows Carolina baseball probably already assumed that, but I had to confirm it for you. You still have the classiest coach in America.
For those weak of heart, please sit down. Scott Wingo is hitting .462.
That’s right, I said it. Wingo is hitting .462 with an on-base percentage of .533!
He leads the team with 5.067 pitches seen per at-bat, drilled a home run into the Carolina bullpen Saturday and he’s been hit by six pitches in seven games. Speaking of which, the human black-and-blue is now tied for the career mark at USC for being plunked while working. He’s got roughly 90 or so more games to own the painful record all by himself.
I’m not going to comment on Jackie Bradley Jr. just yet because he’s only got one start under his belt in 2010, but I’ll say this: SPECIAL. VERY SPECIAL.
The SEC’s best player might wear number 19 and roam center field for the Gamecocks.
Tomorrow we can check out some pitching stats. I can’t wait to look deep inside the numbers for guys like Tyler Webb, Colby Holmes and more.
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Roger Olivieri. Roger began working with GamecockCentral in December of 2007. He currently serves as the site's chief videographer. He may be reached by email at roger(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.