03.May.2013 California @ Oregon State Baseball

Weekend schedule:

05/03/13	vs. California *	Corvallis, Ore.	5:35 p.m. PT
05/04/13	vs. California *	Corvallis, Ore.	2:05 p.m. PT
05/05/13	vs. California *	Corvallis, Ore.	12:05 p.m. PT

25.Apr.2013 USC @ Oregon State & Spring Scrimmage

Friday is spring scrimmage.

And here's' the weekend schedule:

NFL Draft

Let's hear where you think Poyer and Wheaton go.

I honestly have no clue, but Dion Jordon at #2 makes me laugh.

Best guess is Poyer 2nd round, Wheaton 3rd round. I think both could go higher (and likely would if they were from football powerhouses). I can't imagine either going 4th round or later. Rod Perry is on record saying we'll be surprised where Poyer goes (maybe a team like the Patriots grabs him late first round? Possible but not probable).

22.Apr.2013 Baseball Lays an Egg — Sign of Bigger Problems?

Mean reversion is an inevitable part of baseball, but you'd expect it would come against an ASU, Stanford, et al, not Washington. Washington has now fucked up the Beavs football and baseball seasons.

Beavs are fielding .970, which is ~40th percentile. Ideally you want .975 or better. For reference, Oregon leads the NCAA at .987. You know the old saying "strong up the middle"? Well the Beavs have Max Gordon (.960 with 0 assists), Tyler Smith (.955) and Andy Peterson (.960). Beavs are 93rd in runs scored and 92nd in batting average. They're getting by on pitching (#2 ERA heading into the weekend), but that pitching has been betrayed by the .970 fielders behind them. You could make the point that a lot of these errors were committed over a few games. Fair enough, but elite teams don't have multiple games like that.

Something else to keep in mind: there are many ways to hit .300. For example, a player might go 3 for 10 every series with a hit in all 3 games. Or, they might get 3 hits in one game and go 0-7 the next two games. Ideally you want players who contribute each game, rather than have big games then disappear. I feel like the Beavers who do hit for average do so in clusters. A 3-4 type game followed by two 0-4 (Danny Hayes?). I'm not going to look through each box score to see if that's true, but it feels that way.

Are these issues the pitching can overcome, or will the Beavs fade down the stretch and into the post-season?

18.Apr.2013 Oregon State @ Washington/Seattle

I won’t be around tonight or tomorrow, so here’s an early start on this weekend’s games. I expect a clean sweep (Washington is a very bad 9-24, and Seattle is ranked #270 in the nation). Feel free to go off topic and discuss spring ball (it’s been quiet); on the apparel front, the new unis look good in white and orange.

The schedule is as follows: