We had some good discussion about why we all thought that the offense was more sustainable than not but I had a couple more thoughts to add that occurred to me later.
@MidTNBBall mentioned a few days back that the primary reason that we were not hitting for power is because we don’t have guys built to hit for power. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the sentiment was we needed bigger, stronger, heavier guys swinging bats for us instead of 5’10, 175 pound middle infielders. While, I agree that as a whole, we don’t have as many “big guys” as the top – slugging teams in the SEC, we have enough that they should be hitting for more power. Braden Holcomb is 6’4, 250; Riley Nelson is 6’3, 222; Colin Barczi is 6’3, 213; and Brodie Johnston is 6’2, 203. all of those guys have the build of real power hitters.
The fact that we have multiple hitters in the starting lineup with this kind of build is why I think this new approach is so advantageous for them. None of these guys should be worried about how pretty or ugly their at-bats are, and instead of be much more focused on hitting for power then anything else. Since they have been “freed up” to hit for more power, each of these guys has done exactly that and has generally seen their overall offensive game improve. Braden Holcomb has hit three home runs in the last six games, Brodie Johnston has hit three home runs and two doubles in the last six games, Riley Nelson has hit two home, runs a triple and a double in the last six games, Barczi has dealt with injuries, but even he had a big home run in the Georgia series. The fact that they are reacting so positively to this new approach really encourages that even if Holcomb and Nelson don’t keep up their blistering .400/650/1.050 paces in SEC play all of the sluggers in the lineup will still be more productive than earlier in the year and hit for much more power.
@MidTNBBall mentioned a few days back that the primary reason that we were not hitting for power is because we don’t have guys built to hit for power. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the sentiment was we needed bigger, stronger, heavier guys swinging bats for us instead of 5’10, 175 pound middle infielders. While, I agree that as a whole, we don’t have as many “big guys” as the top – slugging teams in the SEC, we have enough that they should be hitting for more power. Braden Holcomb is 6’4, 250; Riley Nelson is 6’3, 222; Colin Barczi is 6’3, 213; and Brodie Johnston is 6’2, 203. all of those guys have the build of real power hitters.
The fact that we have multiple hitters in the starting lineup with this kind of build is why I think this new approach is so advantageous for them. None of these guys should be worried about how pretty or ugly their at-bats are, and instead of be much more focused on hitting for power then anything else. Since they have been “freed up” to hit for more power, each of these guys has done exactly that and has generally seen their overall offensive game improve. Braden Holcomb has hit three home runs in the last six games, Brodie Johnston has hit three home runs and two doubles in the last six games, Riley Nelson has hit two home, runs a triple and a double in the last six games, Barczi has dealt with injuries, but even he had a big home run in the Georgia series. The fact that they are reacting so positively to this new approach really encourages that even if Holcomb and Nelson don’t keep up their blistering .400/650/1.050 paces in SEC play all of the sluggers in the lineup will still be more productive than earlier in the year and hit for much more power.
