A few come to mind:
1. Will Young be ready to reenter the fray on Friday?
2. If the answer to question one is "yes", then who plays third, Gonzales or Noland?
3. Who pitches Friday, Little or Rocker?
4. If the answer to question three is Rocker, do you pull him early if Vanderbilt gets out to a big league after the first two innings, with the possibility of using Rocker if needed in a brief relief role in a "winner take all" game, should such a game arise?
5. Will Ethan Smith actually appear in a game? It's been two months since he has pitched, and it's been assumed that he would pitch each week for the past four to five weeks.
6. Who is the best option at DH: Bulger, Jones, Gonzales, a platoon system between these three, or someone else?
7. Since almost no young, unproven arms pitched in the SEC tournament, are the only arms you turn to in the pen McElvain, Murphy, Maldonado, and, if absolutely necessary, Fisher and Schultz? (I'm not including Reilly since it would seem likely that he would be the 4th starter if necessary; nor am I including Smith simply because I have no idea if there are any plans for him the rest of the season or not).
8. In three of his last four appearances, Maldonado has surrendered a home run; is the opposition beginning to figure him out, or is it mechanics/location? Maldonado has hit three batters this season, and each time it has happened after the previous batter homered off of Maldonado. He does not have control problems (5 walks in 36 1/3 innings of work), so is he hitting these guys on purpose? If so, is that something Brown/Corbin should address with Maldonado?
9. Approach at the plate: throughout the season Bradfield Jr. has shown that he has the best approach when facing a pitcher, and it's not even close. Consider the following:
Bradfield Jr has walked 38 times and struck out 31 times; the only other regular player to walk more than he has struck out is also no surprise: Rodriguez has walked 27 times and struck out only 15 times
Now, look at the other regular players:
Keegan: 20 walks, 60 strike outs
Thomas: 8 walks, 52 strike outs
Gonzales: 25 walks, 54 strike outs
Bulger: 23 walks, 35 strike outs
Kolwyck: 15 walks, 32 strike outs
Young: 24 walks, 67 strike outs
Noland: 25 walks, 67 strike outs
LaNeve: 4 walks, 14 strike outs
Jones: 5 walks, 31 strike outs
Now, there is no question that the Vandyboys can put up some monster numbers in a hurry. However, the approach at the plate rarely seems to change, even when what is needed varies. An exception to this is the first game against Ole Miss in the SEC tournament, when Thomas and Keegan delivered key hits to provide the tying and winning runs, respectively; Keegan in particular fought off a number of good pitches before going down and taking an outside slider the opposite way for a sharp single to right. Are the guys coached to approach an at-bat differently based on the situation/needs at the time, or is just swing big and connect/sit down?
10. Finally, is Captain D's catering for the team for the beginning of the regional? If not, why not?
1. Will Young be ready to reenter the fray on Friday?
2. If the answer to question one is "yes", then who plays third, Gonzales or Noland?
3. Who pitches Friday, Little or Rocker?
4. If the answer to question three is Rocker, do you pull him early if Vanderbilt gets out to a big league after the first two innings, with the possibility of using Rocker if needed in a brief relief role in a "winner take all" game, should such a game arise?
5. Will Ethan Smith actually appear in a game? It's been two months since he has pitched, and it's been assumed that he would pitch each week for the past four to five weeks.
6. Who is the best option at DH: Bulger, Jones, Gonzales, a platoon system between these three, or someone else?
7. Since almost no young, unproven arms pitched in the SEC tournament, are the only arms you turn to in the pen McElvain, Murphy, Maldonado, and, if absolutely necessary, Fisher and Schultz? (I'm not including Reilly since it would seem likely that he would be the 4th starter if necessary; nor am I including Smith simply because I have no idea if there are any plans for him the rest of the season or not).
8. In three of his last four appearances, Maldonado has surrendered a home run; is the opposition beginning to figure him out, or is it mechanics/location? Maldonado has hit three batters this season, and each time it has happened after the previous batter homered off of Maldonado. He does not have control problems (5 walks in 36 1/3 innings of work), so is he hitting these guys on purpose? If so, is that something Brown/Corbin should address with Maldonado?
9. Approach at the plate: throughout the season Bradfield Jr. has shown that he has the best approach when facing a pitcher, and it's not even close. Consider the following:
Bradfield Jr has walked 38 times and struck out 31 times; the only other regular player to walk more than he has struck out is also no surprise: Rodriguez has walked 27 times and struck out only 15 times
Now, look at the other regular players:
Keegan: 20 walks, 60 strike outs
Thomas: 8 walks, 52 strike outs
Gonzales: 25 walks, 54 strike outs
Bulger: 23 walks, 35 strike outs
Kolwyck: 15 walks, 32 strike outs
Young: 24 walks, 67 strike outs
Noland: 25 walks, 67 strike outs
LaNeve: 4 walks, 14 strike outs
Jones: 5 walks, 31 strike outs
Now, there is no question that the Vandyboys can put up some monster numbers in a hurry. However, the approach at the plate rarely seems to change, even when what is needed varies. An exception to this is the first game against Ole Miss in the SEC tournament, when Thomas and Keegan delivered key hits to provide the tying and winning runs, respectively; Keegan in particular fought off a number of good pitches before going down and taking an outside slider the opposite way for a sharp single to right. Are the guys coached to approach an at-bat differently based on the situation/needs at the time, or is just swing big and connect/sit down?
10. Finally, is Captain D's catering for the team for the beginning of the regional? If not, why not?
