Here are some interesting tidbits baseball nerds could find interesting:
First, power (and home runs specifically) are wayyyyy down in the SEC this year. No hitter has 20 homers and only a handful have more than 15. Only 2 players even have 10 home runs in SEC play.
This inspired me to check and see how Vandy's power production compares to that of the rest of the SEC now. Overall, they still have the 4rd fewest home runs and 4th lowest OPS (which in itself is interesting because they have moved UP after having the lowest OPS and HRs going in to conference play), but when you look at SEC-only numbers it gets really interesting.
There is a TON of parity in the SEC in terms of power production outside of 2 teams: Arkansas and Georgia. Both of these teams have 54 and 53 HRs, respectively, while nobody else is even sniffing 50. If you average out all 14 other team's home runs in conference play you get an average of 31.2 HRs. Vandy has 28 in conference play. If you then look at how this average translates to power production per-series, you get that most SEC teams are averaging just under 4 home runs per series. In Vandy's last 5 SEC series they have 20 home runs, meaning that since myself and others identified a switchup in approach, they are producing MORE home runs than the average SEC team.
Relevant for this weekend: UTK has only homered 19 times in their last 5 SEC series, meaning that Vandy has hit MORE home runs than Tennessee over the last 5 weeks.
Moving on to how individual Vandy players have performed in-conference, I've never seen such a stark contrast between the highest producers and lowest. Riley Nelson and Braden Holcomb have legitimately been two of the best players in the conference this year. Nelson is 3rd in batting average, 8th in OBP, 12th in SLG%, 8th in OPS, and 6th in WRC+. Oh, and he's doing all of this with the lowest K% on the team (he ranks 23rd in the SEC). Holcomb is 8th in batting average, 23rd in OBP, 4th in SLG%, 5th in OPS, and 4th in WRC+. Holcomb also has the 4th best ISO in conference, meaning he is producing the 4th most power of any player in conference play.
On the other hand, the bottom of the order has been much less productive. Vandy has 5 of the 22 lowest in-conference batting averages on their roster (Humphrey, Austin, Mancini, Rigdon, and Rose). Of those 5, 4 of them are in the bottom 20 in the SEC in ISO, meaning they are producing almost no power even when they do hit the ball. Those four are Rose, Mancini, Austin, and Rigdon (Humphrey actually has a very average ISO in conference play). Rigdon, however, does have some saving graces. Rigdon draws the most walks of anyone on the team and still has a respectable OBP while also having a large number of stolen bases. Then you have Mike Mancini, Mac Rose, and RJ Austin. All of these 3 have no redeemable qualities to their performance in SEC play. Mancini and Rose are both in the top 25 for strikeout-rate, are FIRST AND FOURTH WORST in the SEC in ISO. That's right Mac Rose is the WORST power hitter in-conference and Mancini is right behind him at 4th. Both of these guys don't get on base, strike out a ton, and hit for absolutely no power. Austin isn't quite as egregiously bad in any of these categories, but he also has a low average, almost no power production, and very few walks.
Vastine, Johnston, and Barczi all have some weaknesses in their game, but also some strong redeeming qualities. Johnston and Barczi both strike out a lot and don't walk, but hit for some solid power (Barczi produces less power, but has a much more respectable batting average than Johnston). Vastine also Ks a lot, but he has a BA over .300 in-conference and has produced solid power, too.
Overall, I don't know if I've ever seen such a disparity in the lineup. You have 2 of the most in-form players in the country in Holcomb and Nelson, but also 3 of the worst hitters with Mancini, Austin, and Rose. This helps explain some of the inconsistency in the offense. They are so heavily reliant on those 2 in-form players and then one or two of the 3 average batters that if any of them have an off day (which is inevitable in baseball) there is nobody there to support them.
This is also interesting when you look at it from a future-centric perspecitve. Vandy returns Holcomb, Barczi, Johnston, Rigdon, and will have a good shot to get Nelson back too. That gives you a really solid nucleus of you best batters. Corbin will need to either replace or recruit over: Vastine, Mancini, Rose, and Austin. This makes things a lot easier for Corbin and Blankmeyer this offseason. You don't have to worry about going out and finding stars, you have them already (and I think Brodie will be one next year, too). If you can find league-average replacements for those 4 players, this offense goes from inconsistent to very solid. I'll be very intrigued to see how things shake out this offseason and who the staff pursues.
First, power (and home runs specifically) are wayyyyy down in the SEC this year. No hitter has 20 homers and only a handful have more than 15. Only 2 players even have 10 home runs in SEC play.
This inspired me to check and see how Vandy's power production compares to that of the rest of the SEC now. Overall, they still have the 4rd fewest home runs and 4th lowest OPS (which in itself is interesting because they have moved UP after having the lowest OPS and HRs going in to conference play), but when you look at SEC-only numbers it gets really interesting.
There is a TON of parity in the SEC in terms of power production outside of 2 teams: Arkansas and Georgia. Both of these teams have 54 and 53 HRs, respectively, while nobody else is even sniffing 50. If you average out all 14 other team's home runs in conference play you get an average of 31.2 HRs. Vandy has 28 in conference play. If you then look at how this average translates to power production per-series, you get that most SEC teams are averaging just under 4 home runs per series. In Vandy's last 5 SEC series they have 20 home runs, meaning that since myself and others identified a switchup in approach, they are producing MORE home runs than the average SEC team.
Relevant for this weekend: UTK has only homered 19 times in their last 5 SEC series, meaning that Vandy has hit MORE home runs than Tennessee over the last 5 weeks.
Moving on to how individual Vandy players have performed in-conference, I've never seen such a stark contrast between the highest producers and lowest. Riley Nelson and Braden Holcomb have legitimately been two of the best players in the conference this year. Nelson is 3rd in batting average, 8th in OBP, 12th in SLG%, 8th in OPS, and 6th in WRC+. Oh, and he's doing all of this with the lowest K% on the team (he ranks 23rd in the SEC). Holcomb is 8th in batting average, 23rd in OBP, 4th in SLG%, 5th in OPS, and 4th in WRC+. Holcomb also has the 4th best ISO in conference, meaning he is producing the 4th most power of any player in conference play.
On the other hand, the bottom of the order has been much less productive. Vandy has 5 of the 22 lowest in-conference batting averages on their roster (Humphrey, Austin, Mancini, Rigdon, and Rose). Of those 5, 4 of them are in the bottom 20 in the SEC in ISO, meaning they are producing almost no power even when they do hit the ball. Those four are Rose, Mancini, Austin, and Rigdon (Humphrey actually has a very average ISO in conference play). Rigdon, however, does have some saving graces. Rigdon draws the most walks of anyone on the team and still has a respectable OBP while also having a large number of stolen bases. Then you have Mike Mancini, Mac Rose, and RJ Austin. All of these 3 have no redeemable qualities to their performance in SEC play. Mancini and Rose are both in the top 25 for strikeout-rate, are FIRST AND FOURTH WORST in the SEC in ISO. That's right Mac Rose is the WORST power hitter in-conference and Mancini is right behind him at 4th. Both of these guys don't get on base, strike out a ton, and hit for absolutely no power. Austin isn't quite as egregiously bad in any of these categories, but he also has a low average, almost no power production, and very few walks.
Vastine, Johnston, and Barczi all have some weaknesses in their game, but also some strong redeeming qualities. Johnston and Barczi both strike out a lot and don't walk, but hit for some solid power (Barczi produces less power, but has a much more respectable batting average than Johnston). Vastine also Ks a lot, but he has a BA over .300 in-conference and has produced solid power, too.
Overall, I don't know if I've ever seen such a disparity in the lineup. You have 2 of the most in-form players in the country in Holcomb and Nelson, but also 3 of the worst hitters with Mancini, Austin, and Rose. This helps explain some of the inconsistency in the offense. They are so heavily reliant on those 2 in-form players and then one or two of the 3 average batters that if any of them have an off day (which is inevitable in baseball) there is nobody there to support them.
This is also interesting when you look at it from a future-centric perspecitve. Vandy returns Holcomb, Barczi, Johnston, Rigdon, and will have a good shot to get Nelson back too. That gives you a really solid nucleus of you best batters. Corbin will need to either replace or recruit over: Vastine, Mancini, Rose, and Austin. This makes things a lot easier for Corbin and Blankmeyer this offseason. You don't have to worry about going out and finding stars, you have them already (and I think Brodie will be one next year, too). If you can find league-average replacements for those 4 players, this offense goes from inconsistent to very solid. I'll be very intrigued to see how things shake out this offseason and who the staff pursues.
