As we move on from watching one of the most God-awful Vandy games since Grantland Rice was our volunteer coach we can all rejoice in the fact that a win is a win and, in the final analysis, that's all that matters.
In looking at our weekend SEC opponent I was baffled at why in the world would someone name themselves after a playing marble?
Upon further research I found that this was not the case after all and that an "aggie" is merely a student at an agriculture college. Since we have little need for farmers these days I wonder if A&M will consider adopting a new nickname, something more "modern" and indicative of what they represent today; maybe one of those wild boars now devasting the vast wasteland that some call Texas. The wild boar is definitely ugly and when I think of A&M the word 'ugly' immediately comes to mind. I'm guessing no school is called the Wild Boars so they would be unique in that respect.
In any event, A&M comes to town with a 15-7 record with series wins over Bowling Green, Pepperdine, and Brown and a single win over Rice. They lost single games to TCU and Texas and, last weekend, GOT SWEPT AT HOME BY KENTUCKY. Good Lord, what is the world coming to!!
Starting Pitchers
A&M will go with Brigham "Young Bunker" Hill on Friday, and we remember him best as the guy who beat us 1-0 last year. Hill is 4-1, ERA 2.61, BAA .228, 11K/9inn, and 2.3 BB/9 inn. Those are impressive numbers although he had a bad outing last Friday night and lost 6-1. Vandy counters with the puzzling Kyle "Let's Hope He's" Wright, 0-3, 4.33 ERA, BAA .278. Kyle pitched quite well last Friday, however, in a 1-0 loss. This promises to be a low-scoring game with the slight advantage A&M.
Saturday will see Stephen "Colbert Telly Savalas" Kolek 1-0 2.54 ERA, 5K/9, 2BB/9, and BAA .255 for A&M versus Patrick "Baby" Raby for Vandy, 3-2, 1.71 ERA, BAA .161. advantage Vandy.
Sunday finishes with Mitchell "Blarney Stone" Kilkenny for A&M, 2-1, ERA 4.01, 9K/9, 2.5BB/9 and BAA .277. Vandy counters with Drake "He's A Jolly Good" Fellows, 3-0, ERA 1.72, BAA .209. Clear advantage Vandy
Bullpens
A&M does not have a dominant closer; their 3 saves are by 3 different guys. Their main guys in relief have ERAs of 2.51, 2.96, 4.50, 4.67, and 6.00.
Vandy's bullpen has been an enigma wrapped in a conundrum inside a paradox. The last 2 games have been bullpen failures of a magnanimous proportion, costing us 1 game and almost costing us another. Earlier in the year they cost us several games. On the other hand, they've also saved 6 games. The main guys from the pen are Hayes (0.00 ERA, 3 saves), Snider (2.08 ERA, 2-1, 1 save), Rupp (2.63 ERA, 0-2, 2 saves) and freshman Zach King (2.51 ERA, 1-0.)
Believe it or not, our bullpen looks stronger than theirs ON PAPER. My concern here is we have no confidence in our pen coming through when needed. IF it performs up to their stats then advantage Vandy; if not, advantage A&M. We'll have to flip a coin here to determine advantage. *flips coin* Advantage Vandy
Defense
Both teams field well overall, A&M at .970 and Vandy at .968. Even steven.
Offense
A&M hits .299 as a team and has 2 guys at .400 or above--Braden Shewmake and Cole Bedford. Logan Foster and Blake Kopetsky are in themid-300's and Nick Choruby is at .299. That's 5 solid hitters. Two other starters are hitting less than .197. They have 15 HR and an OBP of .394
Vandy hits .277, our highest level of the year. We have 18 HRs and an OBP of .418 which is outstanding. Julian Infante leads with BA of .376, 3 HR, 19 RBI, OBP .480. Will Toffey leads with RBI (25) and is hitting .321 with 3 HR and OBP of .457. Jeren Kendall has crept up to .297 with his BA and leads with 5 HR. He only has 16 RBI, probably because he's a lead-off hitter and Connor Kaiser bats before him.
Vandy has more overall power and scores more runs and gets on base more. A&M has more "hitters". Both teams have weak spots in the line-up. A key element here is hitting with RISP and we know Vandy is pretty bad in that department; I have no idea how A&M fares in that area as no team I know publishes that statistic (I have written Commissioner Sankey about this and expect to hear back from him any day now. With so many SEC teams in the Sweet 16 he is apparently too busy to answer my urgent pleas.)
Neither team has a glaring advantage here and I expect both to score similar total runs for the weekend.
Grand Conclusion:
Vandy SHOULD win the series and, if Wright turns in another good performance, we could conceivably sweep. OTOH, if the bullpen doesn't pull their weight we could just as easily get swept.
My best guess is Vandy takes the series 2-1.
* keep in mind my continuous optimism at all things Vandy baseball connected. Remember, it's always a Sonny Gray Day At Vanderbilt!
In looking at our weekend SEC opponent I was baffled at why in the world would someone name themselves after a playing marble?
In any event, A&M comes to town with a 15-7 record with series wins over Bowling Green, Pepperdine, and Brown and a single win over Rice. They lost single games to TCU and Texas and, last weekend, GOT SWEPT AT HOME BY KENTUCKY. Good Lord, what is the world coming to!!
Starting Pitchers
A&M will go with Brigham "Young Bunker" Hill on Friday, and we remember him best as the guy who beat us 1-0 last year. Hill is 4-1, ERA 2.61, BAA .228, 11K/9inn, and 2.3 BB/9 inn. Those are impressive numbers although he had a bad outing last Friday night and lost 6-1. Vandy counters with the puzzling Kyle "Let's Hope He's" Wright, 0-3, 4.33 ERA, BAA .278. Kyle pitched quite well last Friday, however, in a 1-0 loss. This promises to be a low-scoring game with the slight advantage A&M.
Saturday will see Stephen "Colbert Telly Savalas" Kolek 1-0 2.54 ERA, 5K/9, 2BB/9, and BAA .255 for A&M versus Patrick "Baby" Raby for Vandy, 3-2, 1.71 ERA, BAA .161. advantage Vandy.
Sunday finishes with Mitchell "Blarney Stone" Kilkenny for A&M, 2-1, ERA 4.01, 9K/9, 2.5BB/9 and BAA .277. Vandy counters with Drake "He's A Jolly Good" Fellows, 3-0, ERA 1.72, BAA .209. Clear advantage Vandy
Bullpens
A&M does not have a dominant closer; their 3 saves are by 3 different guys. Their main guys in relief have ERAs of 2.51, 2.96, 4.50, 4.67, and 6.00.
Vandy's bullpen has been an enigma wrapped in a conundrum inside a paradox. The last 2 games have been bullpen failures of a magnanimous proportion, costing us 1 game and almost costing us another. Earlier in the year they cost us several games. On the other hand, they've also saved 6 games. The main guys from the pen are Hayes (0.00 ERA, 3 saves), Snider (2.08 ERA, 2-1, 1 save), Rupp (2.63 ERA, 0-2, 2 saves) and freshman Zach King (2.51 ERA, 1-0.)
Believe it or not, our bullpen looks stronger than theirs ON PAPER. My concern here is we have no confidence in our pen coming through when needed. IF it performs up to their stats then advantage Vandy; if not, advantage A&M. We'll have to flip a coin here to determine advantage. *flips coin* Advantage Vandy
Defense
Both teams field well overall, A&M at .970 and Vandy at .968. Even steven.
Offense
A&M hits .299 as a team and has 2 guys at .400 or above--Braden Shewmake and Cole Bedford. Logan Foster and Blake Kopetsky are in themid-300's and Nick Choruby is at .299. That's 5 solid hitters. Two other starters are hitting less than .197. They have 15 HR and an OBP of .394
Vandy hits .277, our highest level of the year. We have 18 HRs and an OBP of .418 which is outstanding. Julian Infante leads with BA of .376, 3 HR, 19 RBI, OBP .480. Will Toffey leads with RBI (25) and is hitting .321 with 3 HR and OBP of .457. Jeren Kendall has crept up to .297 with his BA and leads with 5 HR. He only has 16 RBI, probably because he's a lead-off hitter and Connor Kaiser bats before him.
Vandy has more overall power and scores more runs and gets on base more. A&M has more "hitters". Both teams have weak spots in the line-up. A key element here is hitting with RISP and we know Vandy is pretty bad in that department; I have no idea how A&M fares in that area as no team I know publishes that statistic (I have written Commissioner Sankey about this and expect to hear back from him any day now. With so many SEC teams in the Sweet 16 he is apparently too busy to answer my urgent pleas.)
Neither team has a glaring advantage here and I expect both to score similar total runs for the weekend.
Grand Conclusion:
Vandy SHOULD win the series and, if Wright turns in another good performance, we could conceivably sweep. OTOH, if the bullpen doesn't pull their weight we could just as easily get swept.
My best guess is Vandy takes the series 2-1.
* keep in mind my continuous optimism at all things Vandy baseball connected. Remember, it's always a Sonny Gray Day At Vanderbilt!
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