12 walks

[Commodoredave]

Six in the final two frames by the bullpen. I was watching online, and the angles weren't great, but judging by Duval's body language, most of those pitches by Eder and Gillis were nowhere near the strike zone. We let them score two in the 9th on one hit and 2 in the 10th without a hit.

It's frustrating to watch these power arms never harness their stuff every year. I guess that's part of it, but at what point do we look at Scott Brown and ask him to develop guys who can throw strikes.

[VUaskew]

Unacceptable. From one out away to an extra-inning loss. They'd better shape up.

[vandybrad]

We lost to Peay? It is totally unacceptable. The ones that gave up all the walks would have a few games to think about it before seeing action again if I were the Coach.

[Dorewithaflare]

Some times i wonder if these young men or even coach Corbin understand how important a game like this means to someone like Austin Peay, Western Ky., MTSU or Belmont . These are games they get to tell their familys years to come. "Oh ,we beat Vanderbilt when i was a senior."Several times last night we had a chance to put this game in the book, but coach wanted to pitch someone one inning or one out like it wasn't that important. There is not two kids on that hold team that Corbin would sign, and they still have a win over us.

[Commodoredave]

Some times i wonder if these young men or even coach Corbin understand how important a game like this means to someone like Austin Peay, Western Ky., MTSU or Belmont . These are games they get to tell their familys years to come. "Oh ,we beat Vanderbilt when i was a senior."Several times last night we had a chance to put this game in the book, but coach wanted to pitch someone one inning or one out like it wasn't that important. There is not two kids on that hold team that Corbin would sign, and they still have a win over us.

Winning these games has little importance to us. We don't need to lose very many, but 2-3 over the course of a season really doesn't mean a thing in the big picture. I believe it is important to run new guys out for a batter or an inning and give them real reps. That's the only way we find out who can help us when it counts. Let's just hope last night was representative of the future performance. Eder had looked really good in 3 appearances, and Gillis has been a good reliever for a couple of seasons now. My frustration is that we always seem to have guys like this who just never come around to throwing strikes.

[vujoe]

Losing the game is not of significance. However, the control that the pitchers exhibited ought to be of concern to all!

[Versus75]

It seems that every time we wait until the bases are filled with walks, hbp, or hits the new pitcher comes in and gives up a run or two. His ERA doesn't get dinged and he doesn't look too bad, but it hurts the other pitcher and the team.

Perhaps make the change after the first guy puts two men on base. There is not as much pressure on the relief pitcher when he doesn't have a runner 90-feet from home.

[Dorewithaflare]

This has been the way coach does for several years. Waits until a guy has walk two,hit a batter, given up two runs and then brings a guy in,the worst possible place. I think this game wednesday was lose in the dugout.

[Commodoredave]

This has been the way coach does for several years. Waits until a guy has walk two,hit a batter, given up two runs and then brings a guy in,the worst possible place. I think this game wednesday was lose in the dugout.

That is by design. Corbin wants to identify who has that ability to perform in high leverage situations so he knows who to go to in June when it counts. Still looking here.

[HopsLikeHolwerda]

The control is an issue, and I think Brown has a lot to do with it. He brings in power pitchers and instead of teaching them moderate command, tries to strengthen them up even more. You get a power arm, and they should be coached to shave a few mph in order to hit their spots. When you get a control pitcher, work on increasing velocity. He coaches velocity gain...and most of the arms we get are already power arms. It doesn't make sense. In my opinion, he "over-coaches" the pitchers. Most of the kids that come to Vandy are already elite. They just need to work on hitting spots. We also call pitches like we are afraid of every hitter. In the SEC, sure, you need to be careful. But a 3-1 count to the #8 hitter from Austin Peay...the catcher should be in the middle of the plate calling a fastball and see if the hitter can catch up. No need to nibble on EVERY pitch.

The other glaring issue is the number of offensive strikeouts. Our offense may be able to mask some of it...but we struck out 13 times against Peay. Demarco has 12 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances. That's awful for someone who is supposed to be a catalyst for this team. Pretty much the only way to not score a guy from 3rd with less than two outs is a pop-up/ shallow fly, or a strikeout...and we strikeout in that situation A LOT. That's unacceptable. Put the ball in play right there or find somebody who will. I've seen folks on Twitter lamenting our LOB stats. Well, it's the fault of our hitters and their approach to the situation.

[fldore]

Losing the game is not of significance. However, the control that the pitchers exhibited ought to be of concern to all!

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The loss itself is basically irrelevant. It's baseball. The very best teams in MLB only win 3 out of 5. Just the nature of the game.

But not being able to find a pitcher who can throw strikes and/or finish the game is alarming because it's something we've seen a bit of in recent years. Patient hitters have hurt us. Hopefully it isnt something that will be a constant concern throughout this year as well.