I'm probably beating a dead horse over our catching situation since it's been brought up a lot, but I was wondering about the other catcher that is listed on the roster in freshman Jeff Holtz. I assume he is not an option at this point or is possibly dealing with some kind of injury himself. If Cross is our best option right now, heaven help us if Cross gets hurt. Right now, Cross has four throwing errors and eight passed balls on the season, with most if not all of those occurring after he took over for Fineman. From what I have read, Fineman may not be back until near the end of the regular season, so I guess we have to live with what we have got. Another thing about Cross, he raised his batting average a little bit during the PSU series, but is still hitting just .170, well below what Fineman was hitting.
The catching situation....
- Thread starter ptrich
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I hear what you're saying. There's no denying the facts.
But, first, you can't blame Coach for the roster he inherited or for the injuries that have struck us at a vulnerable spot. (I have heard third-hand that Jeff Holtz is injured.)
And, second, I have nothing but kudos for Wyatt Cross. He's being a hero for playing a tough position every day, and twice on Sundays. He didn't ask for this situation, but he's giving it everything he's got. Thank you, Wyatt!
But, first, you can't blame Coach for the roster he inherited or for the injuries that have struck us at a vulnerable spot. (I have heard third-hand that Jeff Holtz is injured.)
And, second, I have nothing but kudos for Wyatt Cross. He's being a hero for playing a tough position every day, and twice on Sundays. He didn't ask for this situation, but he's giving it everything he's got. Thank you, Wyatt!
I don't think anyone is questioning Wyatt's effort, since I'm sure he is putting his best foot forward, but it's just a case of a major drop-off at that position. If Holtz is indeed hurt, I'm wondering who is next in line if Cross gets hurt. Obviously, there are position players on the roster who did play the position some before arriving at IU. As far as Coach Mercer is concerned, just to echo your comment, there is no way we can blame him for the depth issue at certain positions.
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Skrine can play some C, I think what many people undervalue is that Coach Cheese (aka queso) really worked with the catchers. Now at the high D1 level, most people recruit those skills. Fineman and Cross were both fairly highly rated out of HS as catchers, top 10 I believe. I think Cross will be fine for the time being, his recent issue (ie drops, passed balls) are very correctable and come along with more game reps he sees. The bat is a different beast, no doubt IU would like finemans bat back.
Drew was primarily a pitcher, had 1.13 ERA, but did a lot of catching also. And Skrine and Bradley both caught in HS.
It's really sad & surprising to see......highly rated guy out of HS......just can't catch the ball or hit it (other than the occasional 400' foul blast as in the PSU game). And he's not improving with age & experience. If he doesn't get it together fast he will definitely cost IU some games until RF gets back.
Actually, at times it's been the combination of the battery, so I wasn't trying to lay it entirely on Cross, although I'm sure he would tell you that he needs to play better. Our bullpen, especially the backend of it, which is pretty young, hasn't always been exactly stellar. It seems at times we have innings where we have the WPs, passed balls, throwing errors, walks, etc. that come in bunches, which really magnifies the whole situation. I really don't know, but it seems like when we commit one of those miscues, the players succumb to the pressure of the situation and miscues multiply. While these situations have cost us in some games, we are still in pretty good position right now within the conference.
Idk, the game I went to, Cross is not fine for the time being. He literally could not catch balls that were fastballs right into his mitt. And it didn't look like he was crossed up at all. Add the fact that he hits at the .170-.180 range, I don't see why someone else isn't at least getting a shot. Put Bradley back there, if he caught in HS. Give us another hot bat in there, too.
Because catching isn’t a plug and play type spot, especially at the high D1 level. It takes time to get use to the staff, pitchers tendencies, scouting reports, controlling the defense, slowing the run game, etc. That’s a lot to ask someone who’s probably not had many reps at that position. Unfortunately, It’s what IU has right now. It’s not elite, but it’s serviceable.
Cross with a double early last night, but struck out twice with a total of 5 runners on base and no outs. Only 1 passed ball that I can remember.
One thing I noticed about his batting---he's got a big upper cut, and he was literally under every ball that he missed.......you would think that that's something that could be addressed by the hitting coach.
Sad thing is you can tell he's really trying, and it's bothering him a lot that he's not doing better.
I agree that Cross is our only option right now, and we will sink or swim with him until Fineman returns, and based on what I heard last night, Fineman has a back issue, which is clearly not a good thing for a catcher. Cross had that passed ball last night in the 7th which was an inning where it seemed like Murphy's Law was in effect as our pitching also contributed to what was a forgettable inning . As has happened a lot this season, it seems when we commit one of those miscues, it balloons into a lot of miscues by more than one player leading to a big inning. Coach Mercer probably pulled Sommer one inning too soon, but that's the beauty of hindsight since it's always 20/20.
No doubt hindsight 20/20. Sommer was around 70 pitches and he hasn’t pitched in a while, so I’m sure mercer didn’t want to over use him. The call I thought was more questionable was bringing in Bierman instead of Krueger. That’s a spot you need an experienced strike thrower. Walks will kill you in this game, even against bad teams.
I know they were wanting to be careful with TS coming off an injury, so I don't fault him there.
I would have liked to see them start TS, get his 5-6 innings in.....then you got some combo of Manous, Bierman, Krueger (all more experienced) until you get to Lloyd. Have Brown start against Evansville, as his only prior outing was a bad one.............
I will say a couple things a player's mom told me....take them for what they're worth. First, that Brown has looked really good in practice and warming up, and has simply been bothered by nerves. Second, that they don't expect Fineman to be how a long time. I don't know if the 2nd comment is wishful thinking, but that's what she said.
In the case of Brown, you can definitely tell he’s struggling when the lights get turned on. Now, the arm talent is real. But he need to work on his mechanics in a big way. The nice thing is the staff can break down some tape on that with him. His missing location is more related to the mechanics. I’d like to see more lower half bend, and pulling thru on the glove side more to get more tilt. Also be a little softer on his landing foot. He’s young so he’s got plenty of time to develop. Fastball command at this level is a must.
It seemed like almost every pitch was high.......I don't remember many being that far off the plate in either direction..............PU was disciplined at the plate and the ump had a low strike zone anyway, so it was a bad combination of circumstances.
ps....also, PU probably went into the game with the plan to be very patient, as he walked 4 in his first start..............
Whoa. That's not exactly what I thought I saw. He missed low on the first hitter or two, then was high on all the rest. And to make matters really worse, he was in and out and out and in and just basically all over the place. My guess is Cross's nerves were about shot by the time Sommer arrived.
I was at the BSU game last night......
Cross is still struggling big time.
He had a BSU stealer dead to rights in the inning Sommer gave up his two runs. Threw the ball to the wrong side of the bag. If he throws it to the 1st base side of second its the third out of the inning and no runs scored.
Also struck out twice on 3-4 pitches each time.
As I mentioned before, he is nearly always UNDER the ball with his swing. He really needs to level out his swing a little. It's definitely a mechanical issue. Impossible to change at his age? I don't know, but I hope (and would think) he knows that's whats going on.
While the bottom of the order for most teams consists of below average hitters, it seems to be more pronounced for us. The box score credited Cross with four of the 12 Ks we had in last night's game. Cross is clearly a flawed catcher, both at and behind the plate, but he is the best we have until Fineman returns, and we fans have no idea when that will come. Cross is a senior, so as they like to say nowadays, it is what it is, so we will just have to sink or swim with him. If he could just raise his batting average up to the low .200s, it would be a big plus.
0-4 with 4 K's and 2 LOB. Of course the goofy kids doing the Student broadcast tell us Wyatt is the defensive specialist while Fineman is more of an offensive threat. Ummmm, ok.
Although I'm still not sure about our hitting approach (swing for the fence no matter the situation), you really have to give this new coaching staff credit for getting us to 25-12 without their starting CF and Catcher. Those two guys should probably be our leadoff hitter and cleanup hitter. That's hard to overcome, but they've done it.
Although I'm still not sure about our hitting approach (swing for the fence no matter the situation), you really have to give this new coaching staff credit for getting us to 25-12 without their starting CF and Catcher. Those two guys should probably be our leadoff hitter and cleanup hitter. That's hard to overcome, but they've done it.
The radio guy said he's heard Fineman will be back sooner rather than later. I'm taking that as good, er, great news.
I hope what they heard is accurate, but those back issues can be tricky, especially with a catcher, so I have my fingers crossed.
Kids or not, they should be much more informed than that. I guess they have to try to say something positive about a guy batting .145 with 35 K's and 69 AB's. But that is just about the dumbest thing I have heard in regards to this baseball team.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the next home broadcast. I absolutely love being able to watch online, but am truly pained to have to listen. Typically the play-by-play guy does a fair job of sticking to stats and describing what he sees. The color guy always thinks he has to add something (anything) after every comment the play-by-play guy makes. It ruins the game and is actually somewhat embarrassing for the school of broadcasting. I'd love it if they'd just set cameras up and let the crowd and PA announcer provide the audio.
