BB: ASC: American Southwest Conference

[swbaseball3]

It was hard to judge velocity that day I saw him pitch...but I know his slider was outstanding. I know if I would have faced him when I played I would have been done because I couldnt hit a slider to save my life, much less that good of a slider.

The other day, Stalker Guns had him at 84-85.  Last year, he was pretty steady at 87-88.  Seeing as it's been sub-50 degrees, I am all too confident that no one is going to air it out like mid-season.

[dp643]

Has anyone that has seen both Brett Holland and Orosey pitch think they are fairly comparable?

[dp643]

UMHB splits with Southwestern yesterday 2-5 and 5-2. The offense is really struggling right now for UMHB.

[Voorhees]

Has anyone that has seen both Brett Holland and Orosey pitch think they are fairly comparable?

I never faced either Holland or Orosey, but from watching from 1st base coaching box I'd say Holland was a bit more of a power/strikeout pitcher in mentality and delivery. Both have smooth mechanics, from what I remember, but I believe Holland threw more "effort" type pitches where he was looking for a swing and a miss, whereas Orosey is a little bit more around the zone looking for soft contact early in the count. Both were/are very good at working ahead and neither allow many freebies. Neither pitcher, in my opinion, allow for much success with two strikes; both have above average fastballs with a good curveball (Holland) or slider (Orosey) alongside.

[golden_dome]

Has anyone that has seen both Brett Holland and Orosey pitch think they are fairly comparable?

They actually faced each other last season in the ASC Tournament with Holland picking up the win despite six errors. I saw Holland more and he was almost unhittable when he was on. I don't remember Orosey being that overpowering, but he pitched well against a tough Tyler lineup.

Mississippi College picked up a big win tonight with a 9-6 victory at Millsaps. That gives them early season wins over Millsaps (SCAC West favorite) and Birmingham Southern (SCAC East favorite). And two wins over Piedmont and one against Huntingdon, both quality teams. The only loss was a 4-3 game against NAIA Belhaven who is 6-1.

Transfer Daniel Cowart got the save and has now worked 10 2/3 innings of scoreless relief this season which is worth mentioning.

Good start so far, hopefully it will continue.

[swbaseball3]

With all due respect, Holland was 22 years old and Orosey was 19.  I would hope that with that additional experience, Holland would be better.  As for the answer, Holland has/had more power than Orosey but here's the deal with Orosey, he's a RARE righty that can't throw a ball straight.  They are both fanastic and not the kind of guys you want to face in the "if" game.

[Just_Some_Guy]

I never faced either Holland or Orosey, but from watching from 1st base coaching box I'd say Holland was a bit more of a power/strikeout pitcher in mentality and delivery. Both have smooth mechanics, from what I remember, but I believe Holland threw more "effort" type pitches where he was looking for a swing and a miss, whereas Orosey is a little bit more around the zone looking for soft contact early in the count. Both were/are very good at working ahead and neither allow many freebies. Neither pitcher, in my opinion, allow for much success with two strikes; both have above average fastballs with a good curveball (Holland) or slider (Orosey) alongside.

+1 Good analysis Brent.

And fair points from Mr. Wheaton as well.

JSG

[golden_dome]

With all due respect, Holland was 22 years old and Orosey was 19.  I would hope that with that additional experience, Holland would be better.  As for the answer, Holland has/had more power than Orosey but here's the deal with Orosey, he's a RARE righty that can't throw a ball straight.  They are both fanastic and not the kind of guys you want to face in the "if" game.

Wow, I didn't realize Orosey was just a sophomore, I assumed he was a senior. Good for Texas Lutheran to have him on Friday nights the next three years.

[dp643]

Maybe I saw Holland on an off day velocity wise. I saw him pitch against UMHB last year in their crossover and sat behind a radar gun. Granted it was early in the season, but I never saw him over 86. He was typically around 82-85 that day. That is why I considered them to be very similar. Orosey didnt look to me like he lacked the velocity that Holland had. Granted that was also seeing Orosey pitch in the middle of the year and Holland pitch at the beginning. That is the reason I asked, because I have seen both pitch only one time and dont want to make a solid judgement based just upon that.

Good analysis and I really like hearing other's opinions on these topics.

[dbat]

Orosey throws a heavy ball.  His fast ball comes in with something extra than just speed.  Its not just his speed that is impressive, but its his slider that just looks like he is throwing frisbees!  To not someone earlier talking about TLU's rotation. Hembree is not a starter.  He is more short relief.  Orosey, Steihnert, and Staggs are the starters and thier main go to would be Peterson.  Who is also a big supprise from where he started out as not having a jersey his first two years mainly on jv and now he has developed in to a pretty good pitcher.  Slow and effective, especially coming in after Orosey.

[dp643]

Orosey throws a heavy ball.  His fast ball comes in with something extra than just speed.  Its not just his speed that is impressive, but its his slider that just looks like he is throwing frisbees!  To not someone earlier talking about TLU's rotation. Hembree is not a starter.  He is more short relief.  Orosey, Steihnert, and Staggs are the starters and thier main go to would be Peterson.  Who is also a big supprise from where he started out as not having a jersey his first two years mainly on jv and now he has developed in to a pretty good pitcher.  Slow and effective, especially coming in after Orosey.

I didnt mean to mislead by posting Hembree with the other two guys. I knew he would be a bullpen guy, but he should be pretty effective finishing for those two guys. I should have clarified better. Thanks for pointing that out!

[Voorhees]

If you love ASC baseball, this will be one heck of a weekend.

TLU at UTT - both teams have been absolute powerhouses for as long as I've been around D3 (2005).
What matters most to me: how UTT's new staff preforms against a powerhouse in week 3, week 1 wasn't pretty.

CTX at MC - Mississippi through 2 weeks looks pretty good. Pitched well, have always hit, and only 6 errors in 6 games. What matters most to me: borrowing miscues from the Mississippi defense, it will probably take a couple big time performances from CTX starters to walk away with a series win.

HSU at UTD - I'm a little disappointed this game is not at HSU's little league field. With normal winds, this series could easily generate 100 total runs. What matters most to me: which team plays solid defense. Both teams will hit, who will make the plays to keep the scoring down.

McM at Chapman - Right now I'm wishing I was still at McMurry, this is always a fun series. What matters most to me: McMurry starting pitching. In the 12 regular season games I was apart of against Chapman, McMurry scored atleast 5 runs in 9 games. Scored 10+ in multiple. However, only walked away with four wins. Each of the four wins came behind solid performances on the mound.

[Just_Some_Guy]

UT Tyler vs. TLU Preview

Tyler: 3-2

UT Tyler lost a ton from their 08-09 squad that went 39-12 and defeated TLU in last year's ASC conference tournament. They're returning only one arm (RHP, Matt Sparks) who threw more than 15.0 innings last year.  

Key Losses:
Starting pitchers Brett Holland (9-5, 3.24 ERA), Blake Booher (9-1, 3.50 ERA), Lex Wolfe (5-2, 4.22 ERA) & Tommy Rozell (6-2, 4.33 ERA). Holland & Booher made up a killer 1-2 punch that helped Tyler secure the lowest team ERA (4.10) in the conference last year. The seniors tied for 3rd in wins last year, and Holland led the ASC in Ks. They also lose arguably the best closer in the conference, Beau Ziegler who was 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA and 6 saves.

Tyler also lost 7 position players, all of whom hit over .335 save Kendall Fox who managed a .463 OBP by drawing 50 walks. Gone is Jeremy Harding's team leading .380 average and the 10+ home runs provided by JOe Towns (.379), Chad Daleiden (.364),  Jared Hood (.345) and Brock Lemrie (.337).

UT Tyler Key Players:
Returning starters Austin Newell (.353, 9 RBIs, 5 SBs) and Nathan Skeen (.467) are trying to pick up where they left off last season. Jr. transfer Justin Juneau is off to a hot start (.533) and Sr. transfer, Cody Jones (.421) hit .560 with 7 doubles and 5 HRs at ETBU last year.

Sparks (12.91 ERA) is back, but hasn't tossed it well yet this year. Fellow starting pitcher Chase Willard (another ETBU transfer) is 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA in 2 starts, and 2 more junior transfers Matt Schimpf (ETBU again) and Logan Chitwood (Navarro) seem to be early candidates to see innings out of the pen.

So Far:
How much can you really know about a team after 5 games? They defeated a UT Dallas team that beat the UMHB game that they dropped two games to on opening weekend. I suspect UMHB finishes between 3rd and 5th in the West.


TLU: 5-1

TLU's cupboard isn't nearly as depleted as Tyler's. They lost some key players from their West Division championship team, but return virtually the whole pitching staff save closer Macklin.

Key Losses:
Macklin is the big one. He was their best hitter and probably their best pitcher, certainly the best out of the pen, and I said Ziegler was 'arguably' the best closer earlier because you can certainly make a great case for Macklin as well. He hit .456 with 12 HR and 67 RBIs and 6-1 with a 1.99 ERA including some big ones down the stretch. The Bulldogs will also miss OF Kyle Harvey at the top of their lineup (.364, 8 HR, 30 SBs), and Drew Farr's ability to leave the yard (11 HR, 48 RBI).

TLU Key Players:
Starting with arms they return Friday starter So. Brad Orosey (10-1 last year) who is off to another solid start (2-0, 2.25 ERA) with a no-no already under his belt. He's flanked by last year's long relief guy Jeremiah Steinart (1-0, 1.50 ERA) and returning starters Travis Staggs and Logan Hull. Tom Embree (2.08 ERA) and Patrick Pederson (2.45 ERA) also return from seeing solid innings out of the pen last year.

Sr. OF Ryan Nokelby (.405 last year) is off to a .393 start w/ 9 RBIs through 6 games. Senior middle infielders Chris Green and Andrew Femath are both back. Cody Miller should provide some pop in the middle of the line-up and Jr. transfer Darwin Lucero (.556) has started the season nicely.

So Far:
I don't think TLU has seen anyone with much pitching or sticks yet so this series should be a good measuring stick. I think you know what you're going to get from a lot of these guys and it could very well be enough, but it'll be interesting to see how a lot of these guys do with an extra year of experience under their belt.

Prediction:
I think UT Tyler is working with a lot of new pieces and so this early season match-up should favor the more experienced team in TLU. I think you'll see some of UT Tyler's hitting stats come down a bit, and I think you'll see some of TLU's pitching stats inflate a bit this weekend.

When the dust settles I'll take a 1-1 split.

[dbat]

JSG  Nice preview right there!  I see the same results.  It will be hard to beat Orosey this year.  So as long as TLU can hit that game they will look good.  Steinert has picked his game up this year, but I see a couple arms from Tyler that are comparable to his (Chase Willard). Is he their game two?  So I think that is the toss up game.  And Staggs is a great pitcher, but from what I have seen from last year throws better at home than on the road.  Overall it is going be to be a great weekend like Brent said.

[dp643]

JSG...

Its just a 2 game series, not three. I like your analysis though.

I think UT Tyler hasnt shown us everything from their staff at this point. Im still waiting to see when and if they use Justin Fowler. Not too sure why he hasnt thrown yet.

With Chitwood closing, Tyler has to feel confident in the outcome if they have the lead giving him the ball.

If Fowler pitches in I would expect him at some point to be a starter (maybe im wrong).

One stat that stands out to me is UT Tyler fielding .976.

I gotta give TLU the slight edge with this one because of their two quality starting pitchers. Ill go with a 1-1 split with TLU winning game one and Tyler winning game two.