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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 17
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Cardinals
1:39
Why is louisville so low in the RPI with wins over texas and arizona at a neutral site (not really for texas) and 2 wins over unc at home?
Kendall Rogers
1:39
Easy. Outside of those games, Louisville has played teams with RPIs of 256 (3 times), 283 (1 time), 139 (3 times), 113 (3 times), 133 (1 time), 217 (1 time. That, my friend, will hold your RPI back in a big way. Thankfully, the Cards in the ACC, so the RPI will eventually take care of itself granted they keep winning.
Xander Monahue
1:41
Georgia baseball may have the best hitting in baseball, it seems that wherever Ammirati goes that teams offense all of a sudden just becomes the best ever. Do you think Wes Johnson figures it out with this staff. They have a ton of guys that throw gas, but for some reason they just can not pitch at all. Wondering your thoughts. Thank you!
Joe Healy
1:41
I have to imagine the pitching gets figured out to some degree. They figured it out well enough last year when they had much less depth than they do now. But I will admit it has been quite a big rougher on the mound than I anticipated and it's very much stuff over polish. I'll also echo your sentiment that Nick Ammirati is very good at his job, or at least that's the feedback I get from others in the industry who are familiar with his work. Between Will Coggin and Ammirati going from UK to Georgia in back-to-back seasons, it's also clear that the Wildcats were doing something right.
Eric Simmons
1:43
LSU or Texas who do you got in that series? I think Texas wins 2 out of 3 since the series is in Austin
Kendall Rogers
1:43
Eric -- This is a damn tough call to say the least. I think I *lean* LSU right now because of the pitching depth, but let me think about that one a bit more. It's truly a series I believe could go either way with the way the Longhorns are playing.
Jon
1:45
Noted previous reply.  After a super regional appearance last year and 16-1 start, having WVU still unranked is a joke.
Kendall Rogers
1:45
Looking at overall records and not the body of work is just lazy. Really like Steve Sabins and he's doing a great job, but let's analyze what West Virginia has played so far. Out of the 17 games WVU has played so far this season, 13 have been played against teams with a losing record. The wins over teams with a winning record are Jacksonville (11-8) and Oklahoma State once (9-8). I do like the Cowboys, but again, that's an outrageously light resume for a ranked team. A series win over Arizona is the one I'm looking for. Smith Bailey and the Wildcats are playing pretty well right now. Arizona is another team I hate to leave out of the Top 25 this week. I really like the direction Chip Hale has that program.
Sooieville Sluggers
1:46
After Arkansas pitching was hyped all offseason, the bats showed up and most pitchers were shaky at best — except Coil, Jiminez, McEntire, Gaeckle for his final 3 innings and Bybee, surprisingly. Is it time to adjust perception of the Arkansas pitching staff, or do we wait a few more weeks to see how roles change and see if more pitchers step up?
Joe Healy
1:46
The short answer is that it's still early enough that patience is needed, but I share in your concern about that unit. If the answer as to what's been the issue (particularly in the rotation) and how to fix it were obvious I'm guessing it would be fixed, so it's hard to say what hasn't clicked. Maybe this will make you feel worse as opposed to better, but I guess I would also say that every year we (and I mean us at D1, other media members, fans, all of us) gawk at the pitching depth at this program or that program when the reality is that college baseball is a VERY offensive game right now and no team gets to Omaha thinking "man, we feel great about our pitching."
John
1:48
Are Tennessee and Georgia the best offenses in the game right now? Who else do you see as right there with them or maybe a notch below?
Joe Healy
1:48
I would throw LSU into this mix though they don't have as much power as the others. Derek Curiel immediately becoming one of the most dynamic hitters in college baseball was huge.
West Coast Baseball
1:50
Hawai'i has quietly put together a very nice season opening campaign. Their only series loss, a 1-2 defeat (narrowly, on the road). Now they have a series win against a ranked opponent to go along with their impressive record.

I know alot of teams are deserving, just curious if Hawai'i is "receiving votes", and what you guys think of them.
Joe Healy
1:50
Not yet in the "others receiving votes" bucket, but definitely a team on our radar that we have talked about a lot in our internal discussions. The UCSB series win opened eyes, but unfortunately that just more or less served to make up the ground lost by the series loss to UCR. All that said, I think they're going to be a contender in the conference this season alongside the Gauchos and UCI.
Needs New Plot
1:52
I don’t like the plot twist. It was supposed to be avenging a good ‘ol boy move with CDC in black hat sitting and Tweeting outside a cemetery whioe
Joe Healy
1:52
Funny comments that make me laugh will always be highlighted in this space when I'm pinch-hitting in the chat.
Ray
1:56
What is going on with Oklahoma State?  Seemingly not the team everyone projected coming into the season!
Joe Healy
1:56
Yeah, the fact that we've yo-yoed them in and out of the Top 25 a couple times speaks to the fact that they've been perplexing for us as well. It's two main things for me. One, the offense is very top-heavy. Brueggemann and Schubart have done lots of heavy lifting, but they're not getting enough help. The Cowboys also haven't gotten what they hoped from the weekend rotation.
FittsMagic
1:58
It feels like Tennessee & LSU have separated themselves early. You have LSU at #1, but would you pick the Tigers over the Vols in a neutral site series today?
Joe Healy
1:58
Well, as of today we actually have Tennessee No. 1, and it's pretty unprecedented to move a sitting No. 1 back to No. 2 after sweeping a conference series, but Tennessee has just been so overwhelmingly good so far. I would take the Vols in that hypothetical neutral site matchup.
Double Steal
2:01
Thoughts on the upcoming Bama/Tenn series?  The Vols haven't lost a weekend series in over a year.  The last one came in Tuscaloosa opening weekend of SEC play last year.  I think the Tide do it again this weekend and that streak ends.  The pitching has been great, and Justin Lebron may be the best player in the country.
Joe Healy
2:01
Really excited for this series. Lebron vs. the Tennessee pitching staff will be box office stuff. But the key for me is what the Alabama rotation does against the Vols' lineup. Zane Adams has been solid but a bit inconsistent. Riley Quick has been great, but is still probably technically on a bit of a leash with regards to pitch count, and while Bobby Alcock was great yesterday against A&M, is that more of an indictment of the way the Aggies are struggling right now? I think the Tide will score in this series, but can they do enough to slow down Tennessee's lineup?
WC_Drew
2:03
Which of the Aloy brothers has a better chance at winning SEC Player of the year?
Kendall Rogers
2:03
I would probably say Wehiwa with just the position he plays and the impact he is making offensively. I loved Will McEntire's tweet about the Hawaiis last night. Excellent use of a Dave Chappelle GIF.
cool 1
Andrew
2:03
If you had to pick one of Coastal, Troy, Southern Miss right now to host a regional, what’s the pick? SBC will be a three horse race this season.
Kendall Rogers
2:03
I would probably lean Southern Miss at this point. The Golden Eagles have enough veteran pieces offensively, and they certainly have the deeper and better overall pitching staff of those three clubs.
Tim T
2:05
What does the Big XII have to do to get one measly team in the rankings?
Joe Healy
2:05
Keep winning games. The winner of the WVU/Zona series this weekend will probably be ranked. I like K-State's high end wins, but it has also stubbed its toe a couple of times. Kansas has an impressive record, but the resume is light. We've also had some Big 12 teams ranked already this losses, but they've since fallen out.
Jimbo11
2:06
Does Florida State have the best weekend rotation in the country?
Kendall Rogers
2:06
Great question. Would certainly have a good case. Obviously, we think the world of Jamie Arnold, but I've been ultra impressed with the steps forward taken by Volini and Mendes this season. I wasn't sure I saw that type of leap coming from Mendes despite having pretty solid overall stuff.
Daryl
2:08
What's in the water in Knoxville? Like every program, Tennessee has had some great players over the years which led to a nice run in the 90's but historically they've been a doormat in the SEC. How has Tony Vitello built this program into a juggernaut in a conference that has two of college baseball's bluebloods in LSU and now Texas.
Joe Healy
2:08
This is probably a question that deserves a book written about it. I'm not volunteering, but someone should do it (get on that, Mike Wilson or Ben McKee!). The short answer is that he engenders incredible loyalty from his players, he has a keen understanding of how to market a program so that great players want to go there and he was and continues to be as aggressive and involved in recruiting as any head coach in the country. I don't think it's a coincidence that Jay Johnson is the other head coach I most associate with being involved in recruiting.
T
2:10
Is Wake Forest flying under the radar right now? 6-0 in the ACC and the advanced metrics like WRC+ and XFIP have them top 5 in both pitching and hitting
Joe Healy
2:10
Yeah, fair or not, the lack of quality competition early in the season except for two games against Maryland gave people an excuse to check out on closely following them, but I think their start to ACC play should have people checking back in. It's funny - before the season, our staff had a spirited debate about whether Justin Lebron or Marek Houston was the No. 1 SS in the country, and we kind of agreed they were 1A and 1B in some order. I don't think we realized how right we were in the moment.
Vince
2:12
Who do you think comes out on top in a huge Sun Belt series this weekend... Coastal or Troy? Coastal a little more tested to this point?
Kendall Rogers
2:12
Vince -- I think I probably lean Troy at home in this one. Both teams are pretty offensive. Basically, this is a series where I think the home team wins.
Cliff
2:13
Thoughts on DBU scoring 30+ runs against UTSA this weekend? Has to be one of the best offensive groups in the country.
Joe Healy
2:13
DBU continues to do DBU things, and scoring like that against a UTSA team that had been playing pretty well was certainly impressive. As far as resumes go, it helps that they already have wins over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and have another shot at a big win this week against TCU.
Guest
2:13
Could this Tennessee baseball team be a deeper, more well-rounded team than the team last year?  It feels that the depth pieces can be added without skipping much of a beat from the traditional starters.  I'm not sure that could be said if one of the main guys last year went down with an injury.  That being said, where's the hole on this team?  Pitching depth experience?  Overall experience?
Kendall Rogers
2:13
I would tap the brakes on saying they are better, but they are at least comparable. I think the lineup has some serious depth, and the starting pitching is obviously solid with Doyle leading the way. I liked what I saw from Nate Snead over the weekend, and Loy was really good for me a couple of weeks ago in Houston. This just seems a very, very well-rounded club.
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