i've followed razorback baseball closer than the 2 other main sports for the last 20 years. There has been ups and downs...there have been times where we seem like we are dead, and there is no way we'll make a deep tournament run and we wind up in Omaha, and there have been times where i just "know" we are going to win the whole thing and for what ever reason we come up short.
I do not think DVH (and his coaches) are beyond criticism. But at the same time there are no college baseball coaches i would trade for him right now (maybe in 2-3 more years)
DVH does shoulder some of the blame for this years expectations, he said very bluntly before the first of the year that the offense would not miss a beat, and that our plate discipline would be better than last year. I don't know if that's truly what he believed, or if he wanted to fire up the fanbase with the hopes that as the year went along our offense would be nearly as good as last year.... either way, looking back now, he should not have done that and he sort of wrote a check his team couldn't cash and now he and the team are having to deal with it.
Also (this is just my personal opinion) Nate Thompson's offensive philosophy doesn't fit with DVH's own personal offensive philosophy. in the past we would do anything and everything to score runs...bunt, steal, hit & run, double steals, etc... i know the game was different and there were times where the bats/balls were "dead" compared to today....In the past few years we have transformed into this HR or bust team and it could have/should have won us a national title, but it didn't. Now I'm not saying this to transfer the blame from DVH to NT, because DVH is the boss and it all falls at his feet. But i wouldn't be surprised if we go back to a more complete offensive philosophy (hopefully next season).
From the pitching standpoint, i think everyone will agree Matt Hobbs is a step down from Wes Johnson, however i do feel MH is a good pitching coach. I feel like last year Kevin Kopps almost held the staff back, because whenever we had a problem we'd just go to KK and he would get us out of it. i feel like it hampered the total staff development. Now weather that is poor coaching or not, is tough for me to say, yes looking back i wish we would have used more guys and got them ready for post-season and for this year. But when your job is to win games i can see why DVH and MH went to KK to win the game.
Moving to this year, i do not understand why Trest, Starks, etc...haven't been giving meaningful innings to prepare for the stretch run. you can tell our 5 or 6 guys are fatigued and have not been as sharp as they were earlier in the year....that to me is on the coaches....this is why we are walking more batters now, this is why we are leaving pitches up in the zone and getting hit...we have to be able to depend on more that 6-7 pitchers if we have any intention of playing for a while in June.....offensively when JUCO's are your best hitters usually this is not a recipe for success...this is not a dig at slavens or webb, but more of the fact that Wallace/Moore/Stoval, etc.. haven't lived up to the hype.
As for the schedule, yes its bad this year....but look back we played instate schools last year, we played Grambling last year...the difference is the SEC is down and we aren't getting the SOS bump from the league like we always have. plus in the past some of the mid-majors that we played had really good years, and that didn't happen this year...plus DVH doesn't have a say on playing the instate teams, he was told he has to play them, maybe going forward we'll only play them once, but he can't not play them
Now, as an overall "state of the program" we are fine. i believe there are some fans who are looking to complain and are talking about not letting the team have fun, etc...that is a joke. Yes, i know the comments DVH made before the season, and again looking back i bet he wishes he wouldn't have said that...because media and some fans take it the wrong way. but he was just saying he want his guys to be focused on winning and not on talking trash, etc... in todays world if kids aren't having fun playing a sport, they won't play...they will sit out or transfer, etc...
There a people calling for DVH to be fired, or comparing him to Mike Anderson, and i'm not sure if its just trolling or if that is what they really feel, but its just an asinine statement to make. We are coming off the best season in razorback baseball history...we are 3 years removed from a national runner up, we've been to 2 of the last 3 CWS. yes this year has been a disappointment and it appears it will end a disappointment, but collectively no one has had a better 4-5 year stretch.
If recruiting begins to slip, and we have this type of year on regular basis then yeah, its time to panic and make a change...but we have no reason to believe that will be the case.
we've all seen talented teams underperform all year, and then for whatever reason it comes together in postseason play....i wouldn't count on us turning it around this year...but its a possibility and i'm hoping thats what happens.
