What's happening with the UK baseball team?

UKfan2151

All-American
Oct 1, 2003
14,431
9,419
113
I miss the old On-Deck forum from the pre-ON3 days. It seems UK baseball is struggling a bit this season but we have no threads here discussing the season. What are the major issues in our play?
 
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ScWildcat3

Senior
Sep 27, 2005
434
660
93
Can’t hit with men on base. Can’t field all of a sudden. Bullpen shaky and starters have fallen apart. On top of that so many injuries. 4th string catcher some days. Best bat out with mysterious illness. Been a weird month and half.
 

TX Wildcat

All-Conference
Apr 12, 2024
1,086
2,332
113
Pitching has imploded. Keep falling behind early and never digging out of the hole.
 

CB3UK

Hall of Famer
Apr 15, 2012
63,839
105,981
78
The pitching has been, shall we say, less than adequate. Pretty disappointed in this season so far, and this late in the game, I don't see things magically turning around
 

Johnfarrel

All-American
Oct 9, 2001
5,360
5,409
113
Can’t hit with men on base. Can’t field all of a sudden. Bullpen shaky and starters have fallen apart. On top of that so many injuries. 4th string catcher some days. Best bat out with mysterious illness. Been a weird month and half.
That's a good summary.
 
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Ukdaddy98

Sophomore
Jan 15, 2026
53
113
33
It’s a mess right now. The team has next to zero clutch ability and losing lots of close games. This team is now on the verge of missing the NCAA tourney (which would be the biggest fail of Mingiones time here… this team has legit talent) when just a month ago were in projections to possibly host a regional as a top 16 seed. Now the Cats have lost its 6th straight SEC series. Yes, they have scratched some wins but now sit at 8-12 in league play.

Remaining series with:
Tennessee
@ Florida
Arky

1 more with usc tomorrow

Uk must go at least 6-4 in the remaining SEC games to get a at large bid most likely… not looking good!
 
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kyhankypanky

All-American
Mar 21, 2004
4,417
7,712
113
It’s a mess right now. The team has next to zero clutch ability and losing lots of close games. This team is now on the verge of missing the NCAA tourney (which would be the biggest fail of Mingiones time here… this team has legit talent) when just a month was in projections to possibly host a regional as a top 16 seed. Now the Cats have lost its 6th straight SEC series. Yes, they have scratched some wins but now sit at 8-12 in league play.

Remaining series with:
Tennessee
@ Florida
Arky

1 more with usc tomorrow

Uk must go at least 6-4 in the remaining SEC games to get a at large bid most likely… not looking good!
I will try and expand on this later, but yes, you describe it very well.

This season has been hugely disappointing. Ming has done a crappy decision making job (as usual) and a number of players have regressed or at least not stepped up.

Kudos to Tharnish, Lawrence, Bell, Brown (although ? injured for awhile) for being great. Many guys just haven't stepped up with the bat and routinely leave men on base. Jelkin has been mostly good in terms of the pitching. Not much else positive to say there.

Way too much talent for the team to be floundering down the stretch. The thought of this group missing post season is almost fireable imo. Ming does certain things well, but decision making and strategy are not his strong suits to say the least.
 

UKGrad24

All-American
Apr 2, 2024
2,958
7,303
100
I miss the old On-Deck forum from the pre-ON3 days. It seems UK baseball is struggling a bit this season but we have no threads here discussing the season. What are the major issues in our play?
Pitching. Im honesty not a big Nick fan. Like the guy, but I’m a swing big sports guy. I don’t like riding out for a chance, which is what all Mitch hires were. Not that I think it was a bad hire, loved the CWS. I just think long term there’s no chance at actually winning it all or consistently winning big. The money is there, facilities are there, location not ideal for baseball but these days no the issue it once was. I’d love to see the next AD go big for baseball.
 

AJBlue

Senior
Dec 16, 2015
251
433
63
I miss the old On-Deck forum from the pre-ON3 days. It seems UK baseball is struggling a bit this season but we have no threads here discussing the season. What are the major issues in our play?
Pitching seriously struggling all across the board, starters and receivers. Have to score 13 to win. Something has to change at pitching coach or something. But Migione pretty tight with his guy. And coach leaves his guys in way too long when they freely don’t have their stuff, walking guys. That’s why we constantly give up the really big innings
 

sefus12

Heisman
Dec 22, 2007
7,110
18,916
103
Can’t hit with men on base. Can’t field all of a sudden. Bullpen shaky and starters have fallen apart. On top of that so many injuries. 4th string catcher some days. Best bat out with mysterious illness. Been a weird month and half.
The lack of hitting with guys on base is a carry over from last year. That was a big issue last season as well.
 

Blue Jesus

Senior
Aug 24, 2013
475
683
93
I will try and expand on this later, but yes, you describe it very well.

This season has been hugely disappointing. Ming has done a crappy decision making job (as usual) and a number of players have regressed or at least not stepped up.

Kudos to Tharnish, Lawrence, Bell, Brown (although ? injured for awhile) for being great. Many guys just haven't stepped up with the bat and routinely leave men on base. Jelkin has been mostly good in terms of the pitching. Not much else positive to say there.

Way too much talent for the team to be floundering down the stretch. The thought of this group missing post season is almost fireable imo. Ming does certain things well, but decision making and strategy are not his strong suits to say the least.
I've never played baseball and watched very little, what do you mean when you say the manager's decision-making has been poor? Like deciding when to take out a struggling pitcher? Setting the batting lineup?
 

ScWildcat3

Senior
Sep 27, 2005
434
660
93
I've never played baseball and watched very little, what do you mean when you say the manager's decision-making has been poor? Like deciding when to take out a struggling pitcher? Setting the batting lineup?
Yea he tends to leave pitchers in a little too long or he will bring in a reliever that makes no sense in that situation. I will say this year the only thing I blame him truly on is not getting lefties for the bullpen. It has hurt us imo. Also he has been way too aggressive on the bases in bad situations but that’s his style and it got us to a CWS.

The rest of the stuff has just been injuries hurting lineups and having to play people out of position to compensate. Nobody would expect to have to use a 4th string catcher who normally plays outfield. Tyler bell has regressed which I def did not see coming. Also the errors have killed us which in the past we have had great defenses.
 
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Ukdaddy98

Sophomore
Jan 15, 2026
53
113
33
Yea he tends to leave pitchers in a little too long or he will bring in a reliever that makes no sense in that situation. I will say this year the only thing I blame him truly on is not getting lefties for the bullpen. It has hurt us imo. Also he has been way too aggressive on the bases in bad situations but that’s his style and it got us to a CWS.

The rest of the stuff has just been injuries hurting lineups and having to play people out of position to compensate. Nobody would expect to have to use a 4th string catcher who normally plays outfield. Tyler bell has regressed which I def did not see coming. Also the errors have killed us which in the past we have had great defenses.
This is so true… playing backups and guys out of position has helped lead to many 3 plus error games. Probably the lowest fielding percentage in forever this year!