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Does Justin Parker return?

Xenomorph

Xenomorph

All-American
Feb 15, 2007
15,822
9,916
113
If this was SEC football and he was DC.. he probably would not.

O’Connor brought his entire staff from UVA and Parker was pretty much his only hire. Has he seen enough after 1 year?
 
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T

TXDawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Apr 10, 2009
2,501
2,436
113
Considering he’s been praising Parker for improving Tito’s mechanics and helping him become the pitcher he was this season, it sounds like O’Connor is pretty happy with him.

Parker seems to be well thought of as a pitching coach. We just need to recruit better talent for him to work with (yes, I know that’s part of Parker’s job description).
 
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A

Amacomo

Junior
Dec 15, 2013
223
322
63
Whether you guys can see it, some of our best guys maintained or improved over the course of the season. Biggest issue is youth. Excited to see some of these young guys next year when sophomores become juniors.
 
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Drebin

Drebin

Heisman
Aug 22, 2012
21,824
25,702
113
OG Goat Holder said:
You're on a roll today. A bad roll.
Click to expand...
When your pitching staff consistently walks the leadoff hitter in critical situations, yeah, it's a fair question. Our guys did not have the mental toughness to make big pitches in close/late situations and it was pretty much an epidemic with our bullpen.

He may be a mechanics guru. But at the very least he needs help with the other stuff. The mental part of the game on the mound is important too and almost everyone we run out there struggles with it. When that happens, you have to look for the common denominator and that's the pitching coach.
 
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F

FactCheckerBot

Senior
Dec 1, 2025
337
527
93
I would think Oak would have helped the pitching philosophy if there was something strategy could’ve helped over the actual execution. I’m fine with blaming the players on not executing right now seeing how Parker has proven he can improve things. Look at what he’s done since being here.
 
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Bulldog Bruce

Bulldog Bruce

All-American
Nov 1, 2007
4,955
5,882
113
I was thinking about the pitching this year. I just didn't see mental certainty from anyone except for Tito. I wonder if this is all a by product of the way baseball is played with so much micromanaging from the dugout. Pitchers are expected to just execute a pitch that others decide he throw. There is no commitment to that decision. It's like a golfer when he is between clubs and gets into a discussion with his caddy and they change clubs a few times. Rarely does a great shot follow. I can't imagine telling Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton or Roger Clemens or a myriad of great pitchers what to throw. Al Hrabosky had a pretty good career just committing to a pitch and believing he could get the batter out. That slider that Daniel Jackson launched I had in my head should of been a fastball up and in out of the zone then throw another slider. I am just not sure they are in a position to even think about how to handle a batter.
 
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O

olblue

All-Conference
Aug 17, 2011
3,786
1,985
113
TXDawg.sixpack said:
Considering he’s been praising Parker for improving Tito’s mechanics and helping him become the pitcher he was this season, it sounds like O’Connor is pretty happy with him.

Parker seems to be well thought of as a pitching coach. We just need to recruit better talent for him to work with (yes, I know that’s part of Parker’s job description).
Click to expand...
Bear Bryant said it best. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken ****.
 
O

olblue

All-Conference
Aug 17, 2011
3,786
1,985
113
Amacomo said:
Whether you guys can see it, some of our best guys maintained or improved over the course of the season. Biggest issue is youth. Excited to see some of these young guys next year when sophomores become juniors.
Click to expand...
I think TV regressed toward the end of the season but that shouldn’t be a surprise given scouting and number of IP.
 
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O

olblue

All-Conference
Aug 17, 2011
3,786
1,985
113
Bulldog Bruce said:
I was thinking about the pitching this year. I just didn't see mental certainty from anyone except for Tito. I wonder if this is all a by product of the way baseball is played with so much micromanaging from the dugout. Pitchers are expected to just execute a pitch that others decide he throw. There is no commitment to that decision. It's like a golfer when he is between clubs and gets into a discussion with his caddy and they change clubs a few times. Rarely does a great shot follow. I can't imagine telling Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton or Roger Clemens or a myriad of great pitchers what to throw. Al Hrabosky had a pretty good career just committing to a pitch and believing he could get the batter out. That slider that Daniel Jackson launched I had in my head should have been a fastball up and in out of the zone then throw another slider. I am just not sure they are in a position to even think about how to handle a batter.
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This is good perspective. There is such a thing as over coaching and turning these guys into robots.
 
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Xenomorph

Xenomorph

All-American
Feb 15, 2007
15,822
9,916
113
OG Goat Holder said:
You're on a roll today. A bad roll.
Click to expand...
You don't think it's a fair question?

I think Parker does a good job handling individual pitchers but I'm not convinced he's awesome at putting the pieces together for a complete staff. What's the difference and where is the nuance?.. I have no idea but here's his general coaching resume:

Was the pitching coach on South Carolina teams that saw a dismantling of the remnants of their program.
Was the pitching coach on teams bad enough to get Lemonis fired.
Was the pitching coach on a team this year that saw the pitching hold it back from competing for an SEC title and advancing to Omaha.

Man.. you're intent on passing out the trophies to everyone and handing out packs of goldfish and fruit juices.. I'm just calling it like it is.
 
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bolddogge

bolddogge

All-Conference
Aug 23, 2012
1,062
1,258
113
Yes. He's not the problem. People forget how our pitching went from the bottom of the conference to the upper 1/3 his first year hear with basically the same players. The issue is talent. We need to take the last remaining bit of football's NIL and get some pitchers for our club sport.*
 
OG Goat Holder

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
13,021
11,965
113
Xenomorph said:
You don't think it's a fair question?

I think Parker does a good job handling individual pitchers but I'm not convinced he's awesome at putting the pieces together for a complete staff. What's the difference and where is the nuance?.. I have no idea but here's his general coaching resume:

Was the pitching coach on South Carolina teams that saw a dismantling of the remnants of their program.
Was the pitching coach on teams bad enough to get Lemonis fired.
Was the pitching coach on a team this year that saw the pitching hold it back from competing for an SEC title and advancing to Omaha.

Man.. you're intent on passing out the trophies to everyone and handing out packs of goldfish and fruit juices.. I'm just calling it like it is.
Click to expand...
No, I really don't. Last year was transition and they didn't hit on the big pieces out of the pen. That's it. End of story.
 
CochiseCowbell

CochiseCowbell

Heisman
Oct 29, 2012
15,058
12,962
113
PapaDawg said:
I miss the cerebral pitchers, Greg Maddux. Aoki reminded me of a young Maddux on Sunday.
IMO, the main thing our bullpen was missing this year was experience & a true 3-5 out closer.
Click to expand...

As Macdonald mentioned several times on the broadcast, he's a pitcher not a thrower. I agree with him and with you on this.
 
OG Goat Holder

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
13,021
11,965
113
PapaDawg said:
I miss the cerebral pitchers, Greg Maddux. Aoki reminded me of a young Maddux on Sunday.
IMO, the main thing our bullpen was missing this year was experience & a true 3-5 out closer.
Click to expand...
CochiseCowbell said:
As Macdonald mentioned several times on the broadcast, he's a pitcher not a thrower. I agree with him and with you on this.
Click to expand...
Well, the problem is, even if you're a cerebral pitcher you still have to run it up there with velo. If you don't have it, hitters will just tee off. Velo kills, at every level.

To me it's kinda like QB. You can get by in rec league by being an athlete. The higher you go, the more accuracy matters but you also have to be a great athlete first and foremost. People don't realize how fast even guys like Peyton and Eli were in high school.

This is why so much money is spent by parents on velocity coaching, we all know you have to have it. It's also why arms are tearing up, as they are going beyond the limits of nature.
 
P

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
58,531
28,568
113
OG Goat Holder said:
Well, the problem is, even if you're a cerebral pitcher you still have to run it up there with velo. If you don't have it, hitters will just tee off. Velo kills, at every level.

To me it's kinda like QB. You can get by in rec league by being an athlete. The higher you go, the more accuracy matters but you also have to be a great athlete first and foremost. People don't realize how fast even guys like Peyton and Eli were in high school.

This is why so much money is spent by parents on velocity coaching, we all know you have to have it. It's also why arms are tearing up, as they are going beyond the limits of nature.
Click to expand...
Not if your changing velocity, location and spins. I think a pitcher like Greg Maddox would be every bit as dominant in MLB today as he was then. If he could ever get promoted to MLB. He'd be a bit like Jake Mangum offensively. No matter how good he did in minors it would be hard to get promoted with a low 90s fastball.
 
OG Goat Holder

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
13,021
11,965
113
patdog said:
Not if your changing velocity, location and spins. I think a pitcher like Greg Maddox would be every bit as dominant in MLB today as he was then. If he could ever get promoted to MLB. He'd be a bit like Jake Mangum offensively. No matter how good he did in minors it would be hard to get promoted with a low 90s fastball.
Click to expand...
I agree, but remember, Maddux could gas 90 (which is probably 92-93 on today’s guns. He didn’t always do it, but he could.
 
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Zarbok

Zarbok

Freshman
Dec 2, 2022
103
88
18
I flip flop on him, he's clearly done a fantastic job with the starters. But it seems like nobody in the bullpen really improved at all. So idk
 
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