Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports Podcast. And now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hey, welcome In Arkansas baseball going to play Alabama this weekend. Big news. Razorbacks going to change the rotation this weekend that was expected. Hunter Dietz is going to be the Razorback's number one starter. We'll talk a lot about that on today's show with Bubba Carpenter. First, want to tell you that today's baseball podcast is brought to you by H and R Tire and auto. They're a third generation family owned business serving northwest Arkansas since 1976. Just like great baseball programs, H and R is built on consistency, trust and doing things the right way. No shortcuts and no gimmicks at H and R Tire and Auto. Also brought to you by Eglins Best. When it comes to your game day, you want the best in your lineup. That includes your eggs. Eglins Best delivers more of the nutrition you need with six times more vitamin D and 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. You can score now with with Eglins Best. Better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. For more information, visit eglinsbest.com also brought to you by Southern Loft. They believe your home should reflect your unique personality. That's why they offer a wide variety of stylish furniture pieces that are perfect for any taste. Whether you're looking for a new sofa for the living room, a sleek dining table for your kitchen, they've got just what you need. When you're looking for that piece of furniture that reflects you, you can visit Southern Loft at 3155 North College Avenue in Fayetteville or call 479856, 6100. It felt like it was inevitable that Hunter Dietz was going to go to the top of the rotation after last week. I mean, I think they wanted to make this change after the Florida series. But with the quick turnaround to Auburn, you really had to pitch Gabe Gackel or someone else on Thursday night. It would have been very hard to move Hunter Dietz into the number one role against Auburn. But now you've got an extra day before Alabama, so to speak, at least between weekend series. And so Dietz is going to go to the top. And I tell you, and I talked to David Horner, I asked him about it this morning on the press conference.
I wondered how much did not only Dietz pitching well, but pitching well against Jake Marciano, who's one of the best pitchers in the league in the country, really pitching well against him, dueling him for Seven innings, giving Arkansas that chance to come back and win the game in the eighth, how much it played a factor. And I think that was like. If there was any hesitation, Bubba, about putting Hunter Dietz in the number one role, I think the way that he pitched opposite of one of the best pitchers in the league last week probably erased any doubt.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Yeah. And not only against one of the best pitchers in the league, but in a situation where we had to have a win, I mean, that was. That was a must win on the road right there. And I think.
Yeah, I think he didn't let it faze him at all. He just went out and took care of business. Pitched his game was pretty good in the beginning and then got better as the game went on and just a great outing. So, yeah, I think if you're DVH and the staff, I think you feel pretty good about him.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: On Fridays, he threw 106 pitches, and his fastest pitch of the night was his 106th pitch. It was 97 miles an hour. And in that inning, I think he had probably a handful of pitches that were 95 plus. In fact, I think number 105 was 96 miles an hour. The number 106 is 97. And I asked him after the game, I said, were you emptying the tank or did you still have something in there? And he said he still thought that, you know, there were some pitches in there that maybe he could have pitched the eighth if he was allowed to.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Well, have you seen him?
He's a big dude. Yeah. Big strong guy. And, you know. You know, I know he's spent a lot of time in the weight room last couple years, and he's ready for this moment and he's worked hard and he's earned it. So I'm excited for him.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: I think he's kind of felt like this was. I don't know if I used the word inevitable earlier, but, you know, we talked about him probably three, four weeks into the season. It's like he's giving them Friday night stuff. And Gabe Gackel wasn't at that time. I mean, I think you look at Gabe's, what's. He made eight starts this year.
Out of those eight starts, you might look at three and say that's what you really need out of your, you know, your game one guy.
You know, I mean, some of those early ones, it's hard to gauge them because you're on pitch counts and things like that. But, you know, Dietz has been pitching, at least in my eyes, like the Friday guy. In a Game 2 role for the better part of the season.
[00:04:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, you think back to, like the Florida series, you know, Gackel gave you what, one and a third.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Gackel went against Florida?
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Against Florida, yeah.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: Gackel went one and a third.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
Boy, that's tough on a Friday. When your Friday night guy gives you one and a third, it just puts strain on the bullpen all the way through. And so, you know, I think, you know, Gackel's got Friday night stuff. He just hadn't been able to do it as a starter.
But when you watch Diet's pitch, I mean, he looks the part of a Friday night guy. He's got Friday night stuff, and he's pitched like a Friday night guy. So he's earned that start. And I think it's going to be good.
You can't go into a Friday night wondering, okay, which Friday night guy is going to show up tonight? And I think they were just a little worried about Gackel. They were kind of always on pins and needles, okay, which Gackel is going to show up today? And so if he does end up coming out of the pen, whether it be Friday or Saturday or whatever day, I think. I think it'd be better for the
[00:05:18] Speaker B: team, I think, you know, and Gackel, he got him into the fifth inning last week against Auburn, and the fifth didn't go well. But I think with Dietz, I feel like more consistently with him, even if he's not on when he's pitching, like his inconsistent outings are still going to get you, maybe not real deep into a game, but it's probably going to get you to the fifth inning, maybe even the sixth inning. And that's a big deal, like you said. I mean, it takes the stress off of the bullpen in that, you know, first night.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: I think there's something about Dietz and his mound presence. He just looks so calm out there on the mound, like he's not even working hard, you know, like you said, he can, you know, he could throw. He probably could have thrown two more. He probably could have finished that game, you know, if they'd have let him. Of course, you don't want to go that many pitches with a guy coming off an injury, but still, I mean, he just looks. He just looks calm and under control out there. Nothing phases him. So I like that.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: So Hunter Deats going to be game one starter. Cole Gibler, game two starter for Arkansas. And this is another one that we've talked about for a couple Three weeks. Hey, do you go to Cole Gibler in a starting role? And you know, the thing with Cole is that he's been giving them maybe not starter innings on Friday night or Saturday night, depending on when he's needed to be used, but he has given them some pretty good length, Bubba. I mean, you know, I think about three and a third innings that he went a couple of weeks ago, or they really. I think they really stretched him out against Florida. Maybe four and two thirds that he went in that game or in one of the games that he came in and pitched. It was the game one.
You know, I think that there's some length there with him. If he's pitching well, it's going to be interesting to see how he pitches this weekend because it's going to be on a Saturday. This is a big weekend at Alabama. You know, like a lot of schools, they try to. They try to pair like a spring football weekend with a baseball series. Remember when Arkansas went to Mississippi State that one year and got swept on like Super Bulldog weekend or something and Dak Prescott was there and that's what this is for Alabama. I mean, this is their a day weekend for their football team.
You know, there's probably going to be a lot of people who migrate over from the football stadium to the baseball stadium, and that's going to be the environment that Cole Gibler's pitching in Saturday. He's never made a start in his career, at least a college start.
And oh, by the way, you're doing it against the top 10 team on the road.
It's going to be. It's going to be a real test to see what he's made of.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Well, you talk about guys that have earned it. I mean, he's earned a chance to start and, and, you know, had things just. I mean, he really could have started from day one and, and the coaching staff knew it. You know, he's got starter stuff and so I think he's going to go out and do well. You think it's some of the situations he's had to come into the last couple years. Bases loaded, no outs, like crucial situations doesn't seem to phase him a whole lot. So I think he's going to do well.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: What have you liked about him?
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Like.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Like what do you think about him can translate to a starter?
Well, I viewed him as. Does he have to do anything different?
Does he have to pace himself a little bit more to be a starter than he does as a reliever?
[00:08:18] Speaker A: I don't think. I think he just Got and throw his game. I think the difference in him last year I viewed him more as a two pitch guy. Last year, more of a fastball, slider guy relied heavily on the slider. I think now he's a three pitch guy. You know, he's always had a good change up. I just don't think in his role last year he really used it a whole lot. So got a really good change up. And if you're a lefty with a good change up, you know, you combine it with a good fastball and he can locate. He doesn't walk you.
I like that, I like that in a starter. So I think he's, I think he's going to do well. And you know, the thing is, a lot of times you see guys start to sit slider on him, that's where he's got to be smart or Helic's got to be smart and say, okay, you know, this guy, you can tell the way he reacts to a fastball that he's sitting slider. So that's when we got to, you know, we got to throw more fastballs or maybe, you know, try to try to throw a fastball maybe in to set up the slider away or the change up or whatever. But I think he's going to do, I think he's going to do great.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: I have to be careful about saying Gabe Gackel's going back to the bullpen because Arkansas is not naming a Game 3 starter. There is a very, I think, plausible route here this weekend where you could see Gabe Gackel not get pitched in game one or two and you start him in game three against Alabama. Now, I also think that if they've got a game kind of on the line, so to speak, they'll bring Gabe Gackel in potentially and see if they get the bullpen Gabe Gackel that they've gotten in the past. So I want to be careful about saying that he's going to the bullpen, but it feels like that's where this is headed because the numbers are so drastically different for him between being a starter and being a reliever.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Well, when he came out of the bullpen on Tuesday or first of all, when I saw him warming up on Tuesday to come in, I'm like, okay, that solidifies it. He's going to the bullpen and I think it's just going to be a matter of what day do they need him. Like if, if it's close on Friday, Hunter Deeds comes out. I think Gackel is going to be the first guy out of the pin if it's, if it's a close game and you look at the contrast in the two. I was just talking to Phil about it.
Think of the way Dietz throws the ball. You know, big lefty on top. He's released points, 6, 8, 6, 9, somewhere through there.
And then you take a guy like gackles, you know, 5, 3, 5, 2, 5, 4, whatever, 5, 5, somewhere through there, a completely different shape, more of a flat into the zone versus downhill, like Deets. So you're looking at, you're looking at this release point versus this release point. As a hitter, that's a tough change to make.
Yeah. So I think those two compliment each really well. But if, if we don't use him on Friday, then, you know, he can come in after Gibler and kind of flip the roles. Instead of, of go Gackle Gibler, we go Gibbler Gackle. So, you know, I think either way. That's kind of hard to say, by the way.
Yeah, but I think, I think either way, but I just think those two complement each other really well. Deets and then Gackle, you know, and hopefully in a perfect world, Dietz dominates. We score some runs and we don't have to use Gackel on Friday night. We save him. That'd be the, you know, you know, optimal.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: Feels like you're just kind of. And it feels like you're restructuring roles here. I mean, it's, you know, Dietz becomes what Gackle was, Gibler becomes what Dietz was, and Gackle potentially becomes what Gibler was.
As your first guy out of the bullpen.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: I mean, you're really right saying that now. The thing that I'm not sure about is let's say Dietz goes, you know, seven innings, eight innings, then you want to bring McIlvain in to close out the game.
Those two are similar to big lefties. They throw from a high release point. Power guys, mid-90s fastball, both have a good cutter around 90 miles an hour.
You know, McElveen's cutters a little bit faster, but it's their similar style. So you kind of wonder if they're going to piggyback off of those two or if they'll go, you know, more Gackle after, after Deets. I mean, there's a lot of. There's so many what ifs. You know, I can sit here and talk about it for hours, but.
But hopefully, you know, the key is just have Dietz go out and have a good start and that's just kind of go from there. Do whatever we have to do to win Friday night.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: This is what Butch Thompson said whenever they faced Dietz and McIlvaine back to back last week. He said it's not every day you see back to back, 93 to 95, 96 left handed pitchers.
He said, I thought we were battling and engaged the best we could.
He said, the Arkansas Arm or Arkansas just has electric big guys. They had two left. He's going tonight. I think the next day he called him a couple of big leaguers that they were facing. So it worked for him against Auburn.
Doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be the perfect combination every week. You know, McIlvaine's interesting to me because he is their closer. Dave Van Horn said that at Swatters Club this week. He said that.
He said he actually got a little irritated I think with maybe one of the TV announcers last week because they said they ask him something along the lines of, you know, like, who's your closer? Maybe they said it in a way that ruffled some feathers, I don't know. But they said, you'll see. You know, didn't even tell him who the closer was. And then he said, you know, he was telling the crowd on Monday. He said, now they know who the closer is. It's Ethan McIlvaine. So it's weird with him though. I mean, there's been three times this year that I can think of where he's come in and not all in the ninth inning, but he came in in the ninth inning against Little Rock the other night and he loaded the bases. Not all his fault, there's an error in there, but. And it seems like there's been some errors in there almost every time. I think there was one where they got three straight hits against him. But he's loaded the bases and he's made the pitches that he needs to get out of the inning. Now one time run scored because there was an error behind him by Pompey. Threw a ball out into the, into the outfield. But I'm really impressed with his ability to at least so far get into those jams and make the pitches that he needs to get out of them.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean that's, that's huge. I mean, Gackel's got that ability too. A lot of baserunners on base, you know, a lot of times he's able to work around it. But you know, the thing that's surprising to me about McIlbain is, you know, I know he had a Tennessee last year to not. To not throw the strike, not throw strikes. I mean, he had tendency to walk and I think now he's a completely different pitcher than he was last year. But to me he looks like a closer. Big lefty coming in, got the Fu Manchu. I mean, that says closer.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: That's what he looks like to me. He looks like himself. Go back and look at him at Vanderbilt, clean cut. I think they let him grow his hair down a little longer. But it's like we've talked about Vanderbilt on here before.
Like they've got a coach who's got like a high affinity for like, you know, military culture and really wants to install that in his team. And it's for some players. Some players will go there and they do really well within the confines of that. Some players go there and it's not for them.
And you know, I haven't Talked to Ethan McIlvain about this, but I kind of wonder if that's the case. I mean, like when you see him come here and I'm sure you've talked to him.
Big country guy. Yeah, you know, it's like. And you see, you know, he looks like Kenny Powers out there pitching, you know, the Fu Manchu and the glasses and the, you know, the hair and everything going on. And I just feel like maybe there's a little bit more freedom to be himself and that's paying dividends for him because he looks nothing this year like he did last year at Vanderbilt. And I'm not talking about just appearance, I'm talking about pitching.
[00:15:55] Speaker A: Well, a lot of it's being able to be yourself, you know, it's funny, I did an interview with him one of the Post games and we Talked for probably 10 minutes before I started the interview, just about hunting, bow hunting. And, you know, I was asking him a couple questions about the whole Vandy thing. You know, the Vandy boy, how he's not what I expected.
He's fun to talk to, but yeah, he doesn't fit that mold of all the. All the Vandy stuff that goes on, but neither does Kojal. So. First time I talked to Kozil, I'm like, man, I love this guy.
There's no way was he at Vandy. And I feel the same way about McElveen, but, you know, he's definitely got good stuff and, you know, I mean, maybe, you know, him coming in after deets. I mean, hitters still have to hit it, you know, and they haven't really. They haven't squared him up yet. So I guess it doesn't matter if he's coming in after Deets or after Gibler. After whoever. I think he's coming in and he's got dominant stuff.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: A reminder that our baseball podcast is sponsored by H and R Tire and Auto. They're a local shop that's been family owned for three generations, that they built their reputation on taking care of customers the right way. And that kind of longevity doesn't happen by accident at H and R Tire and Auto. We'll talk more about Alabama here in a minute. I want to go back and talk a little bit about Little Rock on Tuesday night. Arkansas won that game seven to nothing.
Boy, it felt like it played out. Like a lot of Arkansas's midweek games have played out this year, maybe Missouri State notwithstanding, because that game was totally different than what we've seen but hadn't it felt like on a lot of Tuesday nights or in some cases Mondays because they played what should be a Tuesday game on a Monday. Like you're just waiting for Arkansas to get a hit in a lot of, in a lot of situations. I mean, I think as a no hitter going into the fifth inning the other night against Little Rock, Pompey gets a single, maybe steals a couple of bases, comes home on a sac fly and at that point, you know, Arkansas has the lead and then they break through in the sixth inning against Tag Andrews, who used to be here at Arkansas.
But it feels like a lot of those Tuesday games, even like UCA when they won by 13 or 14 runs, you're waiting and waiting and waiting for the offense to finally come through, but they did. And I thought Reese Robinette's hit in the sixth inning, like we'll see if that has some sort of effect down the line. Like that's the hit they've been waiting on. They haven't had a whole lot of those, you know, three run hits. I was looking at Oliver Griggs game notes, the sid for the baseball team. And you know, it's got home runs in there. And you look at Arkansas, all of their home runs this year except for one I think have been solo or two run home runs. Like it just when they've gotten the big hit this year, there just haven't been a lot of guys on base. And so I thought that really stood out to me from Robinette to get a hit in that moment.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I interviewed Robinette after the game and I mean that is, that's the, that's the big hit we've been waiting on, and then after that, you know, things kind of started rolling in our favor and we're able to put up a big inning and that's, that's what we haven't been able to get. But man, a lot of times it just takes that one big hit to get you going and hopefully that'll carry over into this weekend. But, you know, we're, we're not talking about Alabama yet, but we're getting a go up, about to go up against a pitching staff that's real stingy. They don't give up a lot of hits. So. But, but it was good to see. But before the big hit, we had a couple of really good at bats where guys drew walks and for me,
[00:19:24] Speaker B: couple of guys who've been swinging and missing a lot.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they were able to draw a walk and get on base. Kuhillo had a good at bat, laid off a couple sliders and I don't know, that's the key. For me, that's the key is just taking what the pitcher gives you.
If you'll stay in the zone, good things are going to happen. You know, we took a couple walks, next thing you know, boom, we get a, a three run double.
That's what we've been missing.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Chris Curry likes Tag Andrews, who used to be here at Arkansas. He was here last year, didn't pitch. I think there might have been an injury going on with him last season, but he's Little Rock's closer. I mean, they bring him in before closing time. They never had a chance to close the game, but he said he thought that would be a really good learning experience for him to go through that. But, you know, you wonder about what his nerves were like, I guess, you know, in that inning.
Well, but he also pitched the inning before.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, that's one of those high leverage situations where I think Curry kind of knew, hey, we need to get him in there. Or maybe he was already warming up. I wouldn't, I didn't see him down there throwing. But, you know, he came in and he actually, you know, the, the, the walks were like, the pitches he were, he was missing with were close. I mean, they weren't bad misses. So I thought, I thought his stuff looked really good.
And you know, I, I think he's their closer, is there. I think he's been their closer. But he, yeah, he didn't miss bad and it was just a credit to the hitters for laying off that borderline pitch.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Chris told me he likes him as a closer. He said he's got the right mentality for a closer. And he said, you know, he can.
He can lose a game, and 30 minutes later, he's forgotten about it. And he said, that's what you got to have as a closer.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's a mindset. You know, the last three outs of the game are always the hardest to get. And. And, you know, I talk about it a lot. It's crazy. If you could take the same approach as a hitter, there's something about the heightened intensity, awareness, whatever. When it comes down to the end of the game, you see it all the time. Guys battle a little bit more.
Hitters just seem to be a little bit more locked in at the end of the game. I want my guys to be locked in like that at the first first of the game. Don't wait till the ninth inning. Give me that a bat at the first inning. And then when you get to the ninth inning, we're going to be way ahead.
But it's easier said than done.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: Andrews came in to face Helfrich in the sac fly. So the sac fly came in the first at bat for Tag Andrews. And I tell you two thoughts here. I wonder if you're Arkansas, you've seen Tag Andrews throw. You've seen him throw in scrimmages. You know him.
They executed a double steal against him in that first at bat. And I wonder how much of that was kind of knowing his tendencies, knowing his time to the plate, and also wonder if that may have thrown off his game a little bit. It's got to be kind of hard as a pitcher. You come in and a pitch or two into the game, they've executed a double steal against you.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Yeah. So I even said on the radio that he picked a couple times.
And I even said on the radio, I said. I said, I don't think. You know, I don't think TJ Stealing here. I don't think Pompey's gonna steal. He doesn't have a big lead, and then on the next pitch, he steals. But I think there was something there. They. They saw something in him to where they knew they could steal that bag, so. And it paid off.
[00:22:46] Speaker B: Yeah. No, it really did. And then Arkansas, they got after. I mean, Robinette had the hit, and Pompey, he continues to be kind of a frustrating hitter, I think, like, he has the hit, but then he comes up in the six with the bases loaded, and he doesn't get in the batter's box in time, and he has a strike assessed against him, and literally one pitch into the at bat. He's down.02.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, that was tough. I, I didn't really. I was kind of watching.
I don't know what happened there. I don't know why he was late getting in the box and all the music was playing and yeah, we saw the umpire come out and I didn't know if they were going to call Pompey or that or, or the pitcher tag on that. But yeah, it's. When things are going bad, things like that happen. You end up, you end up. Oh, one. To start off the at bat and then he throws a. I think he threw him a first pitch slider and got ahead.02. And then.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that type of thing can be a, an inning killer, though. I mean, you got to really have your head in the game.
And I mean, like, can you imagine if they don't score a run there? And you know, you can potentially attribute it back to, hey, it's because you took a strike, because you get in the batter's box in time.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: Well, just think about it for the pitcher, how, how huge is that in that situation? You're like, yes, oh, one. I mean, still got to make two good pitches to get the hitter out.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: I feel like it's so much more advantageous for a pitcher to get the batter's box timing.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: As opposed to the other way around. Because strike one is such a different deal than ball one.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Getting ahead 01 is huge. If you look at the numbers of the batting average, you know, when a hitter's down.01 versus a head 01, it's crazy.
[00:24:26] Speaker B: Cade Smith is Little Rock's maybe their best player right now. He's an outfielder. He began his career here. He had a shoulder injury when he was at Arkansas. Transferred down to Harding in Searcy, which is his Hometown boy, he's hitting.374, Bubba. He had a couple of hits the other day and fortunately for him, the guy behind him, it's into a double play both times and it erases him at a good play in the outfield. When he was here back in October, he made a play, I think he threw out a guy from left field or center field at the plate.
And Chris Curry told me he said that was whenever we first kind of realized, like, okay, we may have something here with him. It turned their heads the way that he was able to perform in that, that exhibition game against Arkansas. He's turned himself into a really good looking player.
[00:25:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't remember much about him when he was here, but I did like the way he played the other night.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: They wanted him to be a two way guy. Here's what I remember about him. I think they had three pitchers named Smith that year and really only one of them is the one we remember.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember him pitching, so. Yeah, he's.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: I don't think he ever. Well, he didn't play. I mean, he was hurt and ended up red shirting.
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Yeah, well, good for him, though. I mean, it just goes to show you, there's always a place for you out there somewhere. If it doesn't work somewhere, you know, there's. There's a spot for you.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: Tate McGuire got Arkansas off to a pretty good start.
You know, you talk about making pitches. He first two guys kind of have weak hit singles against him and he was able to get out of that inning.
Tuesday starter is still one. That's kind of very, I guess, very intriguing to me because you think about next Tuesday, they play UAPB in North Little Rock the next Tuesday they've got Missouri State. That comes in and then you still got a double. Midweek looming at the end of the month against Northwestern State.
I don't know if it's Tate McGuire, I don't know if it's Colin Fisher, if he doesn't pitch on the weekend, but that Tuesday, starting pitcher, I guess McGuire gave them a start the other day. That probably earns him another start. We'll see. And I guess a lot of it will depend on if he's needed and when against Alabama.
But what did you think about the performance that he had?
[00:26:38] Speaker A: No, I thought he looked good. You know, ground ball up the middle, then a blooper to right and then gets that big double play ball. Made a good pitch. I thought he did a good job of mixing his pitches, throwing strikes. I think that's huge.
There's something about him. He hides the ball well. You know, he's got his glove up here, high glove. Ball comes out, it's kind of hard to see. You know, his velo's 90 to 92. I think he threw one pitch, 93. But I think it plays faster than that. And I think, I think he just knows how to pitch.
But one thing about.
Did you see the Mizzou score Missou beat?
[00:27:15] Speaker B: I know they beat Missouri State 3 to 2. 3 to 2.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: So I'm like, who is Missouri throwing on a Tuesday?
That can limit. Because watching Missouri State, I've watched them swing a little bit, they can hit. So I just wonder who Mizzou's throwing on a Tuesday night.
We need to go back and watch that and figure out how they shut them down. Only scored two runs against Mizzou.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: Well, you wonder too, about when Arkansas plays Missouri, which is on the heels of the Missouri State game, by the way, because they'll play Missouri State on a Tuesday, then they'll play Missouri on a Thursday in Columbia.
Does Missouri maybe do the Auburn thing where they move their midweek guy back to a Thursday to keep their other guys on, on normal rest? That may be something worth watching there, too.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Yeah, good point. Didn't think about that.
[00:27:58] Speaker B: You know, McGuire, he needed to be good because Nick Bronzini for Little Rock was really good for three innings. And they, they only got him out of there because they're moving him to the starting rotation this weekend. And so Little Rock, they go, they go up to Illinois this weekend and they play SIU Edwardsville. And that's, that's a series for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. They're one and two. Right now, Little Rock is a game behind SIU Edwardsville. But Bronzini, you know, he started his career at lsu.
I mean, you don't get to LSU if you don't know what you're doing.
Went to Washington, had an injury last year, and now he's ended up at Little Rock. And that's two weeks in a row, Bubba, where he's really pitched well against an SEC lineup. He did the same thing for the most part the week before against Ole Miss.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Well, if you look at his era, ZRA doesn't really stand out to you. It's over six. But I'll tell you what he did. And early in the game, he was throwing that breaking ball at the top of the zone. And I thought he was just hanging his breaking ball, but I think he was trying to throw it at the top and then he'd come back and tunnel that fastball off of it at the top of the zone. And got a few swings at the top, got us to chase it a little bit. 90 mile an hour fastball at the top of the zone. And we were chasing it, you know, five or six inches out of the zone. But he did a really good job landing that curveball, slider, whatever you want to call it. It was, what, 77, 78 miles an hour at the top of the zone. And I think that kind of kept us off, off pace there for a minute.
But he's, you know, what you call, I guess, like a crafty lefty, you know, little bit funky, kind of tough to pick the ball up out of his hand.
So, yeah, he. He did a good job, though. I was glad. I was glad when they went to the pit and got him out of there.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Offensively, it was not a good night in terms of, like, hitting the ball. There were only four hits in that game against L. Now they did draw some walks. Yeah, seven walks. I think there were multiple hits. Batsman in there.
I thought I sent you this quote earlier. I wanted to get your thoughts on this. This was from Rob Vaughn. After Alabama beat Samford on Tuesday night, he was asked about Arkansas.
He said, quote, they've got the ability to be incredibly offensive. I know they haven't, outside of South Carolina, put up a ton of runs, but, man, that is like a ticking time bomb. Talking about Arkansas's offense, he went on to say that he and Brock Bennett, who's an assistant coach at Georgia, he said they had been talking earlier that morning. Of course, Arkansas and Georgia will play next week.
He said. We were both saying, man, it's coming. That team's going to get it at some point. He said, we were laughing about, let's just give them two more weeks and then they can get rolling.
You heard Chris Curry said something the other night. He said it's when, not if, Arkansas gets going. He said they're going to be very, very tough to deal with.
Is this coach speak or is there something there that makes you think that Arkansas is about to turn the corner offensively?
[00:30:50] Speaker A: Well, I think they're being legit. I mean, I think they're telling the truth. Part of it, they might be a little bit of coach speak, but I think they look at the lineup and they see a ton of talent. I mean, I've done it before. I've gone through there and said, okay, Helfert, Kozil, New, Souza, Aloy, Stewart, Pompey, Ray Robinette. I mean, you know, and that's not even mentioned in Rutenbar. Who. Who gives you some of the best at bats on the team right now as a freshman, but probably the best. Those names I read out, those guys are good.
We just need them to start clicking. You know, we got to have. You got to have something out of Pompey and Aloy. They're huge. You know, one of those guys needs. They need to get it going. Alloy is a guy when, if he got hot, he could carry it offense. I mean, we saw him with the RBI last year. I mean, once he gets going, you know, I think part of it's mechanical with him. I think part of it's mental right now. And then that, that kind of leads to approach and all kinds of things. But I just feel like the names that I just read off, you know, boy, if they can, they can just start to click a little bit, you know, and get hot. Hitting is contagious. I don't want to compare them to the 22 Ole Miss team, but they're similar. You know, that 22 Ole Miss team came in here, Matt, and I remember thinking, how are these guys not losing? I mean. Or how are they not winning? I mean, it was crazy that we
[00:32:19] Speaker B: thought something about Florida two years ago.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Well, yeah, and they came in here and won.
But it's, it's crazy. You, you look at all the talent, you're like, it just isn't clicking.
And I think at some point it's going to. And, and I think it's a dangerous team. I went through and did a bunch of numbers. I going to bore you with all the numbers. But I mean, we're really, you know, if you compare to last year's team, you know, last year's team, you know, runs per game, you know, there's 8.7 runs per game right now, raging. 5.4, you know, they were at 10 and point 8 hits per game, we're at 7.5.
You get a couple guys going in the middle of the lineup and that gap starts to close. And pitching wise, pitching numbers aren't really that far off. You know, ERA is a point higher or run higher. I mean, it's, you know, last year we're giving up, you know, five runs per game. Right now it's 6.1 runs per game. This is, this is conference only stats.
Last year, 10 k's, 10.7 k's per game. Right now we're 9.5 ks per game, you know, 3.5 walks per game, 4.4 walks per game. This year that's not a huge difference. I mean, you can close that gap really easy. And you know, you don't want to compare one year team to next or the two teams. It's hard to compare this year team to last year.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Does it show you how many home runs at this time last year versus this year?
[00:33:44] Speaker A: Well, home runs last year were averaging.
[00:33:47] Speaker B: I'm talking about the pitching staff has given up. Because when I hear those numbers, it's like the numbers aren't that different. But then it's a full run per game difference. It makes me wonder if they're giving up more home runs this year than they did a year ago.
[00:34:00] Speaker A: A few more it wasn't crazy. I wrote that down. But I don't have it on this sheet, so I'm not helping you any there. But, but, yeah, but when you hear
[00:34:10] Speaker B: those numbers about pitching, you know that the pitching isn't a whole lot different than it was last year. It tells you that at least. It tells me.
Well, maybe I shouldn't say this. You can't really put the fault on any on either side, but if you're just getting a little bit more offense, it makes a huge difference. And, and you mentioned some of those guys. You know, Van Horn was talking about them on Monday up at the Swatters Club.
And you got four upperclassmen right now that are hitting below.200 in league play. You got Robinette at 186, Kozels at 167, Aloya is at 147 and Zach Stewart is at.140. And really, the two that stand out, I think, bubba, are Kozal at 167 and Aloy at 147. You remember last year in SEC play, Kozal hit.333 and Kuhio Aloy hit.291. He wasn't as good in conference as he was out of conference, but he wasn't bad either. He was an all SEC player as a dh, I think in part because of some of the performances that he had in conference. So, you know, he's batting.147 versus 291 last year. Kozil batting 167 versus 333 last year. Those are two guys that if you can just get them going and you can keep helfer cotton, you can keep rooting bar playing well and. And Souza continues to put the bat on the ball. That really can change, I think, the complexion of the lineup.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. Just, you know, just those two guys alone, like you said. Now another, you ask about the home runs this year, you know, maybe a few more home runs. But I think that one of the differences is the plays that we're not making on defense this year that we made last year.
You go back to Auburn, you know, I think about the blooper to right field in front of Stewart.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: It doesn't have to be an error, right?
[00:35:56] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not talking about errors. I'm talking about plays not made that were. That are hits that we know we should make.
The other ball, the line drive to right field, tough play. Sturt coming across, hits his glove and bounces out the. The blooper out into center field. It looked like Souza called New off, so new shut it down. New should have come and caught that ball. Ball hits the ground, that's a base hit. I mean, there's a lot of plays like that. You know, you look at Rutenbauer's ball in left field that he dropped, I don't know if that went for a hit or an error. I didn't.
[00:36:29] Speaker B: It was an error.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: It was an error.
There's a lot of plays that we're not making.
You know, the ball out in front of the plate.
Helford comes out, turns and throws the first ball, gets away from, from Rutten Bard. You know, it kind of got his feet tangled up and I don't know, it looked like to me went at it with both hands, which he's got to get that other hand out of the way and just catch it with his glove hand.
Little things like that.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: There's probably 10 or more balls where Cam Kozal doesn't have the range at short that Viva Aloy had last year. Yeah, it's hard to compare those two. I mean, you're talking about an all time great player in Viva. But you know, like, like there's been a lot of plays where, you know, you see, it's like, is he going to get that? No, he didn't get there.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:14] Speaker B: And those make a difference.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Absolutely. And coach has done a great job at shortstop. But you're right, there are some balls that he didn't get to that, you know, your golden spikes winner gets to, you know. And I'm not taking anything away from Kozil. I love him to death, but I mean, there is a difference there in the range.
But you know, Aloy wasn't your. I mean, he was, I mean, he was a stud at Surestop.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: I mean, but he was a big league shortstop.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: And Kozel's not.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. His future is not. Kozil's going to be a second baseman, you know, in his future down the road. But he's doing a really good job for us short. You know, I think he's made some good plays. But yeah, I think that you go and you start putting all those together, the plays that aren't being made and there's, there's quite a few of them and I think that's a big difference right there.
[00:38:01] Speaker B: I think Carter Rutenbar is working a lot in left field.
He played there the. Again the other night. It feel. And I don't know what the lineup card is going to look like when they play tomorrow night, but you just kind of get the feeling that Rutenbar is going to be their left fielder and that'll allow them to get Pompey and Aloy's bat in there. Now it's just a matter of, you know, what's the consistency level with those two? Because up until now, it's kind of felt like it's either Pompey or Aloy.
Now, after what we saw on Tuesday night, which felt like a little bit of a dress rehearsal for the weekend, to be honest with you, it looks like maybe you get both and see whether or not that that works.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Well, defensively, we're definitely better with Pompey at third, Robinette at first, we're better if that's. If that's the lineup and then Kahi o dh.
But I'll tell you, I love Christian Turner. I think he's going to be a really good player. I think it's some, you know, maybe they use him as a guy off the bench.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: I don't know how they defensive replacement if you got the lead in the eighth inning.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But I think he's a guy that's going to still see some action. I just.
I think he's got an electric bat. I think he's boys quick. You know, he's got some oppo power. And so I think he's a guy that I think we're still going to see him some.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Well, Dave Van Horn said today, whenever he's talking to the reporters, he said with Rutenbar and with Turner, he said, you can kind of see the future a little bit with those two guys. And I would put Brumbaugh in that conversation, too, potentially.
We'll see what happens. But I haven't totally given up on him as a position player. Long term, I don't think it's going to happen this year, but long term, I think that there's still a future there for him. I want to tell you again, our baseball podcast brought to you by H and R Tire and Auto, proudly family owned since 1976. Okay, so you bored me with some numbers, bubba. I'm going to bore you with a few. I bored you? I meant to get.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Well, I think that's good stuff.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Well, no, it was good, but I think you used the word bore you.
I'm pretty sure I got that verbatim. We can run the tape back and find out for sure. Let's see. So I meant to say these about Gackel earlier because I looked these up this morning.
Last year, in his starts, his ERA was 669. His WHIP was 149, and he had 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings when he went to the bullpen, basically the same number of innings, his ERA is 206. So that's almost four and a half points or right about four and a half points lower. His WHIP, 114, so that's about 35 points lower. And then his K per 9 goes up to 12.9, so two and a half more than he was as a starter. And then I looked up his numbers in his career, and this is where it really gets drastic. Or I mean, it's drastic last year, too, but there's a lot more data here when you're talking about his career. All of his starts versus all of his relief appearances as a starter, his career ERA, 5.42, his WHIP, 1.56, 10.4 strikeouts per nine. You look at that versus his relief appearances, his ERA, 2.17, WHIP, 1.09, strikeouts per nine, 12.4. Those are elite numbers, I feel like out of the bullpen. And again, very drastic difference between relief appearances and starting appearances.
[00:41:14] Speaker A: But how do you explain that? I mean, I consider myself a pretty good baseball guy.
I explained that.
[00:41:21] Speaker B: You know, I asked Matt Hobbs before the season, I said, you know, is he more comfortable in relief than he is as a starter? Because we saw that last year, or at least that's what it appeared.
And he said something to the extent or to the effect of. He said, I don't think it mattered if he was starting or pitching in relief last year. At the beginning of the year, he just was doing some things mechanically that was not going to allow him to be successful on the mound. Maybe it's the same thing this year. But I tell you, if he goes into the bullpen and he pitches well, it's hard not to make that comparison that you're talking about two years in a row now. And he was really good as a reliever his freshman year, freshman, All American.
That there's not something to that. He pitches better in relief than he does in a starting role.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Could it be weather?
He likes warm weather. But, you know, he was warm in Auburn, though.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: It was warm at Auburn. I don't know. I've wondered that, too.
I don't know. I really don't know. You know, when he's pitching in relief, say, like LSU and Omaha last year, it's like 95 degrees. Well, that's about as nice of a days you're gonna pitch in, I guess, as a. As a pitcher, but it's strange. I don't know that I can remember a pitcher, and I've talked to pitchers about this for several years, about how when you're a starter, and I don't think this was the case with him, but they'll tell you, like, you know, sometimes when you're a starter, you will psych yourself up so much because, you know, you're starting, say, like on Friday, and you're thinking about it on Sunday and on Monday and on Tuesday, and by the time you get there on Friday, you know, you're. You're a mess. It can't happen to you. Whereas if you're a reliever, hey, get up. And you're in the game in 10 minutes or less.
And so I think that that does work well for some pitchers than others, both ways. I mean, some guys, they may not be able to handle the pressure of, hey, you're gonna, you need to be in the game in seven minutes.
I don't know that that's the case with Gackel. Like, I don't know that he's. He's amping himself up or stressing himself out to be a starter. But, man, those numbers again, you're talking about two 17 versus 542 ERA, a 109 whip versus a 156. And then, you know, two full strikeouts per nine difference.
You can't, you can't ignore those. It's in. I don't know, It's. It's very interesting with, with Gak. I don't, I don't know what the word is.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. I don't either. You know, whether back half of the year, it's warmer. I don't know. But I did play with some guys, Matt, you know, coming up the minor leagues that were horrible starters, but they were really good out of the pen because on their starting day, like you said, they, like, freaked out. They got to the clubhouse early.
You know, the starting pitcher got to pick the music. So he'd get there early, turn the music on, and he'd be blaring. And he didn't want anyone to talk to him. He didn't, you know, he sat at the table and played, you know, some little game or like he did something.
They just, like, psyched herself out. But then when they come in out of the bullpen, there's none of that. You're, hey, you're in. And they would dominate. You know, you look at Mariano Rivera, he was a starter coming up all the way up to Triple A. He was a starter. Now he wasn't a psycho type guy. He just wasn't as good as a starter as he was, you know, as a reliever. But, you know, when he was starting, he didn't have that cutter. He didn't learn that cutter until he went to the bullpen. But yeah, it's. I have seen guys, but I don't see Gackel as that type of guy. He seems like a pretty chill, even kill type guy. Didn't get too high, didn't get too low, so I don't think that's him. But you know, I have seen guys that are like that on the, on the starting side of it that just freak their, themselves out.
[00:44:58] Speaker B: Did Mariano play Metallica on his starting days?
[00:45:01] Speaker A: No, no Metallica. I don't remember what Mo listen to.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: Was there like starting days. Were there like pitchers that you just hated it when they were starting because you didn't like their taste of music?
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Yeah, Jeff, Jeff, what was his last name? Big dude, like six, eight dude, kind of a psycho guy. He listened to like hard, not just like hard rock, but like crazy hard rock, metal. Like hard, heavy metal, acid rock.
That was just. You're just like, like wanted to just beat your head on the table, you know. And it was blaring in the clubhouse from the time you got there until the time he went out to start warming up. And it was like stuff I never heard of. Like I can listen like Inner Sandman Love. It pumps me up when every time I hear it I think of Mo.
But yeah, some of the stuff that he, they listen to. And then, you know, some of your Latin guys have the Latin music blaring and it's good every once in a while. I can handle it for a little while. And after a while I'm like, I got to go outside and get loose.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: Old school country music.
[00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that one. One starter, believe it or not, listen to Merle Haggard and he was just, he'd go out and deal every week, but that just kind of got him in chilled out, mellow mode. But Merle Haggard, everyone else is like, what is this crap we're listening to?
[00:46:16] Speaker B: But I remember trying to get psyched up to Rainbow Stew.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:22] Speaker B: Going to Alabama this weekend.
You look at their pitchers. Tyler Fay is a right hander on Friday. That's who Deets is going to be pitching as he no hit Florida a couple, three weeks. In fact, it was the week before Florida came here.
And you know, you look at them, the way they hit and Fayetteville, like, how did that team ever get no hit? But they did. They almost got no hit the week before that.
Van Horn talked about him today. He said he's a pitcher who's going to really challenge every corner of the plate.
[00:46:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I went back and pulled up the box score. I was interested to see how he did against Auburn. Five innings, one hit, one run, five strikeouts, three walks, 15 batters faced. I mean, it. I just wanted to see, since we just left Auburn, I wanted to know kind of how, how he stacked up against that lineup and he's going to be good. I mean, he throws strikes, you know, he's going to like, kind of like Dave said. I've watched video of him.
We got our work cut out for us. You look at the. If you look at batting average against Auburn's leading to the SEC and SEC, only games the league's hitting.208 against their staff. So they're, they're getting it done, you know, on the mound. So we got to work.
[00:47:37] Speaker B: Auburn or Alabama? Alabama's hitting Alabama.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: Alabama's pitchers?
Yeah.
[00:47:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: The batting average against Alabama pitchers are.208. Sorry, I didn't say that. Right. I had it right in my brain, but I don't think it came out right. It happens sometimes, but I mean, they're not giving up a lot of hits, you know, and they're not, they're not walking a lot of guys. They're not giving up their third in runs allowed, fourth in era, if you put a lot of stock in that. So, I mean, their staff's pretty good. But I mean, yeah, the Friday night guy, he's going to be tough.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: Well, and then we've seen the Saturday guy too, before, Zane Adams. He's the one who remembers a rubber game down there two years ago and he just stuffed Arkansas in a locker. I mean, just as good a pitching performance I think is, you'll see on a Sunday.
[00:48:22] Speaker A: And he's got good numbers, too.
They all, they all do. But I just feel like, you know, we know what they're going to try to do, how they're going to try to attack us.
I think if we put together a good game plan, I think we go down there and get it done. I still have faith in our offense. I really do.
[00:48:41] Speaker B: Offensively, you look at Alabama and the numbers don't look a whole lot different than Arkansas's. In fact, their team batting average is.270, so it's a point behind Arkansas. They got a little bit higher ops. I think it's about a 27 point difference. 863 versus 836. Alabama scoring about a half run more per game than Arkansas is. Now, you look at SEC play and it does start to vary a little bit more. And I'll tell you the thing that stands out to me, Bubba, about Alabama and SEC plays Is you got a.994 on base percentage. They, they, again, they put some pressure, I think, on the pitchers because, you know, you're making them pitch from, from the stretch a lot.
[00:49:18] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you look at home runs, you know, they've only hit 14 home runs in SEC play, so they're not going to hit a lot of home runs.
I don't know. I think.
I think we match up well against them.
[00:49:36] Speaker B: Rob Vaughn said that, like the two guys, he said two of his coaching, you know, influences were Matt Deggs and Andy Sawyers. Andy Sawyers was his hitting coach at K State his senior year there. And then Andy Sawyers had, I think, coached under, maybe had been a volunteer somewhere where Degs was. And you know, Degs has the, what they call it, the pack mentality, the wolf pack mentality.
Explain that to people because Alabama's been, I mean, these offensive numbers, I feel like, and I don't have their past years up, but it feels like they're a little bit lower than what we've seen from, from Vaughn's team so far.
It's always felt like when you play Alabama, you're going to be in for a little bit of a fight when they're at the plate.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you know, you talk about Diggs and the pack mentality.
It's, you know, the power of the pack together.
It's not just one person. It's, you're a pack and you work together. That lineup works together. And it goes back to kind of what we talked about with the Razorbacks. Taking what the pitcher gives you. You know, if they're gonna walk, you take your walk, let the next guy do it.
I see that Matt Deggs has a book about it. I actually had the book and read it years ago.
But it's a philosophy that works, though, and I even talk to my younger kids about it. When you go out there as a team, you're a pack.
You work together as a team. Everyone has a job and know what your job is and go out and do it. You know, if your job's to get on base and get on base your guys. If your job's to drive in runs, drive in runs and, you know, so it's fun when you see a team Clicking like that, it's fun to watch them.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: Justin lebron is their shortstop. He's probably going to be off the board in the first five to 10 picks in the draft this year. What have you thought when you watch him?
[00:51:25] Speaker A: I loved him when he was a freshman. I think he's, I think he's gotten better every year, you know, bigger, stronger, now looks like a big leaguer. You think of a big league shortstop. I mean, you look at him and that's, that's what you think of.
[00:51:40] Speaker B: His offensive numbers aren't great this year. They're like 267 average, I think 28 RBI, 11 home runs. So I mean, he does have the power, but the consistency has been lacking some.
[00:51:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I've got his SEC only numbers, but they're sitting on the dash of my truck, so I don't know what the, his SC, but he's, he's just above.200 in SEC games only, so he's not doing as well in SEC games. But, you know, he's another guy. You know, it's just a matter of time until he gets it going.
[00:52:11] Speaker B: Two big prospects in the series between him and Ryder Helferkin. I mean, honestly, there's more than that. I mean, diet's a big prospect and maybe it becomes a lot bigger down the stretch here. We'll see.
But in LeBron and Helferk, you're probably looking at two first round position players.
[00:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I tell you, I'm so, I'm so high right now on Ryder Helfrich. I mean, just, you know, I think about the game. The ball he hit the other night to right center, he ended up getting a triple on it, actually. I think they gave him a double and then an E and he got third. But did you see him run around the bases?
[00:52:46] Speaker B: Oh my God, Yeah. I thought it was a triple, by the way. I was, I was like, I was looking down, right? And something. I look up and he's running around second. I'm like, oh, he tripled.
[00:52:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:53] Speaker B: It took me till after the game to figure out he had not.
[00:52:56] Speaker A: Well, he kind of outfield kind of booted a little bit, but it doesn't matter to me. It's, it's the way he ran around the bases.
He could have stopped at second.
A lot of your, a lot of your big dogs would have stopped at second. Just coasted in the second taking the double. But Ryder went to third and that says a lot about him. And it's not just, I think that goes back to the, you know, you talk about the pack mentality. Well, you know, I think a team that plays for Dave Van Horn has a DVH mentality. It's that tough, gritty, and. And this team hasn't showed it completely yet, but I think at times you see it start to come out, you know, in your. In your rooting bars and your Helfricks and your Kosho, stuff like that. And so when. When this team starts to play like that, that's when they're going to be dangerous. But, boy, you want your team leader to play like that. Hustle never slumps. And to see your. Your team leader hustle around the bases like that, I mean, that pumped me up. I think it gave me chills. Just because I love. I love hustle.
[00:53:56] Speaker B: Yeah, he downplayed a little bit. I asked him afterward, you know, like, like, like, are you trying to fire your team up, you know, will them to whatever? Because, you know, he. I was thinking as. As he did that. My first thought went back to game two at Auburn where he leads off the sixth inning and he tries to lay down a bunt. And I asked him afterward, I said, was that your decision or was that something that was called? He said, it was my decision. I was just trying to get something going.
And then they're glad that he didn't because he ends up hitting a solo home run. And, you know, we know how that game, you know, played out, but it just feels like he's kind of that guy at the plate right now where he says, hey, just get on my back. I just need a couple of guys to do something around me, and maybe that's enough if you can get more consistent pitching.
[00:54:42] Speaker A: Well, I think to me, that type of play is contagious.
It really is. I think. I think laziness is contagious, but I think hustle is contagious. Grittiness, tough is contagious. If you play tough, I think that just kind of, you know, the whole team starts to take on that personality of your team leader. And, man, if we can get that going, I mean, this. This team could be dangerous. And you just.
I can't remember his answer. I know you asked Helfrich that. That question is.
[00:55:15] Speaker B: He downplayed it.
[00:55:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Because that's just the way he's learned to play. That's the way he's played his whole life. But, man, that's. It's so good.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: He said something about, you know, if you respect the game, the game will respect you. I think was along the lines what he said. And then Reese Robinette told the truth. Whenever I asked him, you know, hey, how'd you feel about it? And he said, right, will be mad at me, he said. But when he got into the dugout, he said, did it look like I was running pretty fast?
So I thought that was pretty good. By the way, Justin LeBron's SEC numbers, 208 an SEC player, 208 hitter, three home runs in the SEC.
He scored 12 runs and he has seven RBI.
[00:55:54] Speaker A: So he could be just slightly slumping or the league could have figured him out. I mean, I'm one of those all hitters.
[00:56:01] Speaker B: They have played teams that can really pitch. I mean, think about the last three weekends. Ou, Florida and Auburn, those are all teams that kind of have that pitching DNA.
[00:56:11] Speaker A: Well, so have we.
[00:56:12] Speaker B: Yeah, they have, but they haven't this year. Not here.
[00:56:16] Speaker A: Think of, think of the teams we've played though.
[00:56:18] Speaker B: No, I know.
[00:56:18] Speaker A: I mean other than South Carolina.
[00:56:21] Speaker B: And I'll say this about Alabama's pitching. They aren't power pitchers like Arkansas has seen. Like, I feel like these pitchers that they're going to face against Alabama for the most part are more pitching to contact than the Liam Petersons and the Aiden Kings and the, you know, the guys from Auburn who were throwing all those change ups last week. I feel like there's an opportunity now. We'll see if they can, you know, can, can you get. Just because you make contact, I mean you're going to get a hit. But I feel like there's a lot more opportunities potentially for contact this weekend than there have been in some of these past series.
[00:56:51] Speaker A: Well, it comes down to our approach. You know, if you're a guy that's pitching to contact, you know, those first couple of pitches, he's trying to get you to swing at his pitch. If you'll lay off of those pitches, you'll get your pitch. So that's where it comes back to our approach. We have to be patient and not play their game. You know, I thought the lefty for UALR the other night, I thought we played his game and you can't do that.
You've got to play your game. When you step up to the plate, don't let that pitcher dictate the action. You know, you dictate the action. Swing at your pitch and your zone. If it's not there, take it, get the next pitch.
[00:57:29] Speaker B: One thought before we get out of here. You know, we said before they went on this long road trip that if you could go three and three against Auburn and Alabama, that's going to be a big deal for the rpi. I think that winning one game against Auburn was huge because now it means that, like, you still want to win the series. And even if you lose a series, it's not doom and gloom necessarily. There's still some opportunities out there to improve it. But Alabama's number two in the rpi, and we all know how winning on the road helps your rpi. And if you beat a high RPI team on the road a couple of times or even just once, but especially if you can take a series from them, that can do wonders for your rpi. So I think winning that game against Auburn was big because now you have the opportunity to go into Alabama and kind of, you know, like everything that was there in front of you, so to speak, going into this series that I think was probably like. I don't know if expected is the right word, but kind of, you know, nobody expected them to go 4 and 2 in these two road trips or 5 and 1 if they could get out of there 3 and 3 just by winning the series. And I think that's doable. You know, we'll see how it goes. But I think it is doable. Alabama looked really good for two weeks at home, and maybe they're a different team at home than they are on the road. They look rather beatable. Last week, whenever they were in Norman, they ended up winning two of three against ou. They didn't look nearly as good last week as they had the two weeks before.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I think. I think it's absolutely doable. I can see us going in there taking two out of three.
There's just something about Alabama. We always seem to play well against Alabama. So I.
[00:59:00] Speaker B: But there it's been a struggle. Arkansas hadn't won a series down there since 19. They don't play every year, but.
[00:59:05] Speaker A: Well, I think we're going to do. I think we're gonna do well. I feel. I feel good about it.
[00:59:10] Speaker B: Six o' clock Friday night. Four o' clock Saturday. Saturday games gonna be on SEC Network. One o' clock on Sunday. The Friday and Sunday games are going to be on SEC Network. Plus we'll have coverage throughout the weekend at wholehogsports.com I'll tell you one more time, our baseball podcast brought to you by H and R Tire and Auto. Proudly family owned since 1976, trusted across northwest Arkansas, committed to keeping you safe on the road all season long. You can learn more schedule service at H and r Tire and Auto.com. bubba, appreciate you being in here. Bubba will be back Monday. We'll talk about the Razorback Alabama series. We'll have another podcast tomorrow. Hope to see you then or at our website, wholehogsports.com.
