This is super fair imo, our two strike approach has to improve!
Grahovic at lead off
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Last: 3 hrs ago by TAMU1990
That's fine. It was a different team, he was a different hitter, and also pre-injury. Maybe Early is copying Schloss' infinite wisdoms?JW1612 said:
We played in a national championship with Grahovac leading off.
JW1612 said:
We played in a national championship with Grahovac leading off.
You mean AFTER Montgomery got injured and PRIOR to TK even being on the team? Ok
So using those same principles of a highly successful coach (although pos) is bad?? This isn't copying anything, It's just smart baseball.
Agdorm12 said:
Why is Grahovic leading off? To me he's a 3-4. Why doesn't TK lead off? Help me Obi Wan.
Grahovic leading off today. Guess Early doesn't agree, dorm12.
I don't care how much expertise you have. It is of no value.
Annnnd Grahovic hits into a DP with Kiel on…
You're missing that our coach usually bats him behind our catcher. Kinda hard to steal when the base in front of you is occupied by a slow runner why just got hit by a pitch.RED AG 98 said:TxA&Mhunter said:
Also TK has not show the propensity to be bag thief in college yet, He has 4 total in two years.
TK stolen bases
2025: 12 of 13
2026: 6 of 7
Surely I am missing something?
Great job, Grahovac!
TK got on 4 times today, HAS to be leadoff tomorrow
G2 is not a lead off hitter for this team or any other. Silly experiment
TK should be leadoff… that's been the case for the past 3-4 weeks… nothing should have changed with Hacopian coming back.. i'm one of the few probably who aren't going to say "oooh Earley has more knowledge than us etc" simply because he's the head coach of a D1 school… Joe Biden was our president for 4 years, there's millions of people outside of politics that were smarter than him.
3 years ago Earley was so in demand that he was working for free. So let's not say, "he knows more because he has the job."
Earley Transitions Into Full-Time Role - Texas A&M Athletics - 12thMan.com https://share.google/E0MKGkIe95bCLLxzu
Earley Transitions Into Full-Time Role - Texas A&M Athletics - 12thMan.com https://share.google/E0MKGkIe95bCLLxzu
TK is the definition of a leadoff hitter. It is a poor coaching decision.
bulverdeaggie93 said:
TK should be leadoff… that's been the case for the past 3-4 weeks… nothing should have changed with Hacopian coming back.. i'm one of the few probably who aren't going to say "oooh Earley has more knowledge than us etc" simply because he's the head coach of a D1 school… Joe Biden was our president for 4 years, there's millions of people outside of politics that were smarter than him.
Joe Biden was elected. There is a difference, although reading some of the posts on the baseball thread would lead one to believe there are many Biden voters here.
Ronnie '88
You know the coach restrictions mandated he was paid through camps right?
I am. I also realize he was not prioritized enough to have one of the full time positions.
The point is some think, "he's the head coach, he knows best." But the reality is that he's only the head coach because Trev panicked and made him the head coach (because he thought Schloss was going to take our entire team to Austin). It wasn't a merit based selection so you can't ascribe merit to his on field decision making. He has a chance to prove himself. Through 20+ months he hasn't proven much.
The point is some think, "he's the head coach, he knows best." But the reality is that he's only the head coach because Trev panicked and made him the head coach (because he thought Schloss was going to take our entire team to Austin). It wasn't a merit based selection so you can't ascribe merit to his on field decision making. He has a chance to prove himself. Through 20+ months he hasn't proven much.
Get out of here with that bunk, you are better than that.
Being unpaid in college baseball in that year didn't mean a coach wasn't in demand. The NCAA only allowed two paid assistants, and almost every program used those slots on the pitching coach and the recruiting coordinator. The hitting coach was the one who usually ended up in the volunteer role, even when he was excellent. His unpaid status reflects NCAA structure, not market demand
Being unpaid in college baseball in that year didn't mean a coach wasn't in demand. The NCAA only allowed two paid assistants, and almost every program used those slots on the pitching coach and the recruiting coordinator. The hitting coach was the one who usually ended up in the volunteer role, even when he was excellent. His unpaid status reflects NCAA structure, not market demand
This will be my last post on this and we can choose to agree to disagree.
I actually don't agree with your take. The volunteer coach vs "paid assistant" was a choice generally made based on reputation, experience, hell even ego. It was an "up and comer" position because guys with skins on the wall wouldn't agree to accept a volunteer position. Good pitching coaches are harder to come by than hitting coaches so you had to prioritize that full time position for coaches who are in high demand. But I agree it may be fair to say the system was so broken that its not a good metric for "demand."
So let's ask this question instead ... If the other Top 10 programs needed new head coaches that year how many would have considered Earley? Texas? LSU? Arkansas? Vandy? We'd have all been shocked if they hired him.
Maybe those aren't fair comparisons because they're historically better than us, but how far down the list would you have to go to find teams that would legitimately have considered him that year? And do you feel we're an apples to apples comparison to those teams?
This also has far less to do with Earley than it does those making the hiring decisions I fear. Only time will tell. And my personal love of baseball doesn't mesh with the pure economics of modern college athletics so I'll likely only get more and more grumpy as the seasons go. Plus I'm kinda of an old fart at this point.
Speaking of, I'm off to play pickleball with other old farts.
I actually don't agree with your take. The volunteer coach vs "paid assistant" was a choice generally made based on reputation, experience, hell even ego. It was an "up and comer" position because guys with skins on the wall wouldn't agree to accept a volunteer position. Good pitching coaches are harder to come by than hitting coaches so you had to prioritize that full time position for coaches who are in high demand. But I agree it may be fair to say the system was so broken that its not a good metric for "demand."
So let's ask this question instead ... If the other Top 10 programs needed new head coaches that year how many would have considered Earley? Texas? LSU? Arkansas? Vandy? We'd have all been shocked if they hired him.
Maybe those aren't fair comparisons because they're historically better than us, but how far down the list would you have to go to find teams that would legitimately have considered him that year? And do you feel we're an apples to apples comparison to those teams?
This also has far less to do with Earley than it does those making the hiring decisions I fear. Only time will tell. And my personal love of baseball doesn't mesh with the pure economics of modern college athletics so I'll likely only get more and more grumpy as the seasons go. Plus I'm kinda of an old fart at this point.
Speaking of, I'm off to play pickleball with other old farts.
TK, Duer, haco, Sorrell, Gavin, Jordan, Nico, Bear, kellner
Before you head to pickleball, let me leave you with one thing to chew on, because the 'volunteer coach = not in demand' argument just doesn't hold up in the modern landscape.
Look at Josh Elander, the guy who just took over at Tennessee after Tony Vitello left.
Here's his path:
2016: TCU, Student Assistant
2017: Arkansas, Volunteer Assistant
201822: Tennessee, Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
202225: Tennessee, Associate Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
2026Present: Tennessee, Head Coach
If your logic were true, Tennessee (Championship program) a topfive program with unlimited resources would never have hired a former volunteer as their head coach. But they did, because the volunteer role stopped being a reflection of demand years ago. It became a loophole for elite programs to stash rising stars who were already being compensated through camps, lessons, and now NILadjacent revenue streams. The title didn't match the market.
So using 'volunteer' as a proxy for value or demand just isn't accurate anymore.
And the hypothetical about who would've hired Earley ignores the actual timing. Schloss left after the national championship series the worst possible moment on the calendar with the portal closing and NIL/revenuesharing chaos about to hit. No top10 program would've run a national search in that window. They'd have done exactly what Trev did: stabilize the roster first, worry about rsums later. That's not an endorsement of Earley; that's just acknowledging the reality of the situation.
And to close the loop on the baseball side: the sabermetrics don't support the idea that moving a firstround bat down the lineup creates a meaningful RBI bump, and the pitchusage data doesn't support the idea that hitters see more fastballs with runners on. Modern staffs pitch away from barrels in leverage spots, not toward them.
We can disagree, but the numbers, the examples, and the modern game all point in one direction and it's not the one you're arguing.
Hope pickleball goes well!
Look at Josh Elander, the guy who just took over at Tennessee after Tony Vitello left.
Here's his path:
2016: TCU, Student Assistant
2017: Arkansas, Volunteer Assistant
201822: Tennessee, Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
202225: Tennessee, Associate Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
2026Present: Tennessee, Head Coach
If your logic were true, Tennessee (Championship program) a topfive program with unlimited resources would never have hired a former volunteer as their head coach. But they did, because the volunteer role stopped being a reflection of demand years ago. It became a loophole for elite programs to stash rising stars who were already being compensated through camps, lessons, and now NILadjacent revenue streams. The title didn't match the market.
So using 'volunteer' as a proxy for value or demand just isn't accurate anymore.
And the hypothetical about who would've hired Earley ignores the actual timing. Schloss left after the national championship series the worst possible moment on the calendar with the portal closing and NIL/revenuesharing chaos about to hit. No top10 program would've run a national search in that window. They'd have done exactly what Trev did: stabilize the roster first, worry about rsums later. That's not an endorsement of Earley; that's just acknowledging the reality of the situation.
And to close the loop on the baseball side: the sabermetrics don't support the idea that moving a firstround bat down the lineup creates a meaningful RBI bump, and the pitchusage data doesn't support the idea that hitters see more fastballs with runners on. Modern staffs pitch away from barrels in leverage spots, not toward them.
We can disagree, but the numbers, the examples, and the modern game all point in one direction and it's not the one you're arguing.
Hope pickleball goes well!
Sean is arguing for baseball the way it was played before we had gobs and gobs of data to help us figure out how to maximize run production.
The fact is in a college season the one hole hitter will see about two games worth of at bats more than the two hole hitter who will see two games more than the three hole, etc. seven AB. That's a lot of AB to spend on a guy that doesn't drive in runs just because he might set the table in the first inning. After the first inning you want your RBI producers up as quickly as possible when the lineup turns over. That's what the numbers show and that's what modern teams are doing. Hell in 2024 Tennessee had their #1 HR hitter in the one hole. That's baseball today.
The fact is in a college season the one hole hitter will see about two games worth of at bats more than the two hole hitter who will see two games more than the three hole, etc. seven AB. That's a lot of AB to spend on a guy that doesn't drive in runs just because he might set the table in the first inning. After the first inning you want your RBI producers up as quickly as possible when the lineup turns over. That's what the numbers show and that's what modern teams are doing. Hell in 2024 Tennessee had their #1 HR hitter in the one hole. That's baseball today.
TK is up today because of weather conditions (IMO). Small ball will be at a premium.
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