[JJJ]

A little early heads-up for those who need to set their DVRs tomrrow 7pm PDT.

Wonder if it's going to be a little emotional for Esky?

"No. 2 Stanford looks to build on its eight-game win streak when it welcomes Cal to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series starting at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday.

All three games will air on Pac-12 Networks and start at 7 p.m. PT. Live statistics for all contests will be available at GoStanford.com. The Cardinal (31-5 overall, 12-3 Pac-12) sits atop the Pac-12 standings ahead of UCLA (14-4) and Oregon State (10-5).

Weekend Opponent, Cal
• The Golden Bears enter the weekend with a 23-15 record, including a 9-9 clip in Pac-12 play. Cal claimed an important Pac-12 series, 2-1, against Washington last weekend before dropping a 4-1 midweek decision against Sacramento State on Tuesday.
• Andrew Vaughn, one of the most feared hitters in college baseball, leads Cal with 18 home runs, 48 RBI and a .899 slugging percentage. The Golden Bears rank second in the Pac-12 in batting average (.311) and runs scored (265).
• Prior to accepting his role as Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball, David Esquer served the previous 18 seasons as head coach at Cal, accruing a 525-467-2 record (.528) in charge of the Golden Bears. Esquer led Cal to five NCAA Regional appearances, including a trip to the College World Series in 2011, a season in which he was named National Coach of the Year.
• Stanford pitching coach Thomas Eager served the 2016-17 seasons under Esquer at Cal, succeeding current head coach Mike Neu. Neu was Esquer's pitching coach in Berkeley for the 2012-15 seasons before guiding Pacific to 40 wins in two seasons. "

http://gostanford.com/news/2018/4/25/bas...-town.aspx

[JJJ]

A little early heads-up for those who need to set their DVRs tomrrow 7pm PDT.

Wonder if it's going to be a little emotional for Esky?

"No. 2 Stanford looks to build on its eight-game win streak when it welcomes Cal to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series starting at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday.

All three games will air on Pac-12 Networks and start at 7 p.m. PT. Live statistics for all contests will be available at GoStanford.com. The Cardinal (31-5 overall, 12-3 Pac-12) sits atop the Pac-12 standings ahead of UCLA (14-4) and Oregon State (10-5).

Weekend Opponent, Cal
• The Golden Bears enter the weekend with a 23-15 record, including a 9-9 clip in Pac-12 play. Cal claimed an important Pac-12 series, 2-1, against Washington last weekend before dropping a 4-1 midweek decision against Sacramento State on Tuesday.
• Andrew Vaughn, one of the most feared hitters in college baseball, leads Cal with 18 home runs, 48 RBI and a .899 slugging percentage. The Golden Bears rank second in the Pac-12 in batting average (.311) and runs scored (265).
• Prior to accepting his role as Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball, David Esquer served the previous 18 seasons as head coach at Cal, accruing a 525-467-2 record (.528) in charge of the Golden Bears. Esquer led Cal to five NCAA Regional appearances, including a trip to the College World Series in 2011, a season in which he was named National Coach of the Year.
• Stanford pitching coach Thomas Eager served the 2016-17 seasons under Esquer at Cal, succeeding current head coach Mike Neu. Neu was Esquer's pitching coach in Berkeley for the 2012-15 seasons before guiding Pacific to 40 wins in two seasons. "

http://gostanford.com/news/2018/4/25/bas...-town.aspx

[StanfordMatt]

Putting together the scouting report shouldn't be a problem.

[StanfordMatt]

Putting together the scouting report shouldn't be a problem.

[BobK]

Interesting rotation just announced 
B Beck then T Beck and Saturday it’s Bubic

[BobK]

Interesting rotation just announced 
B Beck then T Beck and Saturday it’s Bubic

[CTcard]

Interesting rotation just announced 
B Beck then T Beck and Saturday it’s Bubic

Agree, very interesting. 

Miller, who won't get a weekend start vs. cal, just had one of his better games of the season at Arizona on Sunday going 5 innings with zero earned runs (1 actual run), 3 hits and 1 walk. 

It appears that Esquer doesn't want his guys pitching less than a week apart - he's keeping T. Beck and Bubic on their regular days.
B. Beck hasn't had a start since April 10 vs Davis. He did come in twice vs Arizona (Saturday and Sunday) with 49 total pitches (38 on Sunday). I suspect he'll be on a short leash.

I had been slightly surprised not to see B. Beck start vs. Pacific on Tuesday - now we know why.

[CTcard]

Interesting rotation just announced 
B Beck then T Beck and Saturday it’s Bubic

Agree, very interesting. 

Miller, who won't get a weekend start vs. cal, just had one of his better games of the season at Arizona on Sunday going 5 innings with zero earned runs (1 actual run), 3 hits and 1 walk. 

It appears that Esquer doesn't want his guys pitching less than a week apart - he's keeping T. Beck and Bubic on their regular days.
B. Beck hasn't had a start since April 10 vs Davis. He did come in twice vs Arizona (Saturday and Sunday) with 49 total pitches (38 on Sunday). I suspect he'll be on a short leash.

I had been slightly surprised not to see B. Beck start vs. Pacific on Tuesday - now we know why.

[JJJ]

B. Beck lasts 5.1 innings as he gives up back to back jacks to Vaughn and Davis, bringing Palisch to the mound.
Too bad, because we had just manufactured 3 runs with a two-out rally in B5. Now 3-3 heading into B6. Let's go Cardinal!

[JJJ]

B. Beck lasts 5.1 innings as he gives up back to back jacks to Vaughn and Davis, bringing Palisch to the mound.
Too bad, because we had just manufactured 3 runs with a two-out rally in B5. Now 3-3 heading into B6. Let's go Cardinal!

[StanfordMatt]

With Cal’s lineup, I don’t understand how their record isn’t a lot better.

[StanfordMatt]

With Cal’s lineup, I don’t understand how their record isn’t a lot better.

[BostonCard]

Down 4-3 in the 8th

BC

[BostonCard]

Down 4-3 in the 8th

BC

[JJJ]

Unfortunately, that's how it ends, with a weird game-ending DP where the batter (Branton) didn't run because he thought there was catcher's interference or something like that. Let's win the next one(s)!

[JJJ]

Unfortunately, that's how it ends, with a weird game-ending DP where the batter (Branton) didn't run because he thought there was catcher's interference or something like that. Let's win the next one(s)!

[StanfordMatt]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

[StanfordMatt]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

[Phogge]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

Vaughn has bought into the current launch angle hysteria and it’s paying off for him. Only a soph. Wow.

[Phogge]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

Vaughn has bought into the current launch angle hysteria and it’s paying off for him. Only a soph. Wow.

[JJJ]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

Thanks for the explanation. I had to run right after the game was over so couldn't hang around for any analysis but that makes a lot of sense. I'm very partial to Branton because I had several opportunities to meet him and he's an awesome young man (in "my" major--going to work for Disney as an IE) and glad he's getting some reps and producing his senior year.

[JJJ]

The PAC-12 Network guys were clueless and umps were worse. Branton didn’t run because the ball hit him in the foot in the batters box and should’ve been ruled a foul ball. Tough break for the good guys.

Thanks for the explanation. I had to run right after the game was over so couldn't hang around for any analysis but that makes a lot of sense. I'm very partial to Branton because I had several opportunities to meet him and he's an awesome young man (in "my" major--going to work for Disney as an IE) and glad he's getting some reps and producing his senior year.

[PVTree]

I watched Stanford create the three runs, turned the channel to see part of the NFL draft (thinking the weenies are toast), and returned to a tie score. The late-inning AZ magic stayed in the desert as we were unable to score in the late innings.

[PVTree]

I watched Stanford create the three runs, turned the channel to see part of the NFL draft (thinking the weenies are toast), and returned to a tie score. The late-inning AZ magic stayed in the desert as we were unable to score in the late innings.

[Hulk01]

This game highlighted, once more, our need for one more hitter.

[Hulk01]

This game highlighted, once more, our need for one more hitter.

[StanfordMatt]

This game highlighted, once more, our need for one more hitter.

100% spot on. Hopefully, we'll be adding two more hitters before long. Alec Wilson plays great defense and came up with a few big hits in Tucson, but more often than not he just looks lost at the plate. Bryce Carter has fared a little better, particularly against righties, but he also had a tough time against Cal's soft-throwing lefty last night. At first, I was curious why Esquer had so many left handed hitters in the lineup to face Ladrech, but when you look at the roster, most of the right handed bats on the bench (Kuet, Molfetta, Decker) have really struggled as well. Getting Kinamon back at 2B, sliding Branton to 3B, Tawa to CF and Robinson to RF should help. Getting Wulff back in the DH spot will also be a big boost.

As a side note, I still don't understand why Bakst isn't hitting anymore. I understand that he struggled a bit to start the season and may want to focus on his pitching, but this is a guy who hit .311 as a freshman with 38 RBI as the everyday DH. Not to mention he's right-handed. It just seems like his bat being in the lineup every day could add a lot more value to the team than an occasional middle relief appearance.

[StanfordMatt]

This game highlighted, once more, our need for one more hitter.

100% spot on. Hopefully, we'll be adding two more hitters before long. Alec Wilson plays great defense and came up with a few big hits in Tucson, but more often than not he just looks lost at the plate. Bryce Carter has fared a little better, particularly against righties, but he also had a tough time against Cal's soft-throwing lefty last night. At first, I was curious why Esquer had so many left handed hitters in the lineup to face Ladrech, but when you look at the roster, most of the right handed bats on the bench (Kuet, Molfetta, Decker) have really struggled as well. Getting Kinamon back at 2B, sliding Branton to 3B, Tawa to CF and Robinson to RF should help. Getting Wulff back in the DH spot will also be a big boost.

As a side note, I still don't understand why Bakst isn't hitting anymore. I understand that he struggled a bit to start the season and may want to focus on his pitching, but this is a guy who hit .311 as a freshman with 38 RBI as the everyday DH. Not to mention he's right-handed. It just seems like his bat being in the lineup every day could add a lot more value to the team than an occasional middle relief appearance.

[Hulk01]

I too have been puzzled by Bakst's disappearance from the batting order.   He was a top 100 recruit coming in and played well, as you pointed out, making the conference all freshman team.  

That said, our need is for a guy who hits for more power than Bakst, who's a line drives/double guy at his best.

It doesn't appear that any team other than Florida can pitch with this Stanford team. but they can hit, too--much better than we do in the 7-9 spots.

[Hulk01]

I too have been puzzled by Bakst's disappearance from the batting order.   He was a top 100 recruit coming in and played well, as you pointed out, making the conference all freshman team.  

That said, our need is for a guy who hits for more power than Bakst, who's a line drives/double guy at his best.

It doesn't appear that any team other than Florida can pitch with this Stanford team. but they can hit, too--much better than we do in the 7-9 spots.

[StanfordMatt]

That said, our need is for a guy who hits for more power than Bakst, who's a line drives/double guy at his best.

The guy you're referring to was at the park on Tuesday night. The only problems are that he was wearing the other team's jersey and is out of eligibility!

[StanfordMatt]

That said, our need is for a guy who hits for more power than Bakst, who's a line drives/double guy at his best.

The guy you're referring to was at the park on Tuesday night. The only problems are that he was wearing the other team's jersey and is out of eligibility!

[Spike]

I am also really puzzled by the Bakst situation. 
But what really baffles me is why Tawa was bunting with two strikes in the eighth?
He’s a lousy bunter.

[Spike]

I am also really puzzled by the Bakst situation. 
But what really baffles me is why Tawa was bunting with two strikes in the eighth?
He’s a lousy bunter.

[BostonCard]

Wow, bottom of the 2nd and we are up 10-0.  10 runs, 7 hits... in the inning!

BC

[BostonCard]

Wow, bottom of the 2nd and we are up 10-0.  10 runs, 7 hits... in the inning!

BC

[PVTree]

Went to Friday night's game. What a 2nd inning! The rest of the game was cruise control.

[PVTree]

Went to Friday night's game. What a 2nd inning! The rest of the game was cruise control.

[JJJ]

OFor the record, we won 14-1. If only we could’ve had 2 of those runs for the previous night.
http://gostanford.com/news/2018/4/28/bas...e-way.aspx

[JJJ]

OFor the record, we won 14-1. If only we could’ve had 2 of those runs for the previous night.
http://gostanford.com/news/2018/4/28/bas...e-way.aspx