[TonyLima]

While on the topic, Mathews might be my favorite Stanford pitcher in recent memory. From struggling early in his career to giving up his spot in the rotation to do whatever it took last year to coming back for a senior season, it has been so much fun rooting for him. Seeing the emotion he had coming off the mound in the 8th, after gutting through the most important innings of the season, was special!

Agree on all counts. Quinn started with a square mile of talen that was 2 inches deep. Between his soph and jr years he got some kind of help.  So did Dixon and Dowd. Bottle that and give it to the other pitchers!

Matthews is a nice story and there's good reason to have him a favorite. 
He developed pretty well at Stanford, especially in overcoming some control struggles over the second half of his sophomore year. 
In particular, his role on the team took on more and more of a load year to year. 

Dowd and Dixon are a more complicated story. They didn't come out this season with as much improvement as I had hoped. They have remained more inconsistent than one would like but have come through with a lot of key moments. 
Year to year development
Dowd: Fr, So, Jr
ERA: 6.99, 4.54, 4.81
WHIP: 1.82, 1.47, 1.45
IP:   37.1, 75.1, 58.0 
Dixon
ERA:  3.28, 3.96, 4.99
WHIP: 1.21, 1.35, 1.42
IP:    35.2, 63.2, 74.0

Re Dowd, I was thinking about his fr-so improvement. Apparently my failing memory kicked in re Dixon.

---

Looking ahead to the Supers, I am fascinated by what Esquer is going to do with the lineup. Based on reports of Sapien's facial fractures (get well soon, Jake!), I assume his season is over. I also assume that Montgomery won't be called on to pitch in a best-of-three series so I imagine he goes back to manning RF. I recognize Cobb is persona non grata on this board and his days playing SS are surely over but he's still a .325/.370/.476 hitter. Does he slot in at DH or does Esquer ride the hot hand with Campbell and look past his .205/.271/.250 line for the season?

Interesting questions. 

I do wonder if Montgomery might play at least one game as DH. Firstly, he pitched very well for two innings on Sunday and I could see it being very appealing to have him available for a short stint - and not lose the DH position because he pitches. Secondly, Montgomery looked more comfortable at the plate Monday than he seems to have been lately, his three hits off of Detmber were all solid. Wonder if that had anything to do with resting. 

I don't think we've seen Becera enough at shortstop to be sure he's better in the field than Cobb, but I suspect that once things got bad enough to pull Cobb, Becera would have to similarly mess up to get pulled in turn. 

If Montgomery is in right field, I think Cobb remains the best option for DH. While Campbell brings a lot to the base paths and went 3-4 yesterday, two of those hits were a swinging bunt where the pitcher fell down (why wasn't that an error?) and a pop-up that the third baseman lost in the lights (and I am used to those plays not being an error, though sure seems like they should be). Campbell looked overmatched on fastballs. 


On the mound, it would seem we'd have a rotation of Dixon, Matthews, Dugan - with Dugan coming out of the pen if necessary for a chance to win games 1 or 2; figuring out game 3 if we get there.

Re Cambell’s popup, I scored that as E6. I know, didn’t touch the ball, it’s my scorecard.  And the crowd played a role in it. There was a roar that increased in volume as the ball descended. I’d like to think we had some small impact.

Maybe Saborn should start actually bunting for hits. He has the wheels.

[TonyLima]

While on the topic, Mathews might be my favorite Stanford pitcher in recent memory. From struggling early in his career to giving up his spot in the rotation to do whatever it took last year to coming back for a senior season, it has been so much fun rooting for him. Seeing the emotion he had coming off the mound in the 8th, after gutting through the most important innings of the season, was special!

Agree on all counts. Quinn started with a square mile of talen that was 2 inches deep. Between his soph and jr years he got some kind of help.  So did Dixon and Dowd. Bottle that and give it to the other pitchers!

Matthews is a nice story and there's good reason to have him a favorite. 
He developed pretty well at Stanford, especially in overcoming some control struggles over the second half of his sophomore year. 
In particular, his role on the team took on more and more of a load year to year. 

Dowd and Dixon are a more complicated story. They didn't come out this season with as much improvement as I had hoped. They have remained more inconsistent than one would like but have come through with a lot of key moments. 
Year to year development
Dowd: Fr, So, Jr
ERA: 6.99, 4.54, 4.81
WHIP: 1.82, 1.47, 1.45
IP:   37.1, 75.1, 58.0 
Dixon
ERA:  3.28, 3.96, 4.99
WHIP: 1.21, 1.35, 1.42
IP:    35.2, 63.2, 74.0

Re Dowd, I was thinking about his fr-so improvement. Apparently my failing memory kicked in re Dixon.

---

Looking ahead to the Supers, I am fascinated by what Esquer is going to do with the lineup. Based on reports of Sapien's facial fractures (get well soon, Jake!), I assume his season is over. I also assume that Montgomery won't be called on to pitch in a best-of-three series so I imagine he goes back to manning RF. I recognize Cobb is persona non grata on this board and his days playing SS are surely over but he's still a .325/.370/.476 hitter. Does he slot in at DH or does Esquer ride the hot hand with Campbell and look past his .205/.271/.250 line for the season?

Interesting questions. 

I do wonder if Montgomery might play at least one game as DH. Firstly, he pitched very well for two innings on Sunday and I could see it being very appealing to have him available for a short stint - and not lose the DH position because he pitches. Secondly, Montgomery looked more comfortable at the plate Monday than he seems to have been lately, his three hits off of Detmber were all solid. Wonder if that had anything to do with resting. 

I don't think we've seen Becera enough at shortstop to be sure he's better in the field than Cobb, but I suspect that once things got bad enough to pull Cobb, Becera would have to similarly mess up to get pulled in turn. 

If Montgomery is in right field, I think Cobb remains the best option for DH. While Campbell brings a lot to the base paths and went 3-4 yesterday, two of those hits were a swinging bunt where the pitcher fell down (why wasn't that an error?) and a pop-up that the third baseman lost in the lights (and I am used to those plays not being an error, though sure seems like they should be). Campbell looked overmatched on fastballs. 


On the mound, it would seem we'd have a rotation of Dixon, Matthews, Dugan - with Dugan coming out of the pen if necessary for a chance to win games 1 or 2; figuring out game 3 if we get there.

Re Cambell’s popup, I scored that as E6. I know, didn’t touch the ball, it’s my scorecard.  And the crowd played a role in it. There was a roar that increased in volume as the ball descended. I’d like to think we had some small impact.

Maybe Saborn should start actually bunting for hits. He has the wheels.