Since midweek games now mean absolutely nothing toward the Michigan campaign to reach the NCAA tournament, they will start getting less coverage. This week we face off with Central Michigan Chippewas (the first of two Indian Native American tribes visiting Ann Arbor this week), who, like most other midweek games we’ve played this season, are not supposed to be that good.
Weather for the game appears to be a mass improvement over the start of the week:
Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 52F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
West winds means straight in from right. Don’t look for too many high high fly balls to right to carry over the Blue Brick Monster.
For Central Michigan
My guess for starter is last week’s midweek guy, freshman lefty Rick Dodridge, who just came off his career best start.
The win over Wayne State was good enough to win MAC Western Division Pitcher of the Week. The CMU sports information directors haven’t released the probable pitchers for the week, so I’m going to guess this guy.
Things to note about CMU:
- Their batters walk… a lot. They currently rank 16th in the nation.
- Their pitchers strike out plenty of batters. They rank 60th with 8Ks/9IP.
- They rank top 100 also in: Runs Scored (not runs per game however), Stolen Bases, Sac Bunts, and Double Plays (not DPs per game however).
- Nate Theunissen is their power hitter with 28 RBI, 5 HR, 2 3B, and 5 2B (.621 slugging).
- Billy Anderson and Rhett Goodmiller get on base a lot (both over .450 OB%). Anderson is the stolen base threat (14-14 on the year).
For Michigan
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sinnery or Wood start this game. Sinnery did see some action this weekend, so he may miss his start in favor of Wood. As of yet, the SID hasn’t announced the probables, so your guess is as good as mine.
Other Notes
It’s a Wednesday game, which can only mean one thing: MICHIGAN BASEBALL BINGO NIGHT! As per MGoBlue.com:
Wednesday, April 8, vs. Central Michigan, 6:05 p.m.
•Michigan Baseball Bingo — All fans in attendance will receive a Michigan baseball bingo card. The first five BINGO winners will receive a great Michigan prize!
And here’s Tim’s description of how Bingo works.
They distribute standard Bingo cards to anyone who wants them. Apparently, Paul and I aren’t eligible, because I certainly would have wanted one last game we went to. Then, at the end of each inning, they draw as many different numbers as Michigan batters get up during the inning (i.e. if we go 3up 3down, they only draw three numbers). Said numbers are announced over the loudspeaker. I’ve never seen somebody win, but I assume you stand up and shout “Bingo” and generally act like a lunatic to let them know you won. At this time, a prize is presumably distributed to you.
Posted under Baseball
Tags: brandon sinnery, central michigan
Well… heard coach on WTKA this morning and sounds like Vangheluwe will get the start and Oaks will be coming in from the pen…along with several “other” young arms. Sounds like they have conceded to some extent as coach says they need to develop more young pitchers for the benefit & big picture of the program going forward.
Thats both surprising and not. I half expected it to be Wood just so they’d have Sinnery available out of the bullpen this weekend, but Wood hasn’t really done amazing. I haven’t formed an opinion on Vangheluwe, so this should help with that. Now if I could just find a way to be at 3 places at once tonight to catch the game.
So, if someone were to be at the game, what would you want to know that listening and looking at the boxscores wouldn’t tell you?
How about anything positive at all, because I saw the box score then proceeded to throw up a little bit.
Hmmmm, well, lots of guys got a chance to pitch/play. They kept battling offensively right up to the end — that CMU pitcher was pretty good. Travis Smith looked okay, Kolby Woods and Alan Oaks burned it up.
I apologize for putting an unnecessary “s” on Kolby Wood’s name. I hope it’s not an insult worthy of roadkill on the porch….
To me, this goes beyond the players…the coaches need to do some serious evaluation as well.
Random thoughts…. Unless the coaches feel they made terrible recruiting choices over the years (which I doubt), where is the talent? No motivation? Lack of leadership? Lack of discipline… too much discipline? Too much “in game” management? Not enough? Coaches – Why call EVERY pitch… if the pitchers and catchers are good (you recruited them)…let them throw what they want, what’s working, what they feel. Yes, talk to them between innings but let them “play” the game! Why take a pitcher out when he has a 0-2 count? (if he’s on that short a leash, he should never have started the batter or inning).
Have the captains held a team meeting without coaches? Should they? Do captains have input in mid-week roster changes? Should they? I see too many players afraid to make a mistake…which of course leads to…mistakes. The players are there for a reason…they’re all good…just go play some ball!! … and coaches…please let them! I keep hearing “small ball”… I don’t get it. It’s baseball. You do what it takes to win a game…Every game, every year…regardless if you have power or not. If you need to bunt, bunt! It doesn’t matter who’s at the plate, at least it shouldn’t. My humble and ignorant opinion… way too much thinking going on in the clubhouse and dugout (players as well). Winning does take some strategy, but this is a baseball game. If good coaching takes place in the winter, early spring and midweek practices – put your best athletes out on the field; let them go…they’ll come through.
Simple evaluation – if your team has better athletes than the other team, you win 8 out of 10. If your team has better athletes than the other team and you don’t win 8 of 10….Poor game management. I have to believe we have better talent than the MAC, Summit & Horizon schools and yes match-ups do mean a lot, however, athletes are athletes. Do we have them? Are we playing our best athletes? Are they in the proper positions? This is college, usually pitchers are very good athletes…many elite colleges play pitchers in the field when not throwing because they are one of the best athletes. Do we? Should we?
Sorry for the dissertation, however, I feel better and I’ll bet these thoughts are not just my own… and actually, I am still optimistic about the rest of the season! We do have good kids, AND good coaches! They just need to get on the same page. GO BLUE!
(Maybe “ I ” think too much…hmmm)