A couple things I notice about college vs pro

[tessl]

College managers are more likely to sacrifice early in the game than in pro ball where they play for the big inning early.

Pitch counts are higher in college ball. I attended the Mississippi State vs Missouri game today and Mississippi State's starting pitcher threw a complete game on 142 pitches.

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by tessl

College managers are more likely to sacrifice early in the game than in pro ball where they play for the big inning early. Pitch counts are higher in college ball. I attended the Mississippi State vs Missouri game today and Mississippi State's starting pitcher threw a complete game on 142 pitches.

College coaches are more skeptical towards analytics/sabrmetrics and have more of an old-fashioned approach toward playing the game, from my experience. That combined with simply fewer quality hitters in a lineup makes for a lot of small ball

[TripleCrown9]

And the higher pitch counts are due to less talented pitchers* and more eager batters. Lotta balls and a lotta foul balls.



*Most of them are pretty good, but it's not Clayton Kershaw or Felix Hernandez on that mound**.

**And there are even more exceptions, like Stephen Strasburg.

[Watson]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jr.

College coaches are more skeptical towards analytics/sabrmetrics and have more of an old-fashioned approach toward playing the game, from my experience. That combined with simply fewer quality hitters in a lineup makes for a lot of small ball

You hit it spot on, but there's actually more to the formula. When they changed the bats to make it more "MLB-like" they over-corrected too much and actually sucked a little too much offense out of college baseball. Add that and the new site of the CWS, TD Ameritrade Park is bigger and way more spacious than Rosenblatt, and you have a situation where the team that plays under the conditions and is comfertable using small ball has a better chance of winning the title than the "best" teams, which is exactly what happened last year with UCLA

tl;dr: Coaches play small ball because they have to, not because they want to

Hopefully the change to the balls corrects this and we find a happy medium between Gorilla Ball and Dead Ball

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by Watson

You hit it spot on, but there's actually more to the formula. When they changed the bats to make it more "MLB-like" they over-corrected too much and actually sucked a little too much offense out of college baseball. Add that and the new site of the CWS, TD Ameritrade Park is bigger and way more spacious than Rosenblatt, and you have a situation where the team that plays under the conditions and is comfertable using small ball has a better chance of winning the title than the "best" teams, which is exactly what happened last year with UCLA tl;dr: Coaches play small ball because they have to, not because they want to Hopefully the change to the balls corrects this and we find a happy medium between Gorilla Ball and Dead Ball

Agreed. The change to BB-Core has simply changed how the game is played on the collegiate level. Teams that hit more than 25 home runs in a season is very rare these days. I wish I could've pitched against these bats.

A good friend of mine owns a baseball training facility in NC and he's of the belief that the new bats are training hitters to have more of a contact-style swing and beat the ball into the ground, rather than trying to drive it because the ball doesn't go as far. He thinks it's a terrible detriment to college hitters and will end up infiltrating into pro ball over the next 3-5 years.

I'm very interested to see how the lower seams will affect pitchers. I always got more movement out of a more pro-style baseball than college baseball.

[acts238shaun]

I'm with you guys, they over corrected (just a little), but it really weeds out the guys that can and can't hit for power. I wouldn't become a snake-killer (beating everything down), I'd try to become like a Raffy Palmiero (when he was with the Cubs) or Edgar Martinez - use the whole field or shoot for the gaps and become a doubles hitter.

Still, I'd take this over what it was. Too many guys that hit 20-30+ home runs in a college season were a product of the bats and as soon as they had to use wooden bats their career was over. Defense has become premium and college recruiting reflects that. You can't go after a bunch of all bat/no glove guys anymore. Dave Van Horn said that extra scholarship now goes to a pitcher or a glove/speed guy (IIRC). You have to be able to make good contact now. No more barely getting a piece of it and the ball trampoline-ing out from the backup 2B hitting maybe .200 for MTSU. I remember how college pitchers were scared to pitch inside and became nibblers.

I'd say that college players are now more fundamentally sound than they were and more attractive to MLB execs who scout and draft.

Maybe for a few more homers they could change the dimensions some? If money were the issue, instead of moving the fences move the bases/home plate/pitchers mound closer to the fence.

And Warren Morris's homer in the CWS would have still went out today, lol.