Bama vs SEC in Sac bunts

[HolyCow]

Check the stats here http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/Portals/3/SEC Website/Baseball/2013/lgteams.htm

We are #13 in sac bunts with only 16. Top 3 are TAM - 42, Vandy - 34, Tenn - 34. Why can't or don't we bunt more? I know that Vandy has a separate batting cage just for bunting. It is apparrent that we do not spend enough time and have good coaching on it. This fact ties into our ranking for grounding into double plays. We are #2 with 29 behind Florida with 31. We have good speed on this team that is not being used fully. With our lowly BA rank at #13 at .253 one would think we should be focused more on manufacturing runs. But, have to remember who are hitting and head coaches are. We are not a power team but coaches play like we are.

 

[bench]

stats can be looked at and make them into whatever you want them to mean. I mean we lead the sec in runners caught stealing and catchers interference, does that mean we need to give the catching coach a raise or fire him for the interference calls. as I say u have to play with what you got. what we got so far is as many wins total as last year, tied for second in the west, deep decent pitching, defense that is much improved, improved hitting and yes more team speed. seems to me that the coaches are doing a pretty good job. Rtr

 

[bamamick]

The only thing I would add is that we probably rank pretty low in having runners on base with less than two outs.

rtr

 

[baseballfanatic]

If the low number of SAC bunts is just because we don't call for a SAC bunt that often, I'm alright with that. I think the SAC bunt is useful in certain situations, but not every time we get a runner on first with less than 2 outs. The number of double plays is just a bit of bad luck and not all of the situations where we've hit into a double play were the type of situation that I would believe would call for a SAC bunt.

However, if the number is low because we just have not executed the SAC bunt very well, then that is a problem.

And the stats you linked to are overall stats, but if you look at SEC-only stats we're currently 4th in average, 7th in SLG, 3rd in OPB, 3rd in Runs scored, 2nd in hits, 4th in RBIs. All this with only 8 SAC bunts in SEC play. We're 7th in GIDP with 9 in SEC play.

Fact is, we just haven't NEEDED to sacrifice to "manufacture runs" in most of our SEC games. Even in the Arkansas series, I counted only 4 situations where a SAC bunt could be called for and in a couple of those situations we either had a hitter up who has been pretty good for us this year, or in one we were trailing by 6 and we didn't need to be giving away outs for just 1 run.

 

[crimsonkelly]

Well, Gaspard has been criticized severely for bunting in the past. Now that he isn't doing it as often he is being criticized for that. This board goes from one extreme to the other as fast as anything I have ever seen. If we were undefeated in conference, the complaint would be we haven't played the meat of the schedule yet or something else.

Enough of that, on tot he bunting, look at the numbers from the professional ranks (as that is really you are gonna find them) on %'s of runners scoring from second with 1 out and runners scoring from first with 0 outs. You might be surprised. If there is a complaint to be made it is not using the hit and run enough since it can be used with different out situations since the bunt can be limited with the # of outs in the inning. I used to be a huge fan of the bunt until I did the research. It is a credible variable of the game, but it can kill potential big innings but giving an out away, where as the hit and run can keep runners moving for a long time!

 

[JoJoforHeisman]

You really can't derive much from this data without knowing the total number of bunt attempts. For example, Blanchard has attempted at least six bunts this season and failed (miserably) each time.

 

[HolyCow]

I do not believe in having your lead off hitter bunting in the 1st inning as CMG was doing last year.
My point is that when we are behind in the 7th inning and have not produced any offense or runs and we
get a man on first, you should be able to move him into scoring position somehow. Bunt, hit and run
or steal.

 

[crimsonkelly]

Well, when a lead off is bunting, it is for a base hit.

 

[Zona]

I wonder how many of our bunts are in the first inning with the 2 or 3-hole hitter