Good 1/2 hr preview/interview w/ Stiffler
by ndgotrobbedin97 (2024-01-29 20:22:40)
Edited on 2024-01-29 20:44:30
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.... on ND baseball twitter page. Not sure if we're supposed to link there.

Listen for yourself, but it sort of struck me as excessive lowering of expectations. He mentions losing Jack Penney caused them to miss the postseason last year. He talks about 22 new players, but doesn't mention that nearly half of them are fairly accomplished grad transfers.

Sorry, but if you're going to bring in 9 or 10 grad transfers, you should forfeit the right to talk about anything but winning.

I went in wanting to be excited about the upcoming season, but I can't say I came away knowing what to think. I think they'll be OK???

What's the outlook for this years team?
by socal_doubledomer74  (2024-02-06 03:52:10)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I realize they are unranked in preseason polls. Is a postseason appearance a reasonable expectation?
As I said, if you bring in a bunch of transfers....
by ndgotrobbedin97  (2024-02-12 11:10:02)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

....you have a hard time justifying a rebuilding year. So, I'd say yes, the expectation has to be making the NCAA regional.

If you're recruiting the right HS players and supplementing them with a bunch of proven grad transfers, why not? You also have holdovers from Jarrett on the roster, so....

You're either getting the right guys and coaching them up, as it were, or you're not. If the transfer portal was not in play, I'd have more patience, but ND is giving him every opportunity to compete now.

I will say, getting a healthy Jack Findlay back earlier than later would certainly be another huge bump for the year, but whatever that turns out to be, no reason not to compete.

It's still going to come down to pitching.
by usaf_irish  (2024-02-13 07:33:09)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Right now, the rotation looks pretty rough. If they can figure it out over the first 10-15 games, there's no reason they can't make it to the post season.

If they can't find a reliable rotation, it's going to be a long season.
Get back to me around mid March.
by usaf_irish  (2024-02-07 13:00:12)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I think they'll out perform preseason expectations, which have them close to the bottom of the ACC.

The pitching staff is unproven. There's a lot of upside, but no real history of success. If a couple of the transfers can crack the weekend rotation and perform, the pitching staff should look much better than it does now. There are 4-5 pitchers who should be able to be in an ACC rotation, but they're mostly unproven.

They have some pop in the lineup, and should at least score some runs.

The Southern swing will be really key. Coach Stiffler and staff absolutely need to figure out the rotation by the time they play Purdue for the home opener. I'd like to see them come away from first 10 no worse than 6-4 and I'm hoping for 7-3 or even 8-2 depending on how Rice goes. If they come back .500 or under, we could be in for a long season.

Yikes. Think I'd prefer an interview with Stiffler's mom *
by ndzippy  (2024-02-02 00:56:26)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Are you talking about the D1 Baseball interview?
by usaf_irish  (2024-02-01 05:44:16)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I’m pretty sure that you are. I watched it as well and came away with a little different impression.

I got the impression that he really underestimated the move from VCU to ND and spent a lot of the season playing catch up. Hopefully he’s in a better position this season to win and not just adjust.

That's the one. And I heard the VCU thing as well *
by ndgotrobbedin97  (2024-02-01 21:33:49)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I have a personal connection to Coach Stiffler.
by usaf_irish  (2024-02-03 07:21:21)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

So I have some personal bias here.

But, trying as best I can to be impartial, I think he represented himself pretty well. I’d have to check the timestamps again, but it felt like he spent a good 5 or so minutes acknowledging that Notre Dame is a fundamentally different animal from a lot of other schools.

I think that he’s exited for year two and feels like he has his feet under him and is ready to compete in the ACC.

Or I could be wearing the goggles.