Arizona's Starting Pitcher vs CANES

Tonight, we start the road to #5 in Omaha vs the Arizona Wildcats. Here's the starter we will face this evening in Nathan Bannister. 

Bannister is their ace and one who logs in a lot of innings (132.2 to be exact). He doesn't walk many guys (29 on the season), and he's the kind of pitcher that strikes out a lot of batters (98 on the year). He's 11-2 on the year with an ERA of 2.71. His WHIP is 0.95 which is outstanding. When I look at his LOB% (Left on Base Percentage, which the number of runners stranded on base), its .703, which is below average. 

His K/9 is 6.6 which is poor and His BB/9 is 2.0 is just below great, but very much above average. His K/BB Ratio is 3.38:1. Bannister's FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) this year is 2.67 which is damn good. 

The key tonight is get to Bannister early and we have to cash in when it matters because looking at his numbers, this guy is not going to give us many chances, so we're going to have to cash in when we have opportunities to do so. 

I expect a tough game, but in the end, I expect a CANES victory over Arizona this evening. 

Arizona Pitching and Defense

Today, we're going to go into the Pitching and Defense of Arizona, our opponent on Saturday Night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 in Game 1 in Omaha. 

When I see the numbers on their starting staff, their team ERA is 3.42, which is pretty good. They also have a pretty good bullpen too with Dalbec as their closer. When you add the DICE (Defense-Independent Component ERA, which doesn't involve Defense and estimates a Pitcher's ERA based on Home Runs, Walks, Hit batters, and Strikeouts, and its even more impressive with a 0.66 DICE. Their WHIP as a team is 1.20, which is above average. Their K/BB ratio is middle of the road. The K/9 ratio is 6.7, which is poor. Their BB/9 ratio is 2.9, which is average. Their BABIP (Batting average on Balls in play) is .276 

As a staff, their opponent batting average is just .236. When you look at their opponents Secondary Average, its a measly .137. It gives you an idea how good they are defensively.  When I look at their fielding percentage, its at .976. When you take a closer look at them defensively, more specifically, their Range Factor, which takes into account the amount of outs a player is in, which I'll get into tomorrow when I go into individual stats, their Range Factor as a team is 38.9 

When you look at their Left on Base Percentage, which factors the amount of base runners a pitcher strands over the season, its at .753, which is also above average. 

Simply put, this is a good defensive team we're going to be facing on Saturday Night. However, based on the numbers, we should be able to put the ball in play here and get some scoring opportunities. 

Tomorrow, I'll go into the individual numbers on Arizona. 

Breakdown of Arizona Lineup

Today, we're going to break down our first opponent: Arizona from a hitting perspective. 

Going through their lineup, this is a team that like us, do the little things. I'm going to put up their numbers, plus add some other stats to give you a true idea of this lineup. 

1. Cody Ramer - 2B .357 .451 OBP .502 Slugging % .953 OPS .322 Secondary Average
2. Zach Gibbons - RF .373 .461 OBP .432 Slugging % .893 OPS .224 Secondary Average
3. Alfonso Rivas - LF .263 .349 OBP .359 Slugging % .708 OPS .192 Secondary Average
4. Ryan Aguilar - 1B .308 .382 OBP .498 Slugging % .880 OPS .348 Secondary Average
5. JJ Matijevic - DH .293 .332 OBP .431 Slugging % .763 OPS .203 Secondary Average
6. Bobby Dalbec - 3B .266 .378 OBP .440 Slugging % .818 OPS .315 Secondary Average
7. Cesar Salazar - C .282 .324 OBP .353 Slugging % .677 OPS .153 Secondary Average
8. Jared Oliva - CF .237 .286 OBP .382 Slugging % .668 OPS .247 Secondary Average
9. Louis Boyd - SS .261 .400 OBP .314 Slugging % .714 OPS .301 Secondary Average

So when you look at this lineup, their Batting average is .293, their OBP (On-Base Percentage) is .374, their Slugging percentage is .412. Their OPS as a lineup is .786 which is an Above Average lineup here. When you look at their Secondary Average as a lineup, its just .256. 

When I look at this lineup we'll likely face in Game 1 in Omaha, they have 4 pretty good hitters with good Secondary averages here. The one that stood out to me here is Aguilar. He hits for power and has the best Secondary average in their lineup, reminds me a little of Miguel Cabrera, but with more speed on the bases, in fact, he stole 12 bases in 15 attempts this year. We'll have to be aware of him. The other two I look at that have really good Secondary Averages are Dalbec and Boyd (in the 9 hole). 

This is a lineup we'll have to contend with in Game 1. 

Tomorrow, I will go into their Pitching. 

On to Omaha for 25th time

The CANES for the 25th time in their history are off to the College World Series. Boston College is a gutty, gritty team that doesn't quit and they gave us everything they did and then some.

However, in the end, the experience of the CANES in big June games came through. 

Now, its on to the Arizona Wildcats, our first opponent in Omaha, likely Saturday. Don't have the time for that game as of yet. 

Previewing the Wildcats, they have a first year coach in Jay Johnson. They were a 38-20 team in the regular season and a 2 seed in the regionals. The fanbase out in the desert were pretty skeptical about Johnson, who came over from Reno after just two years there. 

They went on the road to Starkville and swept Mississippi State two straight, including a Walk off in 11 innings after being down 4 in the 8th. 

Arizona this year as a team is hitting .290. They have an On-Base Percentage of .382, and a .405 Slugging percentage. Their OPS (On-Base plus slugging) is .787. They've created 325 runs this year. When you add the Baserunning here, they created .735 runs a game. They have 344 Base Runs this season. Their secondary average, which measures the sum of extra bases, that is gained by hits, walks, and Stolen Bases, this season is .270 

I'm going to break down Arizona a little more as the week goes on. Tomorrow, I'll go a little more into the hitters of the Wildcats. Tuesday, I'll go more into their team pitching, and on Wednesday, it'll be their individual pitching.