Hey folks, I'm in Florida doing some conferencing with other journalism types for the next day or so, but the Web is a wonderful thing, so here I am.
It occurred to me that us journalists are supposed to be statistical gurus, so I thought I'd take a look at some math that's been hurting the Hoosiers lately. What I found ain't pretty.The Hoosiers rang in April with a 5-2 win over Miami (Ohio) on the 2nd of the month, moving them to 14-7, 3-1 in the Big Ten. Since then, the Hoosiers have plain struggled.
They are 2-9 overall, and just 2-6 in the Big Ten (keep in mind all eight of those games were played at home, four against then-last place Iowa). They've suffered through a three-game losing streak and are currently stuck in a five-game skid. The main problem - if there is just one - is probably pitching. When the first Big Ten statistics reports were released prior to the Hoosiers' late-March trip to Minnesota, IU ranked second in both hitting and pitching.
They've since moved to first in hitting, but they've plummeted to eighth in pitching. In that 11-game stretch, the team earned run average is 8.90, which moves their team ERA for the season to an alarming 6.04.
The Hoosiers have also had to go deep in their bullpen several times over the stretch, using sometimes as many as four or five pitchers a game.
None of that reads good, no matter how you tilt your screen. Some of the multi-pitcher games can simply get chalked up to the fact that not everyone on staff is meant to go deep into ballgames, but IU coach Tracy Smith has said several times he still feels like his bullpen isn't being nearly effective enough, or getting enough rest. There are positives. The Hoosiers continue to swing the hot bats.
The top four is a murderer's row, and Jerrud Sabourin is fast improving in the five-hole. With solid if not spectacular depth at the bottom of the line-up, the Hoosiers can score runs.
Further, Josh Phegley is currently the Big Ten's best hitter, and he was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week for last week. The sophomore catcher from Terre Haute is having a mad breakout season, hitting .443 with five home runs and 39 RBIs. But at the end of the day, teams nearly always win with pitching, and that's something the Hoosiers are lacking at present. But it's along season, Hoosier fans. They do have time to turn it around, with more than half their Big Ten schedule still to play. What do you think? Can the Hoosiers get over the hump with their pitching and make it back to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in five years? Or are their problems more than just mental? Will they ever start winning like they were at the season's beginning? Sound off below. \0xFFFD
