FSU baseball: Simple suggestions to get the Noles back on track

FSU baseball (18-13, 7-8 ACC) has lost seven of its last nine games. The Noles have fallen out of most top 25 rankings, and rightfully so.

They have not played good baseball in any phase of the game for some time now. I believe the lack of offense has permeated into the pitching staff, pressing to be too perfect.

That has resulted in typically consistent starters getting knocked out of games early with inefficient pitch counts and getting hit way harder than they should.

Can these issues be fixed? I don’t know about fixed, but I believe they can improve considerably by going back to the basics approach.

Pitching

FSU’s starting pitching talent is among the best in the nation. However, I believe some of them have gotten away from what gave them that honor. I spoke about the small margin of error because of the lack of offense. There’s nothing worse than taking the mound feeling like you have to be perfect or that you have to strike everyone out to have a chance to win. However, FSU pitchers have to concentrate on getting ahead in the count first and foremost.

Once they are in that position, they have to execute their pitches. If it’s 0-2 or 1-2, make the hitter chase a pitch out of the zone. I have seen way too much of pitchers throwing pitching in this count over the middle of the plate. I don’t care how hard you throw, good hitters will make you pay for those mistakes. If you waste a couple of pitches at 0-2 and it gets to 2-2 or 3-2, throw your best pitch, and hopefully, the defense makes a play if the hitter makes contact. That will likely decrease the number of pitches thrown, keeping starters in the game longer. If the guy gets a hit, at least he earned it. There can’t be any more getting a hitter 0-2 and ultimately walking them. Walks will kill you, and FSU pitchers have issued way too many of those over the past few weeks.

Hitting

Where do I begin? First of all, stop guessing and taking fastballs for strikes. I understand the need to get pitcher’s pitch counts up, but you’re only going to get 1-2 pitches in an at-bat to do damage. I always looked first-pitch fastball, and if it was in the zone, I was swinging. If the pitcher threw something offspeed for a strike on the first pitch, I tipped my hat and made a mental note.

FSU batters have to take advantage of hitter counts, 2-0, 2-1, and 3-1 are prime opportunities to look for a fastball to crush. However, I’ve watched time and time again at FSU batters looking at fastballs on these counts. If you get two strikes, simply choke up on the bat and put the ball in play. It’s not like there are a lot of home run hitters on this team anyways.

When it comes to situational hitting, go up to the plate with a plan to execute. If a guy leads off with a double, make sure you move him over by hitting to the right side of the field. There is no reason for the next batter to swing for the fences. FSU has failed to score in these situations way too many times. Just have quality at-bats and understand strikeouts are going to happen. However, strikeouts on 3-4 pitches should be rare.

Overall

I think the pitching is still good enough to win lots of ball games. The FSU baseball offense doesn’t have to be a juggernaut, but they need more than 2.6 runs per game in conference play. If they can do the little things like having quality at-bats and cutting down on the strikeouts?

That would at least give them a better shot of reaching base. They have the hardest part of their schedule remaining, beginning with rival Florida Tuesday night. It would be a great time to get back to the basics and get a huge win to get some momentum with this program.