Both the softball team and baseball team have seen a significant dip in production after about their third or fourth criss crosses of the continent. Makes me wonder if the ridiculous amount of travel is fatiguing them to the point of being a real contributor to the downturn. Both teams looked pretty good early but have been struggling to keep up now with the rest of the ACC (who aren’t travelling nearly as much, to put it lightly), heading into the final couple of series. I like Mike Neu. I think last year was one of the best seasons I’ve witnessed as a Cal baseball fan. I just don’t know how he can keep up with the recruiting by his conference mates with a huge disparity in NIL funding, visibility (Cal is the only team whose games at home aren’t being given the full set of tv cameras by the ACCN; plus, no replays of great plays during telecasts) and travel. It’s like he is competing with one hand behind his back on multiple levels.
It’s time to do a reset with the baseball coach just like we should do with Wilcox. Neu has done nothing to get fans excited about the baseball program , to make matters worse this year, the team is on a current winless streak in the conference. Wait, this isn’t the football team, right? This has to be the worst stretch if cal athletics, ever, Wr are bottom
The cumulative effect of 3 hour time zone change travel every other week is a huge challenge for players who actually also must go to class. Having said that, this team has lost many games due to breakdowns in fundamentals, mostly on the mental side of things (I.e. walks, hbp, errors on easy plays etc). Travel, fatigue and a very young roster has created a perfect storm of bad results: giving up 5+ runs in a single inning is not uncommon (but is very uncommon in the game of baseball). Travel cross country ( a full day ordeal, bringing along all the equipment necessary to play baseball), play 3 games in 3 days ( meaning ur going to, from and on the baseball field for at least 6 hours) then packing up, going back to the airport and flying 4-5 hours home, is utterly exhausting even for the young athlete. These guys aren’t flying charters. The other ACC baseball teams do this kind of travel 1 time the entire season. Cal and Stanford must do this 5-7 times. Hopefully this team stays in tact. If so next year will be a far better story.
Both the softball team and baseball team have seen a significant dip in production after about their third or fourth criss crosses of the continent. Makes me wonder if the ridiculous amount of travel is fatiguing them to the point of being a real contributor to the downturn. Both teams looked pretty good early but have been struggling to keep up now with the rest of the ACC (who aren’t travelling nearly as much, to put it lightly), heading into the final couple of series. I like Mike Neu. I think last year was one of the best seasons I’ve witnessed as a Cal baseball fan. I just don’t know how he can keep up with the recruiting by his conference mates with a huge disparity in NIL funding, visibility (Cal is the only team whose games at home aren’t being given the full set of tv cameras by the ACCN; plus, no replays of great plays during telecasts) and travel. It’s like he is competing with one hand behind his back on multiple levels.
It’s time to do a reset with the baseball coach just like we should do with Wilcox. Neu has done nothing to get fans excited about the baseball program , to make matters worse this year, the team is on a current winless streak in the conference. Wait, this isn’t the football team, right? This has to be the worst stretch if cal athletics, ever, Wr are bottom
Dwelling in every major sport.
The cumulative effect of 3 hour time zone change travel every other week is a huge challenge for players who actually also must go to class. Having said that, this team has lost many games due to breakdowns in fundamentals, mostly on the mental side of things (I.e. walks, hbp, errors on easy plays etc). Travel, fatigue and a very young roster has created a perfect storm of bad results: giving up 5+ runs in a single inning is not uncommon (but is very uncommon in the game of baseball). Travel cross country ( a full day ordeal, bringing along all the equipment necessary to play baseball), play 3 games in 3 days ( meaning ur going to, from and on the baseball field for at least 6 hours) then packing up, going back to the airport and flying 4-5 hours home, is utterly exhausting even for the young athlete. These guys aren’t flying charters. The other ACC baseball teams do this kind of travel 1 time the entire season. Cal and Stanford must do this 5-7 times. Hopefully this team stays in tact. If so next year will be a far better story.
Cal Baseball needs someone New coaching the team!