Closing book on Florida's baseball season in numbers
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 | Baseball, Scott Carter
“I don't know whether you know it, but baseball's appeal is decimal points. Baseball fans pay more attention to numbers than CPAs.” – Late Los Angeles Times sports columnist Jim Murray
“Statistics are about as interesting as first base coaches.'' – Former big-league pitcher and “Ball Four” author Jim Bouton
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Regardless of which view you prefer, there is no doubt baseball is a game of failure, inches and, yes, numbers. For more on the topic read “The Numbers Game” by Alan Schwarz.
The college baseball season ends tonight with either Vanderbilt or Virginia being crowned national champion in Omaha.
The Gators' stay in Omaha ended late Saturday night with a 5-4 loss to the Cavaliers. Speaking of numbers, the Cavaliers finished 15-15 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season and are now one victory away from a championship.
As one is apt to hear around the ballpark, “that's baseball.”
Before we close the book completely on the 2015 season, here are some interesting tidbits gleaned from the Gators' end-of-season statistics book:
-- Senior 3B Josh Tobias led the team in hitting with a .355 average, 86 points above his career average entering the season. Tobias' turnaround raised his final UF career average to .301, an impressive feat for a player who earned playing time most of his career because of his glove.
-- Freshman C/DH JJ Schwarz hit .491 (28-for-57) in 15 postseason games with five doubles, four home runs and 19 RBIs. Three days after his final at-bat in Omaha, Schwarz pinch-hit during the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team's 9-2 loss to Chinese Taipei on Tuesday night in Cary, N.C.
-- Sophomore starter Logan Shore (11-6, 2.72 ERA) had just two no-decisions in 19 starts. As documented in this blog from Omaha, Shore was excellent in five postseason starts, going 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA.
-- Sophomore OF Buddy Reed showed tremendous improvement at the plate in his second season. Reed's batting average (.305) increased 61 points over his freshman season and his .566 on-base percentage was second to Schwarz's .629 among UF's regulars.
-- Florida's top four starting pitchers, all set to return next season, combined to finish 31-13 with a 3.35 ERA. Shore, A.J. Puk (9-4, 3.81), Alex Faedo (6-1, 3.23) and Dane Dunning (5-2, 4.03) offer a lot of optimism heading into next season. Faedo was especially good at home (5-0, 1.50 ERA), striking out 36 and allowing 30 hits in 36 innings.
-- The Gators committed only 42 errors in 70 games, 58 miscues less than their opponents.
-- After hitting only 26 home runs in 2014, the Gators clubbed 66 this season, led by 18 from Schwarz and 17 from junior OF Harrison Bader, who led the team with five in the postseason.
-- No player enjoyed stepping into the batter's box more at McKethan Stadium as opposed to on the road than Bader, who hit .370 at home (36 games) compared to .181 on the road (19 games). Meanwhile, Reed hit .288 at home (38 games) compared to .338 (19 games) on the road. Overall, the Gators hit .320 in 39 home games and .249 in 19 road games. Note: Neutral site games not included.
-- Tobias (.414) was the Gators' best hitter in games Florida won; freshman C Michael Rivera was the team's top hitter (.273) in games lost.
-- Junior SS Richie Martin, the only player to start every game in the field, led the team by getting hit by a pitch 16 times, or seven more errors than Martin made in 316 defensive chances. Martin made 12 less errors than his sophomore season.
