Texas Takes Game Two From Oklahoma State Behind Moldenhauer Slam

Krebs is listed as the starter, though I've been wondering the same thing.

Austin Wood has been the team's fourth starter all year, so if it's not Krebs, it'll be Wood, I'd guess.

Might be that Augie has decided that the 'Horns are more in need of bullpen help than third starter help; guess we'll find out.

Either way, Krebs has been money over the last month.

so the bunt in that situation isn't a bad idea because it looked like a low scoring game, the game was tied at the time, and there were no outs.  if you have a light-hitting team or a not very good hitter up, the bunt is a fine idea.  maybe you get a sac fly or a single from the next guy, score a run or 2 and take the lead.

but you don't have a light-hitting guy at the plate.  you've got albert pujols.  the presumptive MVP of college baseball.  having HIM bunt is a terrible idea.  it happened to not hurt the inning this time, but i question whether it helped it in any way.  if you were the opposing pitcher, which would you rather have happen if the best hitter in college baseball came to the plate with runers on first and second with nobody out in a tie game?  would you rather have to try to get that guy out or would you rather have him purposefully make an out so you could face the next guy (who is NOT the best hitter in college baseball)?

there are many situations in which bunts make sense.  but what we all have to realize is that who is at the plate is part of the "situation" in addition to the score, position of runners, etc.  having a .250 hitter bunt in that situation is a great idea.  having Russell bunt in that situation is a terrible idea.  it didn't hurt them THIS TIME.  but that's not evidence that it helped them at all.

if you want to get into numbers, they very clearly show that you will, on average, score more runs in innings when you do not bunt then innings when you do bunt and give up an out.  i believe bunting sometimes increases your chances of scoring 1 run (depending on the situation), but no matter the situation, it always decreases your chances of scoring more than 1 run.

there are indeed situations in which bunting is beneficial.  such as when you only need one run to tie or win.  but this was the 5th inning, not the 9th.  you would call for Phil Garner's head if he called for Lance Berkman to bunt someone over in the 5th inning of a tie game.  because that's just dumb.  and you know it.  but Kyle Russell has an slugging percentage about 400 points HIGHER than Berkman does right now.  it makes no sense.  jimy williams used to do this constantly (albeit not with Berkman - he had that much sense) and it drove me crazy as an Astros fan.

i hate the fact that everyone just defers to Augie like he's a tactical genius and everything he does is the right move because his intuition is always right.  Augie's a great coach.  one of the best ever.  great motivator, great recruiter, etc.  i wouldn't want anyone else coaching the team.  but can we at least admit that Augie is not right about everything?  the numbers clearly show that he's wrong on this.  why do we have to ignore facts?

OBdoc, you're welcome to disagree with me, but don't bring numbers into this. It's mathematically provable that all this bunting costs Texas runs.

The case for bunting as often as Augie does is entirely subjective, immeasurable, and involves things like "putting pressure on the defense." I personally don't buy it.

I think a lot of the negative reaction to this particular criticism of Augie is (as Billyzane noted) a visceral reaction to criticisms of Augie Garrido, period. Because he's so successful, many seem to believe he shouldn't be criticized at all.

I also think a lot of people confuse my criticism of this one particular habit of Augie's with a general aversion to small ball tactics. I like that Augie puts pressure on the defense, and I actually think Augie's instincts are tremendous - a huge strength.

There have to be limits to small ball, though. Bunting with Kyle Russell is a terrible idea 95% of the time - including the one I mentioned today. Texas has a ridiculously good offense, and there's absolutely no reason to be giving away outs as often as he does.