Cajuns Have a Great Weekend, But It’s Not Fair to Expect That EVERY Weekend

Well, Cajun baseball fans, did the weekend excite you?

It should. Tony Robichaux took his young Louisiana squad into SEC country and won a series against Alabama for the second straight year.

After the 17-inning loss to McNeese State the previous Tuesday, my guess is most people weren’t expecting the Cajuns to come home a game over .500 (6-5).

But before we crown these guys conference champions, let’s remember something.

Never too high. Never too low.

This is baseball. Fifty six games worth in the regular season. There are going to be times where the Ragin’ Cajuns look like they can beat anyone in the country. There will also be nights (especially with so much inexperience on the pitching staff) where the Cajuns will look like they can’t beat…well…anyone.

I don’t know how many judgments we can make about this team, but with conference play coming up this weekend, here are a few observations, even though, admittedly, I haven’t seen this team as much as I’d like.

THE YOUNG PITCHING IS PROBABLY BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT—I’m not speaking for the coaching staff. Obviously they thought these guys could pitch, otherwise they wouldn’t have signed them. But the truly impressive thing so far has been the consistency of the newcomers. Evan Guillory still needs to learn to navigate the middle innings, but he has shown he can get hitters out. Gunner Leger is not going to pitch every game like he did against Alabama, but he’s got starter’s stuff. Senior Greg Milhorn has shown flashes of the pitcher we saw early last season. I’m not ready to say he’s totally back, but if he can improve his consistency with his location, he is going to be very tough to beat. Chris Charpentier will have to work his way back. But he’s capable. Robe can use him as a weekday starter or use him out of the pen, where he pitched well last season. We haven’t seen Connor Toups yet, but with the issues Northwestern State had with left handers last time the two teams played, you can bet he’ll be out there this week.

The thing that has impressed me most about the staff, however, is just how deep this bullpen might be. The jury is still out because we haven’t seen a ton of innings from these guys. But Colton Lee is everything the coaches were expecting and more. He’s downright filthy…and trust me…no one is going to want to see him in the late innings if their team is behind. Dylan Moore, Wyatt Marks, Will Bacon and Logan Stoelke are going to get plenty more chances to pitch. I personally like Moore a lot. And, yesterday’s home run notwithstanding, no one can argue with what Marks has done so far. Again…it’s way too early to draw a lot of conclusions and there are going to be days where these babies might give up their milk. But when these guys are on, Tony has a more than manageable pitching staff.

The offense has been a little inconsistent as well and I’m not surprised. Last season if one guy wasn’t hitting it was okay because the other eight picked him up. It’s going to be tougher this time around because pitchers are going to challenge these hitters more. It’s easy to hit .340 when you have guys before and after you who can really put fear into a staff. This offense isn’t there yet, and they aren’t going to be at the 2014 level at any time this year. The thing to like is, Tony has a lot of options. He can adjust the lineup left vs. right, he can make changes in the middle of the game when the other team goes to the bullpen and he can really use the “next man up” philosophy if someone isn’t performing. This team will not hit for the average of a year ago, nor will they score as many runs. But it’s a lineup other teams will have to respect, especially if the Cajuns are pitching well.

Defensively, there are issues. The Cajuns are not as good defensively at just about any position. Right now their fielding percentage is nearly 30 points behind last year. Thirty points is a lot. Joe Robbins has done a great job in center field and he showed how good his arm is over the weekend. Even Blake Trahan isn’t quite as good so far because he doesn’t have Leonards and Jace Conrad on either side of him. With the young pitching staff and a lineup that isn’t going to score eight runs every game, this phase of the 2015 Cajuns has got to get better. I’ve known Tony long enough to know there comes a time where he will sacrifice some offense for better defense. If there isn’t improvement here, don’t be surprised if he makes a change or two.

After eleven games, we are finding things to like about this Cajuns baseball team. But we are also seeing some things that must get consistent if Louisiana is going to challenge for a conference championship.

As the season progresses, a reminder. This is baseball. The game is never the same every day. Neither are the players…especially young ones.

Never too high. Never too low.

Because at times, “youth will be served”and will put plenty of Ws in the win column.

But there will be times where that youth might be the main course.