BC baseball stat update and comparisons

As I have in prior years, I’m breaking out the charts again with regards to Boston College baseball. The 2011 season has been up and down so far, as I think most of us expected, but being through 22 games, I finally believe we have enough of a sample size to be able to evaluate what they’ve done so far. First, here is how the Eagles’ start compares with recent years:

2009: 15-7 (5-3)
2010: 9-13 (2-6)
2011: 10-12 (4-5)

2009 will be the gold standard (of sorts) to which we hold a Boston College baseball team, as it was the only Eagles team since Lyndon Johnson to make the NCAA Tournament. Clearly, the Eagles are behind the pace set by that team, but in slightly better shape than the 2010 team (which made the ACC Tournament and managed to win a game). Past results aren’t indicative of future performance, however, and BC can find different ways to succeed and/or spectacularly blow the season. The main thing to draw is that the Eagles have 4 ACC wins to this point and aren’t in horrible shape. If the season ended right now, BC would be the #7 seed in the ACC Tournament, recalling of course that only the top 8 teams in the conference qualify. There are a lot more games to play, however.

Let’s take a look at the offense. In 2009 and 2010, BC had a strong offensive attack, with names like Tony Sanchez, Mickey Wiswall, and John Spatola at the plate. None of those gentlemen are on the Eagles anymore, however, and you can see for yourself what has happened:

Yeah, this can change, but through a 22-game sample size, what we have clearly seen is a much less impressive offense as far as hitting. One of my favorite (and, in my opinion, most indicative) offensive baseball stats is OPS, and this speaks for itself:

That can change too, but a .686 team OPS is pretty bad. A .249 team batting average is not much to write home about, either. How odious are these team numbers, you ask? Well, the NCAA hasn’t yet updated their stats to include the Northeastern loss (they show the team’s BA as being .252), but that was good for 237th-best in Division I. It’s probably down in the 250th range right now. As for team OPS, the NCAA doesn’t track that stat, but the next best thing we can look at is team slugging percentage. On that, the Eagles are tied for 226th in Division I. It doesn’t really matter how you slice it right now: through the first 22 games of the season, this team can’t hit for average or extra bases.

The pitching tells somewhat of a different story. The Eagles have lost Pat Dean to professional baseball and Taylor Lasko to injury, but so far, the results have been positive:

The Eagles currently have seven pitchers, three of whom are regular starters, who have worked a 4.50 ERA or less. The numbers across the board in pitching look better despite what the team has lost. When you keep in mind that BC has played some good teams, these numbers are not bad at all.

Last year, the Eagles’ problem was hitting without pitching. This year so far, it appears to be pitching without hitting. Boston College sports are good at being ironic like that.