Folks, if you want to see one of the biggest issues that Tim Tadlock and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are trying to work through, just take a glance at the stat sheet and focus in on the pitching stats.Â
Which, to be completely honest, there’s a lot there to be worried about, but specifically, one of the biggest problems is the fact that the Texas Tech baseball team has managed to secure just one save despite playing a total of 27 games so far this season.Â
We’re talking about exactly one save for Texas Tech’s pitching staff. Just one. That’s not good! Not at all. When you measure that up against the rest of the Big 12, you’ll see that the Red Raiders aren’t the only team struggling to get saves, but the Red Raiders are the team that is struggling the most.Â
The Big 12’s best offense is paired up with a pitching staff that has just one save through 27 games
The Cincinnati Bearcats manage to lead the way with 10 saves on the season, three teams have seven saves, and then there’s the Red Raiders all the way at the bottom of the 14-team college baseball conference.
- Cincinnati Bearcats - 10 saves
- West Virginia Mountaineers - 7 saves
- Kansas State Wildcats - 7 saves
- Utah Utes - 7 saves
- UCF Knights - 6 saves
- Oklahoma State Cowboys - 6 saves
- Houston Cougars - 6 saves
- BYU Cougars - 4 saves
- Arizona State Sun Devils - 4 saves
- TCU Horned Frogs - 4 saves
- Kansas Jayhawks - 3 saves
- Baylor Bears - 3 saves
- Arizona Wildcats - 2 saves
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - 1 saves
For Texas Tech, Will Jordan is the lone Red Raider pitcher who has managed to secure a save so far this season. In 10 appearances, Jordan has managed to throw 11.1 innings and has struck out 13 batters up to this point.
Now, this issue isn’t just about closer usage or the way the Red Raiders aren’t able to identify one or two relief pitchers to come out of the bullpen late in games and lock things down. It points to how Texas Tech basically lacks the ability to protect leads. There’s a big pitching staff problem here.