FORT WORTH -- Texas A&M's baseball team was given the preseason nod at No. 1 by Baseball America because of the depth of its pitching staff, specifically in its starting rotation.
The Aggies are back home Monday putting up the equipment because of the lack of depth in their pitching staff, specifically in the starting rotation.
It would be unfair to say this was a bad pitching staff. Looking at the season statistics, a 4.49 ERA puts it in the upper quarter -- barely -- of the Big 12 and the NCAA.
That's not good enough though for a team that's one goal is to reach the College World Series. It's not good enough for a team that's supposed to contend for titles every year. And it's definitely not good enough for a team that was supposed to dominate on the mound while it replaced five solid everyday players this season.
In the end it just wasn't good at all for the Aggies, who finished 37-24.
When it counted most -- the final 13 games -- the Aggies gave up 37 runs in innings one and two. And that includes Ross Hales' gem at Texas, when the freshman that wasn't part of the equation as far as the pollsters were concerned at the beginning of the season shut out the Longhorns.
Upon further review, that was the only game in those final 13 that the Aggies did not give up a run in the first two innings. Those early deficits put too much pressure on the bullpen and the hitters.
The relief corps had its moments -- Alex Wilson at times, Nick Fleece during one stretch and Kyle Thebeau in the last month of the season. There were also times, though, when it was a wait-and-see scenario after head coach Rob Childress had to go the pen.
The hitters were burdened with having to play catch-up, a tough thing to do when facing the aces from other Big 12 teams or squads good enough to make a regional.
In his final structured press conference of the season, Childress, who had just watched his team fall behind 6-0 in the first inning and be eliminated from the Fort Worth Regional by Oregon State, shouldered the blame.
"It's disappointment on my part. When you're talking about excuses or what's the problem, it starts at the top," Childress said. "You've got to coach better, motivate better and put guys in better positions to be successful and I didn't do a very good job of that as a pitching coach."
Childress is a stand-up coach, and he even though he will criticize his players at times, he also understands not to throw them under the bus when the team is hurting.
Maybe he does have to do a better job. I don't have enough baseball savvy to say that outright, especially when it comes to the intricacies of pitching.
I do know not much went as scripted on the bump, beginning with Thebeau, last season's workhorse, getting off to a slow start. That coupled with closer Travis Starling never being truly healthy and never really knowing what starter Barret Loux could bring to the mound because of an elbow problem forced Childress to ad-lib.
With Thebeau struggling, Wilson, who was supposed to be the shut-down Saturday starter, became the bullpen's bridge. His role was to keep the Aggies ahead or in a game until the final inning.
It was easier to pull the trigger on that move because of Hales, who finished 6-2 with a 4.11 ERA.
But as the season grew longer, a rotation of Brooks Raley, Wilson and Barret Loux on the weekend and Clayton Ehlert, who was 6-2 with a 3.41 ERA in 2008, during the week, went more like Raley, Hales, TBA. What made it worse was that Ehlert struggled with his new role, as was evidenced by his ERA more than doubling (7.09).
The Aggies still had their goals -- titles and hosting regionals -- in front of them with two Big 12 series remaining, but A&M lost six of its final 10 games.
The pitching woes grew with Raley, having played every day in the outfield when he wasn't pitching, either hitting a wall or not hitting his spots. Oklahoma, albeit a good hitting team, averaged nine runs in four games against A&M. Raley pitched in two of those contests.
And if the struggles peaked against OU, they stayed on a plateau in the regional tournament. A&M gave up 22 runs combined in two games against Oregon State, a team that reached double-figures only three times in its final 36 regular season games.
After the Aggies' final game, Childress mentioned that the destination, not the journey, would be what was judged by those outside of the team. He's right for two reasons.
One is that's just the way it is. It's human nature. Or, maybe more accurately, it's a sports fan's nature.
The second is that the destination is the only measurable result. Effort, hustle and passion can't be clearly defined.
So it's back to the drawing board, one that has a good base to stand on with two Big 12 titles, two Super Regionals and another regional appearance in the last three years.
There will have to be some erasing, though, since the word Omaha is not included in any of the aforementioned accomplishments.
Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.
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