It’s been an especially unfortunate year for Houston Cougar baseball.
Frankly, Todd Whitting‘s 16th season as head coach is far from where he’d hoped this team would be in May. Historically, this is a step back for the longtime coach, even with how much the Big 12 improved.
As of Tuesday, the Cougars are ranked 109th in the RBI behind Morehead State, and without a path to the Big 12 tournament.
Houston enjoyed a 10-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christ on Tuesday, but remains without a league win since April 17. With seven games and two Big 12 series remaining, the end of the regular season can’t come quickly enough.
Just How Bad is Houston Baseball?
The lack of league wins is largely due to an ineffective pitching staff and an unacceptable output at the plate.
Houston features the 150th-worst team ERA of 5.98 and opened Big 12 play allowing as many as 11.2 runs per game. You won’t win with those numbers, not in college baseball.
Nobody has filled the shoes of lefty Antoine Jean, selected by the 197th overall pick by the Colorado Rockies in last year’s MLB Draft.
Ole Miss transfer Ryne Rodriguez (4.26 ERA) leads Houston with 54 strikeouts but is just 1-1 this season through 50.2 innings pitched. Returns from senior right-hander Paul Schmitz (2-6) and junior right-hander Richie Roman (2-1) have been minimal.
Houston, too, went after Texas Tech’s Matt Gardner to replace Woody Williams as the pitching coach over the offseason. It’s only Year 1, but it’s a rough start by a coach known for his MLB Draft pipeline in 12 seasons in Lubbock.
Even with a strong start to the non-Big 12 schedule, Houston became largely inconsistent at the plate.
Runs, or a lack thereof, are another culprit as to why Houston just hasn’t hacked it this spring. Houston’s 261-310 run different slots near the bottom of college baseball.
Cade Climie is slashing .351/.430/.721, but isn’t on pace to surpass or even match last year’s 37 RBI. Xavier Perez leads the team with 31 RBI, and no other Cougar has swung the bat at a high enough rate this spring to give Houston a sustainable rhythm.
With a handful of games to go, Houston could supposedly play spoiler to third-place Arizona State in the final Big 12 series of the regular season, but the Sun Devils are already slotted into the league tournament in Surprise, Arizona.
After all this time, Houston might ask itself whether Whitting is right long-term play for its baseball program, but he’s also a longtime Texas baseball guy with 17 regionals of experience.
Whitting’s best Houston team finished 48-18 in 2014 as a member of the American.
