Clark: FSU Baseball still searching for answers after series win over BC
Overall, the Florida State baseball team did what it needed to do this weekend against Boston College. It won the series. And it stayed above .500 in the ACC with a conference record of 13-11.
But we're now 32 games into this 2021 college baseball season, and it seems readily apparent that we know what these Seminoles are.
At least so far.
Don't miss out on our great sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial!
They are a team with terrific pitching. They have one of the best Friday night guys in the country in Parker Messick and a bullpen that is as deep as any FSU has ever had.
They are an average fielding team. Not great. Not terrible. And if you've been paying attention to the defenses around here lately, that certainly feels like a step up from recent years.
Good pitching. Decent defense. That seems like a recipe for Florida State to have another Florida State-type year.
But then there's the offense. And that, more than anything, is what has to give you pause about how far this team can go in the postseason. Frankly, it's not a guarantee there will be a postseason for these Seminoles. Not yet anyway. Not with the schedule they've got coming up.
They're 18-14 overall with looming road trips to Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and N.C. State, along with a home series against Clemson.
And I thought Sunday's loss to Boston College was the perfect illustration of what this offense has been all year. Mat Nelson had two hits. Mat Nelson is having arguably the best season by an FSU catcher (not named Buster) in program history. He's been unreal.
Robby Martin had a two-run homer off the scoreboard. Robby Martin, once again, is proving to be a very, very good college hitter.
Tyler Martin got on base three times. Because Tyler Martin always seems to get on base three times.
And yet, FSU still lost 5-3 Sunday to the worst team in the league.
Because the Seminoles' hitters other than Martin, Nelson and Martin were a combined 0-for-18.
And this wasn't even that much of an anomaly. It's kind of how the whole year has been going. The three guys at the top are getting on base and producing at a high level. The next six? Well, that's been a wee bit problematic. No matter whose names have been scribbled on the lineup card.
Just look at these numbers.
The two Martins and Nelson are hitting a combined .313 this season. They've all been good to great in their respective roles.
The rest of the FSU team? Exactly .200. Right at the old Mendoza line (certainly not named after Drew, by the way).
The two Martins and Nelson have a combined on-base percentage of .439.
The rest of the team: .314.
The two Martins and Nelson have a combined slugging percentage of .580.
The rest of the team: .331.
Despite there being only three of them, the two Martins and Nelson have combined for 48.2 percent of the team's runs and 51.3 percent of the RBIs (much of the power, of course, coming from Nelson and Robby Martin).
When you think about it, it's truly remarkable that a team could still be above .500, still be in line to play in the NCAA Tournament (yet again), when two-thirds of the lineup is one huge question mark.
Second-year head coach Mike Martin Jr. was asked about the frustrations of Sunday's game, when FSU worked nine walks but managed just four hits and three runs.
The opportunities were there for big innings. But other than Robby Martin's home run, nothing big happened. And the Seminoles squandered a chance for a sweep.
"You've got to cash them in," Martin Jr. said of the scoring chances. "To create them is one thing, but you've got to do things that make sense when it comes to pitch selection and being ready, and leaving stuff alone when you should.
"Great hitters that hit in the clutch, with runners in scoring position, that's what they do. We're going to continue to work at it."
Nelson is a great hitter. He's tied for No. 1 nationally with 15 homers. He's slugging over. 800!
The two Martins are good hitters. Robbie is slugging .540, and Tyler has 30 walks and 10 strikeouts
The rest of the team, except for an occasional Elijah Cabell blast to the moon, has been woefully underperforming. Like so bad it's hard to believe.
Think about those numbers again. If the two Martins and Nelson decided their shoulders were too tired from carrying the offense and decided to sit out next weekend's series at Georgia Tech, the rest of the FSU roster would go to Atlanta with a .200 batting average.
Those Georgia Tech pitchers would be fighting each other to get a chance to take the mound. They're still probably plenty excited about the opportunity to go up against an offense that heading into the weekend had more strikeouts than any other Power 5 team.
Martin Jr. clearly isn't pleased with what's going on right now. He's been a hitting coach for a long time. He's had offenses put up huge numbers. He's had great, great hitters for decades. He's not used to this either.
Yes, college pitching is better than it's ever been. Especially this year.
But that's no excuse for numbers like the ones above.
The head coach knows it. And to his credit, he's been trying any and everything to fix it.
If you're a pitcher on the FSU roster, there's a good chance Martin Jr. has thrown you out there to take some hacks at the plate. He's looking for any sort of spark he can find. Anybody that can make consistent contact and have a good approach. It's all-comers at this point.
So far, other than freshman Wyatt Crowell having some quality at-bats, nothing has really stuck.
But Martin Jr. is going to keep trying. Not just trying to find some new guys, but getting the old guys right. And that might really be the key.
Florida State just isn't a postseason -caliber offense if Reese Albert and Nander de Sedas are going to hit .176 and .194, respectively. That just can't happen. Albert, especially, has proven to be a good college hitter. He's got power and has had some huge moments wearing that garnet uniform.
Yet he was benched the final two games of the series against Boston College. And with good reason.
He's in a funk that has to be figured out. Heck, the whole offense is except for the three dudes at the top. If that doesn't get fixed, this season has no chance of being anything significant. The pitching is very good, but not good enough to overcome an offense that is 12th in the ACC in hits, 11th in slugging, ninth in on-base percentage and No. 1 -- by a wide margin -- in strikeouts.
To that end, Martin Jr. hopes this is the week that can really jumpstart his offense. It's finals week. Which means no midweek games. Which means more time to practice and tinker with mechanics (and situational awareness).
"You've got to be careful there," Martin Jr. said. "You're trying to de-learn and re-learn stuff. And if you do it, then all the sudden you're playing a day or so later, a lot of times that can crush confidence. So, we're going to use (the four days off).
"We'll do some scrimmaging, face some pitchers, have guys on base, give them different looks, and with some guys an overhaul mechanically with some things."
He likely won't be overhauling anything with Nelson. Or Martin. Or the other Martin.
Those guys are doing just fine.
But if this team is going to be anything more than a fringe NCAA Tournament team, if it's going to not only make the postseason but make some noise there, then something has to change.
Quickly.
Because some huge tests are awaiting this Florida State baseball team.
And I don't mean the final exams.
Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.
------------------------
Discuss this story with other FSU fans on our Seminole Baseball Message Board