What's Missing for Nebraska Baseball?

You've got Murray State taking on Duke, both of those unseeded teams. And you've got Louisville and Miami. Those are power conference teams, Arizona. But you've also got a UTSA who advanced in there. The top two national seeds went down this past weekend.

So when you're looking at, Nebraska, and you look at, hey, it's working for these teams. Why is it working for these teams and the leagues that they play in and the resources Nebraska has compared to the resources they have, the resources Big Ten programs in general have, even if baseball is lower on the spending priority than some of the other sports compared to what the ACC does or the SEC does or even the Big 12?

What's that thing that's missing for Nebraska? Is it having a deeper bullpen? Is it having more guys that can hit 95 on the radar gun? Is it having – you look at some – like we saw last year when Nebraska was playing Florida, it seemed like every guy was cookie-cutter. They were all 6-6, 240 pounds, just up and down the lineup. What is that thing – if there is one - that's missing for Nebraska from that step that hasn't happened in twenty years?

Nick: I come from a thought of strong and deep pitching is going to take you very, very far. Rotational, elite arms, for sure. I think Ty Horn is there. I think what you got between Jackson Brockett and Will Walsh was guys that utilize their stuff really good but didn't have explosive fastballs.

And look, it's not all about the velocity. You can have guys that throw 96, 97 miles an hour, but if they have no movement and they're relying heavily on that, they become predictable. They haven't developed that that complimentary breaking ball or change up well enough. You're going to get hit just the same as anybody throwing 86, 87.

But I think when you do have those types of players that – again, I'll use the Ty Horn example of a guy that as he continued to find success in the second half of the year, you would watch him maybe in the third and the fourth inning, and all of a sudden that breaking ball – gained more depth. It became more devastating because then that fastball, even at 93 or 94, would come by and you'd have no shot catching up to it. So guys that have that type of stuff that can bring you a 93, 94-plus fastball, but are also coming right back with an explosive slider or a changeup that's just dropping off the table. You know, those types of guys.

Mason McConnaughey had all of that. And, you know, we don't know what's going to happen with Mason because of that injury and his draft stock and everything. I mean, there is a decision there. I don't think Nebraska is necessarily counting on him coming back, but you never know. And I know they love him, and I know he loves this program.

This is the one thing that I looked at Oklahoma and I was really impressed with. Every guy that they ran out there was 95-plus. Mm hmm. We saw Crossland, the guy that – his numbers weren't great. Now, mind you, he's pitching in the SEC. But he was in control of that game. And, yeah, sure, it's easy to throw a lot of strikes and challenge hitters when you have the type of cushion that he had. But his stuff was really good. They threw a freshman at the end of that game against North Carolina the previous night, and that kid was throwing 95, 96 miles an hour as well.

I think when you do have some of those power arms – because, look, the way we are in college baseball is – and you brought up UTSA. Perfect example. You're watching their guy throw 97. Those those arms are out there.

And this is what I love that Nebraska has is you got Rob Childress. Give Rob Childress just even some raw ability, a kid with raw ability, and two years, Rob will have that guy refined, and have that guy effective. So I think it starts there. I think you want to see more of those Mason McConnaughey types. I'm not trying to make it sound like they're easy to find, but they're out there. And if they're developed by Rob Childress, I'll put my money on that all day.

Kaleb: And it's not that Nebraska hasn't had those guys. Obviously, Mason McConnaughey isn't what you were expecting coming into this year. But you had Brett Sears. You had the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year a year ago. You could go back, under Will Bolt, you had Cade Povich. You had Spencer Schwellenbach.

Nick: And look what those seasons led to. In 2021, Nebraska was in the regional conversation until Rutgers came into town. But they were a big part of the regional host conversation last year. If Nebraska wins a couple more midweeks, they're in the regional host conversation. So you see the connection there. You mentioned two bona fide aces.

And then this year, Mason McConnaughey, we don't get to see him go past Sam Houston third week of the season. Again, not trying to say Nebraska all of a sudden in the regional host, but there's that connection of when you've got big-time arms, big-time guys, what it does to the rest of your staff and what it can do in series that, unfortunately, Nebraska wasn't winning in March.

Kaleb: And that's where I'm at when you look at this team and this program on the what's missing. To me, it's the second guy. Coming into this year, you were expecting to have Mason McConnaughey, but who is "Mason McConnaughey light"? Who is that 1a, 1b instead of here's your number one and then here's your number two?

That's the part that Nebraska, if they can ever get that – last year, if you have Brett Sears and then you have an immediate second ace, not somebody who – I know Brockett threw a no-hitter. I know that. And you saw what guys were able to do with amazing performances in the Big Ten Tournament and a lot of one-off or kind of hit and miss on success. But that one guy that's just – they're expected to be a dude every single night out. A little bit of what you saw in the last two appearances from Ty Horn.

How can you get that type of consistency with that elite second arm? To me, that's the part that's been missing in that Nebraska has had that ace. And in those seasons, Nebraska has been in a really good position where that ace has been healthy for the bulk of the season. We didn't get that with Mason this year. But where's that second guy? How do you get that second guy in there?

You talked about Oklahoma. They have that second guy. Yeah, their ace got roughed up against North Carolina. But there's a reason you can go into regional and say you don't have to throw your number one guy because your number two guy is pretty freaking good.

Nick: What you were just saying there with Nebraska a year ago with Sears then to McConnaughey, those are the situations you like to have. I do wonder if the Ty Horn development happens even quicker if you do have a healthy Mason McConnaughey, where it's not the last month of the season to where you saw a Ty going five innings plus, but where you're maybe seeing that more in March because of having a bona fide starter, ace, Friday night guy, electric stuff, set the tone where you don't feel the weight of the world when you're towing the rubber on that Saturday.

But I do think that Nebraska understands now with this sort of new look Big Ten, and this was maybe the blessing that came with that California road trip. You're out there. You're seeing what UCLA is about. We didn't see Oregon up until the Big Ten Tournament, but you're seeing what they're about. You're seeing that those are offensively – challenging teams.

That sophomore class that UCLA has, that was the number one ranked incoming freshman class from Perfect Game two years ago. And they're all playing like that. So they got developed. Every major contributor of UCLA, they're all sophomores. They haven't been playing college baseball for that long, but there was a lot of talent there, but they got developed and they were able to come together.

You look at what the Oregon team, the Washington team, the USC team, they don't have to leave the state or at least that section of the country. But you see what Big Ten baseball, if you want to be there at the top, is going to demand you to do. And I don't think it changes so much of what Nebraska knew they had to do before because when you want to host regionals, you've got to be able to do those things anyway.

I think now you have that in-conference example and that in-conference rivalry, if you will, where you've got these teams that you're going to face most years, whether you go out there or they come here. And that style, it's not your traditional West Coast style. We're just going to small ball you to death and everything. No, they're going to slug you. And then they're going to bring in guys that are throwing 95-plus.

And the beauty of that is you can start broadening your recruiting base a little bit, too, because not all those guys in California are going to find themselves at USC and UCLA and other schools around there. They're going to want to still play maybe in the Big Ten Conference and be able to have a chance to go out to the West Coast, play in front of family too. There's advantages there.

But I think I like that Nebraska had a chance to see what those programs were about on their home turf and be able to, let's say, dramatically change what they're doing in Lincoln, but give you an idea of, okay, if we want to be at the top and we were in the tournament and we beat two of those teams, how do we be at the top in the regular season, and what do we construct to do that going forward?

Kaleb: I know that we're in a time of transition on where a lot of money is going and what priorities are, but I'm hoping that the addition – and this was my hope a year ago as well – that with the addition of those West Coast teams, it spurs some development across the Big Ten.

It makes some programs say, we want to take that next step in the same way that, let's face it, a lot of us were hoping Nebraska was going to do to the league 15 years ago, that you were going to say, no, here's the big dog swinging the big stick, and realistically, that took some time. Because Nebraska was still figuring stuff out post those College World Series runs. And now for this team and this program, it's what is that next step?

Watch the full conversation below.

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