University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tar Heel Baseball Notebook
May 8, 2008 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
May 8, 2008
By Adam Lucas
The easy way for Mike Fox to evaluate his offense is to look at the statistics. That should be a pleasant undertaking, because his Tar Heels currently rank third in the ACC in batting average (.322), third in on-base percentage (.405), and third in runs (359).
But Fox prefers a more nuanced way to judge the progress of his hitters: the quality at-bat chart.
"We try to reward kids when they have a good at-bat but it doesn't show up in the boxscore," says Fox, whose team is in Charlottesville this weekend for a three-game series at Virginia (you can listen live to the Tar Heel Sports Network call of all three games for free via All-Access. "QAB's are about things like advancing runners or going deep in the count. We try to get the guys away from looking at hits versus at-bats. Sometimes that's not a fair way to judge it."
Hitting line drives, moving baserunners, and earning walks are all rewarded on the QAB chart when they might otherwise go down as an 0-for-1. Quality at-bats are charted in every game and weekly leaders are announced; the last two weekly winners were Kyle Shelton and Dustin Ackley.
Not surprisingly, Ackley leads the Tar Heels in QAB's so far this year, followed by fellow lefties Kyle Seager and Tim Fedroff...
One hitter who has slowly been moving up the QAB chart is freshman Brett Thomas, who earned his second career start against North Florida on Wednesday and has seen more playing time over the last month as a lefthanded designated hitter option.
Thomas is batting .500 in 12 at-bats and has worked five walks. The Columbia native has also flashed some power, as he hit a towering double against the Ospreys that bounced off the top of the USA Baseball Training Facility fence.
"Brett reminds me a lot of Garrett Gore his freshman year," Fox says. "He's not a great practice player, and that's all I had to go by. All of a sudden we put Garrett in the game and he was really good defensively at second base. Brett has been that way. In games, he looks like a different hitter. He looks at the ball really well...We need another lefthanded bat to come off the bench or even start."...
Tim Federowicz made his first pitching appearance since April 12 in Wednesday's 11-5 victory, striking out the side in the ninth inning. The junior righty has spent most of his time behind the plate this year because of Carolina's exceptional bullpen performance, but he's still a legitimate late-inning mound presence.
"Tim is unusual in that he doesn't need to get on the mound very much," Fox says. "Most pitchers need rhythm and work during the week, but he doesn't. And his long-term future might very well be on the mound."
To confirm Fox's thoughts, a bevy of radar gun-toting scouts perked up when Federowicz took the mound on Wednesday. But Federowicz's main importance this weekend will come in controlling the Virginia running game from behind the plate. The Wahoos have 109 stolen bases, good for fifth in the country...
The last Tar Heel trip to Charlottesville was not particularly pleasant, as the Cavaliers took two of three. Carolina committed five errors in that series and UNC hitters looked uncomfortable in Virginia's mammoth Davenport Field, where the power alleys are 377 feet.
This year, however, the Diamond Heels have a full season's experience in the equally spacious USA Baseball Training Facility.
"It's probably going to help our pitchers a little bit, and it will help our outfielders, too, because of the big gaps there," Fox says. "Our outfielders will already know what kind of routes they need to take and how much room they have.
"For the hitters, they still will need to pick out a good pitch and put a good swing on it without worrying about how deep the fences are. In terms of managing the game, I'll keep in mind that you're probably not going to hit a two- or three-run homer, especially with Virginia's pitching."
The Cavaliers rank third in the ACC and fifth nationally with a 3.33 team ERA...
The first UNC Baseball Mailbag of the season will debut next week here on TarHeelBlue.com. Send your questions now and we'll answer the best ones on the site next week.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
