Clemson Baseball: Inside the Numbers as the Tigers travel to Athens
Coming off a 1-3 week where the Tigers blew leads of 3-0 (Georgia) and 11-3 (Miami), Clemson (26-10, 11-7) gets no break from the schedule maker as once again Georgia appears as the opponent, this time in Athens.
Tale of the Tape
The Tigers are down to .245 on the season at the plate and rank 247th nationally in that category out of 297 teams.
| Team | Batting | OBP | Slugging | ERA | WHIP | Fielding | Scoring |
| Clemson | .245 | .367 | .417 | 3.34 | 1.31 | .975 | 5.9 |
| Georgia | .282 | .374 | .413 | 3.57 | 1.30 | .978 | 6.7 |
Clemson has yet to find a reliable mid-week starter. There have been flashes, and a couple of weeks ago it looked as if Spencer Strider could be the man, but his outing last Tuesday against Georgia puts that designation in doubt and this week Travis Marr gets the nod against the Bulldogs.
My guess is this is a "staff" game, with several pitchers getting work in.
Pitching
These numbers are a little skewed because of the 3 "team unearned runs" in the Friday loss to Miami. Team unearned runs count as unearned runs for the team stats but earned runs for the pitcher (Gobin in this case), which makes it difficult for me calculate automatically. Officially the bullpen ERA is 2.90 because of these team unearned runs.
Leading Off
Kier Meredith sat out the doubleheader on Saturday and it's my understanding he's day to day, or at least was at the time.
This week's crazy stat
Clemson has hit 49 home runs and has only 46 doubles. In 2017 the Tigers had 1.6 doubles for every home run hit. Given the 49 home runs, you'd think the Tigers slugging numbers would be better, but with only 46 doubles in 34 games the Tigers slugging % is low for a team that possesses the home run power of Clemson.
It's a really weird stat that I can't explain. For example, a team close to Clemson in slugging % - Oklahoma - has 82 doubles on the season.
Batting
Quality At Bats
This metric is calculated different ways by different teams and at times can be subjective depending on who is measuring the at-bat. The goal was to capture as much data as possible to better understand decisions made by the coaching staff.
Actual vs. Expected Record
The expected record took a hit over the weekend losing 2 of 3 and being outscored by a run for the Miami series and is now down to 38-18.
The Tigers are now 8-3 in one run games.
| Actual Record | Expected Record | "Luck" | Expected Season Record |
| 26-10 | 25-11 | +1 | 38-18 |
Resume
The 18th RPI ranking is the lowest I can remember for Clemson this season, as is the 33rd SOS ranking. The Tigers are now 9-6 against top 50 teams, with another shot at Georgia (#7 RPI) this evening.
| Record | RPI | SOS | RPI 1-50 | RPI 51-100 | RPI 101-150 | RPI 151-297 |
| 26-10 | 18 | 33 | 9-6 | 5-4 | 3-0 | 9-0 |
Upcoming Schedule
Clemson looks to right the ship starting with the Bulldogs, followed by a Wake Forest team coming off a sweep of Boston College where the Eagles totaled 1 run on the weekend. For a team batting .245 that's not something you want to see.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Current Record | Current RPI |
| 4/17 | Georgia | Athens, GA | 25-11 | 7 |
| 4/20-4/22 | Wake Forest | Winston-Salem, NC | 17-20 (10-8 in ACC) | 94 |
| 4/24 | Kennesaw State | Clemson | 21-15 | 71 |
| 4/25 | Presbyterian | Clemson | 12-26 | 275 |
| 4/27-4/29 | Virginia | Charlottsville | 20-16 (7-11 in ACC) | 114 |
*Baseball resume information via WarrenNolan.com.