Gamecocks under Monte Lee are playing better, but below average in one key category
It’ll be a month on Tuesday since South Carolina and baseball coach Paul Mainieri abruptly parted ways just hours before the Gamecocks were about to play a game. If such decisions were judged on the downturn of angry chants and irate social media posts, the Mainieri departure was a rousing success.
Since hitting coach Monte Lee took over for Mainieri on that Saturday in March, the changes have been stark. They’ve also been mostly positive.
There is the unquantifiable “vibe” this team exudes, which is noticeably happier and more fun-loving since Lee took the reins. The attendance has also seen an uptick since Mainieri departed. Now could it just be that Lee took over just as the weather was getting warmer, thus explaining why more folks are showing up to Founders Park? Yes. Most likely, both are valid reasons.
Then there is the on-field data — and, well, that’s less noticeable.
When Mainieri departed, the Gamecocks were 12-11 and 0-4 in SEC play. After getting swept by No. 17 Mississippi State — capped off with a 4-3 loss on Sunday in extras — South Carolina is 7-11 overall and 5-9 in conference play.
Considering South Carolina (19-22, 5-13 SEC) has played a much-tougher schedule under Lee — and that both lost mid-week games to mid-major programs — that’s a wash.
But, after nearly of month of Lee at the helm, the Gamecocks’ pitching staff’s ERA has dropped slightly (from 4.60 to 4.29) — impressive considering the caliber of SEC offenses they’ve faced. Even more significant: South Carolina’s fielding percentage has improved drastically — from 33 errors under Mainieri (23 games) to just 13 under Lee (18 games).
What has taken a step back since Mainieri left, though, is South Carolina’s offense.
On one hand, it makes perfect sense that the Gamecocks’ batting average would drop as they began to face arms from Texas, Georgia, Mississippi State, etc. But there was some thought that Mainieri was the one holding South Carolina’s offense back early in the season, that once Lee — the Gamecocks’ hitting coach — began running the show, the ship would be righted offensively.
Through a month, that hasn’t happened.
In the 23 games with Mainieri as head coach and Lee strictly in charge of the hitters — albeit facing a majority of mid-major opponents — the Gamecocks had a .261 batting average. In the 18 games of Lee’s tenure, South Carolina’s batters are hitting just .226 — dropping the season’s batting average to .246.
That .246 average is by far the lowest among all 16 SEC teams. And if you only factor in conference games, the Gamecocks’ .202 batting average against SEC teams — which includes a majority of games under Lee — USC is dead last by a good margin. It is either last or second-to-last in almost every offensive category, including strikeouts.
And if you’re wondering why South Carolina has struggled to win games this season, look no further than the swings and misses.
Against Mississippi State this weekend, the Gamecocks struck out 44 times in three games. In their 11-inning loss on Sunday, USC batters were punched out 12 times — the lowest amount of the series, but many came in key situations.
With the basses loaded and two outs in the first inning, KJ Scobey struck out swinging. With the go-ahead run on third in eighth, Scobey struck out swinging again. An inning later, Luke Yuhasz struck out with a man in scoring position.
“A huge part of it,” Lee said, “is we’ve just got some guys that have been pressing at the plate and trying too hard and not being quite as selective as we would like for them to be.”
Now, naturally, Lee deserves a good chunk of the blame for the struggles at the plate. He is — and has been all season — the man in charge of South Carolina’s offense and, thus, is at least partly at fault when it falters.
But it is also clear that the Gamecocks’ don’t have the talent to compete in the SEC. Heck, forget about the SEC —South Carolina’s batters have been outmatched by the likes of Army, The Citadel, Charlotte, College of Charleston, etc.
This roster, which was constructed by Mainieri and Lee, is not good enough offensively and not talented enough to win consistently. Perhaps, though, that was clear long before Mainieri departed.
South Carolina baseball schedule
- Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. vs. Presbyterian (SEC Network+)
- Friday, April 24 at 7 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network+)
- Saturday, April 25 at 4 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network+)
- Sunday, April 26 at 3 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network)
