Robichaux Hoping Bats Come To Life In Sam Houston [VIDEO]
Through four games, the Ragin' Cajuns are still waiting for their bats to come to life. It's been a sluggish start at the plate, but Tony Robichaux remains patient.
It's way too early in the season to panic, and Coach Robichaux expects his hitters to start heating up sometime soon. The pitchers have done their job, now it's just a matter of time before the bats start to catch up.
"Our pitching has been very good up to this point, we need to continue to do that to buy our hitters some time to get going," Robichaux said calmly. "I think they will eventually get going. Again, you're going to run into some ruts in the process."
Robichaux reminded fans to start the year that the team would have to develop in the early phases of the season. Players like Handsome Monica, Todd Lott and Tyler Stover can absolutely swing the bat, it's just taking them some time to adjust to their new situation.
Louisiana fielded four different lineups in the first four games, and Robichaux will continue to shuffle the cards in the deck until the right combination reveals itself.
"This team right here, I don't know if you can just slap nine guys out there night in and night out," Robichaux explained. He added, "I think they just have to learn to hit and protect each other in the lineup."
With Louisiana's deep pitching staff, a little run support would go a long way, and offensively, sometimes when it rains it pours.
Robichaux repeated the phrase "hitting is contagious" several times in his press conference. When the players in the dugout see their teammates having success at the plate, it gives them the confidence attack too.
While he expects the bats to come around, Robichaux isn't sugarcoating the situation.
"This falls on me. I'm the head coach. I've got to coach better to get us out of this," Robichaux admitted. He added, "Sometimes it's not fun, and some times it can be not pretty. It is what it is. That's why it's called development."
Coach Robe also wasn't hiding from the fact that confidence is part of the issue right now.
"When you are in a profession where you fail 70 percent of the time, confidence is always going to be part of the issue," Robichaux said. Then, he threw in this gem about dealing with the problem, "When the monkey jumps on your back, don't let him grow until he's the size of King Kong. Keep him your pet monkey."
With Robichaux's guidance and some veteran leadership on the roster, Louisiana won't let the pet monkey keep growing.
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Sam Houston State this weekend, where they will go up against a familiar face that knows a little about hitting himself, Matt Deggs.
Deggs was part of Louisiana's magical 58 win season, and his hitting system helped a number of players blossom and become very dangerous at the plate. In his second year at Sam Houston State, Robichaux expects Deggs' team to swing the bat well.
Both coaches know each other very well, but Robichaux reminded everybody that it's still the same game being played.
"Maybe we know that we'll run a double squeeze, that's about the only unique thing in it," Robichaux joked.
It's a matchup of two ranked teams this weekend, so both teams have a chance to pick up some meaningful wins for the RPI.
If the offense starts rolling in Sam Houston State, it could be a fruitful trip to the state of Texas. Even if the hitters continue to search for their stroke, Robichaux will remain calm, like he always does.
The pet monkey isn't the size of King Kong yet, but they have to get that monkey off their back at some point.