TCU scores a lot of runs, but maybe not for the reason you think

Four years ago, no one could pick a TCU runner off a base.

Not one all season.

That apparently was a careful, disciplined TCU team, but also one that didn’t score many runs. Or go very far — the 2013 Horned Frogs finished 29-28 and watched the postseason from home.

“The goal of offense is to score runs,” said coach Jim Schlossnagle, whose 2017 team opens the season Friday night against Penn State.

Ever since 2013, the Frogs have been scoring runs.

Their run total went from 246 that year (a little more than four a game) to 333 the next year, to 388 the next, to 467 last year.

That’s a 90 percent increase in four years, from next-to-last in the Big 12 in runs to 11th in the nation.

The Frogs played more games as a consequence, reaching the College World Series each of the next three years. That explains some of the increase.

They also recruited better hitters just as college baseball switched to a more homer-friendly ball. That also accounts for some of the change.

But that’s not what Schlossnagle points to.

He said it’s the stolen base that has lit the TCU offense.

As much as the hitting of players like Kevin Cron, Evan Skoug, Luken Baker, Josh Watson and Elliott Barzilli the past three seasons, TCU’s emphasis on aggressive base running deserves credit, Schlossnagle said.

“Part of a speed, aggressive offense is forcing tempo,” Schlossnagle said.

Every regular in the lineup each of the past three seasons has a stolen base — even the hulking Baker, who was 1-for-1 last season as a freshman.

Last year, the Frogs ranked 18th in the country with 97 steals. That was down from the previous year, when they ranked fifth with 119.

Four years ago, they ranked 238th. With 38.

Theoretically, the threat of a stolen base means more fastballs. If true, the TCU lineup is taking advantage of it and turning it into power. Last year, the Horned Frogs hit 139 doubles, more than all of their extra-base hits combined (97) in 2013.

If it sounds like Schlossnagle is sold on the stolen base, he is.

It’s part of the recipe brought in by hitting coach Bill Mosiello in 2014. Under his direction, TCU abandoned the idea of giving up an out to move a runner.

The Frogs sacrifice-bunted 53 times in 2013. Last year? Seven. By comparison, Texas led the Big 12 with 75.

Schlossnagle looks over numbers like that and marvels at the change in fortunes for his offense.

But it’s not free. It comes at a cost, he said.

“In 2013, we didn’t get picked off one time,” he said. “Last year we got picked off 14 times.”

That’s not zero.

Schlossnagle can almost hear the grumbling in the stands. Four years ago, he might have been doing the same.

“There’s a tradeoff,” he said. “If you do 10 things on the bases and you’re successful 80 percent of the time, the problem is the two times you’re not. It looks so bad. It’s so visible.”

But so is the scoreboard, and a new tally begins Friday night.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "TCU scores a lot of runs, but maybe not for the reason you think."