There is a bit of revisionist history with last year’s team, which was amazing. The guys who were our eventual weekend starters had the following number of sec starts going into the season:
Dallas -0
Tidwell - 0
Heflin - 2 (back in 2018)
Our best arm out of the bullpen (Hunley) was great but could touch low 90s at his best.
At the plate, we started out extremely slow compared to the previous year (we lost some big time bats in Daniels, Soularie). Spence and Rucker were about the only consistent bats the first month and half of the year. All the other regular starters had extended periods of struggles at the plate; Ferguson, Russell, Lipcius, Beck, Gilbert, Pavolony were less than .250 hitters for long stretches of the season. Defense and pitching carried that team early in the year.
My point is that even though there are some question marks on this roster, the talent we have to fill in those spots is tremendous.
Here are the newcomers and backups from last year expected to have a big role:
Lipscomb - .310 hitter last year - 4th year player
Lawson - .357 hitter last year (.643 slugging) - 3rd year player
Booker - .310 hitter last year as a Fr.
Steenstra - .292 hitter (.500 slugging)
Scott - .286 hitter last year - 4th year player
Moore - top 100 freshman with elite bat
Stephenson - elite JUCO with elite speed; about the only guy on the list who can’t completely rake
Chambers - elite JUCO hit like .450 last year
So what do we have back at the plate:
Beck - elite
Gilbert - elite
Lipcius - high strikeout guy but 15 hr and 42 RBI
Russell - high strikeout guy but 14 HR and 43 RBI
Pitching wise, we bring back some big time experience in Tidwell, Sewell, Walsh, Connell and add big time talent in Burns, Dollander, Halvorson, Smith, Beam and Joyce. Yes I know we have some injuries but the talent and depth is there at a greater level (especially than we have had under Vitello. Not to mention we have the best pitching coach in the game.
Overall I expect a staff ERA tht is better than last year. I expect to hit for power even better than last year, which was top 5 in the country in HR.
So here are the 3 legit questions:
1. How are we defensively up the middle? Spence, Ferguson and Pavolony were terrific last year.
2. Who do we have that will hit for average and draw a lot of walks at the top of the lineup? Spence and Rucker were great at that and even Max drew a lot of walks even when he was struggling. Beck and Gilbert should be but they have been high strikeout guys at times. I think we are going to have elite slugging % but do wonder about our ability to be patient at the plate like last year.
3. Will we ever see Tidwell and Halvorson and are Burns and Dollander as good as advertised? Overall the pitching staff looks great but if the injury bug keeps hitting that spot we could be in trouble.
Overall prediction: Win win slightly fewer games because of a harder SEC schedule but finish top 4-5 in the SEC and host a regional and super regional. LNS will be rocking again so I think a return trip to Omaha is very doable if we can answer the above three questions. If #3 is answered, we have a better chance to win it all than last year because dominant pitching is what wins titles.
GBO
Dallas -0
Tidwell - 0
Heflin - 2 (back in 2018)
Our best arm out of the bullpen (Hunley) was great but could touch low 90s at his best.
At the plate, we started out extremely slow compared to the previous year (we lost some big time bats in Daniels, Soularie). Spence and Rucker were about the only consistent bats the first month and half of the year. All the other regular starters had extended periods of struggles at the plate; Ferguson, Russell, Lipcius, Beck, Gilbert, Pavolony were less than .250 hitters for long stretches of the season. Defense and pitching carried that team early in the year.
My point is that even though there are some question marks on this roster, the talent we have to fill in those spots is tremendous.
Here are the newcomers and backups from last year expected to have a big role:
Lipscomb - .310 hitter last year - 4th year player
Lawson - .357 hitter last year (.643 slugging) - 3rd year player
Booker - .310 hitter last year as a Fr.
Steenstra - .292 hitter (.500 slugging)
Scott - .286 hitter last year - 4th year player
Moore - top 100 freshman with elite bat
Stephenson - elite JUCO with elite speed; about the only guy on the list who can’t completely rake
Chambers - elite JUCO hit like .450 last year
So what do we have back at the plate:
Beck - elite
Gilbert - elite
Lipcius - high strikeout guy but 15 hr and 42 RBI
Russell - high strikeout guy but 14 HR and 43 RBI
Pitching wise, we bring back some big time experience in Tidwell, Sewell, Walsh, Connell and add big time talent in Burns, Dollander, Halvorson, Smith, Beam and Joyce. Yes I know we have some injuries but the talent and depth is there at a greater level (especially than we have had under Vitello. Not to mention we have the best pitching coach in the game.
Overall I expect a staff ERA tht is better than last year. I expect to hit for power even better than last year, which was top 5 in the country in HR.
So here are the 3 legit questions:
1. How are we defensively up the middle? Spence, Ferguson and Pavolony were terrific last year.
2. Who do we have that will hit for average and draw a lot of walks at the top of the lineup? Spence and Rucker were great at that and even Max drew a lot of walks even when he was struggling. Beck and Gilbert should be but they have been high strikeout guys at times. I think we are going to have elite slugging % but do wonder about our ability to be patient at the plate like last year.
3. Will we ever see Tidwell and Halvorson and are Burns and Dollander as good as advertised? Overall the pitching staff looks great but if the injury bug keeps hitting that spot we could be in trouble.
Overall prediction: Win win slightly fewer games because of a harder SEC schedule but finish top 4-5 in the SEC and host a regional and super regional. LNS will be rocking again so I think a return trip to Omaha is very doable if we can answer the above three questions. If #3 is answered, we have a better chance to win it all than last year because dominant pitching is what wins titles.
GBO
