My baseball thoughts:
I think we will be better than last year but that’s not saying much. If pitching holds together 16-14 is probably the ceiling. If it doesn’t I think 9-10 wins in SEC is the number.
I’m going to say 15-15, but that may be a bit optimistic.
Losing Rivas, Elliot and Ketchum for the year hurts. If Quinn, Saunier, and Tookoian all take steps. If Doyle, Carmack, and Gunnar Dennis are what they think, we can be decent on the mound. We need Freshmen Mendes and Rodriguez to be good too.
There’s lots of questions because there’s so many new faces.
Can Smithwick handle catching as a freshman?
Will Utermark make the jump they think he made?
Will Lege and Groff improve in their 2nd year of SEC ball?
What do we have in Braden Randle?
Is Maddox fully recovered from his arm surgery and did he make a jump from his pre-injury freshman season?
How do Fischer, Hill, Ross and Hughes transition to SEC level?
Do we get anything meaningful out of Austin Simmons?
What do the mid to lower end of the roster provide (Kramer, Furniss, Burford)?
That’s a lot of questions but the potential is there for all of them.
A couple of freshmen guys I really like, but doubt they play much this year are Drew Markle and Seth Farni. Farni is gritty and can swing. Drew Markle reminds me of Olynek with blonde hair. He rail thin, high energy. They’re behind upper class men but I think they will be good for us eventually… if they stay.
One thing I do like a lot is our bullpen if Mallitz is back to his former self.
Mallitz, Murrell, Tookoian, Jones, Nichols, Tolbert, Morris, Carmack, Doyle, Mendes, Rodriguez, Galle, and Maddox have a chance to be very good. There’s lots of good arms there. There are also some freshmen that have flashed.
I think we will be better than last year but that’s not saying much. If pitching holds together 16-14 is probably the ceiling. If it doesn’t I think 9-10 wins in SEC is the number.
I’m going to say 15-15, but that may be a bit optimistic.
Losing Rivas, Elliot and Ketchum for the year hurts. If Quinn, Saunier, and Tookoian all take steps. If Doyle, Carmack, and Gunnar Dennis are what they think, we can be decent on the mound. We need Freshmen Mendes and Rodriguez to be good too.
There’s lots of questions because there’s so many new faces.
Can Smithwick handle catching as a freshman?
Will Utermark make the jump they think he made?
Will Lege and Groff improve in their 2nd year of SEC ball?
What do we have in Braden Randle?
Is Maddox fully recovered from his arm surgery and did he make a jump from his pre-injury freshman season?
How do Fischer, Hill, Ross and Hughes transition to SEC level?
Do we get anything meaningful out of Austin Simmons?
What do the mid to lower end of the roster provide (Kramer, Furniss, Burford)?
That’s a lot of questions but the potential is there for all of them.
A couple of freshmen guys I really like, but doubt they play much this year are Drew Markle and Seth Farni. Farni is gritty and can swing. Drew Markle reminds me of Olynek with blonde hair. He rail thin, high energy. They’re behind upper class men but I think they will be good for us eventually… if they stay.
One thing I do like a lot is our bullpen if Mallitz is back to his former self.
Mallitz, Murrell, Tookoian, Jones, Nichols, Tolbert, Morris, Carmack, Doyle, Mendes, Rodriguez, Galle, and Maddox have a chance to be very good. There’s lots of good arms there. There are also some freshmen that have flashed.
