Wanted to come in here and talk about some baseball, something that I frankly have not done a good enough job to cover this fall, but I got out to the stadium and watched quite a bit of baseball over the last few weeks, so let's jump into it.
-From a lineup perspective, the overall theme of this team is going to be the versatility and depth. Tech will have the option to play quite a bit of different players at different positions. Tech will have plenty of that in the infield with Peyton Schulze, Robin Villenueve and TJ Pompey making up the majority of the corner spots. Damian Bravo has played a bit of 2B this fall and Tracer Lopez seems like a lock to be your SS in February.
-Also think that Bravo might get sent back to the OF based on how JUCO INF Antonelli Savatterre was swinging the bat. Just very strong bat to ball ability, gap to gap and a strong ability to run. I would be pretty surprised if he can't carve out a place in the lineup.
-In the OF, I think the conversation will largely revolve around Kyeler Thompson, a JUCO transfer out of Galveston, who has continually hit well throughout the fall and has been a pretty impressive defensive CF, taking good routes and having strong but not stellar athleticism to run down balls. Freshman Kendyl Johnson has a similar conversation to me, but is almost the opposite. Johnson flashed some extreme athleticism in the OF during the fall, but to me was continually making things harder on himself with his routes to the balls in the OF, but had the athleticism to make up for it. Leaning to Thompson in CF.
-Stetson transfer OF Logan Hughes and C Davis Rivers came along late in the fall, thought both swung the bat really well in the Red & Black series and I think that both will provide really strong options against RHP next season.
-Finally offensively, I think that Tech's best defensive catcher this fall was Hudson Parker, who is no longer on the mound, and mixed in at first base quite a bit. His arm was very, very strong and he cut down a few runners, something that Tech seemed to do quite a bit more. Think we might see some more running on the bases.
-On the mound, it was tough sledding at times in the R&B series, however, it's tough for those guys at this point since they're so exposed to the hitters and it's not really indicative of what it will look like.
-The Red Raiders arms that came in from JUCO seem to be really, really strong. I am a big fan of JT Drake, who had a good outing late last week. I also like Johnny Lowe, who sat topped out at 93 in game two.
-The ones that were impressive we're the freshmen, who might have a chance to get on the mound this year. Connor Mohan got up to 96 this fall and was really strong in his two outings. Also was a fan of Jorden Espinoza and Jackson Burns, two of your higher rated freshman arms, both looked good. Also thought the local kid Logan Addison was solid in his outings, just is gonna take a bit of time with the jump in competition.
-Heuer was up to 96 and struggled in his second outing, don't think it was major, but the stuff was live. You need him to be what we expect him to be this season. Also of note that Zane Petty was back on the mound a bit and is still working back in his rehab. Would be a big addition to this staff if he can get back to freshman form.
-The portal arms were solid. Cebert has some really strong stuff and is kind of funky from a mechanics perspective. Really think that he will slot into the rotation. Crotchfelt and Bevis were also solid in their outings. Really feels like there's some more depth with the arms this year, hopefully it comes to fruition.
Open to further questions below!
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