2023 Season Notes

BigRedBuster said:
So, are people thinking we are going to have a good enough team this year to make a run at getting to the college World Series?

What will be our weak link?  Hitting? Defense? Pitching?
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I think it's a lot to ask to make a legitimate run at the CWS.  I think the goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament and go from there.  Big Ten teams rarely make the CWS.  It's just too much of a talent gap to teams in the South.

 
BigRedBuster said:
So, are people thinking we are going to have a good enough team this year to make a run at getting to the college World Series?

What will be our weak link?  Hitting? Defense? Pitching?
Click to expand...


I think our pitching will be better. 

Guys that need to be replaced that pitched double digit innings were.... Frank (59 innings),  McCarville (48 innings), Bragg(35 innings), Martin(25 innings) and Jelkin(11.2 innings).   

We picked up transfers  Kaminska ( Witchita St. 78 innings), Garza (Incarnate Word 73 innings) and Juco Brett Sears (ICCC  83 innings).   Sounds like Kaminska is a Saturday guy and freshmen Caleb Clark is getting mention for a weekend role - Sunday guy.   Garza, Sears and Brockett  are fighting for the 4th starter spot.  One of those guys could end up a swing guy.(5th starter/long reliever)  That would allow the odd man out to pitch where needed either as a closer type or long relief.   This depth explains how Shay who pitched 77 innings as a Friday guy can be leveraged from the bullpen.  Shay's slider should be very effective in shorter stints.   You also get Bunz and Perry back from injury.   Walsh might play a bigger role this year.  Ornelas is healthy.  Christo is coming on.  Rizzo is a talent and might add to our middle relief guys.   I have a positive outlook on the pitch staff.

Offensively, Coach said we would be mixing and matching the batting lineups.  We have some power guys, some speed guys, some guys that should hit for average and some left hand bats.  

We lose Chick(.881 ops), Gomes(1.08 OPS), Banjoff(.709 OPS) and Jackson(.626 Ops)  and some others.  We return regular starters Anderson, Matthews, Everitt and Anglim so we need to replace 5 bats.  

We have added Fischer a left hand bat  who had a .958 OPS in 2021.  His OPS in 2022 was not as good but he was dealing with injury.   We add Burnham (.716 OPS lefty)  and  Brumbaugh(.757)      We also added Juco  Ben Columbus (Left hand bat 1.099 Ops) and Juco Cole Evans(1.15 OPS).  Hughes (.924 OPS) and Mozley(.716 OPS at Missouri State).   Now the OPS for the juco's are high because it's juco but I think it shows promise.   Dylan Carey is a freshmen that might have a Max Anderson type first year.   Josh Caron and Cerventes had good summers and Fall camp.   So that's 10 possible guys to find 5 bats.  I like our chances to have a solid offense.  We should be better than last year but not as good as 2021.

Defense is my biggest question mark specifically middle infield defense.  Does Bolt start with an offensive lineup and swap in defensive guys in later innings?  Or does he go with strong defense up the middle to start the game, which would put some of the better bats on the sidelines?   How much do you sacrifice?   I think the outfield and catchers should be solid.  Good depth.     I think over the season we will have a lot of guys play. 

I like our chances to be a regional team.   CWS would be a long shot given all the new players.   

 
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Looks like Brumbaugh is injured from the fan fest video.   Is he out for the year?   

It's on @Husker_Baseball twitter.  I tried to post it but got the whole account listed.  There is also a new scrimmage video. 

 
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That is an AWESOME picture... The player, the grit, the dirt, the clay... the give it all mentality of the image. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.. Well, let us hope this is a snap shot of the season to come and prophetic come season end!! 

It's baseball time!!! GBR!!!!!!!!

 
flatwaterfan said:
I think our pitching will be better. 

Guys that need to be replaced that pitched double digit innings were.... Frank (59 innings),  McCarville (48 innings), Bragg(35 innings), Martin(25 innings) and Jelkin(11.2 innings).   

We picked up transfers  Kaminska ( Witchita St. 78 innings), Garza (Incarnate Word 73 innings) and Juco Brett Sears (ICCC  83 innings).   Sounds like Kaminska is a Saturday guy and freshmen Caleb Clark is getting mention for a weekend role - Sunday guy.   Garza, Sears and Brockett  are fighting for the 4th starter spot.  One of those guys could end up a swing guy.(5th starter/long reliever)  That would allow the odd man out to pitch where needed either as a closer type or long relief.   This depth explains how Shay who pitched 77 innings as a Friday guy can be leveraged from the bullpen.  Shay's slider should be very effective in shorter stints.   You also get Bunz and Perry back from injury.   Walsh might play a bigger role this year.  Ornelas is healthy.  Christo is coming on.  Rizzo is a talent and might add to our middle relief guys.   I have a positive outlook on the pitch staff.

Offensively, Coach said we would be mixing and matching the batting lineups.  We have some power guys, some speed guys, some guys that should hit for average and some left hand bats.  

We lose Chick(.881 ops), Gomes(1.08 OPS), Banjoff(.709 OPS) and Jackson(.626 Ops)  and some others.  We return regular starters Anderson, Matthews, Everitt and Anglim so we need to replace 5 bats.  

We have added Fischer a left hand bat  who had a .958 OPS in 2021.  His OPS in 2022 was not as good but he was dealing with injury.   We add Burnham (.716 OPS lefty)  and  Brumbaugh(.757)      We also added Juco  Ben Columbus (Left hand bat 1.099 Ops) and Juco Cole Evans(1.15 OPS).  Hughes (.924 OPS) and Mozley(.716 OPS at Missouri State).   Now the OPS for the juco's are high because it's juco but I think it shows promise.   Dylan Carey is a freshmen that might have a Max Anderson type first year.   Josh Caron and Cerventes had good summers and Fall camp.   So that's 10 possible guys to find 5 bats.  I like our chances to have a solid offense.  We should be better than last year but not as good as 2021.

Defense is my biggest question mark specifically middle infield defense.  Does Bolt start with an offensive lineup and swap in defensive guys in later innings?  Or does he go with strong defense up the middle to start the game, which would put some of the better bats on the sidelines?   How much do you sacrifice?   I think the outfield and catchers should be solid.  Good depth.     I think over the season we will have a lot of guys play. 

I like our chances to be a regional team.   CWS would be a long shot given all the new players.   
Click to expand...
I like the new arms we acquired.  I also am anxious to see how Christo responds this year.  He is way better than how he threw last season.  

 
Game Day Guys/Gals & Kids....

Let's have some fun in the sun and hit that rock often!!

So pumped for the season... 

LETS GO!!!! 

 
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Maryland and Rutgers putting together some nice baseball programs on the diamond.  Iowa had a pretty good year last season (yuk).  Which makes me smile and appreciate to see Husker Baseball pretty high up on the list

 
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