JotCast | D1Baseball Chat: Feb. 25

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D1Baseball Chat: Feb. 25

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Aaron Fitt

1:40

Ike Freeman is a really good player. Dylan Harris did some hugely important things this weekend -- he's a real impact juco guy, plays really hard and can impact the game in a lot of different ways. Our Josh Conner saw the Heels this weekend, and he wrote a piece focusing on the UNC rotation -- look for that this afternoon.

Mike

1:39

Thoughts on unc to start season?Ike freeman swinging a hot bat.

Aaron Fitt

1:38

Fun little question. I'm gonna go Vandy's offense vs. Mississippi State's pitching -- since this is a fantasy, I might as well take advantage, because Vandy and MSU won't play each other in real life this year.

Rocketcoach7

1:38

If you could pick a matchup you would like to see of a batting order against a pitching staff for a weekend series, who would it be?

Kendall Rogers

1:37

Anon -- Going back to Aaron's question about the best pitching staffs in the league, A&M night have the top one-two punch in John Doxakis and Asa Lacy. Both have put up insane early numbers (albeit against junk competition), but the stuff has been crisp, too, with Lacy bumping 95-96 over the weekend. With that said, A&M is in a world of trouble offensively, hitting just .234 against sub-par competition. That must change starting this week at the Shriners tournament or it could be a long season at the plate. But the Aggies certainly have the arms to do big things.

Anonymous

1:36

What do you think about Texas A&M

Aaron Fitt

1:35

I have zero long-term concern about Stanford's offense; really like the personnel there. Deep, athletic, physical lineup. And they showed some flashes of explosiveness last week in Arizona -- I saw them beat up on Grand Canyon pretty good last Monday. I'm in on Stanford's offense.

Ted

1:34

Stanford has gotten off to a solid start, but their hitting isn’t exactly on fire. Short-term statistical blip, or something of concern?

Aaron Fitt

1:34

I've always admired Savage's philosophy when it comes to recruiting and developing arms: the bedrock of UCLA's program is fastball command. They prioritize that trait in the recruiting process, and they look for guys that have projectable frames and good lean arm actions who might have below-average fastball velocity now, but will grow into more velo as the mature, and they already know how to command it. I love that model.

Bobbruinbear

1:32

Is it time to recognize Coach John Savage as someone who has the ability to see perspective pitchers signees differently than other Coaches? He has baffled many of us with his selections. Despite this he always turns out being correct on who he signs. How do you think he does it?

Aaron Fitt

1:32

I wrote this weekend that Small and Ginn has a chance to be the SEC's best one-two punch atop the rotation, and if James can get more consistent with his command, it certainly can be the SEC's best rotation, because James has very good stuff. Very high on that trio.

Jackson

1:31

Does MS State have the best rotation in the SEC? That Small-Ginn combo has been lights out so far.

Kendall Rogers

1:29

Carter -- I actually feel pretty good about Auburn over the weekend. I thought UCF would win that series even with Davis Daniel potentially pitching and the Tigers won the series without him. Kyle Gray really struggled and I think you'll see Jack Owen in the rotation soon. He was solid over the weekend -- 89-91 with the FB and the change was really effective against UCF's aggressive hitters. The offense definitely woke up, and I really liked Kason Howell and obviously Williams on Saturday. Holland had a quiet day, but he's dealing with strep throat. AU is going to hit, but it can't sustain another injury with Daniel on the shelf for an undetermined amount of time.

Carter

1:28

What should one make of this Auburn squad? Scrambling to fill the rotation especially without Davis Daniel in the immediate future. Greenhill, Anderson, and Watson have all showed a lot of promise so far out of the pen. Butch appears to like using Anderson as his set-up man for Greenhill. Skipper and Owen appear to be the next two in line to get a crack in the rotation when Cincy comes to town this weekend. The Auburn lineup appears to have woken up a tad in Orlando. The freshmen don't appear to be scared of the stage. Steven Williams heated up this weekend a little. Julien is tearing the cover off the ball. The only missing piece appears to be Will Holland. He hasn't gotten rolling yet. Do you guys see him heating up and taking this lineup to the next level? Do you see the freshmen continuing to compete and look like they belong once SEC play starts?

Aaron Fitt

1:26

USF was my non-field of 64 sleeper heading into the year, and I'm still pretty high on them. No shame in losing three tight games to a top-5 team on the road. the pitching depth stands out most, and Collin Sullivan apparently pitched very well in the opener, which was good to see -- they need him to have a big year, and he's got a nice arm, up to 93 in the fall with a promising slider. Offense will be a work in progress, but UNC has one of the most talented staffs in the country, so I wouldn't read too much into this weekend's struggles.

Bob

1:24

What are your thoughts on USF Bulls? They had a chance to have a great week but instead went 1-3, losing 3 tight games to UNC. What do we have to look forward to?

Kendall Rogers

1:24

Reid -- I think I'm a little surprised by Oregon State's overall play. Really, if you look at the pitching staff, the only negative so far is that Grant Gambrell continues to pitch very timid. He needs to go out and trust his stuff. But the staff as a whole is dominating right now. Offensively, the Beavs have definitely surprised me with Alex McGarry hitting well over .400. I think I expected at least a step back after losing the key cogs they did offensively from last year's club. But so far, it's been same old same old. We'll see if that continues, but it's been impressive for sure.

Reid

1:22

Oregon States start surprising at all? I mean I know that we have gotten used to them being good no matter what, but seems like they lost an awful lot going into this year to come out and still look this good.

Aaron Fitt

1:22

I've always liked Baum -- it's a premium athlete with three very good pitches, a fastball that can reach 94, a putaway breaking ball, and even a good changeup. The issue with him has always been strikes -- and he's currently got a 19-1 K-BB mark, which is extremely encouraging. If he keeps on pounding the zone... yes, I could envision him making a run at the first round. He's very talented.

Hottub

1:21

Tyler Baum has been excellent so far as UNC’s Saturday guy, what kind of stuff is he bringing and does he have a chance at slipping into the first round?

Kendall Rogers

1:19

Devin -- I've been encouraged by Arkansas' start. If you look back at last season, USC gave the Hogs all they could handle in Fayetteville, and I know the Trojans have had this series circle for a long, long time. Still, the Hogs performed at a high level and took the series on the road. I would still like to see Isaiah Campbell perform at a higher level. That is absolutely crucial as SEC play nears.

Devin

1:18

How do you feel Arkansas has looked so far in the early season?

Aaron Fitt

1:18

Honestly I don't think it's a big concern -- because like you said, those four guys have real talent, and they're ready to play right away. I knew Robby Martin would hit the ground running, he's just a Hitter with a capital-H. Cabell was my preseason pick for ACC FOY, so his good start is certainly no surprise. I believe De Sedas was the highest-ranked incoming freshman hitter in the country according to PBR -- but I must admit I was a little more concerned about his learning curve heading into the season, after some of the reports I heard in the fall and winter. So it's been very encouraging to see the way he's controlled the strike zone and driven the ball with authority. Obviously it will be a different matter once these guys face better pitching, but so far, so good.

B Mand

1:16

How much of a concern is it that FSU's offense relies so heavily on 4 true freshmen? Granted, they're incredibly talented freshmen, but I can't remember 11 having to count on so many young guys all at once.

Aaron Fitt

1:14

I certainly felt better about the bullpen when I thought Jake Agnos was going to be a part of it... but obviously Agnos has been great as a starter so it makes sense to leave him in that role. I think Trey Benton is really the key -- he's too talented to keep scuffling, they need him to be better, and become the moment-of-truth stopper in that pen. Otherwise, the arms back there aren't special, but they've got enough veteran guys with pitchability that they should be OK, between Voliva, Colmore, and Lanier. Still think the freshman Carter Spivey is going to be an important piece too, he's got a good arm.

Scooter

1:13

How much is East Carolina’s bullpen going to affect them this year? This reason I say this is obviously the Monmouth loss yesterday.

Aaron Fitt

1:12

Maybe Kendall can weigh in on this one when he gets here, since he just saw the Gators -- but I think we realized last year that maybe Dyson wasn't quite in that Faedo-Singer-Shore class yet, as we thought he would be after his freshman year. We were cautiously optimistic heading into this season, especially after it seemed like he made progress in the fall... but it was still a bit of a wait-and-see approach for us. I think you're probably right that he's behind Mace and Leftwich in the pecking order because he's just not consistent enough with the command.

Andrew

1:10

I know it's only two starts (I promise I know that), but is it time we all admit we got a little over our skis with the idea that Tyler Dyson was the obvious successor to Florida's Shore-Puk-Faedo-Singer line? The problems he had Friday night - inefficiency, poor command, inability to translate stuff into results - have been there all the while. His career at this point is basically one great relief appearance in a super regional and one great start in the College World Series. Isn't he pretty clearly Florida's third-best starter at this point?

Aaron Fitt

I'll have a better answer for you after I see the Beavers for three days in Seattle in Week Four.

1:09

Entirely possible. I think we graded OSU's pen as a 70 heading into the season, and that was without knowing how good some of those young righties would be. The early reports on those guys have been very encouraging, and of course it's hard to beat Eisert, Mulholland and Chamberlain from the left side. Definitely strongly in the discussion for best bullpen in the country.

Matt

1:07

Does Oregon State have the best bullpen in the country? We knew the lefties would be good, but it’s looking like they’ve 2/3 good arms from the other side of the bump as wel with Pierce, Pfennigs and Burns all having 3+ IPs and no runs against through the first two weeks.

Aaron Fitt

1:04

Yes, Tennessee did jump into the Top 25 discussion this weekend -- I still believe that Indiana club is going to be quite good, so it was very loud to shut down the Hoosiers the way Tennessee did. Is it sustainable? We'll see; I've talked myself into the Vols after hot starts before, and been burned, so I'm going to proceed with caution. I do really like the core of arms there, and I've heard good things about Crochet's stuff in that bullpen role -- I think he's well suited for that. Stallings is a really good competitive SEC ace, and Linginfelter has done better as a starter than I frankly expected. The mound talent gives Tennessee a real chance to make some noise in the SEC and push for a regional, sure.

Rob

1:02

Thoughts on Tennessee’s start? Were they under consideration for the top 25 this week? And do you think they can sustain it and make a regional this year?

Aaron Fitt

Kendall will be joining us shortly.

1:01

Hi gang, hope you enjoyed week two. Let's jump in.

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