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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: Feb. 27
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Bill
2:06
What Pac teams will surprise this year. Looks like WSU can really hit!
Aaron Fitt
2:06
I think Wazzu is a pretty good pick for a Pac-12 sleeper. I know they haven't faced elite pitching yet, but I tend to agree that the Cougars have legit offensive firepower. If their pitching holds up, that could be a surprise regional team. I know Brian Green feels pretty good about the way they have upgraded the talent on the mound too. A team I definitely would like to get a look at.
Luke
2:08
Thoughts on Mississippi State? Are the Dawgs back?
Kendall Rogers
2:08
Luke -- let's pump the brakes on that one a little bit. I still don't think Arizona State is very good, but time will tell. With that said, I do think we found out a little bit about MSU this past weekend. After a very poor showing in the series opener, it would've been easy for things to kind of unravel. Instead, the Bulldogs played well the duration of the weekend and Graham Yntema gave them five strong innings in the middle game. I think this weekend in Frisco will tell us a little more about the Bulldogs.
Sad Baylor fan
2:09
Is it too soon to panic about Baylor? Only two more series (Youngstown State and Mercer) until conference play and this pitching staff looks like a disaster.
Kendall Rogers
2:09
here's the thing about Baylor -- I had very little doubt they were going to be bad this year. I think Mitch is a damn good coach, but that roster was extremely lackluster form the day he arrived in Waco. It's going to take time to be competitive, but yeah, getting outscored 54-7 and having a staff ERA over nine two weeks into the season is brutally bad. I'm not sure I'd expect much this season ... we will see.
DugoutDawg
2:12
TCU vs Dallas Baptist, Texas vs LSU, Mississippi State vs Southern Miss: You have one ticket on Tuesday where you going? Possibility Cintje pitches in Pearl. All three looks like exciting early season matchups. Love see teams test their pitching depth early.
Aaron Fitt
2:12
This is a tough one! I'll go with the Magnolia State matchup, always love the atmosphere for those midweekers in Pearl between those clubs. But all three are juicy.
Rusty
2:15
Why is college baseball the only college sport where on the field results don't matter for the rankings?  Texas A&M is somehow 15th in the country after going 1-3 this week losing to Lamar and Portland twice.  Their four wins are against Seattle (not the Mariners) and Portland.  Justify that, please.
Aaron Fitt
2:15
We don't run a team from the top 5 to out of the rankings altogether after one bad weekend. We just don't -- never have, never will. We pummeled them like 10 spots, and that feels appropriate for a surprising home series loss in February. But it IS February, and there is a reason the Aggies were ranked so high in the preseason -- that team was in the final four standing last year in Omaha and they have a ton of key pieces back from that squad. They've just gotten off to a slow start. They'll be fine -- it's baseball and it's a long season, and again, it's freakin' February. I might start printing bumper stickers that say, "It's freakin' February" and mail them out to every D1 subscriber -- and stick another one on my forehead until we get to March.
laughing 1
Chief
2:15
With the Illini early matchups of Wake (got beaten soundly) and now an impressive hitting performance at Southern Miss, which do you believe is more indicative of what’s to come for the rest of the season?
Kendall Rogers
2:15
Chief -- I think we can accurately suggest that the Illinis are going to hit as the season progresses. Southern Miss has a pretty dang good pitching staff and the Illini had their way with them this past weekend. We will see if they establish consistency, but putting up those types numbers over the weekend was impressive.
Guest
2:17
Just your brief thoughts on the Ole Miss vs Maryland series? I thought it was a lot of fun and both sides brought a lot of good energy. Chirpy at times, but in a good way.... if that makes sense.
Aaron Fitt
2:17
From what I saw, it looked very fun indeed -- two good clubs, and I thought the energy was fantastic. Rebels showed some nice resilience after losing that first game -- that offense is scary. ... but I'm a little concerned about their pitching. Feel about the same about Maryland, actually, but at least the Terps have Jason Savacool to anchor everything.
nickrupp
2:20
Which team are you most impressed with thus far in the season? And which has underperformed thus far?
Kendall Rogers
2:20
I love the way Florida, Florida State and Wake Forest have played on the weekend so far this season. As for underperformers, A&M was abysmal over the past week, but it has a chance to fix things this weekend.
Jay
2:20
Did yall see Cags 3 hr game and he was pitching
Aaron Fitt
2:20
What a monster this guy is. With Paul Skenes no longer hitting, it feels like the door is open for Caglianone to be the clear-cut premier two-way player in the country. Feels like we are watching the emergence of the next Brendan McKay/AJ Reed type two-way superstar. But Cags has the best raw tools of any of them, certainly the most electric stuff on the mound.
Geaux
2:23
Thoughts on LSU coming out of the weekend? I think two of Little, Floyd, or Hurd can take those Saturday and Sunday spots. JJ himself said Hurd needs to secure a weekend spot for this team to reach its potential. I like Shores but so far he doesn’t have much swing and miss. Looking forward to Hurd and Little against Texas tomorrow?
Kendall Rogers
2:23
Geaux -- I thought Jared Jones look terrific at the plate, and Dylan Crews was a monster. I will say this, and we discussed it on the Podcast, I think LSU's path to a national title is with someone like Hurd, Floyd, etc, in the weekend rotation in place of Riley Cooper. We will see, but Hurd is the guy I think needs to step up and find a way to assume that role.
JGOU
2:23
What are ya's feelings on Oklahoma thus far?
Aaron Fitt
2:23
Kind of a weird start, some ups and downs over these first two weeks, but felt like OU righted the ship over the last two games. Lots of turnover on that roster, figured it might take some time for everybody to settle into their roles, and I think this team will get better and better as the season progresses, because there's plenty of talent and that coaching staff is really good. John Spikerman has been slow out of the gate, but once he gets going (and he will), it will have a huge impact on that offense, because he's a dynamic, dynamic talent, as we all know.
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Hollis
2:25
Thoughts on ole miss taking the series from Maryland this weekend? Worried about pitching right now, especially with hunter Elliot being out
Kendall Rogers
2:25
Hollis -- Yeah, there is no doubt that Ole Miss is going to be stretched thin pitching-wise for the rest of the season with the loss of Mallitz and now Hunter Elliott. That puts a lot of pressure on guys like Rivas, Saunier, Dougherty, etc. With that said, that offensive lineup is going to be so good that Ole Miss can probably still find its way to a host even with pretty average pitching. We'll see how things shake out.
RFBleacherCreature
2:25
Panic Meter for Clemson going into the biggest series of the weekend?
Aaron Fitt
2:25
I don't believe in the panic button in February, of course... but that was a discouraging weekend for Clemson, certainly. I don't know what to make of this team yet, but I'm sure better days are ahead. I believe the Tigers will hit, but I'm not yet sold on the pitching. Could take some time to figure out the right combinations there, but they do have depth on the mound. Might just need to mix and match a ton.
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Steve7
2:27
Ryan Brown from Ball State already 4 ahead of anyone else on strikeouts. What makes him so good & how many can ge total this year?
Kendall Rogers
2:27
The big thing about Brown is that he certainly has an electrifying fastball, but the changeup at 83-85 is a big-time pitch for him. It is consistently a plus offering. He also has a mid-80s slider. What a terrific start ... Ball State ALWAYS seems to have a 'dude' at the frontend of the rotation.
Tim Taylor
2:27
Thoughts on the approach taken by Chip Hale in Arizona with regards to building program "traditional" route vs. Willie B up in Tempe with the more modern take on building a roster?
Aaron Fitt
2:27
Feels like the Pac-12 has a number of programs taking that more traditional route -- see UCLA, Stanford and Oregon State, in particular. I think the transfer-heavy route can obviously work very well and very quickly, as A&M saw last year, but there's still a place in our game for building programs around recruiting and developing talented players out of high school. Both approaches have merit.
SEC Ball
2:30
Been quite the up and down start for Miss State but looked much better Sat and Sun against ASU. I have no doubt that the bats will be there all year but there’s a lot of new arms that look the part. I think once they figure out the roles, this team has a chance to be really good again. Thoughts?
Aaron Fitt
2:30
I agree with you, actually -- and speaking with Joe Healy (who covered that middle game this weekend in Starkville), it sounds like he feels the same. There is real talent on that pitching staff. Maybe they don't have those proven workhorse starters, and maybe this is another team that will do a lot of mixing and matching, but I think that can work when you've got as much depth of power arms as MSU does. I know we've had to talk some State fans off the ledge a few times already this year -- but just give those new arms some time to settle in, guys. They're gonna be all right. And that offense is really good, I believe.
Josh
2:32
What does the ECU-UNC series say about both clubs early on, if anything at all?
Aaron Fitt
2:32
Just a great series between two evenly matched teams that both feel like regional host type teams with a chance to go to Omaha. I wrote about that series a lot in my Fitt Bits column today, so I would encourage you to check that out for my full takeaways. Overall, I walked away from the series liking what I saw from both teams -- I actually think both of them are pretty complete, balanced clubs.
SDSouthpaw
2:32
Anyone hotter right now than Jack Costello?
trophy 1
Kendall Rogers
2:32
Jack is definitely off to a great start, specifically from a power standpoint. UCF's Ben McCabe and some others also stand out to me. How about Portland's Nich Klemp as well? Dude is hitting .581 with a 1.467 OPS, two home runs and eight RBIs.
Guest
2:32
How concerned should the SEC be that Maui Ahuna was just cleared?
Aaron Fitt
2:32
He's a really, really talented player. Sticking that guy in at shortstop definitely makes Tennessee even scarier, no question.
Richie
2:33
How much weight is put into these early series when determining seeding for the NCAAT? Obviously A&M looks rough right now, but everyone knows they have the talent to get back to Omaha. Do early season woes really matter that much in April/June?
Kendall Rogers
2:33
Funny you mentioned A&M. The Aggies had one of the worst non-conference showings of anyone last year, went on to win the SEC West, get a top 8 national seed and ended the season in the Final Four .... things can change on a dime in college baseball. That's why it's important not to press the panic button after a couple of weeks.
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