JotCast | D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 15

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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 15

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Trees

1:01

How far out are the Sycamores? Impressive week in Florida and #4 in RPI

Kendall Rogers

1:01

Trees -- I'm definitely impressed with Indiana State. The only setbacks on the weekend have been to a pair of ranked teams in Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and they've taken care of one ranked team (FAU) with relative ease. Geremy Guerrero has been particularly special during this run. They are the clear-cut No. 1 or No. 2 team for me in the MVC right now.

Sparky92

1:03

What’s it gonna take for ASU to get ranked? Are they right there or still a ways off because they have played nobody? Their bullpen has been impressive thus far, with all the injuries they’ve had but I just don’t know how long they can keep it up.

Kendall Rogers

1:03

Sparky -- Arizona State was on our list of teams to be considered, but the resume is a little light at the moment. That could change this weekend with a trip up to Eugene to face red-hot Oregon. I'll be pretty honest, with Benson and BVK out, along with now lefty Erik Tolman, the job that Jason Kelly is doing with that MASH unit pitching staff is pretty incredible. ASU is definitely on our radar.

cowtownBill

1:04

Bad week for my Frogs but I am still impressed by the young bats in the lineup. I am surprised though by the breakdown in the bullpen as pitching was supposed to be the strength of TCU this year. Can Saarloos work his magic and fix the problem?

Kendall Rogers

1:04

Cowtown, I think the Frogs will be fine at the backend of the bullpen. You have to remember, no Johnny Ray and no Marcelo Perez. Perez would've likely put out any fires the Frogs had out of the bullpen. Dalton Brown is out with a knee injury right now, and the lineup didn't have some key pieces. In a COVID season, you're going to see some weird weekends like this ... period. I think TCU is fine.

Ben

1:04

Hey guys couple questions first could Campbell or USC Upstate make regionals w/o winning the conference? Second what’s the biggest key for Duke moving forward? And lastly what do you expect out of The Aggies of Texas A&M in SEC play?

Aaron Fitt

1:04

Hi Ben -- I suspect the Big South is going to be a one-bid league. I like Upstate and Campbell (I went to their series opener on Friday), but I have a feeling the league as a whole won't be good enough to allow either team to finish with an at-large-caliber RPI. As for Duke -- that's a very good, balanced club. They need some of the talented young bullpen arms to continue gaining experience and to become more consistent, and they need more out of Jack Carey as the Sunday starter, but I really like the offense and defense, and I feel good about the Stinson-Williams duo atop the rotation. I'll let Kendall chime in on the Aggies.

Kevin R.

1:05

LSU starting pitchers vs UTSA gave up 2 runs over 18.2 IP, while the bullpen gave up 20 runs over 13.1 IP. With MSU looming this weekend, I should be really concerned, right?

Kendall Rogers

1:05

Kevin -- So, I go back and forth on what to think about LSU after the weekend. The good news is the starting pitching is in good shape, the bad news is the bullpen is scuffling, and quite frankly, I didn't think LSU played well at all in that UTSA series. With that said, this team clearly has late-inning moxie going on and that's a great quality to have. But I'm very very hesitant about LSU entering that MSU series, if I'm being honest.

Cliff

1:06

With the combo of a four game weekend conference schedule and the fact that AAC teams aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire, would ECU have to win every series and probably the conference tournament to be a national seed? Also...CONNOR NORBY!

Aaron Fitt

1:06

I don't know about winning every series -- there are a couple nice midweek wins already on the resumé against Duke and a couple more opportunities coming up against UNC. But certainly the Pirates will need to dominate their league to have a shot at a national seed. Norby is a rock star -- I saw ECU twice last week, and the guy was just a hit machine both games, but he also plays very good defense, and he runs, and he has power -- he's got skills across the board, and he's a very tough out.

Southern Slams Baseball

1:07

How do you look at a team like Texas who took 3 from SC after a poor showing in the Globe Life tourney? Are they a serious threat now?

Kendall Rogers

1:07

SSB -- I think Texas i just fine. UT is not going to be offensive this year. That's just the fact. They will hit a little, but they aren't a serious offensive threat. But I do think UT will continue to pitch at a high level. I really, really like Tristan Stevens' presence on the mound. The GLF performance was a combo of UT playing terrible and the field being THAT good.

Ducks45

1:09

Do you think that Oregon has surpassed Oregon State?

Kendall Rogers

1:09

Ducks -- Oh man, not at all. Listen, I'm very very encouraged by what Oregon has done so far this season, but that season doesn't last four weeks. Let's see where the two teams stand at the end of the season. But how about UO's pitching throughout the series against OSU? Pretty special. Wasikowski is a stud and I expected UO to make some progress. But this much progress so soon? Color me impressed.

Peyton

1:09

With how Cerantola finally had command on Saturday, how does Mississippi State move forward with their rotation in Baton Rouge? Who is the odd man out from MacLeod, Bednar, Fristoe, and Cerantola, and how short of a leash do the starters get with such a deep bullpen?

Aaron Fitt

1:09

What an encouraging performance from Cerantola. I kinda like the idea of keeping him in that Saturday role, and if he has his control, you roll with him as long as you can, but if he doesn't then you go to Bednar or Fristoe early and treat it like a piggyback situation. If Cerantola goes deep, then you have Bednar and Fristoe both available to piggyback on Sunday. I think that's a winning formula.

Matt P.

1:10

Louisiana Tech was a breath away from taking the series against #1 Arkansas. Were you more impressed with La Tech’s level of play as a tough team or to Arkansas’ ability to play up in tough environments and come back when down?

Kendall Rogers

1:10

Matt -- It's a combo of both for me. The thing about Arkansas is nothing fazes them -- too high or too low. They are that good. But La Tech gave them all they could handle in two of the three games. Lane does a great job and I detailed in my story last week why I thought Tech was a really solid club. We will find out everything we need to know about LT this week with two games vs. Ole Miss and a series at Tulane. That's a TOUGH week.

1:13

At what point does UF's bullpen, supposedly a strength, start to become a major concern going forward?

Aaron Fitt

1:13

To be honest I became a bit concerned about the Florida bullpen after that first series against Miami -- I saw a lot of good arms, but not a lot of reliable, consistent "out-getters". I figured Specht and Scott would be the two most dependable pieces, and Christian Scott has been very good, but other than that it seems like guys have been up and down. Aleman threw well yesterday, he's certainly had his good moments, and it feels like as the season progresses he'll get more and more comfortable, which will make a huge difference. There's still a lot of depth there, but they need better work from the lefties in that bullpen; those guys should be better than they have been. I'm still giving this group time to gel, not sounding any alarm -- my concern is modest.

Guest

1:14

Is Stanford close?

Kendall Rogers

1:14

Guest -- We discussed Stanford a little this week. If I am being honest, I'm a little surprised they are off to this kind of start at 10-2. Brendan Beck being really good is no surprise, and Quinn Matthews was a guy, if you remember, I really liked at the RR Classic last year. I thought he had a ton of upside, and he's pitching well so far this spring. Zach Grech has been nails out of the pen, too. Stanford should get off to an outstanding start with the upcoming schedule.

1:15

Seeing how close Gonzaga played Tech and then took 2 of 3 from TCU I feel comfortable with two conclusions. 1. It was a big mid week series sweep for Tech and 2. I wouldn’t want to see Gonzaga in the post season. What are your thoughts?

Aaron Fitt

1:15

Yeah I agree with both of your assessments -- Gonzaga is a good club, and the Zags made that Texas swing without shortstop Ernie Yake, who is really their best player. Impressive showing for Gonzaga.

SeanHoolittle

1:17

What's up with the Hoos? Is this Pitt weekend a MUST win?

Kendall Rogers

1:17

Sean -- I am convinced the Cavaliers have a pretty solid pitching staff, but I have to admit, the offense is worrisome. They have not hit with consistency at all in any weekend series, and at this point, it's safe to say we don't really expect that to change anytime soon. Four weeks is a pretty lengthy litmus test. UVA is just going to have to find ways to manufacture runs moving forward, and that'll put a lot of pressure on the pitching staff.

Aaron Fitt

1:19

So I'll actually disagree with Kendall here -- I don't think four weeks is that lengthy of a litmus test, and I do think Virginia HAS to start hitting sooner or later. There's too much talent and experience in that lineup for this offensive slump to last forever. But I'll admit I'm completely baffled by that club's poor offensive showing over the first month. This Pitt series his huge -- UVa simply has to start winning series.

Adam

1:18

With the way Rosario pitched on Friday & Mederos on Saturday could that be the new 1 -- 2 punch for Miami & with the way Jake Garland pitched midweek vs FAU, could they move Garland to Sunday & have Federman as the mid week starter?

Aaron Fitt

1:18

I do like Rosario and Mederos as the top two starters, but I'm not sure how the Canes should structure the rest of it. I like Federman better in a bullpen role, feels like his stuff plays up considerably in shorter stints, so maybe starting Garland on Sunday is the answer, and you can always use Federman as a bridge guy if Garland doesn't go deep into the game.

AgStat

1:19

Where is Texas A&M in your rankings? Currently outside the top 25. Are they top 30? Top 50? Both the pitching and hitting are clicking right now. Competition hasn't been great, but they also have won 10 straight. Can't say the same about some of the other teams in the top 25 (LSU vs ORU, UF, Arkanas, OMiss all dropped at least 1 to inferior competition lately)

Kendall Rogers

1:19

AgStat -- The Aggies are on our radar -- they were discussed in our latest Top 25 rankings, but the Aggies also need to prove it against much better competition. I'm really encouraged by Jonathan Childress and Dustin Saenz, and Bryce Miller has done a solid job as well. Rob has figured out the pitching staff. Will Frizzell and the offense have done well as of late, but I want to see them do it against Florida this weekend before I'm ready to say they've made immense progress. WTS -- A&M is catching UF at a good time.

1:21

I didn’t think Southern Miss would be ranked this week, deserving or not, but where do you guys have them at right now? Are they just on my he fringe?

Aaron Fitt

1:21

Yeah, Southern Miss is very much in the mix -- they've won all four weekend series, including nice series against UConn and Louisiana. They don't have a marquee series win to hang their hats on, and a 9-5 record against their schedule is solid but not quite gaudy enough to jump them over some teams with better wins. But we like their club, and it feels like only a matter of time before they break into the Top 25.

Davis

1:23

Which bullpen arm so far has impressed you the most from Mississippi State? And who do you think ends up taking the role as closer?

Kendall Rogers

1:23

David -- Oh, Landon Sims no question. I mean, 30 strikeouts to three walks is just asinine. He just has such electric stuff. That mid-90s fastball has serious life to it, and that slider is filthy as well. He's a First Team All-American for me at this point. He's been that good.

1:24

Texas Tech has won 13 in a row since opening weekend. Are they really that good or is it a by product of the schedule? I feel like it could be 50/50.

Aaron Fitt

1:24

There's a reason we ranked Texas Tech No. 3 in the preseason -- that team has a ton of talent, and it shows. After that rough first weekend, the Raiders found their stride in a hurry; yes the schedule eased up a bit from the crazy heights of the first weekend, but there are still plenty of quality wins during this 13-game streak, including all five over the last week. I know UConn doesn't have a great record, because they've played a tough schedule as a cold-weather team on the road over the first month, but that's a good UConn club that will be in a regional when the dust settles, I'll wager.

RFRoost

1:25

How far out of the top 25 do you think Southern Miss is?

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