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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 3
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Kendall Rogers
1:36
Guest -- I thought he was solid. He's most certainly a premium arm. I think I had him up to 96 mph and he consistently sat 93-95 mph with the fastball. It's clear the Vols wanted to give some guys some work yesterday as well. My feeling would be if AJ can stay healthy and continue to throw well, he will end up in the rotation, but I also think Kuhns has instant impact/elite potential as well. I think the Vols are in a really good spot from a pitching standpoint right now.
Farm Follies
1:36
With home plate jumping around on Lim and Volchko, is the Stanford offense good enough to win a bunch of 10-8 games in the ACC without those two righting the ship? Aidan Keenan a candidate to flip roles with one of them at some point? And any word from scouts as we continue to wait for the first SasakiBomb?
Aaron Fitt
1:36
I think Stanford is going to need Lim and Volchko to to really be a force in the ACC; I know the offense has been good so far but I don't think it's on par with the top offenses in that league. But when Lim and Volchko are going good, I do think that pitching staff matches up with some of the ACC's best. I think they'll put it together too, it's still early. Good question on Sasaki's lack of homers; that's a surprise to me, but at least he's still producing. I'm looking forward to watching this very intriguing Cardinal team in Chapel Hill this weekend.
95Tider
1:38
How much fun is it to watch Justin Lebron???? Taking in every moment!
Aaron Fitt
1:38
He's ridiculously fun to watch, just an incredible talent. Always loved watching him defend, he's silky smooth and can make the jaw-dropping play, but now he's really growing into the power potential Rob Vaughn told us about even last year, when Lebron was rail-thin but still hit 12 homers as a freshman. What a freakish talent, with incredible makeup. He checks every box.
billerb
1:39
Oregon State barely escaped a totally  disastrous weekend.  I  didn't see a Beaver pitcher in all three games that really had control  of the strike zone. So many walks, hbp's and consistently pitching behind in counts.  Your take on what the Beavs gave shown, and not shown, so far.  I'm very  concerned.
Kendall Rogers
1:39
BILLER -- I didn't get a chance to watch all games this past weekend, but I can tell you what I saw two weekends ago. I actually really liked Keljo and Whitney the weekend I saw the Beavs, but I didn't think the Beavs had a 'ton' of juice in the bullpen. I also came away thinking that the offense would end up being so good it would mask some of this teams' deficiencies, but maybe that won't be the case? WTS -- OSU did finish the weekend 2-1, so all in all, it was a successful showing.
FittsMagic
1:41
When the season ends, who will be the best team from the Magnolia State?
Aaron Fitt
1:41
Gosh, that's a tough one! I think the jury is still out, but I'm not here to dodge questions, so I'll give you an answer -- with the caveat that I do NOT have a high degree of confidence in this answer. Because ultimately I do expect Mississippi State to be much better than it has been so far, and I really do like that Southern Miss club.... but my answer is Ole Miss. I think that team is dramatically improved in all phases, and having three good veterans with stuff and experience in the weekend rotation feels like an incredible luxury.
James
1:42
Thoughts on State for the rest of the year? Haven’t lost any inexcusable games but haven’t beat anyone that’s tournament caliber either.
Kendall Rogers
1:42
James -- great question. It's interesting. I was telling our friend Steve Robertson yesterday that I'm still not entirely sure what to make of Mississippi State. I like the first two starters for sure -- I think Kohn is going to have a really good year, and I like a couple of bullpen pieces. Mikhai Grant in particular was electric in my look. I'm just really curious to see how the bullpen matches up with some other SEC teams. On the offensive side, Ace Reese did Ace Reese things over the weekend. He looked terrific offensively and locked in, in his return to Houston. Reed Stallman had a massive home run and Bryce Johnson/Noah Sullivan also stood out. I will say this -- I've seen some State fans in my mentions say this team is toast, etc. I didn't get that feeling what so ever, I'm just not really sure what my true expectation is just yet.
Jacob M
1:43
K-State’s conference outlook after seeing them for two weekends in Texas? They avoid the Arizona schools and TCU.
Aaron Fitt
1:43
Wow Jacob, I actually didn't realize their conference schedule was so favorable. Hmm... I said earlier that I think they're a bona fide Big 12 title contender, and your point about the schedule makes me think that might even be a more realistic scenario. I'm telling you, that is a very well constructed roster -- very athletic, can push the action on the basepaths, lots of playmakers on defense, they grind out at-bats from top to bottom and they can play matchups off the bench. I love the three lefties in the rotation and I think they've got 5 or 6 very good pieces in the bullpen. I think they're very, very dangerous, as we've seen the last two weekends.
Guest
1:45
Why did DBU move down in the rankings when they lost to the #1 team in the rankings?
Aaron Fitt
1:45
I would have preferred to leave DBU where it was, but it was a 2-2 week so there was just a bit of wiggle room to slide them down a couple spots, allowing for a couple other teams that really deserved to move up to do so. Rankings can be a bit messy sometimes, that's an example.
95Tider
1:45
How much fun is it to watch Justin Lebron??? Taking in every minute of it!
Kendall Rogers
1:45
Justin checks all the boxes for me. I would probably have him over LaViolette on my big board right now. He's a premier defender at a premium position, he has been incredibly consistent at the plate, and he's hitting for huge power. Oh yeah, he also has four stolen bases. I'll see LeBron (and LaViolette) next weekend when 'Bama rolls over to the Lone Star State. That's A LOT of star power in one spot.
foozly
1:47
What transfer portal addition has had the biggest impact amongst Top 25 teams?
Aaron Fitt
1:47
There are so many to choose from, but I think I'll go with Liam Doyle: 2-0, 0.61 with a 34-3 K-BB mark in 14.2 innings is just absurd. He's always had frontline stuff, and he always missed bats at Coastal and then at Ole Miss, but this year he's putting it all together working with Frank Anderson, and he's given Tennessee the marquee Friday night starter it needed.
Heel
1:49
Thoughts on UNC going into a big ACC opening weekend with Stanford?
Aaron Fitt
1:49
North Carolina feels extremely complete, like those other teams in the top five right now. I don't expect Hunter Stokely to have a 1.300+ OPS all season long, but he has been a menace early on, and a big difference maker for that retooled lineup, along with newcomers Kepley and Bass. I think Tyson Bass is actually capable of doing a lot more than he has so far, but he's still been a potent run producer, and that offense should get better as guys like Rom Kellis and Sam Angelo find their footing -- slow starts for them. Obviously the pitching is elite, among the very best staffs in the nation.
Larry
1:50
one more question, not on rankings -- but some of the scores teams are putting up are quite attention grabbing, seems like multiple teams are putting up 25-30+ runs in a single game each weekend.. is this due to uneven matchups or do we suspect the balls and bats have something to do with it? just don't remember seeing anything like this.
Kendall Rogers
1:50
Larry -- There is certainly a reason to think the balls are a little hopped up the past couple of seasons, but no one has ever been able to prove it. Some of the scores are odd, but I've also seen some low-scoring affairs from good teams. In the time of year where you're going to see a lot of front systems popping up weather-wise, you're going to see some serious wind shifts. My hunch is that plays a huge part of it.
cool 1
Ghost of Mike Gillespie
1:52
Going 5-1 against the Red Raiders and Ragin' Cajuns doesn't have the same cache as it did 3-5 years ago, but does Irvine now have to wait until the UCSB series at the month to receive serious Top 25 consideration? Anthony Martinez returned this weekend, which should only help the cause.
Kendall Rogers
1:52
I'm not sure if Fitt answered this earlier, but no, they don't have to wait for that. The Anteaters are squarely in the mix to be ranked right now. I would say it's the 'Eaters, USC and Louisville as the next three teams in my book. Arizona would be right there as well.
Tim T
1:54
SEC holds 12 spots in your top 25. Big XII holds one and 25 at that. When conference play begins those 12-13 SEC beat up on each other and will remain in the polls regardless. How do UA, WVU, OSU, TCU, Cincinnati, Utah now improve their lot for the rest of the year?
Kendall Rogers
1:54
I actually think SEC play will weed out some of those teams in the 18-25 range. It also could weed out times like Texas and Texas A&M, along with Vandy, who are in the teens. By the way, I think the Big 12 is as balanced as ever, and expect those teams to really beat up on each other, too. The difference this season is I get the feeling the Big 12 will have some pretty good RPIs when we get to mid-April or so.
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