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D1Baseball's Weekly Chat: March 1
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Aaron Fitt
1:04
Hello everybody. Fun weekend of college baseball in the books. Let's break it down!
Kendall Rogers
1:04
Let's do this!
Hunter
1:06
Early impressions of Mississippi state ? Tulane was a tough team.
Kendall Rogers
1:06
Hunter -- That was a really, really hard-fought series and give credit to Tulane. And also, give credit to the Cardiac Dogs for two walk off wins .. That's impressive. MSU got Eric Cerantola back, and though he struggled, it was good to get him back. It is still waiting for its second best arm to come back in Will Bednar. I love the makeup of this team, from the offensive pieces to the pitching staff. How about my man Landon Sims? All Gas, No Brakes. I love it.
TOAST
1:06
Do you think starting pitchers will be on tighter leashes this year given how deep relief staffs are?
Aaron Fitt
1:06
I think deeper bullpens do make it easier to put starting pitchers on a shorter leash, but that's also the way the game has been going for a while now. All the analytics at the major league level say you're pushing your luck if you try to get a third time through the order with your starter. I still think college baseball is a bit different -- these guys are only going once a week, and if a guy is in a groove you might try to ride him for seven or eight innings. But generally speaking, I do think we will continue to see starts get shorter, and bullpens to be used liberally.
cool 1
Gary Winthorpe
1:07
How close are Coastal and UL-Lafayette to the Top 25 after solid weekend sweeps?
Kendall Rogers
1:07
Both are very much in the mix. I actually considered the Cajuns from a personal standpoint, but they got roughed up pretty good by in-state rival LSU on Tuesday. That kind of soured me on ranking the Cajuns just yet ... WTS -- I really like what this team is doing right now. That Tulane series win is looking mighty fine and they are getting contributions from a lot of different guys. Not shocked what so ever that Matt Deggs is pushing the right buttons sooner rather than later. That guy is like clockwork.
Brett B
1:08
Do you see Pallette for the hogs being the Friday guy come SEC time? Could see the weekend rotation being the one downside of the hogs right now.
Kendall Rogers
1:08
Brett -- I like the idea of a Pallette, Bolden and Wiggins rotation, but I'll defer to Matt Hobbs on this one. He's got the skins on the wall. Pallette is the one sure thing for me. His stuff is absolutely electric and just seems so mature and collected on the mound. Perfect for a Friday night role in the SEC, IMO.
Mike
1:10
I can't blame the wait and see approach regarding ranking Oregon State. My question is, 8 games into the 2021 season whats your impression of Canham and how he and his staff are developing players?
Aaron Fitt
1:10
It does appear that Oregon State is considerably better than it was a year ago, because a number of its returning players have just taken nice steps forward. That is a testament to the coaching staff's developmental ability, no question about it, as well as a testament to the hard work of the players themselves. We've always though Troy Claunch and Kyle McMahon and Preston Jones had impact tools, and now it looks like they're harnessing those tools. Feels like a bunch of the key arms have progressed nicely too. It's early and the Beavers haven't faced premium competition yet, but they have played good competition, and they've handled it extremely well. Early returns are clearly positive here.
Joe
1:11
Thoughts on Baylor and Jared McKenzie after this weekend?
Kendall Rogers
1:11
Joe -- The bad news? Baylor struggled in two of three games?  The good news? Steve Rodriguez has a penchant for having his team ready to roll once conference play begins. I really liked Jared McKenzie over the weekend (as I always do), and the big ? for me is just the pitching staff as a whole. Blake Helton was just OK on Friday and he was coming off short rest, and the staff really struggled in yesterday's game against OU. BU will hit ... Will it pitch enough? that's the q.
TOAST
1:12
Is Georgia Tech the best team in ACC right now? They have been flying under the radar for a ranked team considering all the attention Miami, FSU, UNC, and UL get.
Aaron Fitt
1:12
I think it's entirely possible, Toast. Right now I've still got Louisville a tick ahead -- but I loved what I saw from the Yellow Jackets in my stop in Raleigh this weekend. Heck, I loved what I saw from them in the fall too, but I wanted to see some of their talented young players establish themselves a little more. So far, so good. This is Tech's deepest pitching staff in a long time too -- Jackson Finley looked like a shutdown closer in the making on Saturday, overpowering good hitters with 93-97 heat. I think Georgia Tech looks like a very balanced team that should defend well, hit for power, hit for average, and be strong in the rotation and bullpen. I think it's a complete club -- assuming all these young kids keep it up. There's a long way to go, and all those first and second-year freshmen haven't been through it yet.
Remington
1:13
Hey Kendall! Big fan of your work!  It’s a great time to be an OmaHog fan right now, but what are some areas we need to improve or stay on top of, to go ring chasing this year?
Kendall Rogers
1:13
Remington -- I'm not just saying this because my son played for the Razorbacks back in his t-ball days, but I don't see much about Arkansas that I would change. I love the middle infield, I love the offense, and I think the pitching staff is loaded with premier arms. The biggest thing is just finding the right formula in the weekend rotation. I'd start with Pallette and Bolden and go from there. I get Hobbs' hesitation on prepping Wiggins for that role so early in his freshman year.
SECbaseball
1:14
How about The Wes Watch! Now obviously those #s aren't sustainable for the full year, but do you think he can approach Bleday, Rooker, Benintendi territory and keep up the hot streak thru league play?
Kendall Rogers
1:14
SEC -- That's an interesting question. And what's even more interesting is where can Wes get as a prospect? Aaron and myself were discussing this last night. Wes is 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, but that is NOT a bad body. He's just physical as hell. I'm beyond excited to see him in Austin next weekend.
Jake S
1:15
How big was the series win over Clemson this weekend for South Carolina? Although it may be early, Wes Clarke and Andrew Eyster are proving to be one of the better duo’s in the country.
Aaron Fitt
1:15
Oh it was big -- I mean, it's the best rivalry series in college baseball, so of course it's big. But Clemson also looks like a pretty solid club, and those were a couple of close, intense games -- that's a very good test of South Carolina's toughness, and the Gamecocks passed it. That will be huge for them going forward, I think. And yes, one of the things I loved about South Carolina heading into this season was the righthanded power in that lineup, with Clarke and Eyster and Milone and Brady Allen. I just love that core.
RazorHog
1:16
In your opinion who has the deepest pitching staff in the country?
Aaron Fitt
1:16
I haven't seen Arkansas yet, but judging by the reports Kendall and Seif brought back from Arlington, I think the Hogs might very well be the right answer here. I do think Arkansas, Mississippi State and Ole Miss feel like the three deepest -- right now I think they're even deeper than Florida and Vandy on the mound, which is saying something.
TOAST
1:18
Do you think Landon Sims should be a starter now or should he just be the shut down guy from the pen?
Kendall Rogers
1:18
TOAST -- I am fine with Landon in the bullpen for now. He gives State a shutdown, guaranteed shutdown reliever, and that's such a luxury in a league like the SEC. I'd give Cerantola a couple of more chances to prove himself .... Bednar will be a stud once he's healthy again.
Jordan
1:21
What’s your thoughts on Southern Miss? Good weekend win. If they could ever get the bats going I think they could be tough.
Aaron Fitt
1:21
Yeah, I'm surprised to see Southern Miss is hitting just .191 on the young season -- feels like they've still been able to score some runs despite that. Slade Wilks and Dustin Dickerson and Reed Trimble and Montenegro -- those guys can all hit, they're a lot better than their stats show so far. They'll heat up. I don't expect it to be an elite offense this year, but I think it will be solid. Just feel like Southern Miss is a nice balanced club. They need Gabe Shepard to be healthy and stay healthy, that's really the electric arm that can make a huge impact on a pitching staff.
Heel
1:21
Thoughts on how UNC’s season outlook changes after the way they have looked the first two weekends?
Kendall Rogers
1:21
Heel, I will let Aaron expand on the Tar Heels if he wants to. But I am really impressed with the job Scott Forbes is doing there right now. We obviously have our eyes on Justice Thompson with the job he's done at the plate, but the bullpen the last two games of the UVA series stood out to me. The Heels threw 7.2 shutout innings out of the pen to end that series, including Lancellotti, in a losing cause, striking out six in multiple innings of work. that's very encouraging for the Heels moving forward, IMO. They've exceeded my expectations for the time being.
Aaron Fitt
1:25
The bullpen has been lights-out all season so far actually, KR is selling it short. If my quick math is right, UNC's bullpen has given up one earned run in 22.1 innings this year. I mean that's nuts. I do feel much better about this staff now that Austin Love is a real-deal Friday guy, and Max Carlson looks like Zac Gallen 2.0 in the Saturday role, and Lancellotti is back locking down the bullpen. All these pieces seem to fit together well; pitching coach Bryant Gaines is pushing all the right buttons so far, and I think this staff has answered the questions I had about it heading into the year. Tar Heels probably won't score a ton of runs this year, but they play hard and should be able to pitch and defend at a high level, so they'll be right in the thick of the ACC race.
Steve
1:27
For the second weekend in a row, Tulane lost an extremely close, hard-fought and heated series against a very good team. The Green Wave were two disastrous 9th innings from sweeping at Dudy Noble(!!) but alas, they currently sit below .500. What do you make of this Tulane team, and where you you think they are heading towards this season?
Aaron Fitt
1:27
I kind of view Tulane's start similarly to how I view UConn's start -- both teams have dropped their first two series, but those were four extremely competitive series against good opponents, and neither team got swept. Sure, it's frustrating to come up a little short, but my takeaway after two weeks is that both Tulane and UConn are legitimate contenders this year, and they'll get those records turned around in a hurry. Encouraged about both.
TxBaseball17
1:29
How do you compare the teams from Round Rock this weekend. A&M looked great, until they didn't. Auburn looked terrible, and then beat A&M. Are all four of those teams about equal in your eyes? OU = Baylor = A&M = Auburn?
Kendall Rogers
1:29
TxBaseball - my ranking of those teams would probably be: 1) Auburn, 2) A&M, 3) Oklahoma and 4) Baylor. I do think Auburn will have a bit more of an identity on the mound when Jack Owen returns from that finger issue, and I just saw Fitts on a bad day. I really like Auburn's potential offensively. A&M's rotation was very solid over the weekend, and the Aggies were better offensively. But I'm starting to get a bit concerned about some of their bullpen passes. Outside of Moo Menefee and Mason Ornelas, it's a revolving door to an extent out there. Oklahoma is a hard team to figure out. I think I expected the Sooners to be a little better. It still has a ton of upside ... TBD on my final opinion. As for Baylor, just a sloppy overall start. Very unlike a Steve Rod coached team. Makes me think they will figure it out at some point.
Jacoby
1:35
Between the two mississippi schools, who do you think has the edge in each category of starting pitching, bullpen, hitting, and fielding?
Aaron Fitt
1:35
This one is so tough. I'll give Ole Miss the nod for starting pitching and defense... I'll give Mississippi State the nod for bullpen, and I think a slight nod for hitting too, particularly with Peyton Chatagnier out. He's the engine that makes Ole Miss go.
James
1:35
After his dominant 6 innings of shutout relief, how much of a case has Jaret Godman made to join the weekend rotation at OU? Also what were your thoughts on Ruffcorn this weekend and does he still look to be one of if not the best reliever in baseball?
Kendall Rogers
1:35
James -- Ruffcorn looked strong, but I really liked Jaret Godman. He commanded his FB well, shows a lot of energy and poise on the mound, and he also had really nice feel for his slider. He helped himself as a prospect this past weekend. I actually was also intrigued with young RHP Javier Ramos. He has big-time potential. FB was up to 95 with some feel for multiple offerings.
Nathan
1:37
Assuming that UCSB plays well the rest of the season, how would it’s RPI fair against an Arkansas or a LSU? I understand that they will face really good non-conference competition, but their conference schedule doesn’t look as “appetizing”.
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